{"id":682835,"date":"2025-05-19T10:50:16","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T14:50:16","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-08-10T10:11:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T14:11:25","slug":"categories-pentecost-2-c-june-22-2025","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/sermons\/categories-pentecost-2-c-june-22-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Categories, Proper 7 (C) \u2013 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-green-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-green-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm\/?e=DFMS2100502518&#038;light=true\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-green-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-green-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>[RCL] 1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a; Psalm 42 and 43; Galatians 3:23-29; Luke 8:26-39<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is a sermon about the Gerasene Demoniac. It\u2019s about time somebody wrote one. This story doesn\u2019t get a lot of attention from pulpits these days, and that\u2019s a shame. There\u2019s some really good stuff here, and it\u2019s pretty funny if you come at it from the right angle. Also, it\u2019s very handy to have it coupled with Paul\u2019s words in Galatians. The two readings help each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First of all, we need to look at the issue that seems to get in the way of engaging this story these last few centuries\u2014those poor, doomed demons. The fact is, the New Testament world had a different way of seeing reality than we do, or that the 10<sup>th<\/sup> century did, or that the 17<sup>th<\/sup> century did. They each put their common experiences of the world into different categories. That is, they gave their experiences different descriptions, different labels. And we can be confident that, in just a handful of decades, there will be still different ways of seeing and organizing the world\u2014the same experiences, different categories, different ways of naming and organizing the stuff we all experience. These days, we don\u2019t much do demons\u2014we don\u2019t really have a category for that. That\u2019s OK. It\u2019s not a big deal, and it\u2019s sure not worth all the effort folks put into trying to force this square peg into the round hole of our current categories. Instead of fussing about that, let\u2019s see what\u2019s going on here, and let\u2019s see where the good news is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On one really important level, the story is a hoot: It\u2019s somewhere between a political cartoon and a graphic novel. The whole scene is bizarre. You\u2019ve got a naked guy acting bizarre, chatty demons, charging pigs doing swan dives, tombs, chains, shackles, freaked-out locals, and a small riot. All in Gentile territory where, as far as most Jews were concerned, Jesus had no business being in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The folks who first heard this story must have loved it. In addition to the great action and dialogue, there was the ancient regional rivalry between Israel and her neighbors, who they generally didn\u2019t like\u2014and with the Romans, who <em>everybody <\/em>hated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What could be more fun for the good Jews of Galilee than to hear a story about how unclean, unlucky, and generally weird those Gentiles on the other side of the lake really were\u2014and about how all those unclean pigs came to a well-deserved and hilarious end. Image the scene\u2014nobody comes out looking good except the fellow who was healed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then there\u2019s the political subtext. Everybody knew instantly that it was no accident that the demons called themselves Legion\u2014after the famous and feared Roman Legions. Everybody also knew that pigs were not only unclean to the Jews but were also a staple of both the Roman army and the Roman economy. However, Caesar\u2019s Legions and Caesar\u2019s rations and Caesar\u2019s wealth were mere child\u2019s play for Jesus\u2014a quick flush and they\u2019re gone. What fun. And if any Romans heard the story, they probably wouldn\u2019t even get that part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, as delightful as all this is, the story is much more than a mildly comic interlude in Jesus\u2019 ministry. It\u2019s really good news, and it\u2019s good news about power\u2014all sorts of power. The Gerasene Demoniac appears just after the more familiar account of Jesus calming the storm on the lake. In fact, the storm was during the very trip that took Jesus and the disciples to the country of the Gerasenes. Both of these accounts\u2014the storm and the pigs\u2014and several more, are part of Luke\u2019s run-up to the big question Jesus asks his disciples in the next chapter: \u201cWho do you say that I am?\u201d All of these stories are hints about what the right answer to that question is\u2014these are not so much stories about what Jesus did, as they are about who Jesus is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And who Jesus is has to do with power. It has to do with the question of which, of all the powers in the universe\u2014regardless of what categories we use to talk about them\u2014which of all these are the strongest. Which powers will have the last word?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There really are a lot of powers out there; powers that can and do hurt and isolate and torment and destroy, in all sorts of ways. The categories we use to describe them don\u2019t really matter that much. Whether we live in a world full of demons or schizophrenia, of storm-gods or indifferent natural laws, of possession or of illness\u2014regardless of the categories we use, we live in a dangerous world, a frightening world. It\u2019s a world that seems at both first <em>and <\/em>second glance to be pretty much against us. We live in a world that doesn\u2019t seem to care about us or our pain. We know this all too well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The story of the Gerasene Demoniac, like the story of the calming of the sea, like so many of the other stories about what Jesus did\u2014about who Jesus is\u2014these stories are ways of saying that, of all of those powers out there, regardless of how we name them or organize them, in spite of how terribly real they are and how awful they are\u2014none of them is ultimately powerful. None of them has or will have the last word, none of them will ultimately prevail. In the end, when all is said and done, we are cared for and cared about. In the end, the power that Jesus brings, the power of obedient, self-sacrificing love, the power we see most clearly on the cross, <em>that<\/em>power will prevail. And his victory is ours by gift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the end of the day, it doesn\u2019t matter what is lined up against us. Notice how the Gerasene Demoniac had much more to worry about than his demons. He was also a pariah, cut off from family, friends, community, relationships\u2014from all of those connections that together weave the fabric of our very humanity. That isolation, that apart-ness, was also the victory of powers, powers we humans create, powers that can destroy as effectively and as completely as madness or a storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, by the time Jesus got through with him, our Demoniac was on the other side of those as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was not only in his right mind, but he was, as they say, dressed appropriately, and Jesus told him to go to his home, a home he didn\u2019t have when our story began. He was given the fullness of his life back. Remember, there are all sorts of powers out there, and all sorts of victories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now for a bit of an aside, that leads us to St. Paul. In our Baptismal Covenant, Christians promise to \u201crenounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God.\u201d This can be confusing. Note well that we are not skipping back 2,000 years and using the same categories that the New Testament uses. We don\u2019t see the \u201cevil powers of this world\u201d as critters from hell, servants of the devil, that magically mess with us. There isn\u2019t a racism demon, or a hunger-causing demon, or an oppression-causing demon, or a money demon. These evil powers we renounce are modern categories, they are human things, things of this world. They are institutions, systems, learned behaviors, traditions and values, or simply habits, that end up corrupting and destroying the creatures of God. These we must identify, renounce, and resist if we are to fulfill our calling as Christians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Pr7-2025-Sermon-Title-FB-EN-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-332849\" style=\"width:512px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All of this is part of what Paul is talking about when he insists that, in Christ, \u201cThere is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female.\u201d Notice how we sometimes still use the same categories the New Testament uses to talk about powers\u2014here it\u2019s the powers of separation based on sex, race, and social class. Paul is saying that these distinctions and others, these powers of the social, economic, ecclesiastical, and political structures\u2014as ancient, hallowed, destructive, and potent as they were, and as they still are\u2014these are powers that <em>will<\/em> fall, and that even now <em>are<\/em> falling, before Jesus. Their voices are not the strongest voices, and they, too will not have the last word. It is our vocation to oppose them, and by God\u2019s grace they should not, and ultimately they cannot, separate, isolate, define, or destroy us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because the love that Jesus is and the love that Jesus brings, this love is stronger than anything, even the worst, the very worst, that the world can throw at us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s who Jesus is\u2014that\u2019s what these stories are all about, that\u2019s the meta-narrative, regardless of the categories and the worldviews we use to talk about them. And that is very good news.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This sermon was written by <strong>the Rev. James Liggett<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-b64d8d72-3389-43d6-9e5a-1a2a307bebd8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Sermon-Proper-7-English.docx\">Word \u2013 Proper 7 (C) Sermon<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Sermon-Proper-7-English.docx\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-b64d8d72-3389-43d6-9e5a-1a2a307bebd8\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-6d260273-d534-4320-a448-4a6f7d21eb9d\" href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Sermon-Proper-7-English.pdf\">PDF \u2013 Proper 7 (C) Sermon<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Sermon-Proper-7-English.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-6d260273-d534-4320-a448-4a6f7d21eb9d\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[RCL] 1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a; Psalm 42 and 43; Galatians 3:23-29; Luke 8:26-39 This is a sermon about the Gerasene Demoniac. It\u2019s about time somebody wrote one. This story doesn\u2019t get a lot of attention from pulpits these days, and that\u2019s a shame. There\u2019s some really good stuff here, and it\u2019s pretty funny if&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43,52,33,3],"tags":[372],"class_list":["post-682835","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-7c"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":43,"label":"Sermons"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":372,"label":"Proper 7C"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/682835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermon"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/682835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3477276,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/682835\/revisions\/3477276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=682835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=682835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=682835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}