July 5th, 2026: 5th Sun after Pentecost, On the 2 Demoniacs, Matt 8

The great 14th century monasticism, founder of

monasticism, more or less in Russia. Iconic,

he borrows in the middle of the church, but he

appears up here on the iconostasis, this range,

the second range, which is called the deus' range.

You notice they are all complaining towards Christ

in prayer. So we ask him to pray for us. We remember

the great Damascus king Athanasius of Mount Athos,

the founder of the monastery, the great monastery

of Lavra. Also, we remember him today. Of course,

we're still celebrating the 250th anniversary

of the founding of this country, so we did some

of those prayers at the litany. We'll do another

prayer coming up shortly. But mostly, mostly

this time after Pentecost, fifth week, we're

back to basics of what it is a Christian does,

believes, how he, she walks and thinks. I'm not

going to review the Gospels of the past few weeks,

but you can think back on that. The single eye,

the faith of the centurion, Christ's power, the

storm, which Christ stops. The gospel message,

when I say gospel, I mean the whole thing, Christ.

The entire gospel message is about what God in

Christ has done and does for us. It's not what

we do for him. Yes, we respond, but the gospel,

the salvation comes from him. And this story

today, okay, it's an extreme example. But that's

what it's about. And we heard something from

the epistle to the Romans, part of St. Paul's

explanation to the Jewish Christians in Rome.

There were Jews in Rome that had converted, and

there were new converts that had joined that

church, and they were now together. And so St.

Paul, in that epistle, which seems kind of dense,

as St. Peter says in one of his epistles, Paul

writes many things difficult to understand. And

that's true. We need some explanation for these

things. But he's telling them that Christ is

the... That's my godson. Christ is the end. The

meaning. He's the goal of all the Old Testament.

He is what... completes it and fulfills it and

fills it up. He accomplished what the law of

Moses could not, that is to sanctify us and to

save us from the two things that the law of Moses

could only manage. That is sin, which kills us,

and death, which is the wages of sin. Christ

has saved us from that. The law was concerned

with what a man... Human does. The gospel is

directed to what God does. And what he does here

in this story, it's so perfect for us. As we

get back to basics of what it is to be a Christian,

he seeks us. He seeks the lost sheep. He seeks

those that are troubled. He breaks the bars.

Behind which we are imprisoned. We're just saying

that. My Savior and Redeemer. As God has come

and broken the chains that have bind us. Something

like that. And he enters in this account today.

After he and his disciples had been in a storm

on the Sea of Galilee. And he was asleep. And

they're crying, they're crying, they're afraid.

Wakes up, he says, why are you afraid? Why are

you afraid? Well, they were afraid they were

going to get drowned. And he says, peace and

the storm completely. Does water work this way?

No. Completely become still. That's what we want

of Christ in our heart. So, he comes to this

place, which we might call enemy occupied territory.

It's apparently a place where pigs are. Jews

don't raise pigs. They're unclean. But Gentiles

raise pigs. Why do they raise pigs? It's not

just for bacon or what Archbishop Benjamin used

to call on this Sunday, hearkening to meat fair

and cheese fair, he would call this swine Sunday.

No, pigs. Pigs are raised because they are offered

in religious pagan sacrifices to the pagan gods.

Or as St. Paul says, all the gods of the pagans

are demons. That's why there are pigs there.

And he encounters two men. Possessed. A legion

of demons. Thousands. How they got in there.

Probably a slow process. That's the way it usually

works. They were living in the tombs. They were

more dead than alive. They were spiritually dead.

They were living dead. And they were violent.

That's usually what the evil one provokes people

to do, is to be violent. And Jesus heals them.

Jesus has come into this enemy -occupied territory

during summer camp. Maybe Jackson and Zoya were

there at that session during our Christian ed

sessions. Father Kirill from San Francisco and

I were teaching, and he made the comparison about

the gospel, the good news. The word gospel is

good news. It's the victory, he said, of the

kingdom of God already proclaimed. It's already

happened. God has done it all, but we are awaiting

its fulfillment. It's coming to us in its fullness.

Just, he says, just as those resistant fighters

in France during World War II. They heard about

the invasion of D -Day and they knew the war

was over. But yet, for them, it was not yet over.

For us Christians, we live in this world. It

is like that. We have the signs, however. We

have the signs of the presence of the kingdom

of God. We have those signs that the victory

is completed. It is over. And we have a part

to play. We are not just sitting around waiting

for a heavenly taxi to take us to the kingdom.

We have tasks to do. We have something to become,

something to change into, to be transfigured

and transformed into. And the signs of the kingdom

of God are all the miracles done by the Savior,

all the healings, all the teachings, but especially

his trampling down death by his death on the

cross, especially his resurrection and his ascension.

What's besides the dome here? What's the next

highest icon in here? You're looking at it right

behind me. It's the ascension where Christ is

ruling all things. And we, brothers and sisters,

St. Paul says we are seated with him in the heavenly

places. That's the liturgy. We are seated even

right now in the heavenly places. We are joined

to Christ. So where he is ruling, we are with

him. He is not separated. Lo, I am with you to

the end of the age. The signs of his presence,

the signs of the victory, the gospel, is the

gift of the Holy Spirit. The sign is the saints,

St. Sergius, St. Athanasius, who did more miracles.

As Christ said, greater things shall you do.

The sign is the divine liturgy today in which

we taste and see. That the Lord is good. The

sign is that our sins are forgiven. And when

you hear that prayer at absolution. You know

it. Because in your soul. You sense it. For now.

We see through a glass. Darkly. But then. When

Christ appears. In his majesty and glory. With

all the angels. And the evil one. Satan is cast

into the lake of fire. Then. We will know face

to face. Now I know in part, says St. Paul, about

God, who he is, what his plan is. Now I know

in part, but then I shall know, even as also

I am known. Because we are in Christ, the demons

have no power over us unless we give it to them.

And how do we give it to them? Usually very slowly.

A little sin here. A little sin there. And then

we're captured by some impulse. Some addiction.

Some anger. Some violence. Some hatred. Some

judgment. Little by little, we acquire those

things. But didn't we hear today? That what we

are to acquire is the fruit of the Spirit, this

basket of fruit, all kinds of different fruit,

love, joy, peace, mercy, long -suffering, self

-control. That's what we are doing here. That

is what the Lord has given us to do until the

time he comes again. And the man in the gospel

is an extreme example of what a person can become.

The Savior of all. The Savior of all has come

to destroy him that held the power of death,

says St. Paul. And that is the devil. So our

task, our goal, is not to fight the demons. No,

that would be silly. I'm not St. Athanasius.

I am not St. Sergius. Who did that? Our task

is to acquire Christ and those fruits for him

to be formed in our hearts and in our minds,

our actions, our words. Don't forget to pray.

Don't put that second. Put it first. Put thanksgiving

and glory and honor to God who is our master.

First on your list every morning. Move your cell

phone to another room when you sleep. I'm telling

myself that. But you see, if there's an emergency,

I need to hear the phone ring. So I don't look

at it at night. But move it to another room so

that when you get up in the morning, your first

thought is, thank you, Lord, for this new day.

Satan can't find a place in that because it's

gratitude. And all he is about is divisiveness

and hatred. The Savior of all, with all power

over visible and invisible things, may force

the demons into that swine in that story, as

he did in the account today. But the Savior,

he who is, he who causes all things to be, will

not force us to do anything. If we give over

to the devil, we are forced. Christ will not

force us to obey, to follow, to be faithful.

He won't force us. We are totally free, and we

want the freedom that comes with being closer

to him. In this story that we heard with the

demoniacs, my brothers and sisters, I always

feel worse for the other people in that town

than I do for the two demoniacs. They, after

all, were healed. The demoniacs. They were purged.

They were cleansed. They were let out of the

prison. Their hearts were made free. But the

people of Gadara, there in that place, the end

of the gospel scene, they're as clueless at the

end as they were at the beginning. We might say

that this is a case where the usual is mistaken

for the normal. You know, it's amazing to behold

what abnormalities are taken as normal in society

and amongst us simply because they happen to

be widespread and usual. No matter how many people...

because wear chains or gash themselves with stones

and scream in the tombs and howl and carry on

or even quietly harm themselves in a desire to

be transformed into something that they are not.

Let the hearer understand. It's important to

say that this is abnormal and delusional and

inspired by the devil because God has made us

as we are. So, Let me end with this word from

St. Porphyrios who died in, I think it was 1994.

Fix your gaze unwaveringly upward toward Christ.

Become familiar with Christ. Work with Christ.

Live with Christ. Breathe with Christ. Suffer

with Christ. Rejoice with Christ. Let Christ

be everything for you. No one can deny that Christ

is the fullness of life. Those who deny this

truth are soul sick. They deny that which they

are lacking. And so the devil finds their soul

empty and enters in. And just as a child is deeply

traumatized if he is deprived of his father or

his mother in this life, so too and much more

so is the person who is deprived of Christ. But

we have Christ. So, you heard the Beatitudes.

How do they end? Rejoice and be exceeding glad,

for your reward is great in heaven. To our Lord,

risen from the dead, be glory now and ever, to

ages of ages.