“The Order of Things”

Sixth Sunday in Easter

May 14, 2023

Acts 5:12-16

Matthew 8:28-9:1

Children’s Message:

Today, we heard two passages about healing. The first one was about how Jesus’ followers healed people wherever they went. Folks who were sick or disabled even tried to just get to where Peter’s shadow would fall over them, and they were healed. That’s amazing! I mean, can you imagine?

Now, I don’t know whether any of us have the power to heal just through our shadows, but we do have the power to help people feel better. Through our words, and sometimes hugs or prayers. Or cards.

Today, I have cards made up, and the envelopes are already addressed and stamped. And I’m hoping you might send them to people in our congregation who need some extra prayers and kind words. They are in our prayers, but I know they would love to get a ‘get well’ card from you, too. That would help them so much!

And maybe your parents can help you write the cards and decorate them. And then you can send them. You are welcome to write down their address so that you can send more cards. Or give our office a call if you want to visit them so that they know who has been praying for them.

Let’s pray: Dear God, through you we all have the power to help people heal. Give us the courage to share that help with those who need it. Amen.

Message:

This gospel story of healing the demon-possessed man is found in all three synopic gospels. But Matthew has changed some of the details. First, Matthew tells of two men possessed by demons, rather than the one in Mark and Luke. Matthew gives us a different location name—Gadara—rather than Gerasa in Mark and Luke. Matthew doesn’t tell us the men are naked, as the one is in the other gospels. Mark and Luke tell us the name of the demon is Legion—making a very political claim—whereas Matthew doesn’t get into names.

While Matthew doesn’t even tell us anything about the men who are possessed once Jesus comes on the scene, Mark and Luke tell us that the man is healed. And then when the townspeople come to see what is going on, the man is clothed, sitting at Jesus’ feet, and wanting to follow Jesus. And instead, Jesus tells the man to go and tell everyone what God has done for him.

We know that Mark’s gospel account was written first, and that Matthew and Luke built their own accounts off of what Mark already had. What this means is that Matthew chose to change or ignore these details that were already in Mark. But why?

Let’s start by focusing on what he kept. Jesus crossed the sea with the disciples, encountering a great storm. He calmed the storm, and they landed in an area of the Decapolis, a Gentile region. As they disembarked, they encountered men who were demon-possessed, living among the tombs.

The demons recognize Jesus and ask him to send them into the swine off grazing a ways away rather than be tormented. He does so, and the swine run down the cliff and drown in the sea. The swineherds go and tell the townspeople what happened. They come out and insist that Jesus leave. Jesus and his disciples get back into the boat and return home.

Unlike Mark and Luke, who tell us Jesus sent the man back to the people to tell all that God has done, Matthew leaves us wondering what the whole point  of this story was. Why even bother telling it? Did the men survive? Were they welcomed back into their community? Did they thank Jesus? Did they share their story? Come on! What happened?

But I think Matthew is more interested in Jesus’ actions here than in the aftermath of it all. What is true of all three gospels is that Jesus goes where he has no business going. Perhaps that’s what the storm was all about—trying to keep him from crossing boundaries that mess up the order of things. Except Jesus IS the order of things.

He goes to a Gentile region. He lands among the tombs. He engages in conversation with sick people. He negotiates with demons. He manipulates swine. All of these things are culturally impure for Jews. They are taboo. They are big no-nos. They are out of the order of things. But again, Jesus IS the order of things. He changes what order and purity look like. He goes where he shouldn’t go and shifts the assumptions of what faithfulness and goodness should be.

The problem, of course, is that in this healing, in this shifting, in this disruption of cultural order, he makes a whole lot of people uncomfortable. But that’s how things go, isn’t it? When the system changes—even for the good—we tend to lose our footing. When the reality we have gotten used to is no longer, we don’t know what our role is anymore. When the sick become well, it’s not always good news for those of us who have built our routines and lives around the illness. We are comfortable with our habits, even when we resent them.

Not only that, but Jesus’ response to the demon’s request to be sent into the pigs results in an economic upheaval for the community. Jesus just destroyed thousands of pounds of meat—a lot of financial asset. No wonder they want him gone. Imagine if Jesus healed those among us who live with mental illness by destroying all of the weapons in the country—a huge source of income for many. That would create a great deal of upheaval and anger. I imagine even the mention of it creates a little heat.

So, Jesus goes where he shouldn’t go—where no self-respecting Jewish rabbi would ever go. Which probably makes his disciples uncomfortable. And in the process of healing those cast out of community, he disrupts the community’s economic stability. Wow. You know, whenever someone says that you can’t make everyone happy, I often respond, “Maybe not, but I can sure tick them all off at one time.” That’s exactly what Jesus does. Because he’s not here to make us happy or comfortable or even safe. He came into humanity in order to disrupt the systems that do more harm than good; to create order from disorder; to bring hope where there is no hope; and to save us from ourselves and our own corrupt form of religious fervor.

Jesus came to heal us, even though it means that we will endure discomfort, threats, and even death. This doesn’t sound like good news, does it? It is good news for those who, like the possessed men, serve as the community’s scapegoats—those who carry a community’s blame simply because of who they are or how they are—those cast out and kept apart so that the economy of greed, power, and fear can continue—those who bear the brunt of a system that sacrifices the one for the sake of the many. For these people, this message holds a great deal of hope.

But make no mistake, Jesus doesn’t just heal those who are outcast or oppressed. There is healing even for the oppressors—though it may not feel like it at first. There is healing from our fear of losing control of what we have; there is healing from all our efforts to maintain power; there is healing from all the ways in which we lose a piece of our souls while fighting for more.

Demons come in many forms. And we have all had our time living among the tombs—among death and despair. Being healed and made whole can be a scary process, disrupting systems and upending all the ways in which we thought we could manage our lives on our own. But healing is also filled with new life, new ways, new hope. This is what Jesus has begun in us. The demons of our lives are simply fighting back with their last breath, cornered, knowing that God has already won but refusing to go down without a fight.

They will not win. They are already defeated. What is left is for us to see anew what God has done and is doing among us now, changing the world through us. Christ is entering all the places Christ should not go in order to rescue us from the world we built. And Christ is building something new within and around us. Do not be afraid of this new way—it is a way of life and love.

Pastor Tobi White

Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church

Lincoln, NE