Homily
by The Rev. Marcia McRae
St.
Francis Episcopal Church, Goldsboro, NC
5th
Sunday after Pentecost, 19 June 2016
Proper
7 Year C RCL: 1 Kings 19: 1-4, (5-7), 8-15a; Psalm 42 and 43;
Galatians 3:23-29; Luke 8:26-39
Fear
possesses Elijah as he flees to the wilderness.
Demons
possess the man among the tombs.
Both
live isolated from family, friends,
&
their communities.
 |
| What does this mean? Read on! |
Each
man could say the repeated verses [6
& 14] in our Psalm: “Why
are you so full of heaviness, O my soul?
And
why are you so disquieted within me?”
It
takes God's intervention for each to be able to say (later)
the other repeated
verses [7 & 15]:
“Put
your trust in God;
for
I will yet give thanks to him,
who
is the help of my countenance, & my God.”
Both
men are made in the image of God. You & I are made in God's
image. They – we – are made for community. The Holy Trinity shows
us how to live in holy community / holy relationship. Yet, like
Elijah & the demoniac in our Gospel, we experience times of
brokenness, times of isolation.
We
can take comfort when we read scriptures like today's that show
people who are scared, isolated, who have a heap of trouble, whose
lives are a mess for whatever reason. These
are
ordinary people.
Yes,
Elijah is
a big famous, zealous prophet,
who speaks truth to power & is responsible for the slaughter of
450 prophets of Ba'-al1
–
that's Jezebel's God. He slaughters Jezebel's home team. Jezebel is
out for revenge.
Big
famous Elijah is human like us. He's scared & running for his
life. He wants to die – just not at Jezebel's hands! He wants God
to end his life. God would kill him mercifully. Jezebel will make him
suffer.
As one Bible commentator
says about this lesson:
“This
same prophet who boldly (confronts) kings is now (at) his lowest
point...(This) man of God is still a mere man....(O)nly when the
prophet is in this weak state (can) he...hear God in the stillness (&
not in)...wind, earthquake & (fire)...God is
there”2
in the stillness.
You
may recall the pyrotechnics
& water
battle
in Chapter 18
during Elijah's face off with the prophets of Ba'-al. Elijah has been
God's man to show God's power in spectacular ways. Now, God's
interaction shifts to subtlety. As
Bible professor & commentator Jon Levenson says,
“Elijah
must learn to heed the almost imperceptible signal within
& not to rely on...(God's) dramatic intervention...”3
As another Bible commentator
says, “We
see the prophet in his humanity like never before...(in) extreme
fear, severe depression...4
At this low point, God asks: 'What are
you doing here, Elijah?' He says: 'I
have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the
Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, &
killed
your prophets with the sword. I
alone am left, & they are seeking my life, to take it away.'"
God
has Elijah experience great
wind, earthquake & fire
– natural elements with which Elijah has demonstrated God's power,
yet these elements do not hold God's spirit5. After
the fire comes “a
sound of sheer silence”.
In awe, Elijah wraps his face in his mantle, goes out of the cave
where he's hiding, stands at the entrance & hears a voice repeat
God's question: "What are
you doing here, Elijah?" Again
Elijah answers as he did before, using the exact words when he was
in despair.
Elijah
gives the same answer after he hears God in the stillness because his
tough situation is
the same. What has changed is
Elijah. Now he knows God is
with him6.
He can
go forward.
Like
Elijah, the man in our Gospel can go forward after his encounter with
Jesus. Before this he is like Elijah: running scared in the
wilderness of the tombs – alone, isolated. This man is
possessed
by a Legion of demons.
Perhaps
we hear the name Legion differently than do Jesus' followers, who are
well acquainted with the many men of the Roman Legion who occupy
their land. They know what it feels like to be possessed by a Legion,
to be controlled by invaders so strong that no matter what you do –
chains & shackles of a peace treaty, taxes & bribes – won't
stop them, won't free you from the Legions' control. Only God's power
can do that.
God's
grace can free us. God can free us no matter what “Legion”
oppresses or possesses us:
abuse, physical & mental illnesses,
finances, unemployment, alcohol, drugs, broken relationships.7
God's power, God's grace, can renew & restore us to fuller life,
to renewed relationship through Jesus, God's Living Word.
Do
we want to be free? Do we want this new, fuller life God offers us?
Living in new ways is
scary. Look at how the people react when they see the man in his
right mind, renewed, clothed: Fear seizes
them!
Why? Why do they ask Jesus to leave?
Go
away! Jesus,
Go Away!
Jesus
honors their request. Jesus will leave you alone if you ask. And he's
likely to send someone you will
listen
to who is less scary. Jesus doesn't give up on us. He gives us work
to do. He lovingly tells the man who had been demon-possessed to
return to his people & share the Good News. His people are in the
depths of fear where is it is hard to hear God. The fearful can hear
their healed brother.
Sometimes
we have to get to a really low point before we can hear God.
Sometimes all
the human efforts – like chaining & shackling the demoniac –
do
not free
us. Healing, wholeness, freedom come from Jesus' strong, loving voice
– whose ever voice Jesus uses. Often Jesus speaks through us.
However
God speaks through you, however God speaks to you, know this: God
loves you.
No
exceptions!
All
are welcome into God's love.
Here
is a spelling test8
for some of the attributes we can develop to hear God & to be
the voice that speaks' God's love to our Brothers & Sisters:
Helpful
Engaging
Ready
Attentive
Forgiving
Teacher
[Helpers, can you arrange
them to spell a special word for today?]
Yes:
FATHER!
God our attentive
Father in Heaven,
God the Son Jesus, who
forgives
us,
God the Holy Spirit, who
teaches
us all things,
God the Holy Trinity is our Helpful,
Engaging, Ready, Attentive,
Forgiving, Teacher, who
entrusts us & guides us
in God's work of reconciling all people to God.
Bibliography
Boadt,
Lawrence. Reading the Old Testament: An
Introduction. New York: Paulist Press. 1984.
Harper’s
Bible Commentary. General Ed.: James. L.
Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers. 1988.
Holy
Bible. New Revised Standard Version. New
York: Oxford University Press. 1989.
Holy
Bible with the Apocrypha. New Revised
Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press. 1989.
Jewish
Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation.
New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
Levenson,
Jon D. Sinai & Zion: An Entry into the
Jewish Bible. Minneapolis: A Seabury Book.
Winston Press. 1985.
Matthews,
Victor H. Social World of the Hebrew Prophets.
Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers. Inc. 2001.
Nam,
Roger. “Commentary on 1 Kings 19:1-4[5-7]8-15a”.
http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1719.
New
Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha.
Eds.: Herbert G. May, Bruce M. Metzger.
Rogness,
Michael. “Commentary on Luke 8:26-39”.
http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1719.
1
New Oxford Annotated Bible with the
Apocrypha. Eds.: Herbert G. May, Bruce M.
Metzger. P. 446.
2
Nam, Roger. “Commentary
on 1 Kings
19: 1-4, (5-7), 8-15a”.
The Working Preacher.
http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1719.
3
Levenson, Jon D. Sinai &
Zion: An Entry into the Jewish Bible. P. 90.
4
Ibid. Nam.
5
Matthews, Victor H. Social World of the
Hebrew Prophets. P. 57.
6 Jewish
Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation.
New York: Oxford University Press. P. 717.
7
Idea from: If we define “demons” as those
forces which have captured us and prevented us from becoming what
God intends us to be, we are as surrounded by -- yes, possessed by
-- as many demons as those whom Jesus encountered. Our demons can be
of many kinds: mental illnesses, schizophrenia, paranoia,
addictions, obsessions, destructive habits, and so on.” Rogness, Michael. “Commentary on Luke 8:26-39.”
http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1719.
8
Idea adapted from “Give Me an F”.
http://www.sermons4kids.com/givemeanF.html
Accessed: 16 June 2016.
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