The Rev. Virginia W. Nagel
Episcopal Diocese of Central NY (Retired)
The Law of God as given in the Jewish holy writings, which we now call the
Old Testament, was basically a law for how the people of Israel should live
together in harmony and peace, since they were God's children and therefore
brothers and sisters. The religious portions of the Law sound very much like a
contract. There is little to give us any idea of a personal relationship between
God and his people. While the prophets and a few others are shown to have a
personal relationship with God, for the most part, the religious observances
described in Leviticus and the other books of the Old Testament seems to be
mostly an impersonal, business-like relationship. You broke God's law, so you
made satisfaction with a sacrifice. You recognized that God had given good
weather and abundant crops, so you offered some of those crops as a "thank-you"
sacrifice.
And then we come to the later Old Testament times, the times of the prophets.
Here we see the beginnings of a more personal religion. Today's reading from
Isaiah shows clearly that God wanted to have a personal relationship with his
people, a relationship based not on a series of businesslike transactions, but
on shared feelings and affection. So God, speaking through the prophet Isaiah,
shows that he, himself, has feelings, and that he is aware of the feelings and
emotions that his people also have. We can clearly understand his longing for
his own feelings to be recognized and acknowledged in today's reading. We see
that God even feels hurt when his people take him for granted, and do not
recognize what he has done for them.
Paul, in his letter to the churches of Galatia, explains this change of
emphasis. He says that the Law was given to help the people learn how to behave
and how to treat one another and how to show respect and thanks to God. But now,
he says, it's different. Now, Jesus has come, and shown us, in the loveable form
of a man...who is also God...that God is not only to be obeyed but to be loved
and cared about, because he loves us. Paul goes on to explain that Christ's
sacrifice on the cross is the ultimate expression of that love that God has for
us, and that we should feel free to return our love for his love. We can go
beyond a businesslike, routine obedience to laws; we can learn to know and enjoy
God for himself, and we can now begin to understand how deeply and how widely
God loves us, how much he is willing to do to show his love...even giving up his
own son's life for us. We no longer live only under an impersonal law of
accountability. Now, we live under a law of love, and yes, we are still
accountable, but now we are accountable because we love a Father who loves us,
not just because we are afraid of the penalty for breaking a law.
There are some interesting things connected with the story of the healing of
the Gerasene man. First, he was not a Jew. He lived in an area close to Israel,
but on the other side of the sea of Galilee, more or less in what is today
Jordan. He was not ill; he was possessed by demons. That means that Jesus was
extending to this non-Jewish individual, who was filled with an anti-God kind of
life, the same love and healing that he had been sharing with Jewish people who
were among God's chosen people. That was an unheard-of idea in those times.
The second interesting thing about the story of this healing is that it led
the witnesses, mostly non-Jews themselves, to much the same reaction that the
Jewish people and especially the disciples had shown over and over again when
witnessing Jesus' miracles. We have become so accustomed to their reaction that
maybe it doesn't really register in our minds, any more. But, according to Luke,
nearly every miracle ends with some sort of fear or awe on the part of the
witnesses: Who is this man? Even the seas and the winds obey him!
or, Who is this man, who forgives sins, as God himself does? or,
Who is this man, who can restore the dead to life again? Over and
over, we hear this question, accompanied by feelings of fear or awe: Who
is this man, Jesus?
It seems to me that one of the main reasons for all these miracles, healings
and forgivings is simply that God wants to give us a chance to see how loveable
and personal the power of God can be...and so he came, in the person of Jesus of
Nazareth, in part to show us exactly that. Yes, he also came to die for us, to
take away our sins. But it is clear that Jesus' coming as both God and man gave
us a fresh, new perspective on God: not only a mighty power, not only the
supreme Creator, but a God we can love, a God who loves us, a God who knows our
feelings and our needs and cares deeply about us...not only about keeping the
peace and having us live together in harmony and justice, but a God who loves us
and wants, hopes, that we can somehow learn to love him, too. We all know and
accept that Jesus' death on the cross shows that God loves us, loves us much
more than we can possibly understand.
The rest of the Church year, which is called "Ordinary Time" by some
churches, will be giving us readings about Jesus' teachings and miracles.
Perhaps it would be good for us to learn from these readings more about how very
much God loves us, and see if we can find it in our hearts not only to obey him
but to love him more deeply, ourselves, and to make this love an ordinary part
of our lives.
Amen.
