the second sunday after pentecost
the PRAYER …
O Lord God, we bring before you the cries of a sorrowing world. In your mercy set us free from the chains that bind us, and defend us from everything that is evil, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
the READING …
“As [Jesus] stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him.” luke 8:26-39
the DEVOTION …
The story, this week, makes it sound so simple and plain. The “possessed” – figuratively speaking – is the exception, not the rule. The oddball, not the run-of-the-mill. The one, not the many. He – or she’s – the one without clothes, wandering through the cemetery. Bound by chains. Screaming at the top of his/her/their lungs. We may not be able to cast out “the demon,” but we sure know who to avoid, next time we see ’em coming!
It’s a little more difficult, though, when the “possessed” are a bit more … normal. A bit more … like us. Successful. Polite. Well-educated. Well-groomed. And of course, dressed, not naked! The kind of people we don’t mind passing on the street. In fact, the kind we see, every morning, looking back at us, in the mirror.
But then, that’s why, most Sunday mornings, we say that we – not they – are captive to sin! THEY aren’t the ones who need exorcized, WE are! They’re not the ones influenced, controlled, WE are! SELF-centered! SELF-seeking! SELF-righteous! SELF-absorbed. Fortunately, that’s why Jesus came! To set us free! Not just from devils and demons. But to set us free … from US!