The Powerless Pew

Gospel: Luke 4: 31-37

After being thrown out of one synagogue, Jesus goes down the road to another.  There, he encounters a man in the synagogue possessed by a demon.  The man is certainly known to the people and is a regular fixture in the community.  No one seems particularly interested in helping the man; they are either unable or unwilling to do so.  How often are our religious congregations similarly ineffectual and powerless to help meet the needs of those in our midst?

Jesus enters the scene and makes a direct encounter with the man.  The possessed man is unable to ask for help or advocate for himself.  No one in the congregation is advocating for him either.  But Jesus confronts the situation head on, liberating the man from his demons, leading to astonishment and wonder among the people.  Yet, the message Jesus provides here is remarkably simple: we have to directly encounter and face the demons in order to overcome them.

How often do we ignore or step around the demons we need to face? How often do we sit in our comfortable pew, not advocating for the man in need, just wanting our one hour of spiritual drooz? Jesus shows us the path of authentic religion is to heal others, liberate others from their demons, and to nourish others - all in direct encounter with the one in need, all in facing the need directly and meeting it with mercy and compassion.