By The Rev. Bernard W. Poppe, RectorAmong the healing stories in the scriptures, the story we read today is well known. I did flinch, however, to discover that the story of a demented man plagued by demons, was assigned for Father’s Day! The good news, though, is that the man is healed and the demons were cast out. But before I spend more time on this story, let’s take a look at the first lesson.
Last week we read a story about the confrontation between the prophet Elijah, King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. The king and queen had conspired to kill a good man simply to take possession of his land. This week we have another story from the trove of stories which pit these ancient adversaries against each other.
The background for today’s story gives a context for why Elijah ran for his life. Jezebel was a foreigner, a Phoenician princess in a political marriage to Ahab, the King of Israel. She successfully converted Ahab from the worship of the Israelite God to the one called Baal. Elijah, as a prophet of the Israelite God with access to the throne room, locked horns with Jezebel on this issue. The two contrived a strange bet in which 450 of the priests of Baal would offer a sacrifice on one altar and Elijah by himself would offer a sacrifice on another. Whichever sacrifice God accepted would demonstrate the real religion. Not surprisingly a bolt of fire from heaven consumed the sacrifice prepared by Elijah and in a gruesome caveat to the bet, namely winners kill losers, Elijah cut the throats of all 450 priests of Baal. By now we also know enough about Jezebel to know that she would not be a gracious loser. She set out for revenge and Elijah ran out of town before she could make good on her threat.
It’s at this point that our lesson today begins. Ultimately Elijah is hiding in a cave where he is cold, hungry and really discouraged. Like many prophets before him, he did as God told him and he got deeper into trouble running for his life. It’s little wonder that the first word out of anyone called by God to serve as a prophet is "NO"!
It’s what happens at the cave that is of particular interest. God tells Elijah that he will come to him and presumably set things right. While waiting Elijah experience a great wind, an earthquake and a fire - each time running out of the cave thinking that each huge phenomenon must be God’s approach. But it’s not. Only when the silence envelopes him does he hear God’s voice clearly tell him what he must do.
Our point of entry into this story, and even how this connects to the Gospel story of Legion, is in how to find God in the midst of struggle. Whether we’re talking about Elijah or the man possessed by demons, each was beset by a cacophony of noise in the midst of crisis. Actual noise and the noise in the head. As an interesting aside, Baal is also the God of thunderous elements in what might be another comparison or competition between the God of Israel and the foreign god. In this second struggle, Elijah holds fast and meets God in silence. In the language of story and symbol, progress is made when the noise ceases and we allow silence to enter in. Quiet brings a sense of balance and the ability to hear God in a profound way.
One of the obstacles to meditation is the wandering mind. During attempts to meditate, the brain is sometimes compared to a dozen monkeys on caffeine. It’s difficult to clear the noise in our heads at times of crisis. Noise and frenetic activity generally accompany problems, accidents, arguments or any type of stress or struggle. Finding a calm moment is very difficult, and yet, until that is achieved, little progress can be made. Whatever crisis arose for the prophets of old or those of ours today, come in so many forms and from so many different corners of our lives. Physical, emotional, spiritual; individual, societal or ecological crisis come and in their wake a swirl of noise and confusion. Healing is the restoration of balance and the discovery of resolution. The first thing doctors tell us to do when recovering from an illness or procedure is rest. We don’t want to and we pay the price if we neglect their advice. The condition will get worse and continue to do so until we do as we are told.
As difficult as it is to rest when a doctor tells us, it’s even more so when we’re told that the solution to an emotional or spiritual crisis is in resting and silence and allowing God in. And yet we pay a larger price if we do not.
Sometimes I take my own advice and when I’m under stress or dealing with a problem, I will stop and pray and meditate, listening for the voice of God. It does come in the deep sense of knowing what needs to be done. My difficulty is often that I don’t’ like the answer. I get into deeper trouble when I do what I would prefer, rather than what I know deep inside to be God’s voice, and what is right.
Just as our illnesses take many different forms and the healing takes many different forms, the common denominator is God as the source of that healing. God is the essence of life and love and it is in this essence that we find healing for whatever troubles us. When Mary Davis was ordained Deacon a couple weeks ago, the preacher reminded us of an old acronym when telling us that our egos usually get in the way of doing God’s will. She said that ego stands for Edging God Out.
Elijah in the cave did a lot of that while he was feeling sorry for himself and the man possessed of demons was unable to be healed until he allowed God to touch him in that place of pain that kept him so tormented. The demons were self destructive as so many of our modern day demons are as well. We are plagued by so many of them, actual mental illness, addictions, guilt, shame, fear, anger, insecurity, and they are legion. But until we stop and allow God to come in through the door of silence we create in prayer the tormenting cycle will continue. Whatever solution or resolution will bring healing, it will arrive through the still, small voice that so caught Elijah’s attention.
This sermon has been a rather long appeal to use prayer as part of your daily life to cast out the demons which may plague you. Find prayers in books, even our own Prayer Book, online find one through St. Google - the new patron saint of seekers, or when all else fails, speak from your heart to the heart of God. It’s a direct line, and doesn’t need fancy words or prose, just honesty. We don’t always like the answer, I warn you now, but we don’t have to. God seems to be more interested in giving us what we need rather than what we want. Prayer works and it leads to healing. Perhaps not all at once, but gets it going.
From the psalm we read this morning, "As the deer longs for the water brooks, so longs my soul for you, O God." I believe God longs for us to drink of that brook too. Amen.
©2010 St. George's Episcopal Church, Maplewood, NJ
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