The Demons
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 -- Week of Proper 24
"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.
Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117
An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html
Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 989)
Psalm 38 (morning) // 119:25-48 (evening)
Ecclesiasticus 7:4-14 (found in the Apocrypha; also called Sirach)
Revelation 8:1-13
Luke 10:17-24
Jesus sends seventy disciples out two-by-two. They are charged with a remarkable message: Proclaim that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Then they demonstrate the power and presence of the Kingdom of God -- "even the demons submit to us!" They experience an empowered freedom from all sense of threat or fear. In a trinitarian prayer, Jesus thanks God for revealing such things to the humble.
One of the signs of the presence and power of Jesus was the reintegration of whatever may be broken and the liberation of whatever may be bound. The symbol "demon" is an effective word describing the experience of being threatened and trapped. The classical Gospel story tells of a man who is so tortured he lives unclean, among the tombs, disintegrated and isolated from life. Jesus cleanses and frees him. He is made whole. He returns to community.
There are so many fears, threats and addictions that seem to fit the bondage described by the word "demon." Attachment to money and security drives some to grasp for more. Attachment to place and honor drives some to compulsive achievement. Addictive emotions drive some into substance abuse or other forms of escapeism. Illness, weakness, the inevitability of death... There are so many fears, so many threats. There are so many ways we can feel insecure, unloved, out-of-control. These fears possess us. They are our demons.
God's hope for us is liberation from fear and bondage, an empowered freedom. The Gospel message that the disciples embodied is the good news of God's perfect, unqualified, powerful love. That love is so deep and so strong that within it we are safe. We are perfectly secure, because even death cannot threaten and even pain is transformed when offered in union with Jesus' cross. We are perfectly and completely loved, regardless of past or present, status or behavior. God is truly in control, so that we can surrender, and that surrender is our power.
Out of the liberation from those demons, we can live congruent, courageous, free lives.
Lowell
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posted by Lowell @ 7:49 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I enjoyed the thoughts on Luke, particularly the conception of demons as something other than pointy-tailed evil spirit-beings. The demons you describe are far more familiar to most of us.
The reading from Revelation is of the kind that always stumps me and keeps me annoyed and frustrated with that book. The vision of agents of God intentionally torturing planet earth (or so it sounds). I think a course on this book would be helpful to me, and one far different from the exposure I had in my youth to Revelation. Just a thought.
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