Sunday, June 20, 2000
Luke 8:26-39
“Pride And Proclamation”
Franklin Circle Christian Church
Allen V. Harris

** Note: This sermon was originally preached on Sunday June 25, 1995 at Park Avenue Christian Church in New York City (with minor changes).
 

Hear this sermon in MP3 format by clicking HERE!

*Hint: do a right click on your mouse and click "open in new window" to have the text and your media player open at the same time!  You may have to minimize the media player to see the text screen.
 

To hear the special "Pastoral Word" from Pastor Allen, as well as the Prayers of the People, please click HERE!


Healing and wholeness are fundamental to the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ. Though these two words are joined together frequently, they are not synonymous. Healing and wholeness are two separate facets of the same jewel. Healing is the transformation from a state of disease, or dis-ease, to one of health. Wholeness is the condition of being full or complete. Jesus did not simply heal people for the sake of doing miracles. The transformation he offered motivated people to lead fuller lives, a more abundant existence.

My mother’s ambitions were very much like that. Her career as a nurse for almost five decades was not simply directed toward the healing of bodies, but also to the well being of individuals. I recall being amazed at my mom's ability to not only know the medical condition of the patients she worked with, but also the names of their family members, their birthdays, and other such personal information. In her final responsibility as director of a nursing home, my mother was as much a pastor as a nurse to her residents.

Our gospel story discloses important information both about the process of healing and about the desired goal of wholeness. The man living in the area "opposite of Galilee," where the Gerasenes lived, was a person possessed by demons. There were so many demons filling his soul that when asked what his name was, he could only reply, "Legion.”

I don't know what you think about demons and evil spirits, but the older I get, the more certain I become that they exist in one form or another. The hateful way people behave sometimes is so foreign to what I know to be right and good and holy, that I can't help but surmise that they are possessed by something beyond the material world. Hearing the reports last March that distinguished members of Congress, such as Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver and veteran civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis were spat upon and called the “n” word as they walked to the Capitol shocked and repulsed me. (1) We can all acknowledge that such an act is indicative of much more insidious horror. Racism appears to me to be nothing less than demonic.

If I were to be honest, I'd also admit that sometimes the things I do seem to be demonic. Upon reading this text for the first time, I was overwhelmed by my memories of a period in my life when I felt possessed by evil spirits. The recollections are still quite vivid and painful. What spurred these remembrances was the description of the demoniac living in tombs and being bound by the villagers with chains and shackles. There was a time when I lived in tombs, in caves, in shadowy places. The phrase we use depicts one as "living in the closet." I can assure you, however, that trying to live as if your most intimate identity doesn't even exist is more than the sensation of simply being stuffy or cramped: it is like being dead.

As a gay man I can relate to the description of living with a multitude of other beings inside of me. At one point my insides were so crowded with other identities that I could not even name who I was. I tried everything to avoid dealing with the demons. Eventually I married a woman, whom I loved dearly, hoping that if I acted like a "normal" man, I would eventually become one.

Twenty-five years ago this month, my wife and I, after only six months of marriage, mutually recognized the demons, and before they could do more damage to our souls, they were asked to leave. We separated and soon were divorced. I celebrate my "coming out" as an openly gay man twenty-five years ago this month. I rejoice that twenty-five years ago I heard the call to wholeness that has transformed my existence.

Truly I believe that it was the grace of God and the healing presence of Jesus that invited me into this journey toward wholeness. I could not do it alone. That had become painfully clear. Once the demons were out, I felt like I had been born again. While the expulsion had been painful, the new life I'd been given was nothing less than spectacular.

That's my story. You may be aware by now of your own demons. I suspect that everyone lives with demons. I've got others still rampant within me. You may have a few or a legion of them. Are you bound to the fear of your own failures, or perhaps even your own successes? Are you shackled to cynicism or negative thinking? Are you caught in the tomb of addiction, whether it be alcohol, sex, food or work? You know your own demons. In any case, we are all constantly living with unhealthy forces that keep us bound and entombed.

Should this be overwhelming to us? Yes, and no. Any kind of an affliction is disturbing, unsettling. Even so, God desperately yearns for us to seek health and to be whole. Most likely, it will not be within our own power to achieve this healing. We can only accept it when it comes.

Ironically, once transformed we will soon find out that healing is also disturbing and unsettling. There will be those who will not be comfortable with us becoming healthy. Like the Geresene demoniac, my demons were terrorized by the prospects of living a life of health. Similarly, once their deranged neighbor was sitting quietly, fully clothed at the foot of Jesus, those who had lived around him could not accept what had happened. They were afraid and ordered Jesus to leave. Healthy people frighten those who are still living with their demons.

Remember the story I told you about the protester spitting on and calling out hateful slurs against our African American Congressmen? At the same time the shouted out at Rep. Barney Frank “Faggot,” the “f” word. Those who are consumed by their demons simply cannot contain themselves when those who have found healing and wholeness are present.

We must not let such folk confuse nor divert us from this important journey. What we can do is recognize when we've been healed and then proclaim how much God has done for us. After being healed by Jesus, the man wanted to go with him and his band of followers. Instead, Jesus sends him back to his own community to proclaim the possibilities for new and abundant life to others.

And that is what many of us will be doing next Saturday during the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride March down Lakeside Avenue. The reason I march is to proclaim what God has done for me. If the voices of hatred and bigotry are going to go so far as to spit and name-call members of Congress, then surely we have the responsibility to proclaim the power of the Gospel in every way we can. Jesus brought me healing twenty-five years ago and I continue to walk the path toward wholeness. I am not there yet, but along the way I cannot help but tell others about all that God has done.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

(1) The Huffington Post, by Sam Stein, “Tea Party Protests: 'Ni**er,' 'Fa**ot' Shouted At Members Of Congress,” First Posted: 03-20-10 04:56 PM, found online at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/20/tea-party-protests-nier-f_n_507116.html

 

Rev. Allen V. Harris
Franklin Circle Christian Church
www.FranklinCircleChurch.org


 

Copyright 2010 -- The Rev. Allen V. Harris

Franklin Circle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

1688 Fulton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44113-3096