A New Order

A homily based Luke 8:26-39 and Galatians 3:23-29, proper 7C

I have vivid childhood memories of driving through the country, on either dirt roads, or major highways, and being struck by the heavy scent of a pig farm. There is no odor quite like it, and no image can quite convey its potency. Now, I spend a fair amount of time around horses and horse barns. I have cats and dogs and birds. Animal scents are not unfamiliar to me. But, pigs. They are something else.

So, when I watched Mike Rowe, from the Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs” working a pig farm, I almost gagged. The series has the host, Mike Rowe, travel to various places and apprentice at the worst jobs you can imagine. But, these are all jobs that people do every day, jobs we probably don’t even think about. This particular episode, Pig Farmer, first aired on Tuesday, August 9, 2005. Here is a short recap of that episode from the Discovery Channel web page:
“(for) Mike's first task at the Iowa pig farm, he takes on the duty of feeding a group of pigs standing in "crud". After feeding the swines, he travels to the gilt pen where the hogs which will be held for breeding are kept. Mike shovels layers of pig droppings out and fends off bites from the pigs who see him as an unwelcome visitor.

After catering to both ends of the swine's digestive system, Mike moves on to work with the baby piglets born just one day ago. His objective here is to clip their razor sharp teeth, trim a half inch off their tails, clip their dried umbilical cord and administer two injections in their neck: one of supplemental iron and the other an antibiotic to help fight infection. Mike sees how it is done and then dives right in.”
Now, I could go on and tell about the rest of the episode, but, well, its best I stop here. I hope though that this gives you a glimpse into how the folks from the first century would have heard this story about Jesus in Luke’s Gospel. Pigs were considered unclean and never eaten by the Jews of Jesus’ day, and many Jews today. But the herd of swine also stand for other things considered unclean by the Jews of Jesus’ day: like the Roman Emperor and the Roman soldiers. That’s what the word “Legion” points us to. Which means that this reading is complex and has many layers of meaning.

So, the pigs represent the Roman Empire and the Roman soldiers. What about the possessed man and the pig farmers, who is he, who are they? Let’s look at the possessed man first. Often in group dynamics there will be one person who serves as the community scapegoat. This person, as the scapegoat, manifests all the illness of the family or community. This person is always sick and has lots of ongoing problems. Now, not every sick person represents a group scapegoat, it’s more complex than that. But generally speaking, a chronically sick person may be the scapegoat of a particular system. By being the scapegoat this person manifests the anxiety and illness of the entire group so that the other people can function as healthy people. It’s a complex process where both sides work together. The group unconsciously decides who the ‘sick” person is. The designated person, being highly sensitive, agrees, unconsciously to carry the burden.
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Perhaps in this gospel community, the Gerasene demonic was the community scapegoat. He manifested all the ailments of the community, their fears of darkness, their worries about disease and illness, their concerns about money and clothing, he was the designated sick one. He was the identified patient (a technical term used by mental health professionals).

The community was comprised of pig farmers. They made their living raising and caring for pigs. So, two significant things happen when Jesus heals this man. One, the community loses their scapegoat and two they lose their source of income when the swine jump off the cliff.

Homeostasis is a term from biology. It means that all systems work hard to achieve over and over again the state they consider to be “normal.” The state that feels “normal” however, is not always the healthiest state, especially in complex systems of human relationships. But human communities nonetheless seek homeostasis, meaning they want things to stay the same, to feel “normal” what ever that is. Unless the entire community can change for the better, eventually someone else will become the scapegoat.

This week we have celebrated two major events in the world history and global dynamics. One was World Refugee Day on Wed. and the other is the 200th anniversary of Britain’s abolition of the very lucrative slave trade. True. Christianity is as much to blame for slavery as it is the cause for its end. Sadly, people in this world, because of greed, hatred, and prejudice, cause harm to other people, creating many of the influences that cause war, and refugees.

The Gersene Demonic may be a metaphore in our world for those marginalized by religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. As global societies we are the pig farmers.We put upon certain people our anxieties, fears, and illnesses.The world communities let these designated others carry the burden so we can think of ourselves as healthy.

Thankfully these designated people are not compliant. Many of them refuse to carry this burden; they want to live healthy lives.

As Christians, Jesus represents to us all that is good and holy and well in God’s love, in creation. Jesus is the one doing the real dirty job in this world: sitting with, eating with, being with, healing the unwell, caring for the poor, feeding the hungry, tending the needy of this world. There are no scapegoats in Jesus’ world. No one is less than anyone else. Jesus resets the homeostasis in a new way. What is normal for Jesus is the created order of the world that God desires, that God first set forth at the beginning of creation. It is an order that humans try to disrupt, and Jesus aims to restore.

Jesus leaves the healed man behind, to carry on in his absence. We are called to do likewise. To carry on, to be the face of Christ in the broken world.And to heal the chronic illnesses of our world.
In baptism each one of us has been made new. Paul’s letter to the Galatians reminds us of this. There is a new order, no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female. We are ALL one in Christ. And as Christians, we are called to carry on in the name of Christ; to be his hands and heart in the world.

Where is your heart?

A homily based on Luke 7:36-8:3

Once upon a time a father and his son took a walk on the beach. As they went along the father would stoop down, pick something up, and throw it into the ocean. Finally the son asked, “What are you doing?"The father replied, "Throwing starfish in the ocean."

"Well, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?"

"The sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don't throw them in they'll die."

"Don’t you realize,” said the son, “that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a difference!"

The father listened, then bent down, picked another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said, "It made a difference for that one." (story adapted from other versions I've heard, original source unknown).

As Christians God calls us to make a difference in the world. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus we are shown how to love God, love neighbor, and love self.

Over sixty years ago Episcopal Migration Ministries, on behalf of the Episcopal Church, began an active ministry with Refugees, responding to the cries of a broken world. In 1951 the United Nations established an official World Refugee Day, June 20th, which we celebrate this Wednesday.

In the past year this congregation has helped a couple from Ethiopia and a family of fifteen from Liberia. In the past three weeks we have helped a family of seven from Rwanda, two families from Burundi, four families from the Congo, and two more families from someplace (I know not where exactly).

We have filled and emptied our supply of dishes and utensils, three times. Obviously the need is great. But so is, I think, our compassion. We are doing a great job of rising to the occasion and meeting this need. We are making a difference, one family at a time.

Which leads me to our gospel reading this morning. In it we hear of Jesus arriving at the home of a Pharisee named Simon. He came for dinner and had just taken his place at the table when a woman arrived. She stands behind Jesus, then kneels at his feet. She baths them with her tears and a fragrant ointment, then she dries the tears with her hair.

Simon is appalled at this. As a Pharisee he belongs to elite social class, the educated class, the class that follows the letter of the law.

And this woman, this sinner, should not be touching Jesus. And he, if he were really a prophet, would know who she is, and Jesus would not allow her to touch him.

So. What is going on?

This is a story about what lives in the heart of people as symbolized by Simon. Simon lives with a great deal of doubt about who Jesus is. These doubts manifest in his thoughts. Jesus sees into the heart of people and addresses the concern right where it exists.

Simon really doesn’t understand the depth of God’s love and forgiveness.

But the woman understands. She has been very down, rock bottom down. She knows that God has forgiven her. We don’t know why. We don’t know what she did to be known as a sinner. It doesn’t matter.

The point is, we all sin. And we all are forgiven.

The woman models for us our response to God gracious love, which is: caring for the body of Christ. And this means caring for one another. We are the body of Christ.

Our ministry with refugees is an opportunity for us to move from having hearts like Simon to having hearts like this woman.

When we live as Simon, we live as people who do not recognize the global influences that cause pain, suffering, war, genocide, and the other forces that create refugees. In ways we cannot fully understand we contribute to these causes. The oil that produces gasoline for our cars, the world economic market and jobs, the distribution of food and wealth, all underlie some of the problems causing wars and refugees. Not to mention our human tendency toward greed and possessiveness.

But when we take on the heart of this woman we acknowledge that we sin in ways we cannot fully see or understand. That is the point of our general confession which we pray every Sunday morning, and of the absolution. This confession reminds us that we sin in ways known and unknown. And that we are forgiven.

But being forgiven doesn’t mean we go on doing the same ole same ole. No. Being forgiven means we work for change. We aim to do better and be better.

Our ministry with refugees is one powerful way to go about this. This ministry is a true work of generosity and gratitude.

Quite likely we personally will never face circumstances as dire as the refugees. What we face instead is the potential for indifference or apathy.

The needs in this world are so great, the demands so high, we might become like the son in my story, why bother? Or like Simon and not understand.

But we have a choice.

We can become like the woman wiping away the tears of the world. And,like the father, we can make a difference, one life at a time.