I do not think I am alone in the Episcopal Church in having some questions about demons. We keep a tight lip about things like exorcism in this tradition. In fact, the only reference made to it in our liturgical resources is one page within The Book of Occasional Services. It merely urges one who suspects some sort of demon-possession in oneself or another to call the bishop. And yet, Matthew’s telling of the Good News of Jesus of Nazareth overflows with references to demons.
People bring the demon possessed to Jesus for a cure, Pharisees claim that Jesus casts out demons because he is the ruler of the demons (Beelzebul), and Jesus gives voice to a mute man by casting out his demon. Other stories in Matthew and the other Gospel accounts seem to have much more credence in how we live out our Faith in God. “Love God with all your heart, mind, spirit, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself,” (Matthew 22:37-38) makes sense to us. Heck, even the feeding of the 5,000 has some interpretations that allow ultra-rational folk to understand it in a way that applies to my life. When some saw the generosity of a few who offered the bread and fish that led to all sharing the provisions they had brought with them. However, curing people with demons lies outside of my tightly-held worldview. One could choose the route of believing that demons were what we call mental illness, but an experience from my life showed me that there is more to this world than what meets the eye.
On an outreach experience in Quito, Ecuador my group went to a small church one Sunday morning. This community met in a bright yellow school room that sat on the edge of a cliff face that overlooked the valley where Ecuador’s capital city rests. I was completely out of my element at this service. Electric guitar praise music blared through a broken set of speakers, a thirty minute sermon turned into a forty-five minute sermon due to translating it into English, and then came the altar call. When one of the students on the trip wanted to go up I felt the need as group leader to support her decision, even if it made no sense to me. After hearing the prayer both in Spanish and then translated into English I thought, “This is not so bad. It is kind of like the Public Service of Healing.” The student got up from kneeling and she returned to her seat.
At that moment I turned to walk back as well, but the leader of this congregation stopped me. What was translated to me was something like, “You are the leader of the group and you need a blessing.” I waved my hands and shook my head saying, “No, I’m good.” Then he insisted, and not wanting to deny his hospitality and thinking, he’ll just say some prayer, I agreed to the blessing. This is when things got weird.
As soon as this man put his hands on my shoulders my heart began to race, as though it were trying to burst forth from my chest. He spoke words that were being translated, but somehow I already knew what he was praying. His hand touched my forehead and it felt white hot! Then, he said the Spirit is strong with you and this blessing will knock you down. I thought, “No, it won’t!” I had no power over what was happening, though and I fell backwards into the arms of some fellow leaders. There’s a picture of me after this experience and I have this calm look on my face, as though a peace, which I cannot understand was dwelling within me.
As much as I try not to believe in a spiritual realm where demons, angels, and other forces exist, I am almost certain that I am wrong. Just because I do not understand quantum physics does not mean that it does not exist. Jesus was more than aware of the spiritual realm; he encountered it; he tamed its unruly members; he held control even over those parts of reality that we cannot see or have a hard time believing exist.
When the Messiah came among us in the person of Jesus God touched every part of our existence setting it apart as holy! This story of Jesus casting out demons from two Gadarenes (Gad-a-renes) informs us of the thickness of our reality. There is more to life than what meets the eye. While on some level this may appear frightening, Jesus controls even those parts in this universe that we cannot perceive with our human senses. When we trust in God through Jesus strange things may happen, even the casting out of forces that repel God. Following Jesus is not about having understanding, but about having Faith. Have Faith that Jesus is the Lord of all things: seen and unseen!
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