Luke 8:26-39
Sunday, June 22, 2025
2nd Sunday after Pentecost
Confession and Forgiveness
In the name of the Father,
and of the ☩ Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Baptized into Christ, let us confess our sin.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Merciful God,
you free us to love others,
but we neglect our neighbors and follow our own way.
You lead us by the Spirit of joy and peace,
but we turn away from the abundant life you offer.
You surround us with patience, kindness,
and generosity,
but we grow weary in doing what is right.
In your mercy, forgive us.
Do not give up on us.
Heal us, break our bonds,
and show us the path of life.
Amen.
We belong to Christ Jesus
and we are God’s children through faith.
In the cross of ☩ Christ,
and through the power of the Holy Spirit,
our sins are forgiven.
Clothed with Christ, we are a new creation.
Amen.
Gathering Song: Spirit of the Living God
Prayer of the Day
O Lord God, we bring before you the cries of a sorrowing world. In your mercy set us free from the chains that bind us, and defend us from everything that is evil, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
First Reading: Isaiah 65:1-9
1 I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask,
to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am, here I am,”
to a nation that did not call on my name.
2 I held out my hands all day long
to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own devices;
3 a people who provoke me
to my face continually,
sacrificing in gardens
and offering incense on bricks;
4 who sit inside tombs,
and spend the night in secret places;
who eat swine’s flesh,
with broth of abominable things in their vessels;
5 who say, “Keep to yourself,
do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”
These are a smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all day long.
6 See, it is written before me:
I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will indeed repay into their laps
7 their iniquities and their ancestors’ iniquities together,
says the Lord;
because they offered incense on the mountains
and reviled me on the hills,
I will measure into their laps
full payment for their actions.
8 Thus says the Lord:
As the wine is found in the cluster,
and they say, “Do not destroy it,
for there is a blessing in it,”
so I will do for my servants’ sake,
and not destroy them all.
9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
and from Judah inheritors of my mountains;
my chosen shall inherit it,
and my servants shall settle there.
Word of God. Word of Life.
Thanks be to God.
Psalm: 22:19-28
19 But you, O Lord, be not far away;
O my help, hasten to my aid.
20 Deliver me from the sword,
my life from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion’s mouth!
From the horns of wild bulls you have rescued me.
22 I will declare your name to my people;
in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.
23 You who fear the Lord, give praise! All you of Jacob’s line, give glory.
Stand in awe of the Lord, all you offspring of Israel.
24 For the Lord does not despise nor abhor the poor in their poverty; neither is the Lord’s face hidden from them;
but when they cry out, the Lord hears them.
25 From you comes my praise in the great assembly;
I will perform my vows in the sight of those who fear the Lord.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied,
Let those who seek the Lord give praise! May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
all the families of nations shall bow before God.
28 For dominion belongs to the Lord,
who rules over the nations.
Second Reading: Galatians 3:23-29
23 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.
Word of God. Word of Life.
Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia. Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you. Alleluia. (Luke 8:29)
The Holy Gospel according to Luke
Glory to you O Lord
Gospel: Luke 8:26-39
26 Then Jesus and his disciples arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me”—29 for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. 31 They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.
32 Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
34 When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. 37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.
The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you O Christ
I had an encounter with a demon several months ago.
- I will tell you that story and how the demon was cast into the abyss.
- But before we get there…I want to talk a little bit about what a demon might be.
- The Lord be with you.
Demons are a tricky subject in modern time…especially in mainline…science-embracing denominations like our own.
- So…what is a demon?
- Are demons external supernatural forces that cause us to do things beyond our control?
- Are they undiagnosed mental illness?
- Are they a social construct of a pre-modern era?
So…here’s the thing…it doesn’t matter as much what a demon is as what a demon does.
- Demons are things that isolate us…that separate us…that cause us pain…
- That make us feel vulnerable and powerless and weak.
- Be they depression…addiction…stereotypes…or corrupt systems.
- Demons are the things that keep us from living the kinds of lives of connection and richness and freedom…that God wants for us.
So now…let’s look at the Gerasene Demoniac.
- Jesus traveled across the Sea of Galilee to the country of the Gerasenes.
- When they reach the shore…they are met by a man who had demons.
- He lived in the tombs…which for the original hearers of this story would have been an immediate clue to this man’s isolation.
- In the first century…tombs were considered unclean.
- And tombs were painted white so people would know to stay away from them.
- The man was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles.
- If demons are something that keep us isolated…vulnerable…powerless and in pain…
- Then…this man shackled to tombs away from everyone else certainly fits the description of a demon.
The man with the demons approached Jesus and shouted:
- What have you to do with me…Jesus…Son of the Most High God.
- Interesting…because in the verse preceding this story…
- Jesus and the disciples were out on the boat and Jesus had just calmed the storm…and the disciples asked each other:
- Who then is this…that he commands even the winds and the water…and they obey him?
- The disciples…who have been traveling with Jesus…learning from Jesus…following Jesus…
- The disciples didn’t know who Jesus was…but the demons immediately identified him.
In first century culture…if you could name something…you could control it.
- So…the demons are making a power play on Jesus.
- They are naming him for what he is…to control him.
- They’re saying to him…you cannot hide from us…we know exactly who you are.
But Jesus flipped the script on the demons…demanding of them:
- What is your name?
- Legion…they told him.
- A legion was a unit of the Roman army of four to six thousand men…so…a lot of demons.
- But it doesn’t matter…because Jesus has forced them to identify themselves.
- By naming them…he had forced them to come out of the shadows and into the light.
- They could not hide and play their sneaky games anymore…
- They had been identified for what they really were…
- And now…no matter what they try…they could be seen and named and controlled.
Jesus named the demons…and the demons knew they were defeated.
- And so…to avoid destruction…they begged Jesus to let them enter a herd of pigs.
- Jesus gave them permission…but this legion of demons were too much for the pigs to handle…
- So…the pigs rushed down the banks and into the lake and were drowned.
- Sending the demons into the abyss.
And the man? When the people from the city rush to the tombs to find what has happened…
- They found the man clothed…sane…and seated at the feet of Jesus.
- The man wanted to journey on with Jesus…but Jesus told him to return to his home and declare how much God had done for him.
- Jessus’ final step of healing is to end this isolation.
- To restore to him…his community.
- If the effect of a demon is isolation…the cure is relationship.
- Demons are not kept at bay alone…but amid a community.
Let me then tell you about the demon I encountered at a family gathering last year.
- We were all sitting around the fire pit at my daughter’s farm.
- And next to me…a family member told how great it was to be home schooling their children.
- Why is that: I asked.
- She said: Because they don’t sit in a classroom with minority kids and kids who are not Christians.
- She continued her diatribe about those kinds of people…adding…I don’t understand why our immigration department allows those kinds of people to come into our country.
- Well…I was silent at first…not wanting to cause a family quarrel…
- But when others began to agree with her…I felt I had to say something.
I did not immediately speak up.
- I sat there listening to my grandson quietly sing a beautiful ballad on his guitar.
- Praying that this conversation would end.
- That she would wrap it up…and that I could ignore it.
- I was…after all…off-duty…on a holiday with family and friends.
- But she wouldn’t stop spewing her smug words…
- And I was baffled at how to respond.
- Me…an ELCA pastor…an ally and partner with people who work for inclusivity.
- But…then…the demon of fear took power in my silence…
- And it fed and grew amid all of us gathered there around the fire.
It is scary to speak up in these sorts of situations.
- But I eventually spoke out.
- Can I tell you what my faith has taught me?
- And you know what happened when I said that?
- That demon? The demon of fear and religious extremism and Christian nationalism?
- That demon went away.
- Because…let me be clear…none of us gathered there…not even the person who started the conversation…
- None of us were the demon…
- The demon was the fear and the ignorance.
- All of us gathered there were then able to have a beautiful and grace-filled conversation about love and acceptance…
- And what it means to be made in the image of God.
- That demon went away because we named it.
- Because we named it…we brought it to the light.
- We called it for what it was…and it could not stand up to the truth of its own name.
The point of the story is that demons can be defeated.
- We do not have to be held captive by that which seeks to keep us isolated…vulnerable…alone… powerless and in pain.
- This is not what Jesus wants for us.
- We know that because anytime Jesus saw a demon…he sent the sucker packing.
The good news in this text is that we have this power together.
- So…stand up…be brave…call and name the demon…
- And send those demons packing.
- We have this authority through Jesus Christ…Son of the Most High God…
- The one whom demons fear.
Hymn of the Day: Take My Life, That I May Be
Prayers of Intercession
Drawn into the embrace of the holy Trinity, we lift our prayers for the wholeness of the church, the world, and all creation.
A brief silence.
We pray for the church. Clothe us in Christ, shower us in mercy, send us in love. Strengthen the faith and witness of Christians across the planet. God of grace,
hear our prayer.
We pray for creation. Deliver the earth from disaster, bring forth life amid uncertainty, inspire wonder at all you have made. Sustain all people who delight in the well-being of your creation: farmers, agricultural workers, gardeners, birdwatchers, conservationists, scientists, advocates, and policy makers. God of grace,
hear our prayer.
We pray for the nations. Pave a way to justice, drown the forces of oppression, bring peace on earth. Give leaders the will to turn from war and violence. When people must flee their homes, guide them to safety. God of grace,
hear our prayer.
We pray for people in need. Satisfy all who are poor, soothe those in pain, accompany all who are sick especially: John & Lisa Mountain, Terry Vernon, David & Carol Beazley, Margaret Miller, Bill Treichler, Shirley Treichler, Hope Garrett, Julia Busby-Morgan, Lisa (Bob & Doris’s daughter. Chad Rudzik, June Gust, Vicki Salzgeber, Jason Salzgeber, David Wilfong, Stacey Bryant, Pam Hendry, Erin Shayota, Michael Bender, Don Bevers, Rick Lauber, Keith Waldron, Holly Lapinski, John Shaffer, Jan Johnson, Chis Poe. Give perseverance to each of us living with mental illness, and shield us from discrimination due to race, class, gender, or any other human distinction. God of grace,
hear our prayer.
We pray for this assembly. Listen to our cries, come to our aid, make us one. Weave among us the fabric of belonging so that we rejoice in each person gathered here, and enliven our proclamation of how much you have done for us. God of grace,
hear our prayer.
Awaken new life in this place. Open our hearts to ways you are calling us to be at work in the world and our community. We pray for neighboring congregations and ministry sites especially: Church of God – SDA – Bay Point Christian – St. Barts – Blessed Trinity…St. Matthew…DayStar Life Center…Canguros Day School. Give us courage to boldly share your love for all people beyond our walls. God of grace, hear our prayer.
We offer our thanksgiving for all people who have died in faith. Keep them in your peace, comfort us in sorrow, raise us to new life. As we remember their faith and witness, may we trust your promise that we are yours forever. God of grace,
hear our prayer.
Gather all our prayers in your mercy, O God, through Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Amen.
Pray with me:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Blessing
The love of God abound in you;
the grace of our Savior Jesus Christ fill your hearts; and the life of the Spirit
☩ bless you and give you peace.
Amen.
Sending Hymn: I’m So Glad Jesus Lifted Me
Dismissal
Go in peace. Live by the Spirit.
Thanks be to God.