A new start

Readings set for this Sunday can be taken as listed below. These are for Sunday 20th June 2010 also called the 4th Sunday after Pentecost or Proper 7

1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a and Psalms 42 and 43 Galatians 3:23-29 Luke 8:26-39

Most of us do not easily identify with the idea of being possessed

If we believe in it at all

it is something that happens to someone else who is not quite right in the head,

who is severely stressed, perhaps even a religious nut.

If we think, though, of what the idea of being possessed is all about

and lay aside the demonic and supernatural stuff

we can easily appreciate what 'possession', 'oppression'

...perhaps we call these things OBSESSION

is all about.

We lose control to an external force

we hand it over and instead of being free

we are enslaved

we no longer drive our lives rather we are driven.

Does this sound familiar?

Yes, it does.

We can all readily identify places where we are driven rather than we drive.

Easy examples are addictions: alcohol, food, drugs or anything which begins to become the complete focus of our attention.

Those are the sort of things that affect them

We are perhaps less apt to name the things to which we are addicted by which we are obsessed You might take time to ask the question What drives my life? Where have I handed over control :

to my own desires to have everything under control

to my need to have more and more possessions

to my desperate need to be liked by everyone

or any one of the myriad of other things that possess us

Their name is legion!

What to do?

The reading from Galatians for today (here) tells us about the change that has changed the relationship between God and humanity.

In terms of that discussion it reveals how we have been transferred

from a relationship with God bound by formal rules and legislation

which Paul argues is a kind of slavery and imprisonment

even in a religious situation there is not freedom and we need to be set free.

We are set free by coming into relationship with Jesus

this is relationship as opposed to contract.

It is not an arrangement whereby we are give a handbook and a set of rules

rather God gives himself to us and this sets us free.

We should not be surprised then as we see the possessed,

the oppressed and the obsessed

encounter Jesus as we read about in this morning's Gospel

their lives are transformed we are set free.

So this man, possessed we are told by a multitude of demons

being drawn into relationship with Jesus is delivered.

This is for you and for me the truth too.

We need to note that this confronting opression is not necessarily an easy thing.

Pigs hurtle off the cliff!

as we rid ourselves of a lifetime of addiction/possesssion

do not expect that the drivers will go without a fight.

This week

Ask the Spirit to show you where you have handed over control of your life

Talk to Jesus, in order to open and strengthen the relationship.

What does he speak into your situation?

Pray for the courage to be set free

Lord speak my name and set me free. Amen