Sermon for Pentecost 4, June 20

Fourth Sunday in Pentecost
June 20, 2010
Luke 8:26-39
God in Him is centered

In the name of Jesus, amen. “Rise! Shine, you people! Christ the Lord has entered our human story; God in Him is centered. He comes to us, by death and sin surrounded, with grace unbounded.”

With the crushing reality of death and sin around us, we heard that powerful Gospel lesson this morning. A poor man, bound in chains by demon possession, bound in chains by Satan, bound so tightly that he would break those bonds and flee to the desert, that man was set free by God’s grace. This man lived in a cemetery and wore no clothes. At the end of today’s Gospel, he is dwelling among the living and is clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

Sin and death are around us. This current oil disaster in the Gulf- who’s to blame? Big Oil, BP, the current administration, the former administration, regulators and overseers? How about sin as the answer! The desire to take a short cut, to get all you can in the easiest fashion, to give in to the temptation and say, “I confess, he did it!” All of those harmful and hurtful attitudes are the result of our sinful identity.

And we are on the path toward death, all of us. Whether we are beginning, in the middle, or towards the end, every man, woman, and child is moving in one direction, toward the cemetery. We mourn those who have died. We try to put it off as long as we can with various diets, pills, and exercise plans. We try not to think about it, sometimes even deluding ourselves with the notion that we are invincible. Some of us take risks with our bodies. We neglect our bodies. We treat our bodies, knit together and crafted by God, shamefully. And some of us build our bodies into more than what they are supposed to be, worshiping their body as if it will shield and protect them from all harm and danger.

And we wrestle with demons, which could look like a life of isolation- from God and from other people. We rebel against God through the unhealthy display of our temper, the way we cave in to temptations, the way we lift up our self at the expense of the people around us.

Death and sin surround us. More than surround us, they enslave us. Death and sin deceive us and convince us to take our eyes away from our God, to set our hearts on things that are earthly, to forget that we are Christ’s, heirs of the riches of God our Father.

In Christ our Lord, God in Him in centered. What a beautiful way to picture how close the triune God is to all of God’s people. Last week we spent some time considering how close God the Father desires to be, and today we are reminded that our Father is intimately close to us. In Christ the Father is present, the Father is here!

Jesus met the demon-possessed man. And the demons knew who was present. “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” The demons declared the divinity of Jesus. God in Christ was present, and where those demons in trouble. They knew what could happen. Legion saw a herd of pigs and begged the Son of the Most High God to send them into the pigs. Jesus consented. The demons entered the pigs and the pigs ran into the lake and were drowned.

The Son of the Most High God shows His mastery, His merciful mastery, in this Biblical, historical situation, and in our very lives. All things were changed for the better for the demon-possessed man. He was clothed and in his right mind. He was transformed, going on to tell all the people in the region how much Jesus had done for him.

We typically wear clothes. Most of the time we are in our right mind unless something terrible and tragic has happened. But we are changed for the better too as Christ’s mercy flows over us. We are transformed by the Gospel, by the news that for the sake of Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven and we are set free from the bondage of sin and death.

Christ Jesus has entered our story with grace unbounded. It started at Christmas, we could even say it started when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary with the news that the Son of the Most High God would take up residence within her womb. Christ has entered our story. Christ is present amid our worry and confusion. Christ dwells with us in our fear and failure. With unbounded grace, Christ lifts up our head to look beyond all that surrounds us to view the cross, to view his empty cross, to gaze upon his empty tomb. Christ lifts up our head to see that the altar is bearing today the gifts we need for our living. The elements of bread and wine are there. The words of Christ Himself will be spoken and by faith we will receive the body and blood of Christ broken and shed for you, for the forgiveness of all your sins.

In Christ Jesus the death and sin that surround us are conquered. Death has lost its sting since death is now the gateway to everlasting life. Sin is toothless, for if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Rise. Shine. Christ the Lord has entered our human story. In Christ the whole God, the Father and the Spirit, is present. Tenderly, compassionately, mercifully, God comes to us with free, limitless, boundless grace. God coming to us in Christ strengthens us to return to our homes declaring all that Jesus has done for us, transforming us, and setting us free to be the brothers and sisters of Jesus. God in Christ is centered, and is at the center of our lives. SDG