2 Pentecost/Year C
June 19, 2022
Isaiah 65:1-9; Psalm 22:18-27; Luke 8:26-39
Heal me, cleanse me, know me, fill me…
Those are the words that begin each verse in the hymn I’ll play at the conclusion of my sermon this morning…
Heal me, hands of Jesus
Cleanse me, blood of Jesus
Know me, mind of Jesus
Fill me, joy of Jesus…
These opening phrases in the 4 verses of this hymn from the Wonder Love and Praise hymnal came to mind as I read and reflected this past week on the gospel lesson, we just heard this morning…
Heal me, cleanse me, know me, fill me…
Hold on to those words for a few moments…as I share some thoughts on today’s gospel reading…
There is so much going on in this passage today…so many different ways that one might be drawn into the story…What’s catching your attention today?
Maybe you’re curious about Jesus and his disciple’s travels to Gerasenes…maybe you want to know more about this man of the city, who had demons, yet was the first person we are told Jesus met, when he stepped out on land… Maybe you want to know more about where he lived…not in a house…but in the tombs… Maybe you are wondering how this man knows Jesus’ name…Maybe it’s making you squirm with all this talk about demons…
Maybe it’s troubling you to think about someone begging for Jesus not to torment him…Maybe it’s too much to think about and digest that this human being, who has a name, Legion…was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.
Maybe you were shaking your head as you listened to the part of the story about the demons entering into the swine, and running off the steep bank into the lake, and drowning…Maybe you are wondering what story and details the swineherds actually shared with others when they went back to the city and the country to tell others what they had witnessed…Maybe you are confused about why some of those who saw that the man with the demons had been healed, were afraid…afraid of Jesus…and sent him away…
Maybe you are wondering why Jesus tells the man that he can’t go with him…but tells him instead… “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." Maybe…you wish you were a “fly on the wall”…listening to the stories that the healed man was proclaiming throughout the city about how much Jesus had done for him….
So, why did I just go through this gospel reading, practically line by line and invite you to consider what was catching your attention today?
I think it highlights, in our communal lives, the varied wonderings, experiences, questions, voices heard and unheard, that we as individuals bring to every conversation or gathering with others…I think it reveals a little bit about why its such difficult work to reconcile with one another when we have differing opinions and perspective on so many things…what to do about gun violence, what to do about racial reconciliation, what to do about prison reform, what to do about hunger and food security issues, what to do about women and children’s health care…just to name a few…
It’s not such a simple thing…when we all sit here and listen to a story together… we don’t necessarily have a common understanding right away of what we just heard…(here in the church or in our communities, or in our national conversations with one another)…We don’t all hear the story in the same way, we don’t all have the same backstory that we bring to the current conversation…and we don’t all leave this place after having heard the stories shared…in the same way…
In every story being told…there are a variety of voices…some are heard…some are not…There are a variety of people, striving to tell the story of their experience…some are seen…and some are not…
All of this to say…that I think today’s gospel story has a lot to teach us about the healing and reconciling work that Jesus invites us to follow him in…not by getting into the boat with him…but to go to the places and people that Jesus is calling us to go…with an openness of our hearts and minds to hear the stories of others, to listen deeply, to wrestle with and sit in the uncomfortable moments with one another, to name our fears, to learn each other’s names, and to bring with us, our authentic healing story of the power of Christ’s love and loving-kindness we believe has transformed our lives…and inspires in us to want the same for others…
And so, maybe that’s where we might begin today…by recognizing perhaps our own need of healing and forgiveness, and our own desire to be seen and heard, and our own desires and hopes to be filled with the peace, and hope and joy and love of God…as revealed to us in the life of Jesus, and through the inspiration and strength of the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us in a way of love that brings God’s diverse people together, and in a way of life that proclaims freedom, justice, healing, hope, joy and peace for all God’s diverse and beloved children…
There are so many ways to be drawn into the story of God’s beloved family…
What’s catching your attention today?
Rev Julie Platson
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, AK
Hymn after sermon: Heal me, hands of Jesus – WLP 773
Heal me, hands of Jesus, and search out all my pain:
restore my hope, remove my fear and bring me peace again.
Cleanse me, blood of Jesus, take bitterness away;
let me forgive as one forgiven and bring me peace today.
Know me, mind of Jesus, and show me all my sin;
dispel the memories of guilt,and bring me peace within.
Fill me, joy of Jesus: anxiety shall cease
and heaven’s serenity be mine, or Jesus brings me peace!