On Demon Possession and Such

Luke 8:26-39
Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.

As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs.

When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me"-- for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.)

Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" He said, "Legion"; for many demons had entered him.

They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.  Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission.  Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.  When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country.

 Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.  Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed.Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.

The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.


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My sister and I grew up at the top of cemetery hill.  We passed three cemeteries on our way to and from town each day, and our house looked out over tombstones.  We had a grandmotherly neighbor who lived even closer to the cemetery, and she told us once, "People always ask me if I'm scared to live so close to the cemeteries, and I tell them, 'no - it's the living ones you have to be afraid of."

This was less than comforting wisdom for small children. 

The man in our story is the worst of both worlds - this man is one of the living that you need to be afraid of, but he is also one of the dead to be afraid of.  Naked, chained up, simmering with demons; this man lives among the tombs because there is no place for him in society.  Oh, I think our present society today would find a nicer way to categorize him - we would put a better label on what ailed him - but would we really treat him any better?  Still today we would work to move him out of our view - out of sight, out of mind - and to stop him from hurting himself and others.  We have our own tombs where people like that can stay. 

I think it's important to name things - so I'll go ahead and name the face that talking about demon possession makes us all a little uncomfortable. There are churches that talk about things like this, and then there are Methodist churches.

But, today you invited a missionary to come and preach - and when you invite a missionary to preach, you never know what you're getting yourself into.  So, Buckle up!

My name is Michael Airgood, and I'm a standard support missionary with GBGM.  My sister, brother-in-law, and nephew attend this church. 

A visiting American preached a sermon on this or a similar passage to the Ukrainian congregation in Lviv - and he began by dismissing the demonic.  He sarcastically asked, "and how many of us have ever seen a man possessed by demons..." and then continued his sermon.  For the Ukrainian congregation, the sermon ended there - because some had seen such possessions, and as most had lived through the end of communism and the rough beginning of capitalism: all had seen the forces of evil and wickedness in full force. 

I imagine that most of us here would publicly state that we have never seen anything like in our lives, but I think that if we were honest with ourselves we could each think of a painful moment when evil held a small triumph over good. 

I serve a campus ministry and it's really the most wonderful place and wonderful people I've ever been around.  There is such a strong spirit of God among those students, but a year ago during a remodeling project the ceiling collapsed killing two and injuring a third.  Picking up the pieces of that tragedy consumed the hardest months of our lives. 

There were no good answers to give students about why this happened.  There were moments when it really felt like evil had triumphed ...

In today's scripture reading we find one of the most honest, painful, and real encounters with Jesus.  We see a man who would be better off dead, and we see a savior who steps up to this man and makes him well by sending away the demons, and we see a town that cannot fathom God's goodness and demands that Jesus be sent away as well.  And we see this in our own lives.  And we see this everyday.


Jesus was on a much needed vacation trip.  He is trying to spend some quality time with his friends without all of the distraction of the crowd.  However, not everyone got the memo, because when he steps out of the boat, he is immediately confronted by the shear terror of this man's life.

We don't know much about this man. 

Someone cared for this man.  Someone remembered who this man was before the demons destroyed his life.  Someone continued to come to the cemetery and chain him up when he broke free so that he wouldn't keep hurting himself.  We don't even know where his story took place - it was a strange and hostile place to the disciples who recorded this story.  It wasn't Jewish, it wasn't familiar, and they dock their boat in a sea-side cemetery there with a welcoming committee of one crazy man.

And this story reminds me of visiting churches for the first time.  I can't tell you how many churches I've visited where a self-selected committee of one crazy person comes over and is way overbearing.  "You're REALLY welcome here."  I've visited many of these churches, but I've also visited churches where literally no one spoke to me.
 
I once preached at a church that was so dead and so cold that it could be felt.  The pastor and lay leader had both warned me, but I just laughed at the warning.  Oh how wrong I was.  No one smiled during the jokes.  No one talked during the passing of the peace.  No one wanted to be present, and it was especially painful for everyone that there were others present.  It was as awkward as a middle school dance.    And I almost gave up all hope for this church.  Almost.

You see, in the front row were two acolytes who listened to every word of the sermon.  The younger of the two was in a wheelchair.  During the prayer time, they lifted up her most recent back surgery and the lay leader leaned over to tell me the name of the incurable disease she suffers from.  And this nine year old girl turned and waved to the congregation and gave the biggest smile I've ever seen and boldly proclaimed, "I couldn't do this without all of you behind me."

That little girl is going to exorcise some demons in that church.  She's going to shake loose some demons that that church would rather hold onto than let go of, won't she?

Because when we think about this reading as a demon exorcism, it's tempting to think that this story is thousands of years in the past and that we've come a long way.  But when we frame this story in light of all the ways that darkness and evil and wickedness show up in our day, it begins to hit a nerve or two - doesn't it?

And here's what is so shocking about the Gospel story we share in today.  After Jesus has performed this mighty miracle, after he has cast out the demons and made this man well - the townspeople come running to see the spectacle of Jesus and the tale of Demon Possessed Pigs - and they find this man who has been tortured by the forces of evil and wickedness for years sitting next to Jesus in his right mind - and they are furious. 

The legion of demons who had tortured this man immediately recognized that this man is the Son of God and they threw themselves before Jesus to ask for mercy - but these townspeople who have witnessed a miracle - who have seen a man they knew was tortured sitting and having been completely healed from this tragedy - , they can't seem to figure out that there is something wonderful about Jesus.

They see a bunch of dead pigs  and lost revenue and they feel that this is a greater tragedy than the years of life this man has lost - and they can't even celebrate that he is now well. 

They immediately ask Jesus to leave.  Jesus who commanded a legion of demons to leave this poor man, is now commanded to leave by the townspeople.   

The townspeople saw what Jesus was capable of and fearing that he would cast out their demons next  they decided to make him leave because their demons were more comfortable.

The story of Reverend Joseph Lowery



And how often does Jesus come to the tombs that we find ourselves living in?  How often does Jesus see us sitting among the dead, wrapped up in chains and he takes pity on us. 


And the question is, how do we become a people who fearlessly step forward to cast out the demons that have been allowed to simmer in our souls and societies for far too long.  When we live out the good news of Jesus Christ, we cast out the demons of bitterness, jealousy, evil, racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, and all the other -isms that we have allowed to define our nation and our culture. 

When we live like Jesus, we step up and name the injustice of our day.  We cast out all forces of spiritual darkness and evil - and we do not allow them to return.  And then we continue to sit with the man who has been made well.  And when those around us reject us out of fear of what we will do next, we smile and humbly shuffle on. 

In the days following the tragedy, the verse "do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" rang through my heart and my head over and over again.  And we delighted in watching the darkness run in terror from God's goodness and faithfulness.


In the face of the tragedy, our students came together in tremendous unity.  They stopped one another on the streets to pray together or sit and read the Bible.  Our core group learned that a church is more than a building.  Our local leadership team stepped up in ways that we never planned for and took over a lot of the ministry.  And every time that darkness crept up on us, there was someone good and kind to bat it away and share a small piece of the love of God with us. 

Dear friends, I send you forth this day to name the injustice of our day and to cast it out in the name of Jesus Christ who heals all who suffer from the powers of evil and wickedness.  Bring forth his light and life to this hurting world. 

On Sin and Such

In my home church, we always prayed the Lord's prayer using "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."  One of our pastors didn't like that translation and decided we should use a different translation.  Of course, change comes slowly for us Methodists - and our secretary was very confused when she got a note in her mailbox explaining that we would "debt" in the month of January, "trespass" in February, and begin "sinning" in march and continue sinning for the rest of the year.

We will continue sinning for the rest of the year.

Our reading today centers around a woman who was well known for her sin.  She was a "woman of the city," our euphemism is "a woman of the night."  And what's funny is that she was known for her sin, but depending on whom you asked - this was something to be celebrated or condemned.  In the tavern, they threw this woman parades for her lifestyle - but in the synagogue she was decried and exiled.

I don't know how much of an introduction you've been given - but my name is Michael Airgood and I'm a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist church. Like this woman, I'm also known by all by my profession - and like this woman, not everyone feels the same way about what I do.

I'm just coming from Annual Conference, and there I am celebrated as a missionary and United Methodist women just want to pinch my cheeks they are so excited to have a young missionary with them.

But in Ukraine, when older women find out that I'm a missionary it could come to fisticuffs.  Their first question is if I'm a Mormon.  I could basically wear a sign in Ukraine that says, "Not a Mormon" and I would still have to explain this many times a week to many different people.  I work with an interconfessional student ministry - Greek Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant young people get to together to worship and serve God to show to the rest of the world that the things that divide us are smaller than the God who unites us.  It's an exciting ministry, and I'm proud to share what our young people are doing in their country.  But obviously, it's a little bit scandalous, and not everyone is so happy about it.

When I'm in the states visiting churches, I like to preach and incorporate some of what God is teaching me in Ukraine.  Our American churches have much to learn from our brothers and sisters around the world.

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When you are famous for your sins, you must repent of your sins.  Growing up in the church, I was always taught that to repent means to turn around and go the opposite direction.  A youth pastor would draw a big U-turn on the board to show us this example.

I have the privilege of working with wise Ukrainian pastors, and our senior pastor is a brilliant young man - each time he reads through the Bible, he reads it in one of the six languages he speaks fluently.  He was reading through the Gospels in Polish, when he brought a unique insight to our community about the nature of sin and repentance.

In Polish, the word in the Bible used for "repent" - well, it means to turn around, but it is the word used for that specific moment when you are going somewhere and you have that deep, urgent sense that you have left the coffee pot turned on.  That you left the iron plugged in.  That you forgot to lock the door.

It is the word used for that inescapable anxiety that until you go back and check to make sure you have done right, you can not move forward.

This is the nature of repentance.  When our pastor leads the communion liturgy, at the "moment of silence for confession of sin" he will often allow silence to reign for 5 or 6 minutes.  It is a wildly uncomfortable moment, sitting together in total silence for far too long as you search your soul to see all that God would have you change.

In our American churches, my Ukrainian co-workers tell me, we don't talk about sin and repentance enough.   And I agree with them.  It's a pity.  As United Methodists, we have a rich and wonderful theology on the topic.  We are a church which believes wholeheartedly in grace and redemption, and we should talk about that.  And we are a church which stands up against sin and calls our members to personal and social holiness and we should talk about that, too.

Our United Methodist church is currently working on remodeling a space to call our own, a student center and church in an apartment that we own.  This will move us toward self sufficiency as we will not be paying monthly rent, and it will help our ministries grow knowing that they will not move from place to place each year.

In Ukraine, bribery and corruption are the order of the day.  Literally nothing can be accomplished without bribery.  As the United Methodist church, we refuse to pay bribes.  It is maddening to work in a system that demands bribery, but it is part of our witness when we smile bashfully and explain that in our religion we just don't believe in doing things that way.  We sit in offices for hours or even days and pray until "the man in charge" decides to change his mind and allow us to do things the legal way without a bribe.  We have a bit of a reputation in the government offices for being a bit crazy - but we have set our foot down and have chosen to follow God's way rather than the comfortable way.

It makes everyone a little bit uncomfortable.  



This woman comes into the party held in the home of a very religious man.  She was not welcome there, but she entered anyway.  And standing behind Jesus who is sitting at the table, she anoints his feet with oil - and seeing that she has brought no towel, she lets down her hair - in a culture where only a very loose woman would ever show her hair to a man, she begins toweling off Jesus' feet with her hair.  

This is beyond awkward.  This is scandalous.  This is Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy Birthday Mister President" - and all through this rather awkward event, all eyes are on Jesus.  This woman is well known for her sins, and the theory is - if Jesus is really a prophet, he will know her for her sins as well and call her out for them.

And when Jesus failed to yell at her with righteous indignation, or banish her to be thrown out of the room (or city ... or off with her head, maybe) The pharisees understood that Jesus wasn't who he said he was.  Jesus couldn't even discern who this vile woman was who was wrapping her hair around his feet.

 The pharisees were wrong.  Jesus knew who this woman was.  He knew her sins, he knew her past, he knew every man she had been with ... But Jesus also knew her future.  Jesus knew the hope she had, and Jesus knew the heartfelt honesty in her repentance.

This is the Gospel we believe.  It is scandalous and it is radical.  It is that one day we will be driving along like nothing is wrong, and deep in our core we will sense that something is wrong. We will have a "Did I leave the coffee pot on?"  moment.  Have I lived my whole life just to have a retirement account?  Can I really shop at a store that uses essentially slave labor abroad and destroys local economies here? Do I love my sin more than my God? We believe that God will convict us of our sin, that God will call us into uncomfortable new places.  Like this woman and the other women mentioned at the end of today's reading.  God will call us out of our sin, and into a lifetime of following God.  It will be scary and scandalous, but it will be the most wonderful gift you can receive.

Did you leave the coffee pot on this morning?

Go forth from this place, with the full knowledge that God loves you just the way you are, but loves you too much to let you stay that way.

Amen.