1 Kings 19:1-15a; Luke 8:26-39
Ordinary 12C; Proper 7
Elijah, on the run, fleeing Jezebel, seeks refuge in the wilderness, under a bush.
Afraid and exhausted, he prays to God for death and then falls asleep. An angel visits him and gives him food. Strengthened and perhaps encouraged, Elijah gets moving again, traveling 40 days and nights until he reaches Mt. Horeb. Once again, he seeks shelter, this time in a cave. Then God speaks to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Elijah holds nothing back and details all his loyalty and service, his disappointment and despair. God does not respond with a counter-argument or a reassuring word or even a rebuke of Elijah’s litany of woe. Instead God gives Elijah the gift of presence.
Elijah does not receive special powers or a promise of unmitigated success or certain vindication or relief from further pain and suffering. God tells Elijah to leave the confines and relative safety of that mountain cave and go out and meet the Holy. Earthquake, wind, fire appear and then God speaks again, this time in a gentle whisper, with the same question as before: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Elijah repeats, word for word, the exact answer of dismay. God tells him: Go. Go back the very way you came. Face that which you most fear. Do the work I call you to do.
Nothing, it would seem, has changed. Jezebel still seeks to kill Elijah. His life remains on the line and God refuses to grant him divine immunity to the hardships inherent in being a prophet to the world bent on silencing the word of the Lord. Nothing, on the surface, in outward circumstances, has changed. But Elijah goes back to face that from which he fled, equipped only with the gift of God’s presence and word, enough assurance to get him out of the cave, off the mountain, and through the wilderness, prepared once again to do the work of the Lord.
Outward circumstances, no matter how desperate or dire, cannot define the attitudes and actions of those who’ve experienced the presence and call of the Most High God.
The man, demon-possessed, dispossessed, with no clothes, no home, no one, chained, under guard and relegated to the graveyard, will not be detained, denied or despised once Jesus comes to name and claim him. All will be reversed: the demons sent into the swine, the man clothed and in his right mind, the heretofore decent and orderly citizenry of the region of the Gerasene in an uproar and terrified by this turn of events, the once outcast of the outcasts now a spokesperson for God.
The gift of God’s presence and word are enough to transform terrified people into relentless prophets, marginalized people into divine messengers, and the most desperate of circumstances into staging grounds for upending, table-turning, empire-toppling, demon-damning, holy work.
The gift of God’s presence and word, the call and equipping of the divine, sends prophets back to stand up to the ones who wish them dead and propels the newly demon-free out of the grave and into the very communities that chained them to the tomb and left them for dead. Both proclaiming the life-saving message of the Lord.
God asks us: What are you doing here? Wherever we have fled, from whatever we are hiding, God wants to know: What are you doing here? We are free to pour out our hearts to the Lord who loves us and knows everything regardless. Go ahead: give a litany of lament, sing a psalm of suffering, shout a cry of utter dismay. The work is hard. The results abysmal. The people you sent us to are stiff-necked and stubborn. The powers we face cruel and strong. The weak are trampled upon and the rich get richer. Every day the news seems grim. We are out numbered and afraid. Why not just end things right here, in the wilderness, under a bush or on this mountain, in the dark, damp, desolate cave?
God responds to us: Get up. I am here. I am with you. Always. Go.
God’s presence and God’s word does not change the circumstances, not immediately, but gives us the ability to face them, confront them, participate in God’s transformation of all that conspires to thwart the divine will for justice, wholeness and life.
God asks us: What is your name? Whatever events have threatened to erase your humanity, whoever has thwarted your understanding of your worth, Jesus wants to know: What is your name? The one who counts the hairs on your head and knit you together in your mother’s womb, who knows each word before you speak it, meets you when you hit rock bottom, finds you chained to tombstones and surrounded by the stench of death and asks: What is your name? Recognizing that you are so much more than any demons that possess you, overpowers them and sends them packing, restoring you to your right mind and your rightful place among the living.
God responds to us: You are not Legion or any other label less than child of God. Beloved. Made whole. Restored to life. Sent to tell your story so that others will know the love and grace and mercy of God, too.
God’s presence and God’s word does not always change the circumstances all around us, the townspeople still fear us, the graveyard still exists, the demons no doubt still swirl in the sea long after the swine have drowned, but we are now clothed and in our right minds, empowered and sent to proclaim the goodness and mercy of our God that will overcome all evil.
The world looks dark. The demons are legion. Jezebels still seek to kill God’s prophets. The vulnerable are exploited. Kings abuse their power and the innocent suffer. It is enough to make you flee and hide. Sometimes it makes you feel as if you are chained to the tomb. Take heart. Angels appear just when you’ve reached your limits. Sustenance comes when you least expect it. God speaks in a barely audible whisper. Jesus shows up in the cemetery. The least of the least of these is lifted up and given divine commissioning. The strongest of demons cannot withstand the command of the Messiah. The powers of empire will inevitably crumble under the weight of God’s creative Word, whispered, spoken or shouted, the breath of life that cannot be thwarted or slain.
What are you doing here? You are here to proclaim the word of God. To speak God’s truth to corrupt powers. To go where God sends you to tell your story of the transformative grace of the Lord because you, once known as Legion, are a beloved child of God now clothed and in your right mind.
This week:
- When have you felt utterly defeated or afraid? How did you overcome these feelings? Did circumstances change or were you changed in a way that enabled you to face them?
- When have you undeniably experienced the presence of God? Has God ever spoken to you? How? What did God say?
- How do we continue to proclaim God’s word and do God’s work when suffering and evil persist?
- Who are the people who are the marginalized of the marginalized in our culture and world? Do we, like Jesus, seek them out and ask their names? Or do we demonize them and relegate them to places akin to graveyards?
- Do we invite people to share their frustrations and deepest hurts in prayer? Do we share our own with God? Others?
- Are you attempting to hide from God or God’s call? Where is God sending you?
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