Second Sunday after Pentecost
How Do We Tell Our Stories?
This story has two elements: Jesus’ liberation of a man held captive by demons, and the response of the villagers to this liberation.
Jesus and his disciples have left their regular stomping grounds and moved to the east of the Sea of Galilee, into Gentile lands. Jesus steps ashore and meets this man held in terrifying demonic captivity. Jesus grants the demons’ request to be evicted into the herd of swine instead of being sent into the “abyss,” to likely be punished. The herd drowns upon stampeding down a steep bank into the lake.
The peculiar thing is the villagers’ response to what Jesus has done. They were “seized with great fear” (Luke 8:37 NRSVue), becoming a new set of captives in this story. Out of fear, they asked Jesus to leave their region. Ever gracious, Jesus left, but not before another encounter with the man whom he had liberated, who now wanted to go with Jesus. But Jesus encouraged him to return home and share the good news of what God had done for him.
We are not sure what caused the fearful response of the villagers. Some days, I believe that they had serious concerns about their financial and dietary loss without the pigs. Most days, I believe it is connected to how the story was relayed to them by the swineherds. Their choice of words and accompanying gestures may very well have generated fear in their listeners.
The villagers chose fear over faith that day. The liberated man had a different response. In Jesus, he found someone whose power transformed his situation. So he told his story with joy.
What stories are we telling our neighbors, and how are we telling these stories? We, the people of God, who bear in our spirits and lives the evidence of God’s transformative work, are also called to share our stories. This calling may feel even more urgent with Juneteenth still fresh in our minds. How do we tell the story so that our neighbors may choose faith over fear, sparking an even greater transformative event in every corner of our global village?
Desna Henry Goulbourne, pastor, United Moravian Church
New York, New York