The Only Question
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, October 20, 2024
Today I would like to point out the parts of the Gospel reading that strike me as most important. I might surprise you.
I do not believe that the wild and crazy happenings with the demons are the main point of the story at all. The main focus is Jesus who he is and what he does. Not even personified evil is a match for him. The temptation is to think that some kind of battle went on here. But look closely. Evil raises a white flag immediately. Nothing can thwart the Word of God for he always accomplishes the task he was sent to do.
So often I hear remarks that almost seem to equate God and evil as if there is a really Good God and a really bad one and that they are fighting one another for ascendency, and we, if we are honest, have some doubts as to who will win. But this is not true. That is a form of gnostic dualism rejected by the Church. There is not a Good God and a bad one. There is only one and he is Good. And if we believe in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ we also believe that evil has been defeated. Sin, death, and the devil have gone down to defeat once and for all.
The focus, as always, must be Christ. We meditate on the Light and not on the darkness.
The second reasonable focus in the story is the demoniac. In a metaphorical way he represents the depths to which humanity can fall. Jesus does not fear him or seek to avoid him. The Lord heals him. Jesus walks right into his world and takes him out of it. Clearly before his healing the demoniac had lost control and was not in his right mind. But, of course, there are many of us who are also not in our right mind, at least from time to time, so there's that, and we wouldn't assume that it is because of demon possession. I am quite capable of deceiving myself and following a path that is a little crazy without anyone's help.
What is important is not the reason for his suffering, but rather the fact that he was suffering. This is what Jesus cared about. Whether demon or disease, the Gadarene needed the touch of understanding and compassion and Jesus met his need. He loves us all without condition. One of the most beautiful verses in the New Testament is "they found him sitting, clothed, and in his right mind". That is the only place we can actually be “in our right minds.” It would be wonderful if that could be said of all of us. The proviso is that we must want it.
I remember working once on the cold, wet streets of Seattle with the homeless. I tried as best I could to convince a middle-aged man to accept the significant help we had to offer him to leave the streets for a better way of life. Try as I might he refused and sadly I left him there shivering in a doorway. He simply could not let go of his misery. We are like that sometimes. We prefer the darkness to the light as St. John writes.
Here is a beautiful quote from St. Gregory of Nyssa, "The mind ascends to God not through the accumulation of knowledge, but through the letting go of all that it knows." That homeless man thought he knew what he needed and refused to let go of it. If he had, who knows what might have happened?
I walk down Mass Ave often and I see people who have either lost their minds or are in the process of losing them. Drugs, prostitution, criminality of all sorts and sizes from petty theft to murder take place outside our doors. It is significant that St. Mary's is here. This community has been a beacon of hope in Central Square and that light is growing brighter. We do not need to be afraid. We simply need to shine!
I heard Senator and Reverend Raphael Warnock of Georgia in an interview in which he said, "I am a Matthew 25 Christian for the acid test of our devotion to Christ is the extent of our love for the poor". Who can argue with that? I would also be bold enough to say that the acid test of an Orthodox parishes' devotion is the same.
Charitable work has always been a part of St. Mary's from the days of the founding Syrian families until now. What amazing and courageous people they were. And now it is becoming more and more part of our community life. Our reputation in Central Square as a Matthew 25 church has become well-known. We must not flag in this mission for it is on our devotion to the poor that we will all be judged. The only question we will be asked as individuals and as a community on that Great and Final Day will be, "Did you love well?"
I tend to be a raging optimist. Those who know me well, know this. I have been taught by our Faith to seek God everywhere and in everything and everyone. When we start to see this, fear fades and love is born. Nothing and no one must be allowed to tempt us away from this mission. There is nothing to fear, not even death, if God is with us. He is, as our saints often declare, closer to us than our breath and our heartbeat. Therefore, we Christians have no reason to fear anything except hearing the words at the end, "You did not love well."