Psalm 22:19-28; Is 65:1-9; Gal 3:23 – 29; Luke 8:26-39
Have you forgotten who you are?
“What is your name?” Jesus asks him.“My name is Legion.”
In the reading from Isaiah God is continually calling us saying “Here I am, Here I am” Reaching out to us, arms outstretched, waiting for us to turn toward God, and receive the wholeness and peace awaiting us.God is waiting to restore us to our full identity.God is calling us by name, and sometimes we forget our identity in Christ.
In today’s Gospel from Luke we have a man with a mental illness, who calls himself “Legion”.This man, whom we never do learn his real name, is known by the name of his mental illness.This man who has been banished to the fringes of his community, breaks loose of the fetters and chains that keep him bound and in his place, and goes running to Jesus and throws himself at the feet of Jesus.It is this man who calls himself Legion who runs to God who calls out to us “Here I am, Here I am” reaching out to us waiting for us to turn to God to receive wholeness and peace.
“My name is Legion”.The community chained and fettered this man in their effort to keep him safe from himself and to keep him near them so they could care for him.I also think the community was dealing with him in the best way possible for what they knew.Mental illness is difficult for those who suffer with it and those who love them.
I can’t help but have compassion for this man who calls himself Legion.It says about him in the Gospel many times the unclean spirit had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.People have labeled him upon his actions rather than seeing him as a child of God who has great need.Mental illness or a brain disorder causes erratic behavior that is difficult to control.Those around him responded by containing his body in chains and shackles.He was inordinately strong when he would have a seizure and would break loose and run away and hide from those who would contain him.He was a man who yearned for healing, freedom; who yearned for peace.
The man that called himself Legion ran to Jesus, the God who constantly calls to us “Here I am, Here I am”.As with many with mental illness know, they need help from outside themselves, and don’t know how to break out of the spiraling of their minds.Something about Jesus, as he stepped out of the boat, called out to Legion and attracted him to the healing and peace that Jesus has to offer.
When he was healed he wanted to stay with Jesus, the man who understood him and healed him.He knew he was safe around Jesus.The people who knew this man saw that he was now clothed and calm and in right mind. They didn’t know how to react to him now that he was healed.
The people asked Jesus to leave for they were afraid. So, yes, Jesus left.But before he did so, he commissioned the man who was healed with a vocation:“Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.”
So he did, he went throughout the city proclaiming how much Jesus had done for him.
We are also Legion.In our minds we label ourselves and forget who we really are.We define ourselves as: the huge home mortgage that we are burdened with; the caregiver, the cancer patient, the alcoholic, the gambler, the gay or lesbian, the widow, the heart patient, the old man or woman.We marginalize ourselves and keep ourselves from responding to the love of God.
Yet the one who calls himself Legion is the one who meets Jesus, who responds to, as in Isaiah, our God who calls to us “Here I Am, Here I Am.”In his brokenness, in his torment of mental illness he comes out of hiding and responds to the God who can save him.He is so out of sorts, so in need of Jesus help that he throws himself at Jesus feet and cries out.
In Baptism we are named and claimed as a child of God.Our identity is in Christ.When we find ourselves bound by what holds us.Throw yourself at the feet of Jesus and cry out to the God who is calling to you “Here I Am, Here I am.Throw off all the labels that hold you bound.
It is in Baptism, given to us freely, that we receive our identity.In baptism, Jesus calls us by name.We are named and adopted into the Body of Christ.Paul says we are clothed in Christ.We have unity in Christ.We are brothers and sisters in Christ.We are all one in Christ Jesus.
God call us by name.Not by what our condition is, but by who God has created us to be.God calls us and when we return to God and confess our brokenness; we are given peace.Isn’t that what Jesus did for the man called Legion?Jesus healed him and sent him back to his people to tell them what Jesus had done for him.
Yes, our God calls to us “Here I Am, Here I Am and holds out his hands beckoning us to come and return to who we are.Children of God, clothed in Christ Jesus.
