Paul writes in Galatians 3:28 that there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female. I think we often take this as meaning the the distinctions between us are erased, similar to the US of A idea of the melting pot. We come out the other side of baptism as homogenous, androgynous folks. But when we put Paul in dialogue with a Gospel story about breaking down the powers of domination and not only breaking the chains of one form of control for the chains of another but rejecting the chains altogether, we find that Paul is really saying something else (see Galatians 3:23-29 and Luke 8:26-39) Power does not lie in domination and submission as so many have assumed from ancient times into the present. Instead, through Christ, we all become equals. Our coming together as church is more akin to a mosaic -- pieces of different colors, shapes, and sizes all contribute to a new whole.
In this new creation, we are set free to be ourselves and bring our strengths and weaknesses into the new whole alongside the strengths and weaknesses brought by others. Through Christ, we nourish and support one another. The old roles of one group dominating another fall away. The chains of conformity are broken, and the doors of self-expression are flung wide. In Christ, we are renewed and freed from trying to be something we are not.
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With the close of the Easter season, we now transition back into Ordinary time. Most of the church calendar is taken up with Ordinary time. Not really a season itself, Ordinary time is made up of all the Sundays that take place between the seasons of preparation and celebration at Christmas and Easter. In the traditional church calendar, these Sundays are counted – first, second, third, and so forth. It is this counting using ordinal numbers that gives the season its name. Ironically, it is people’s experience of Ordinary time in the church that gives the word ordinary its usual meaning today – mundane, common, not special, even boring.
However, while this portion of the church year may not seem as important as the seasons around Christmas and Easter, this does not mean this time is devoid of meaning in the life of the church. The primary color for Ordinary time is green, symbolizing growth and vitality. Even as a gardener may look forward to the pops of color from fruit or flowers, they know that there is growth occurring even before they see the first sprouts break the surface of the soil. It is the same for us. While we may get the most excited about Christmas and Easter and some of the other special celebrations throughout the year, we continue to grow and learn even during other times.
During the period of time between Epiphany and Lent, we tend to focus on Jesus becoming known in the world. We look at the ways that Jesus began his ministry and how he showed the people who he was and what God’s continuing presence might look like for them. In this season following Easter, we often focus on what it is that the kingdom of God looks like. How do we recognize the kingdom? What does it mean for us? What does it look like in practice?
At first glance, it is not obvious how our two texts today fit together, much less what they have to do with the kingdom. The Gospel story in particular, while it is a fairly well known story of exorcism and healing, contains nuances in context that are often lost on us as modern day readers. But these contextual clues are important for us to understand what is happening in this story beyond healing and what it has to do with the kingdom of God.
There are two clues here, one that is subtly obvious to us even today and one that is less obvious to us. Our text tells us that Jesus and the disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee to the land of the Gerasenes. The people of this area were Gentiles, not Jews, something that the people in Biblical times would have known. The one real clue we still have today is the presence of the herd of pigs, an animal considered unclean according to Jewish religious practice. It is therefore an animal that would not have been raised in Jewish lands.
So Jesus and his disciples sailed across the Sea of Galilee to continue their work in Gentile lands. As soon as they exit the boat, Jesus is met by a Gentile man who is possessed by a demon. Our Gospel writer does his best to help us understand what that means. In this particular case, the man lives naked and homeless in a graveyard. In the past, when the demons had taken hold of him, he would be bound in chains and kept under guard. But he was able to break his bonds and escape into the wilderness. However, this just left him without a home, without a community, alone. He may have escaped one prison, but found his circumstances had not really changed.
When he meets Jesus, the demon speaks through him – “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” In response, Jesus asks the demon his name. The demon responds, “Legion,” indicating that there are in fact numerous demons and not only one. If you notice, from this point on, the text even shifts from addressing the demon in the singular to using the plural.
As we know, Jesus orders the demons out of the man and allows them to possess the herd of pigs nearby. Once the demons enter the pigs, the demons drive the pigs into the water, where the pigs drown. The cured man soon sits fully dressed at Jesus’ feet, learning from him. When he asks if he can follow along with Jesus, Jesus tells him instead to stay where he is and spread the news in his own community.
This story indicates three very important things that have implications for what comes next in the Christian story. First, as we already noted, Jesus went to a Gentile area to continue his ministry. He may have started with the Jews, but his message was not only for the Jewish people. Not only that, the man he healed, a Gentile, was sent forth to carry the news to others in his own town. The Good News is for all people, not just those already considered heirs to the kingdom.
Second, the name given by the demons is important. A Legion was a Roman military unit with between three and five thousand men. While this may be used to exaggerate the number of demons inside the man, the people first hearing this story would also have made the connection to the Roman military, those who kept peace for the Empire through violence and domination.
Finally, the reaction of the demons to Jesus, their fear and worry, shows that Jesus, as the Son of the Most High God, has power and authority over them, and by extension Jesus represents power and authority even over earthly powers and principalities. The fact that the demons destroy themselves suggests that the Roman Empire will destroy itself under its own power. Jesus did not have to destroy the demons; they did it themselves. And when it comes to the might of the Roman military, his way of non-violence will lead them to destroy themselves as well. Jesus’ primary way is not the way of violence, a lesson for his followers then as well as now.
It is largely these three lessons that Paul is therefore addressing with the Galatians in our other reading for today. Paul is writing this letter, as with many of his others, to address some concerns he has heard about within the community. Touching on similar points to the Gospel story, Paul’s primary message is unity. The most significant issue in all of his letters is that the early communities have a really difficult time seeing one another as equals. They carry their external thoughts about who is in and who is out into the community of faith. They take their ideas about who is better than whom, who has a right to dominate the other, into their lives together. Paul is rightly concerned about this. After his arguments at the Jerusalem Council for the inclusion of Gentiles, after Jesus’ own mission to include Gentiles, why are some in the church presenting stumbling blocks for others.
In this segment we have today, Paul makes the case that once we are baptized into the body of Christ, we become equals. It is through faith that we are saved – our faith and the faithfulness of God as demonstrated through Jesus. While the Jewish religious laws may be important to members of the community that were already Jewish, Paul has consistently argued that the same laws are meaningless and unnecessary for Gentile members of the community. Worse, he suggests that either encouraging Gentile members to follow the same laws or for Gentiles to seek to follow them throws doubt on the salvation offered through Christ. If the grace of God is what is needed, then acceptance of that grace is sufficient. Saying that the Gentiles need also to follow Jewish customs chains them to those religious laws rather than to Christ. It is Christ that unites us, not our adherence to this or that set of laws.
This is why Paul speaks of our common baptism. It is our faith that unites us. Prior to Jesus, the only way to show our faith was through adherence to the Law. Follow this set of rules to show our faithfulness. Now our faith is shown through our baptism, through becoming a part of the body of Christ. If we truly accept our place in the body, if we have faith in the grace that Jesus has offered, the Laws are no longer needed for us.
Instead, just as the demon possessed man was frequently bound prior to his encounter with Christ, Paul says that the Laws become a chain, locking us up, confining us. But through Christ, the chains are broken, the doors are opened, we are no longer confined to the Law. We are set free. We don't have to pretend to be something else.
And just like the man who was previously possessed, once we are free, once the doors are open and the chains fall away, our lives are changed. The old boundaries that were in place are no longer what is most important. It is our unity in Christ that is important. This does not mean the distinctions no longer exist. Rather, our unity makes us equals.
In his famous saying, “There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28, CEB), Paul is making a statement about equality and dominance. He is speaking about political, economic, and social roles in the common culture and how they are different in the church. We know we are all members of the body. And we can look around our communities of faith and see that we are different. From our own lives and experiences, we know people of faith come in a variety of races, ethnicities, and genders. We know that some are rich and some are poor. Our particularities still exist.
But Paul does not mean that we all become one homogenous blend of androgynous folks. Instead, he means that the roles of dominance and submission that we have known in the world do not have a place in our communities of faith. In this particular instance, Paul was speaking to Gentiles believers thinking they were less than the Jewish members because they did not have the Law, but he could just as easily have been speaking to Gentiles who are part of the Roman occupation thinking they are superior because they are not Jews. He is saying that the rich don’t get to lord it over the poor or enslaved. He is saying that men do not have the right to dominate women. Because in the community of faith, we are all equals.
While Paul was speaking to his particular context, I am sure we can think of ways we might rewrite this today. What are the dualities that Paul might set up in writing to the contemporary church? What are some of the equivalent area of domination and submission that our contemporary world tell us are appropriate that do not have a place in the church? There is neither White nor Black; there is neither rich nor poor; nor is there straight and queer, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Who are the people that God loves that we are excluding? Who are the people of faith that we are expecting to do even more than accepting God’s grace? Who are the people still in chains, still hiding behind closet doors, still waiting to be set free as people of faith?
We are all God’s children. We are all recipients of God’s grace. Not by adherence to a set of laws. Not based on the way things have always been done. Not based on what we consider normal. Not based on what culture tells us are the accepted norms.
“All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:27, CEB). That is what makes us members in the community. That is what unites us to the body. That is where we find our unity and our identity as Christians.
God’s faithfulness, God’s grace, offered to us through Jesus. That is all we need to accept to be united to the body. So let us with Christ set those who are captive free. Let us throw open the doors that hold people back. Let us stop placing additional rules in place.
As unbelievable as it may be, God’s grace is all we need.