Gergesen Demoniacs

Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory to God forever.

It occurred to me that this is the first Sunday

since probably January where we're not commemorating

some special occasion. Prodigal son, Republican

and Pharisee, Mary of Egypt, Sundays after Pascha,

Sundays after Pentecost. All saints. We're kind

of just in maybe we could say ordinary time.

And now we can focus just on the resurrection.

The Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. You heard

the gospel. You're well acquainted with it. I

don't need to review in detail. There's wine.

There's demons. Possessed people. Villagers who

don't want Christ. When someone's been prepared

for baptism by the church, chrismation, and note

that phrase, the church prepares us, gives us

faith. Yes, faith is passed on. We don't generate

it. It's given to us. We're given trust in God.

Because we learn the sacred stories of God's

saving works. We're told what's the best way

to pray. How to live righteously. How to overcome

sin. Not to partake in idolatry and sexual immorality

of the world. But to nurture the paradise of

the kingdom of God in our own heart. And someone's

being prepared for that, for baptism. The church

also gives words of exorcisms. There's four.

And the candidate and the godparents, they face

the West, which is to say they face the demonic

power itself. The sun goes down in the West.

It's the symbol of spiritual darkness. And Satan

is renounced with three questions and three answers.

to renounce Satan and all his angels and all

his service and all his pride. And then the candidate,

the godparents, they spit on the devil. They

spit on those demonic beasts. Should you be afraid

at that point? Well, yes, but also no. One of

the prayers at the baptism says, We have called

upon thy name, O Lord. Which is wonderful and

glorious and terrible to adversaries. Because

we say we unite ourselves to Christ. We have

united ourselves to Christ. I believe in him.

How? I believe in him as king and God. The story

today in Matthew tells us that even the devils

believe in God. Did you notice that? They recognize

the divinity of Jesus. They ask the wrong question.

Why are you here now? Have you come to torment

us before the time? Note, they know the truth.

They're not heretics. They know the truth. They

refuse to be affected by the truth. Have you

come to torment us before the time? And they

also know when the judgment, not when, but that

the judgment is coming. And after these exorcisms

and after the baptism, the believer in Christ

becomes a disciple. This person becomes a small

Christ. A christened one. An anointed one. And

is also fearful and terrible to the demonic adversaries.

Not because of themselves. Not at all. But because

of God's word. His name. The name of Christ.

power in the heart. Because that person then

will have the remembrance of God all the day,

every day, walking with him, struggling to guard

the heart and the mind and the body from sinful

acts. We remember that sin is always crouching

at the door, we read in Genesis, the door of

Cain. So we're careful. I've never seen a possessed

person, two people in this story, described like

that. Yes, perhaps the fentanyl crisis, the drug

crisis, alcoholism, pornography, all that leads

a person down to that path, and you can see such

suffering and demonic influence. But I've never

seen that. Personally, this kind of demonic possession.

I'll tell you what I have seen. I have seen people

say to Christ, go away. That I've seen in abundance.

Even I myself, I've put Jesus in the waiting

room in the morning. I get to the morning prayers,

but then don't. Get to the evening prayers, but

then don't. Jesus is left in my waiting room.

But Jesus doesn't wait in waiting rooms. Jesus

is master and Lord of all of creation. The local

people were awestruck by what happened. The whole

city came out to see Jesus. But they wanted no

more of Jesus Christ. They were unrepentant.

Jesus came not just for those two men to heal

them, to make them human again, but he came for

those other people as well. However, and in our

own case, however much we might be impressed

by the miracles of Jesus, the bottom line is

that his presence is dangerous and disruptive.

We're afraid he's going to change things further

in our life. Not just to upset our morning schedule

with prayer. Our evening schedule with prayer.

Our Sunday morning. To be called to come and

participate in the divine liturgy. To be called

to come and make a confession so your heart is

pure. We all have sins. They build up. To come

and prepare to go to communion. All that can

be extremely inconvenient. But if we love Christ.

then none of this, while it may be a struggle,

none of it is inconvenient. It's a joy. It's

a struggle. But Christ comes to those people,

and the gospel is given to us today to tell us

we can't be afraid that he is going to change

things further and still further, and it's going

to cost us, just as it did the unfortunate owner

of the pigs. On the other hand, St. Paul reminds

us that the word is near you, the word of God,

his holy name, in your mouth, in your heart.

That's the core of your being. St. Paul says

that is the word of faith which we preach, that

if you confess, to confess doesn't mean to just

say a word. Even the demons could say Jesus.

Son of the Most High, why have you come to us?

No, to confess means to stake your life on it

and you have no plan B. It's all Jesus. And if

you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and

believe in your heart, which is to say, to follow

through, to do, that God has raised him from

the dead, you will be saved. So brothers and

sisters, let us commend our life unto Christ

our God. Because it's a life or death decision.

To our Lord be glory now and ever, to ages of

ages. Amen.