23 June 2013 Luke
8:26-39 --- Facing Our Demons
There are times when life on West Washington St. is loud and
contentious. Those who show up at the
homeless shelter drunk, high, or off of their meds are denied admission and
often react vehemently as they stalk off to find a place to sleep exposed to
the cold, the rain, and people who prey on them. I watch people respond in fear - shy away,
hurry around, attempt to ignore. I watch
fear happen when various groups proclaim their various issues on the Capitol
steps – faster walk, crossing the street, citation issued. I think it’s natural to want to shut these
folks out– yelling and antisocial behavior, singing and slogan-shouting can be
frightening. However, I believe what
really frightens us is that all of these
folks remind us of our fear of all of the forces (demons) that can tear any one
of us from family, from safety, from community, from everything that makes the
world make any sense or have any warmth.
Folks were afraid of Jesus. When
he named and confronted whatever demons kept folks from health and wholeness,
he was changing their life and the life of their community. The folks in today’s gospel were a lot like
my good friend in Ohio who told me that she was going to continue joking her
way through Bible study because if she took what I was saying seriously, her
life was going to have to change, and she was not prepared to do that yet –
fear at is most fundamental level.
The problem with fear is that it exacerbates the divisions
among us. We become “us” and “them.” Our
fear drives our de-humanizing of “them” into categories that we can marginalize
or judge not worthy to be part of our community in some manner. How can we choose to name and confront the
powers that oppress and divide us? How
can we face our fears and choose to restore to community those whom we have
shut out of it?
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