Luke 8:26-39
If you are like
me, you often do not recognize yourself in your own words, thoughts, and
deeds. Sometimes we see how we fall
short in an instant, while other times it becomes clear to us in retrospect,
perhaps even years later. Regardless, it
is so easy for us all to be so consumed by anger, pride, lust, envy, and other disordered
desires that we lose control of ourselves and act more like a bundle of
inflamed passions than like a person created in God’s image and likeness. And then when we calm down and come to our
senses, we are understandably ashamed and embarrassed. It is a great blow to our egos to recognize
how easily our sense of self disintegrates before the passions that so often run
wild within us.
When
we recognize this difficult truth about ourselves, we can understand at least a
bit why the man in today’s gospel lesson wanted to leave his hometown and
follow Jesus Christ. He had been so
filled with demons that he said his name was Legion. He had not lived a recognizably human
existence, for he was naked, in a cemetery, and without family or friends. Everyone was terrified of him, and even
shackles and chains could not restrain him.
He had become a monster and people fled from him in fear. But after the Lord delivered him from the
forces of evil, this fellow was clothed and in his right mind. The transformation was so shocking that his
neighbors were terrified to the point of asking Christ to leave town.
Imagine
how this poor man felt at that point. Even
as he must have been overjoyed at his deliverance, he knew that everyone he
encountered was well aware of his miserable past. They had seen him as a crazy, dangerous, and
evil person and had wanted nothing to do with him. Instead of simply thanking Christ for
delivering him, these people asked the Lord to leave their region. They were deeply disturbed by what had
happened. Of course, this man was at the
center of the controversy and he wanted to put it all behind him. So he wanted to follow the One Who had given
him back his life and his true identity.
That
is not what the Lord had in store for him, however, for He told him to stay in
his town and tell everyone about what God had done for him. Perhaps that was
because there could have been no greater witness to the good news of Christ’s
salvation than the living testimony of someone who had so obviously been set
free from the forces of evil, who had so obviously been given back his life as
a human being. The people of that
region did not understand Who Christ was or what it meant to encounter Him in
their lives. They had been simply afraid
of Him. But perhaps through the
persistent witness of someone who had been so wretched and depraved and then
became a healthy and whole person again, their eyes would be opened. Perhaps then they would come to see that they
too needed the blessing of the One Who restored “Legion” to his true self.
Surely,
one of the reasons that many people do not take Christianity seriously today is
that they do not encounter people who lives are visibly different because of
their commitment to Jesus Christ. Many
in our culture equate being a Christian with simply being a good citizen or a
nice person. Many have realized that it
is quite possible to be a good citizen and a nice person without being a
Christian. Some who claim to be Christians do not attend a church of any
kind. Some who do attend services do not
live in ways different from anyone else in our culture. If we water down our Orthodox Christian faith
to the point that it concerns only what we do for a couple of hours on Sunday, we
will fit right in with the dominant trends of our culture that lead people not
to take Christ seriously. If our
participation in the Body of Christ does not strengthen, heal, and transform us
for lives of holiness, then we will not bear witness to what happens when human
beings become their true selves through the blessing of our Savior.
St.
Seraphim of Sarov said, “Acquire the Spirit of peace and a thousand souls
around you will be saved.” In other words, those who are filled with the Holy
Spirit and healed of their passions will live in such a way that their example
will draw others to the Lord. They will
exist as human persons healed, fulfilled, and transformed. They will move from being “Legion” to being
themselves in God’s image and likeness.
They will become living icons of our Lord’s salvation. Whether we like it or not, we all bear
witness to Jesus Christ every day in all that we say and do, whether for good
or bad. Family, friends, coworkers, and
classmates probably know that we are Orthodox Christians, and they likely take
pretty seriously the example that we give them.
If we identify ourselves with Christ and do or say this or that, then
that is what we encourage them to believe about our Lord. If we do not become living icons of holiness,
then we are sending the wrong message to everyone we encounter. If we do not bear powerful testimony by how
we live each day of the healing power of the Savior, then we are being
unfaithful witnesses to Him.
Contrary
to popular opinion, we do not fulfill a religious obligation simply by
attending services on Sunday morning, though we obviously should do so. For Orthodox Christians to think about
fulfilling or meeting perfectly what God desires for us by a particular action is
a contradiction in terms, for our Lord teaches that we are to “be perfect as
our Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48) To become a partaker of the
divine nature by grace is an infinite journey, a process of healing and
transformation for which there is no upward limit, for God is infinitely holy. (2
Pet. 1:4) Instead of imagining that we
are mastering a skill or checking off a box, we must remember that our calling
is truly to become like God in holiness.
No matter where we are on the journey, we have an infinite distance yet
to go. And if we ever think that we have
arrived or completed the course, we should think again.
Remembering
that the Savior told the man to stay in his village and proclaim the good news,
we must embrace the spiritual disciplines of the Christian life with integrity
if we are to offer faithful testimony to our Lord. We must fast and deny ourselves if we are to
have any hope of living in a way that shows that human beings are called to
something higher than slavery to self-centered desires. We must forgive those who offend us and
reconcile with those from whom we have become estranged if we are to model an
alternative to the anger, fear, and hatred so powerful in the world today. We must open our hearts to God in prayer on a
daily basis if we are to find the strength to become our true selves in Christ
as opposed to a bundle of inflamed passions.
We must regularly receive the Holy Mystery of Confession in order to
find healing from our sins as we prepare to receive the Body and Blood of the
Lord which enable us to participate even now in the banquet of heaven, the
complete fulfillment of all things in Christ. And then we must make a liturgy
of every moment of our lives, offering ourselves and all our blessings back to
the Lord for Him to use as is best for the salvation of the world.
Whenever
we are embarrassed to do so out of shame for our failings, weaknesses, and
ongoing struggles, we must remember that formerly demon-possessed man. He obeyed Christ by staying in a place where
he did not want to be, among people who probably were not comfortable around
him. Still, he obeyed and proclaimed the
good news by his words and deeds. If we
are truly in Christ and want to bear faithful witness to Him, then we must
swallow our hurt pride and do the same.
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