Angels and Demons
By Rev. Julie Yarborough
September 21, 2008
Mark 5: 1-20 & 1 Corinthians 12: 12-27
[ Audio
(mp3, 4.8Mb) ]
ried alive. That's what it must've been like for this man who lived among the tombs of Gerasa, isolated from the community, alone with his demons, surrounded by death.[1] Crying out and cutting himself with stones, he probably wished he was dead.
In
many translations, the Gospels describe this man as demon-possessed. Eugene Peterson describes the man as “mad” and we would say
that he probably had some form of mental illness that could not be diagnosed in
that time. Today there are many
diagnoses of mental disorders, some of which can be effectively managed by
medication and therapeutic treatment, and others that cannot be managed very
well, at least, not consistently. At
times it still seems as if the demons are too many and they cannot be
controlled or contained.[2]
Many
families in our society and, I might add, quite a few in this congregation, are
living with these demons daily, yet with the stigma attached to mental
disorders even in this day and age, most of them are isolated and struggling to
get through each day on their own. When medications stop working or the patient
begins to feel better or doesn't like the side effects and stops taking the
prescription, the demons often appear. Hallucinations or rages may occur, deep depression may set in, and in
some extreme cases, the patient may attempt suicide.
One
mother I recently talked to told me that everyday she feels like she is walking
on eggshells. She never knows what sort of mood her son will be in when he
comes home from school. If he's had a
bad day, he may take it out on her. He has
difficulty making friends and he feels very lonely. Worst of all, the parents of this child have
had to give up their dreams for him. He
doesn't adapt to change well, so they don't travel much and new experiences are
difficult. Their whole world changed the
day that their son was diagnosed.
Demons
come in many different shapes and forms. And while the
demons of mental illness may
be the most obvious, the demons of addiction and abuse are no less harmful and
isolating. The secrets of guilt and
shame are powerful agents, which work together to separate the addicted person
and his or her family from the rest of the community.
Just as there are families in this congregation living with
mental illness, there are families in Christ Church
struggling with the demons of addictions in isolation. Some members of Christ Church,
living with addictions, are active members of groups such as Alcoholics or
Narcotics Anonymous, groups that are often described as being more church-like
than most congregations. Here's a description of one of these groups by
Frederick Buechner:
Through prayer and meditation, through seeking help
from each other and from helpful books
they try to draw near any way they can
to God or to whatever they call what they have instead of God. They sometimes make serious
slips. They sometimes make miraculous
gains. They laugh a lot. Once in a while
they cry. When the meeting is over, some of them embrace. Sometimes one of them will take
special responsibility for another,
agreeing to be available any time of the day or night if the need should
arise
. . .[3]
Buechner goes on to say:
I do not believe that such groups . . . are perfect
any more than anything human is perfect,
but I believe that the church has an enormous
amount to learn from them. I also believe that what goes on in them is far closer to what Christ
means his church to be, and what it
originally was, than much of what goes on in most churches I
know.[4]
What
is it about these groups that make them seem so much more authentic
than most churches? Perhaps it's the lack of pretension, the
brutal honesty, the vulnerability, and the understanding, support and
acceptance that is found in the midst of such community where everyone
recognizes their own brokenness and need for a higher power. The church does have much to learn from our
brothers and sisters in recovery about how to create safe communities where
healing can take place. We could also
take some lessons from the small village
of Geel (pronounced “Hale”), Belgium.
Around
the year 600, an Irish king went mad when his wife died. Mistaking his daughter, Dymphna, for his dead
wife, he tried to force her to marry him. She was horrified and ran away, boarding a ship and disembarking in what
is now Antwerp, Belgium. Princess Dymphna hid in a small town by the
name of Geel until she was found by her father's soldiers. The king arrived and
proposed again, and this time, when Dymphna refused him, he ordered that she be
beheaded. The villagers buried Dymphna,
and soon after her death, healings, especially those of the insane, were
reported near her grave. In the seventh
century, as in biblical times, people with mental disorders were believed to be
demon-possessed. They were frequently
harassed and stoned. As fame of the
miraculous healings near Dymphna's grave began to spread throughout Europe, desperate families brought their mentally ill
loved ones to Geel in search of healing. Local families provided boarding for those who arrived in search of a
cure. A curious thing began to happen.
Though many of those who visited St. Dymphna's grave were never cured, for
those who stayed in Geel, healing occurred. It seems that the Geelians had grown accustomed to behavior that was
ostracized and feared elsewhere. In Geel, the mentally ill were welcomed and
accepted for who they were, as they were. To this day, the good people of Geel still operate a foster-family
system for the mentally ill that has been in place for over a thousand years![5]
When a patient is placed with
a family in Geel, they get better! Motor functions improve, and doses of
medications are lowered, but most importantly, healing from a lifetime of
rejection begins to occur. People who have lived in isolation for most of their
lives are recognized as children of God and welcomed into the community. No one thinks it strange to see a woman
talking into a shoe as if it were a cell phone, or a man conducting an
imaginary symphony on a street corner. In Geel, Belgium it is possible to glimpse
the Kin-dom of God on earth.
In fact, the words of the
song that Lindsey sang today might be attributed to the residents of Geel:
In the absence of angels, in the presence of fear,
People acting like angels, began to appear.
And they do not wear halos, and they do not have wings.
It's the everyday people who come through by doing miraculous
things.[6]
In
the story of the Gerasene Demoniac, and in many other incidents in the Gospels,
Jesus finds his way to those who are in isolation and invites them to live once
again in community. Again and again we
read of Jesus going to tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers, and others in need
of various kinds of healing. Each time,
Jesus makes his way to those who are broken, helps them find their way to
wholeness and brings them back into community. If we are indeed the body of Christ, then we are called to do the
same. We are called to reach out to
those in need of healing and bring them into the beloved community. And within our own congregation, we are
called (in the words that Eunice read earlier from 1 Corinthians) to recognize
that the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and need
to be clothed with greater honor and treated with greater respect.
Eugene Peterson, puts this another way in The Message:
The way God designed our bodies is a model for
understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every
other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and
the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the
hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into
the
exuberance.[7]
In
that spirit, the Board of Christian Education has decided to spend this year
focusing on autism and looking at ways that our congregation might be more
welcoming for families with autistic children, who often feel isolated, and may
not feel welcome in many houses of worship. We don't know what the outcome of
that study will be, but we welcome all who are interested to join us in the
dialogue. If you would like to be involved, please contact Linda Gleason, the
chairperson of the Board of Christian Education, or speak to me.
Christ Church has also been approached by Our House, an
organization for special needs adults. They would like to use church space on Saturdays for a recreational
program for their clients who are living at home with parents, and whose
families might need a break for a few hours. We're exploring the options with
them. Won't it be great if this works out? We already offer space to programs
for people struggling with addictions, for children and families struggling
with the pain of grief, for an outreach program to the homeless, and four times
a year, we offer temporary shelter for those who are homeless. This is exactly
what we are called to be and to do as the Body of Christ – to reach out to
those who are feeling isolated and to provide community, and hopefully some
healing as well.
In
the words of David Matthews:
When the church is the church it is nothing more or
less or other than the presence of Christ through His people. A part of the meaning of grace is that Christ is in us for
each other. We are called to be priests
to each other. If we are the church, then I may come to you as I would come to Christ . .
. just as I am, knowing that you will
understand my tears, my anger, my sin, believing
that somehow Christ will see me with your eyes, touch me with your hands, heal me with your
love.[8]
In the absence of angels and
the presence of fear, may we continue to explore ways in which we can be the
Body of Christ with and for each other.
Amen.
[1]
Mary W. Anderson, “Christian Century,” June 3-10, 1998, p.573.
[2] Ibid.
[3]
Frederick Buechner, “Like You and Me,” from Telling Secrets, as printed
in Alive Now!, May/June, 1995, p. 56.
[4]
Ibid.
[5]
Elizabeth Sherrill, “A Place
to Belong” in Guideposts, November
2002, p. 36-38.
[6]
“In the Absence of Angels”, from the musical Quilt by Morgan & Stockler
[7] Eugene
Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language,
(NavPress: Colorado Springs, CO), 2002, p. 2084.
[8]
The Gathering: A Musical Worship Service for Choir and Congregation
by Ken Medema, narration by David Matthews, (Word Music, Inc.: Waco,
Texas), 1977, p. 12.
© 2008
.
All rights reserved.
