Speaker 1: We're struggling, we're beset by the passions, and in a
Speaker 1: real sense, we're not in our right minds because of
Speaker 1: our separation from God. But when we encounter Christ, that
Speaker 1: is when we enter into this church, we begin a
Speaker 1: process of not just putting aside our past sins, but
Speaker 1: of being restored to what our human nature was intended
Speaker 1: to be.
Speaker 2: Welcome to Hill Country Homilies Weekly homilies from Holy Denunciation
Speaker 2: Orthodox Church in Liberty Hill, Texas. Holy Annunciation is an
Speaker 2: old calendar Orthodox church sharing the faith of the Apostles
Speaker 2: and the love of Christ with all who seek His truth. Now,
Speaker 2: let's listen to this week's homily, iamb of.
Speaker 1: The Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit. Gorge
Speaker 1: in Jesus Christ. Please have a seat if you wish
Speaker 1: beloved in Christ. This This week's gospel is Saint Luke's
Speaker 1: account of the Gathering Demoniac. Now, this is a very
Speaker 1: well known gospel account. It appears in all three of
Speaker 1: the Synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and it appears
Speaker 1: in basically the same form in each of the gospels,
Speaker 1: although there are small differences in detail, which one would
Speaker 1: expect from different authors. Recounting the same event. Today's gospel reading, though,
Speaker 1: presents us with one of the most dramatic encounters of
Speaker 1: Christ's earthly ministry, as our Lord meets a demon possessed
Speaker 1: man in the region of the gatherings. Now, this unfortunate
Speaker 1: soul has been tormented by a multitude of demons who
Speaker 1: call themselves a legion. He lived naked and violently among
Speaker 1: the tombs outside the city, which represented his complete desolation,
Speaker 1: brings that evil brings to human life. He terrorizes the
Speaker 1: town people with his demonically perverted behaviors. Yet in this
Speaker 1: passage we witness the supreme authority of Christ over all
Speaker 1: forces of darkness, as he commands the demons to depart,
Speaker 1: permitting them to enter into a hurt of swine that
Speaker 1: subsequently perishes in the lake. But the townspeople, especially those
Speaker 1: who have made their living tending the swine, ask Jesus
Speaker 1: to leave the region. While the healed man, now restored
Speaker 1: to his right mind, begs to follow Christ, but Christ
Speaker 1: denies this, and instead he commissions him to return home
Speaker 1: and to proclaim God's mighty works. What does this gospel
Speaker 1: tell us about the transformative power of Christ and our
Speaker 1: own weakness before his glory. Let's start by understanding the
Speaker 1: person of the demoniac. We know from the account that
Speaker 1: the demon possessed man is in a very depraved and
Speaker 1: frightening condition. We're told that he is naked, that he
Speaker 1: lives out among the tombs in the graveyard, and that
Speaker 1: he is separated from his community on the account of
Speaker 1: his condition. And according to Blessed Theophilac, these are not
Speaker 1: just descriptors of his physical condition, they also are indicators
Speaker 1: of his spiritual state. He's naked because he stripped himself
Speaker 1: of his baptismal robe. He's living not in his house
Speaker 1: but among the tombs because he dwells outside the church,
Speaker 1: having been separated by the demons. And the tombs represent
Speaker 1: the dens of iniquity into which this man has fallen.
Speaker 1: But despite his pitiable condition, after the man and his
Speaker 1: demons encounter Christ, his corrupted human nature is restored. His
Speaker 1: mind is returned to such sanity that he now not
Speaker 1: only recognizes Christ, but he asks him to permit him
Speaker 1: to follow him and to be with him now. In
Speaker 1: a very real sense, this gospel account is a brief
Speaker 1: and immediate encapsulation of what we would call the process
Speaker 1: of theosis which each of us are seeking. We're struggling,
Speaker 1: we're beset by the passions, and in a real sense,
Speaker 1: we're not in our right minds because of our separation
Speaker 1: from God. But when we encounter Christ, that is when
Speaker 1: we enter into his church, we begin a process of
Speaker 1: not just putting aside our past sense, but of being
Speaker 1: restored to what our human nature was intended to be
Speaker 1: face to face with Christ as the demoniac was, and
Speaker 1: seeking to be with him at all times as this
Speaker 1: man once he was healed and sought for us. This
Speaker 1: process is a lifetime for this demoniac. The transformation was immediate,
Speaker 1: but the power by which Christ healed this demoniac was
Speaker 1: not just a display of Christ's healing power over men.
Speaker 1: As with the man born blind or the leopards, the
Speaker 1: healings that he offers are always spiritual as well as physical.
Speaker 1: It's one thing to contend against illness or disability. Doctors
Speaker 1: do that. In this account, however, Christ not only is
Speaker 1: restoring the fallen man, he first must deal with the
Speaker 1: demonic forces that have seized a hold of him. This
Speaker 1: legion of demons had rule over the man, and when
Speaker 1: they encounter Christ, they encounter him with with both impudence
Speaker 1: and with fear. They're impudent, impedent, even dismissive as they shout,
Speaker 1: what have I to do with thee? But they're also
Speaker 1: afraid because they know who this THEE is? What have
Speaker 1: I to do with THEE? Jesus, son of the Most
Speaker 1: High God? They say, I beg you do not torment me.
Speaker 1: And we hear that they begged him that he would
Speaker 1: not command them to go out into the abyss, that is,
Speaker 1: back into the pit of the hebrew one from whence
Speaker 1: they came. And in this fear and impudence and pleading
Speaker 1: a negotiation, or don't send us into the pit, let
Speaker 1: us go into this swine. They are begging and pleading
Speaker 1: because they know that Christ has complete power over them.
Speaker 1: Christ is not in a battle with the demons. He's
Speaker 1: won that battle. The demons are subject to him and
Speaker 1: they know it. As the scripture says. The demons also
Speaker 1: believe and tremble. Why does Christ permit them to remain
Speaker 1: on the earth in the swine? What's not because he
Speaker 1: offers them any mercy? Rather, the fathers tell us two things. First,
Speaker 1: this is obvious the command of Christ for the demons
Speaker 1: to depart, and is permitting them to enter the swine
Speaker 1: is an affirmation of the power that he has. It's
Speaker 1: an affirmation of the power that he has, so it
Speaker 1: becomes a living depiction of that power. But also by
Speaker 1: permitting them to remain, Christ provides for men, those of
Speaker 1: us still on this earth, a means of struggle in contest,
Speaker 1: which leads to what the scripture calls the crowns of victory.
Speaker 1: When the scriptures speak of those who endure to the
Speaker 1: end being saved or working out your salvation with fear
Speaker 1: and trembling, that endurance that working out It's going to
Speaker 1: look different for different people, but for each of us
Speaker 1: it will involve transformation, it will involve overcoming, and it
Speaker 1: will involve spiritual challenges. We must recognize that we struggle
Speaker 1: against spiritual forces and trust in Christ's protection through prayer,
Speaker 1: through fasting, through the mysteries which has provided for us.
Speaker 1: But we must trust also in Christ's power, the power
Speaker 1: revealed in today's Gospel. When facing spiritual warfare, we have
Speaker 1: to invoke the name of Christ with confidence, knowing that
Speaker 1: the demons are powerless compared to Christ. We don't have
Speaker 1: any needing to fear them, which brings me to the
Speaker 1: final point that I want to mention about today's reading,
Speaker 1: because if there's one thing that ought to stand out
Speaker 1: in today's reading, it's not so much Christ's vanquishing of
Speaker 1: the demons. We know this, He's God. Rather, if there's
Speaker 1: something that should shock our conscience, if there's one thing
Speaker 1: that should call us to self examination, it's not so
Speaker 1: much the encounter with a demoniac or his healing. Instead,
Speaker 1: it is the incredible reaction of the townspeople. A man,
Speaker 1: a brother, who is deemed lost, who terrorized them for ages,
Speaker 1: has been healed and set before them in his right mind.
Speaker 1: This should be a day of celebration, a day of thanksgiving.
Speaker 1: It should have been a day where the man tells
Speaker 1: of all the great things that God has done for him,
Speaker 1: as Christ commanded him. But instead we read that when
Speaker 1: the people come, and when they learn how the demons
Speaker 1: were sent into the swine, who thundered themselves into the
Speaker 1: lake and drown themselves, they react out of base fear
Speaker 1: of Christ, and they beg him to depart. They didn't
Speaker 1: fear the demons. They feared the man who conquered the demons.
Speaker 1: They didn't make their request out of humility, thinking themselves
Speaker 1: not worthy of his presence. They made it out of
Speaker 1: distrust and out of fear. They feared that his continuing
Speaker 1: presence would cause him further loss. They asked him to depart,
Speaker 1: for they were seized with great fear, preferring their economic
Speaker 1: security and the swine over the presence of the Savior.
Speaker 1: People fear truth and honesty. They preferred darkness to light
Speaker 1: many times, and this was the gatherings on this day.
Speaker 1: They feared that Christ might inflict further punishment upon them,
Speaker 1: and he begged. They begged him to leave them, and
Speaker 1: Christ departs precisely as they wish. Saint Ambrose of Malan
Speaker 1: says his fear of the townspeople may ultimately prove to
Speaker 1: be their demise. Christ takes away the sins of the
Speaker 1: people when the people desire to be healed, not when
Speaker 1: they refuse to submit to the healing. He doesn't want
Speaker 1: to cure the unwilling, and so he departs from these
Speaker 1: people for whom it seems that his presence was a burden. So,
Speaker 1: brothers and sisters, let us also examine our hearts and
Speaker 1: be certain that we are neither fearing Christ nor seeing
Speaker 1: his presence as a burden. To be sure, Following Christ
Speaker 1: in this world can be hard. We are asked to
Speaker 1: be transformed from the things of this world into the
Speaker 1: things of Christ. Some people have even suffered economic consequences
Speaker 1: for it, far worse than the gatherings and their whole
Speaker 1: as swine. So let us take this timely moment to
Speaker 1: examine our own hearts for similar tendencies to prioritize material
Speaker 1: concerns or burdens on our time over our own spiritual growth.
Speaker 1: Because when God's grace challenges comfortable patterns of life, our
Speaker 1: first instinct may be like the Gatherings, to recoil from it.
Speaker 1: But believers must embrace this burden, if you will. Rather
Speaker 1: than asking Christ to depart, let us recognize that perfect
Speaker 1: love will cast out that fear. And let us, at
Speaker 1: all times, brothers and sisters, let us remember that in
Speaker 1: this world we've been promised tribulation. Our promise from Christ
Speaker 1: is for the next world, and it is for that
Speaker 1: next world that we can test for these crowns of
Speaker 1: victory that await us so beloved in Christ. As we
Speaker 1: depart today, let us give thanks to God, who has
Speaker 1: power over all things material and spiritual, and who desires
Speaker 1: that we come before him face to face, and who
Speaker 1: is preparing us for that great and dread day of judgment.
Speaker 1: Let us beg to be in His presence always, that
Speaker 1: we may at all times be partakers of this divine nature,
Speaker 1: always now and ever for the ages of ages. Home in.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to Hillcountry homilies. For more information, visit
Speaker 2: Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church at www dot Denunciation, tx dot com,
Speaker 2: and please join us again next week