Love is the Cure [1] Preached at Wollaston Congregational Church On June 23rd, 2019 Scripture: Luke 8:26-39 In our gospel passage today we hear an astounding story. Jesus travels across the Sea of Galilee to the other side. He is in the country of the Gerasenes, Gentile territory. We can assume that Jesus is unknown in this side of the lake. And yet the moment he steps off the boat, he is met by a naked demon-possessed man. This poor soul lives in the graveyard: a place of cave-like tombs. There is no other place for him. The voices inside of him torment him to the point that he screams and shouts and runs around naked. They react to Jesus’ presence, causing him to yell "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me." -------- It’s widely known that many successful celebrities have battled demons. A couple of weeks ago I saw a movie I’d long been anticipating. “Rocketman” is the very human, somewhat fantastical story of Sir Elton John’s breakthrough years. Rocketman tells the tale of Elton’s battle with demons who take residence in his soul. These were the consequence of a difficult childhood and struggles over his sexuality in a time when being gay simply wasn’t acceptable, and sexuality was not discussed. Throughout the years of sex and drugs and rock and roll, John’s inner child cries for affection from his father, who is portrayed as distant and cold during John’s childhood. John’s mom is portrayed as self-involved and inconsistent in her care for her gifted son. Elton’s grandmother is the one who cares for him, bringing him to music lessons and encouraging him to develop his talents. John’s dramatic and rapid success as a rock musician works against him. As a young artist, he is swept to Los Angeles by his the owner of his record label. There he is exposed to a world of drugs and glamor, before he has had a chance for his feet to touch the ground. He gets caught up in an abusive relationship and turns to drugs and alcohol to dull the pain. He uses cocaine to overcome his shyness and to perform in his characteristic flamboyant style. In 1989 Elton John went into rehabilitation. He describes his rock-bottom in a 1997 interview as spending time with teenager Ryan White the week he died. White had contracted AIDs from blood transfusions because he was a hemophiliac. He had been ostracized by friends and neighbors and kept out of school because of his HIV infection. And yet, John says, as their child died his family remained dignified and forgiving. Elton John says "When I knew Ryan [White], I knew that my life was out of whack. I knew that I had to change. And after he died, I realized that I only had two choices: I was either going to die or I was going to live, and which one did I want to do? And then I said those words, … 'I need help' … And my life turned around. Ridiculous for a human being to take 16 years to say, 'I need help.' " [2] ----------- The man possessed by demons in Gerasa cannot even ask for help. When Jesus asks the man what is his name he cannot speak for himself. Instead the demons say “Legion” … there are so many of them. They negotiate with Jesus, begging him not to throw them into nothingness. And so, as he exorcises the demons from the spirit of the man, and allows them to enter a herd of pigs. When the pigs are possessed they become demented and they rush down a steep back into the lake and are drowned. The man is finally restored to his right mind, he dresses and sits and Jesus’ feet. And you might imagine that the townspeople would be grateful and they would welcome him back into the community. Instead they are fearful, they are not comfortable around this kind of power and ask Jesus to go away. And so Jesus prepares to leave on the boat, his work is done. The man who has been liberated from demons begs to go with him, but Jesus does not allow it. He sends him away saying "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." This man becomes a witness to the height and depth and breadth of God’s love for him and his neighbors. ----------- Some years ago, I thought I was managing my life. The way I had it figured out was: there was “work Liz”, “church Liz”, “mom Liz” and “friend Liz”. But, to be honest, things didn’t feel right. I could tell that the rush from work Liz to church Liz, with a little mom Liz squeezed inbetween was throwing me off center. I had begun reading a book with the mothers’ group at my church called “The Christ Centered Women” by Kimberly Dunnam Reisman. One chapter woke me up to the fact my coping mechanism wasn’t healthy. I recognized myself in a description of fragmentation, defined as “being pulled apart by competing demands.” [3] The outcome of fragmentation, says Reisman, is that we become a divided self. This is not very different from the Gerasene man who was inhabited by many demons. “When we are fragmented, we miss what God is doing right now.” These words resonated with me. My mind could not simply shut off “work Liz” or “church Liz” while I was “mom Liz.” In the midst of reading a bedtime story, I might be mentally going over what I would need to get myself to the church meeting. Or I might be distracted by the look I received earlier from a co-worker when I left work on time, to get to daycare pickup. Reisman says “when we are centered on Christ, God’s spirit begins to speak to our spirits. Our fragmented self becomes more whole as we recognize the height and depth and breadth of God’s love for us…” [4] I began to realize that God and my family loved me all the more when I wasn’t trying to “do it all.” And this meant letting go of the demon of perfectionism, or to use Reisman’s words, taking up the spoke or support of “good enough.” That summer I focused on becoming my integrated self with Christ at the center. This involved honoring my own needs as well as those of others. For our vacation we traveled to some low key theme parks, with our kids: Storyland and Santa’s Village. While the children and my husband went on the rides, I’d pull out my book or sit and take in the scenery. Just breathing and filling myself with gratitude made all the difference. Soon, I was going back to my mothers’ group and my friends, and letting them know all that God had done for me. You know that this kind of Sabbath approach to life has become central to my spiritual practice and I am more than happy to share it with you all. ---------------- Elton John’s release from his demons involved going into recovery for his addictions. The movie shows him receiving therapy and participating in a 12-step program. He listens to the needs of his inner child, and forgives the people who have hurt him. And he goes on to found EJAF: Elton John’s AIDS Foundation. This organization has “raised more than $400 million over [25 years,] to challenge discrimination against people affected by the epidemic, prevent infections, provide treatment and services, and motivate governments to end AIDS.” [5] My recovery involved slowing down and paying attention to my needs. My addictive behaviors – or my demons – were perfectionism and trying to do it all. Elton John had to say “I need help.” I had to say the same, to my friends, family and to God. In the book, “Breathing Underwater”, Father Richard Rohr says “’Stinking thinking’ is the universal addiction.” Drugs and alcohol are tangible visible forms of addiction, but we are all addicted to the habits, what we have gotten used to or “our patterned way of thinking.” [6] That is why the people of the Gerasa community were angry and afraid when the possessed man was cured. They were confronted with a new reality in which the man was no longer the “problem” in their town. When something went wrong, they could no longer chain hum up the and say it was all fixed. They were going to have to begin to look at themselves a little more closely. ----------- It seems that Jesus may have been acquainted with the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, when he healed of the Gerasene man. Step 12 of the program says: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we [try] to carry this message to [other] alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. And so Jesus leaves the man with the responsibility of passing on the good news of God’s love. He has received healing and now it is time to pass it on to the community. Elton John’s recent book is entitled “Love is the Cure: on Life, Loss, and the End of AIDS”. [7] This isn’t another Rocketman. It is a book about the AIDS crisis. It is part of John’s work of carrying the message of healing and cure. The book tells of EJAF’s work around the world and how politicians and religious leaders must not stand in the way of sex education and clean needle exchanges. You may have heard about our own Kim Kroegers’s work with Manet Community Health in this area. A couple of weeks ago, I was setting up our church table at the Quincy LGBTQ+ Pride event. I was wearing a clergy collar. A hip young man was setting up resources from a health organization on the table next to me. Suddenly he turned to me and said, “I have condoms on my table … would you like me set up further away from you?” I was saddened that he assumed our church would be disapproving, and reassured him that I was in favor of condoms. In that setting, the condoms were not about birth-control so much as sexual health. I hope I shared a little more gospel that day, I hoped I passed on a little healing to the community. Because, as Elton John says, “Love is the Cure.” May all God’s people say, Amen [1] Elton John, Love Is the Cure: On Life, Loss, and the End of AIDS, (Little, Brown and Company, 2012) [2] https://www.npr.org/2012/07/17/156550286/from-addict-to-activist-how-elton-john-found-his-cure [3] Kimberly Dunnam Reisman, The Christ-Centered Woman: Finding Balance in a World of Extremes, (Upper Room Books, 2000), 24 [4] Ibid., 35 [5] http://newyork.ejaf.org/about-ejaf/ [6] Richard Rohr, Breathing Underwater: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps, (Cincinnati, OH: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2011), xxiii [7] Elton John, Love Is the Cure: On Life, Loss, and the End of AIDS, (Little, Brown and Company, 2012)
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