June 19, 2022 St. Andrew Church Rev. Anne McAnelly
First Lesson: 1 Kings 19:1-4,8-15a
1Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.”
8 He got up and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. 9 At that place he came to a cave and spent the night there.
Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”
11 He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus;
Second Lesson: Luke 8:26-39
26 Then they arrived at the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 As he stepped out on shore, a man from the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had not worn any clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, shouting, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me,” 29 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.) 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. 31 They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.
32 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. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd stampeded down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
34 When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. 35 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 became frightened. 36 Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. 37 Then the whole throng of people of the surrounding region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “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.
When I was a young child, my family visited my older sister Beth at her boarding school in Arizona. Beth and I shared a hotel room together. Beth was a smoker, and I was curious about that, because both my parents smoked. She said, “Do you want to try it?” and I said, “Sure.” I walked over to her, and she gave me her cigarette. I sucked on it and choked, coughing, giving it back to her, before running to the bathroom because I felt nauseous. I tried the cigarette because everyone was smoking in the late 60s, and it as offered to me. I certainly was not old enough to purchase them. I am grateful for that moment, because every other time smoking was an option, I had no desire to smoke. I could honestly say I have tried that, and I don’t want to do it. That was the first time I recall following the crowd, and the first time I learned how to stand in my truth.
Today we are starting a summer sermon series on Discipleship, lessons we learn from Luke about how to follow Jesus. Jesus has just arrived in a foreign land, and he encounters a possessed man, a man with many demons. Jesus asked him his name, seeking to know the man but is told “Legion” which is not his name but rather speaks to the many forces at work within him. Legion you know is a military term, of a Roman fighting unit, which seems so fitting when we consider how those forces work within us. The battle that can rage inside our minds. I am not saying we get possessed by demons, but I sometimes feel like there is a chorus inside my head arguing about what path to take, what is the right action. Jesus demands these forces to leave before they declare Jesus the Son of the Most High God. Jesus frees the man, casting these forces into nearby swine. As you know, pigs are unclean animals, providing wonderful hosts for these unwanted forces. This herd of pigs is what got me thinking about us following the crowd. The proverbial, jumping off the cliff together. Isn’t that the definition of following the crowd, Johnny jumped off the cliff, so I thought it was a good idea. I was also struck by two phrases we still use today, go jump in the lake, and jump off a cliff, both of them just happened in this story.
Our passages teach us something about following. Luke asks us who do you follow? The crowd or Jesus? The story of Elijah asks how do we return to following and how do we hear the divine?
Our gospel tells of a man in who had lost it all because of his demons. He lived in the tombs among the dead, he was naked, he was chained, placed under guard and lost from community. Yet his demons saw Jesus and asked for help. It named Jesus and begged not to go back to the abyss. At first this seems so other, not like anything we can relate to. But I want to suggest we are not too far off from this, just in a milder form. We have forces in our lives that pull us away from the good parts of life, that have us trapped in dark places, that strip us of our dignity. You might be struggling with addiction using a substance, alcohol, drugs, food or cigarettes to deal with the hardships of life. Or maybe chronic physical pain that robs you of the joy of the Spirit. Or depression that traps you in darkness. I name these not to say we can overcome them with a simple prayer, but that chronic conditions have a spiritual component. Our faith can help in the healing.
Jesus allowed the demons to leave the man and enter the pigs. The force of this legion is now moving within a herd, a crowd, and soon plunges to its death. When we follow the crowd, it often does not end well for us either. When we are following the crowd, we too might yell “What do you have to do with this, Jesus?” It’s none of your business that I am gossiping. It’s none of your business that I am telling lies, or procrastinating. It is none of your business that I am giving in to my addiction or isolating. Or maybe it is as simple as wanting to follow the crowd more than we want to follow Jesus.
Following the crowd can also be a good thing, like deciding to eat more healthy foods or exercising more. Social forces can help move us into better habits and lifestyle changes. Jesus is not going to encourage our healthy trends to leave us. No, Jesus is addressing the parts of the man that are causing him pain, isolation and struggle and commanding that to leave.
As Christians, we know Jesus is in our hearts, but sometimes we resist following him. We want to do what we want. We want to do what other people are doing, we can get swept away in the crowd mentality. We don’t want to be reminded of our faith, of Jesus’ call, of God when we are doing our own thing… We too might run to the hill with the crowd, saying well so and so did it.
So I ask you to think of one thing you would like for Jesus to lift from you? One way you follow the crowd that does not help your relationship with Jesus. Have you come up with something? Ask Jesus to relieve you of that behavior or thought. Then for the next week, pray daily for Jesus to lift that thing from you. Cast it into swine and let the herd jump off the cliff. Then you can return to Jesus with renewed faith.
Elijah did the same thing with God. He was a leading prophet, had just defeated 450 prophets of Baal, he was one of only a few remaining prophets of the Lord and he was facing a threat. Jezebel vowed to kill him. Elijah, God’s prophet, was afraid. He went from being faithful to being fearful. He wanted to die. He didn’t want to follow God anymore. Fear crippled his following. He was tired, he was alone, he was threatened. But God came to him. Not in a dramatic way, but in a way similar to God coming to Moses on the same Mt. Horeb (Exodus 33:22). God’s presence brings us back to following.
We may think that God comes in powerful ways, great winds, earthquakes and fire, all forces of nature and of God. But Elijah discovered that God was not in those dramatic displays. Yet it begs the question, what are the winds of your life? Who is the one who can make your earth shake? Who creates explosive moments or what of your behaviors burn like fire? Dramatic moments can keep us from following, can distract us from following God and Christ. But Elijah showed us how to listen for the divine. First to not get caught up in the drama of life, the storms and the earth-shaking moments, the heat of doing what we want. Instead, listen to the still small voice of God. Humbly enter into God’s presence and wait, listen, pray. Like Elijah, humbly share your fear, your truth, your desperation, so that God can come to you in a way to you can hear, in the quiet, in the calm, in the surrendered moments of the divine. That is how you and I become true disciples, listening followers, grounded faithfuls.
How do you hear God’s still small voice? God’s gentle whisper? Or the sound of sheer silence? Maybe a better question is have you intimately heard God? We can’t manufacture God’s presence, but we can invite God into our lives through prayer, journaling, scripture reading, small groups of honest sharing. We can befriend the silent moments of our lives, trusting that God is working in and through them to bring us into divine communion, truthful following, and honest relations.
When we follow Jesus, instead of the crowd, the craziness goes away, we have peace sitting at Jesus’ feet, to live our life where we are. To share our truth, our faith, our hope. Like the healed man we are to share our faith with those around us, letting people know what Jesus has done in our lives.
Let us pray, God of stillness, we thank you for your companionship in silence, your encouragement to follow, your strength to stand in our own truth as your disciples and faithful followers. Lift from us the selfish or trending ways we turn from you, and welcome us home into your loving arms. Reassure us with your presence, quieting the voices that pull us away. Enable us to hear the beautiful sound of your gentle whisper that loves us each and every moment. In the name of your precious Son, Jesus, we pray. Amen.
