Who We Say We Are

 I’m showing you a cartoon based on today’s Bible story. Why am I showing you a cartoon? Because cartoons are funny. They make us laugh.

And when Jesus healed a man by casting out a demon - a demon whose name was Legion - and the demon then went and possessed a herd of pigs which promptly ran off a cliff and drowned in the water - that would have made those who first heard this story laugh as well. 

It’s not because this story makes fun of people who are possessed, or people who are mentally ill. That’s not really funny.

But the way this story is written, it seems more like a parable than a factual, historical event. And when the first readers of Luke’s gospel - or Mark’s gospel, where it also appears - first heard this story or read this story - I think they would have laughed.

Because this story pokes fun at the Roman Empire. This story pokes fun at the Roman military. It is filled with imperial and military words and phrases.

The Latin word “legion,” for example, refers to a large division of imperial soldiers; the term “herd” used for the swine mostly referred to military recruits; to “dismiss” the demons - that word, “dismiss,” was a military command; and the pigs “charge,” like soldiers charging into battle.

And what happens to those pigs? They charge into the water where they drown, a reference to the drowning of Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea.

Diana Butler Bass writes that the people who first heard this story probably laughed and rejoiced, especially when the occupying Roman forces represented as “legion” get drowned in the water just as Pharaoh’s army drowned in the Red Sea. 

But there’s more than humor here. This is more than just a funny story. Jesus didn’t perform this miracle just to be funny. There is also a challenge.

This story challenges those who hear it to free themselves from the narrative offered to them by Rome. 

Through propaganda and intimidation, Rome was very good at convincing the people to align themselves with that Roman narrative. Rome was ruthlessly oppressive, yet Rome was also very good at convincing most people to favor Rome, or at least go along with Rome quietly, and not raise a fuss.

And another tactic Rome used was to pit different groups of people against each other. This kept the people from uniting and standing against Rome, their true oppressor. Because of Rome’s propaganda - the “fake news” that came out of Rome - the “love of neighbor” that the people claimed they practiced turned into animosity as they divided themselves into factions. As a result, they weren’t as loving toward one another as they claimed to be. They weren’t as kind. They didn’t work to establish justice and freedom, especially for those who were different then them, in a different class, or a different cultural or ethnic group. 

They weren’t the loving people they said they were.

Many of their highest-ranking religious leaders were especially susceptible to acting in ways that contradicted who they said they were. They ended up defending Rome and collaborating with Rome. The lure of Roman prosperity was too much for them, and though they claimed to be leaders of the temple, they were actually puppets of the Empire.

And many of the abuses of the Empire, they ended up defending and perpetuating.

They got so caught up in the culture and the propaganda - they may not have even realized what they were doing. But what they taught and how they lived no longer matched the will of the one God they claimed to follow.

So the challenge here in this story is to be true to the God you claim to follow. To overcome all the ways in which society and the government and the propaganda which has possessed your mind with ideas that aren’t quite true, to find freedom from that possession, and be true to what you say you believe.

And that’s a good teaching for us today, right?

There are a lot of messages being directed at us, coming from a variety of places. We’re being bombarded by news about Supreme Court decisions and unrest in Ukraine and economic uncertainty and racial tension and COVID, and we’re being told how we should interpret and respond to these events.

Often, we’re being told things that contradict what the gospel teaches us. Sometimes we stand firm in our convictions, but other times we are swayed, perhaps because following those other voices serves our own self-interest, or perhaps because the voices are so overpowering… and we don’t want to rock the boat.

So we go along with ideas that are popular, and we act in ways that contradict all that we know about the gospel.

And before you know it, we’re no longer who we say we are. We’re no longer who we claim to be.

Many religious leaders, in the United States and elsewhere, have aligned themselves with the powers of empire rather than with the way of Jesus, just as religious leaders did thousands of years ago. They are not who they say they are.

It is a challenge we all face. 

We know who we are called to be. We know what the gospel demands of us. But the culture, the environment in which we live, makes demands on us as well. And the messages of consumerism and economics and what all the talk show hosts are telling us permeate our minds - possess our minds - and we find ourselves captivated. Our minds and our lives are possessed and held captive by these forces; these demons.

I am so thankful to our General Minister and president, Terri Hord Owens, who - for over a year now - has challenged us to be the church we say we are; to not give in to, or be complacent in the face of, what so many accept: all the injustice and un-Christlike ways of the world.

Most Wednesdays, our General Minister leads an online prayer on her facebook page, and I join in when I can. Connecting with her and with other Disciples in this way is one way I build my own resiliency, as Gretchen talked about last week when I wasn’t here. I connect with other Disciples in prayer, to build my resiliency in the face of all our current struggles and challenges.

Reverend Hord Owens started calling on us to be the church we say we are after the police killings of unarmed African-Americans, and after the January 6 insurrection. Many who participated in the January 6 event were Christian nationalists who carried out this attack on democracy in Christ’s name. And many who engage in acts of violence or white supremacy also claim to act in Christ’s name.

Our General Minister challenged us by saying that, if we’re going to be the church we say we are, we need to speak out against Christian nationalism, against violence, and against white supremacy. We need to speak out against the violent attacks on our democracy, and the stripping away of rights for women, poor people, and people of color. 

We need to be the church we say we are, and actively work to build a different kind of society - the kingdom of God - where all are affirmed and embraced as God’s children.

In the same way, on this Independence Day weekend, we need our country to be the country it says it is. We need to be the country we say we are.

“Who we say we are”as a country is inspiring and worthy. So many of the things that have been said or written about our country throughout its history are so very good.

It’s been written that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

It’s been written that the aim of our government is to “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”

It’s been said that our country is a country “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

It’s been said that our country is a country “of liberty and justice for all.”

These are all very good things! I feel so good and so proud and so true whenever I read them or recite them! It makes me proud to be an American.

But it also makes me sad that we, as a country, are not always who we say we are.

We have not always treated all men equally. In fact, rarely have we done so. And never have we treated women equally.

We have not always upheld the “unalienable rights” of people. In fact, from the writing of the constitution, to legislation and Supreme Court decisions in our own time, we have regularly denied people their rights.

We have not established justice, but have perpetuated injustice. We have not promoted the general welfare, but have promoted the welfare of a few at the expense of the many. We’ve become more a country “of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations” than a country “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” And we have not ensured liberty and justice for all.

There is a minority in this country that has a disproportionate amount of power, and that alone is a threat to democracy. They’re taking away rights, ignoring the will of the people, and working for liberty and justice for a few, while increasing numbers of Americans are denied liberty and denied justice.

Who we say we are is wonderful and inspiring and so good. But we have a long way to go when it comes to being the country we say we are.

The same is true in the church. I have great hope in our congregation and in our denomination, but in American Christianity in general, we’re a long way from being who we say we are, and even in our congregation and in our denomination, there is room for growth.

Which is why our General Minister issued her challenge.

Because when our minds become possessed with ideas that are more in line with society and empire, and less in line with Christ, we are not being the church we say we are.

When our General minister Terri Hord Owens talks about being who we say we are, she says that “it will take more than thoughts and prayers to make this happen. It will take collective action from all of us, to support policies that serve the human good.” She says we need to start by voting “for politicians whose decisions will bring good news to the poor, and who will work to protect and preserve the climate.”

Who do we say we are?

We say we are “a movement for wholeness.”

We say we are a “pro-reconciliation, anti-racism church.”

We say we are a church that seeks justice (rather than power)... loves kindness (rather than influence or wealth)...and walks humbly (instead of with arrogance or certainty)

We say we are a church that is a welcoming and affirming community of faith, providing a safe space for all God’s children: people of every race, nationality, sexual orientation and gender identity. For lifelong Christians, seekers, explorers, learners, and doubters.

And we’re working on it. And we’re making progress. And we’re wrestling with all this, and trying to do better.

Because we know that God is calling us to be the church we say we are.