Amid the Congregation

Gospel: Luke 4: 31-37

Jesus heals a man possessed by an unclean spirit in the midst of a religious congregation.  This man and his condition was not unknown to those in this sacred body, and yet prior to this moment this religious assembly was unable or unwilling to help this poor man be freed from what possessed him.  In fact, everyone in the assembly was shocked that Jesus cast out this spirit and helped the man.  They had grown accustomed and comfortable with this man and the evil that gripped him.

How often are our own religious congregations like this one? How many are we unwilling or unable to help because we have grown accustomed and accepted this evil that grips people? Churches abound in every town and city.  They sit next to payday loan shops and drug houses.  They are friends with banks and corporations who exploit people. They cozy up to politicians and personalities who demean the poor, immigrants and refugees, and who put the innocent to death by a variety of means.

What would our reaction be if Jesus came in the midst of our congregation and freed someone from one of these many ills?  Would we have the same indignation as what Jesus encountered in this Gospel scene? If churches are not about the business of freeing people from these ills, then what are we about?  If we are not about this liberation, then it is perhaps better that church buildings be shuttered and sold.