BULLETIN, JULY 25, 2021

This week’s Sermon
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ
This Sunday is the fifth Sunday of Matthew and the reading is about the
Gergesene Demoniac. This amazing miracle happened immediately after a very
dangerous storm on the sea. It happened on the other side of the sea where pagans
lived. And it happened in the graveyard. The storm is significant because
Christ shows His disciples that He has control even over the forces of nature as the creator of
the universe. The significance of going out of Israel showed his disciples that he has come not
only for one nation but for all. The cemetery warns us that when we are separated from Christ,
first we become a target for the demons and then we lose our lives.
The first thing that we learn today is that Christ, the creator of the universe, has
come into the world to bring all nations to Life Abundant from the bondage of the demons.
I would also like to bring your attention to the people with whom he relates in this
story. We see the disciples in the boat waking Jesus up to save them from the stormy sea. We
see the demon-possessed persons coming forward and recognizing who Christ is. They call him
Son of God. We also see the people who were herding swine going and telling everyone about
the miracle. Then we see the people of the city coming out to see Jesus. Initially, all these people
appear to do the right thing. But if we look deeper we see no results in their actions.
The disciples wake Jesus up not because they have full trust in him but they try to
blame him out of fear and lack of faith. It is true that the demons know exactly who Jesus is,
but what they say are just empty words because instead of conversion we hear them saying we
have nothing to do with you. Those who witnessed the miracle do not benefit from it either because
when they share the story of the miracle with their compatriots is not because they wanted
to follow Christ, but because they wanted Him to go away from their country.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ the second thing that we learn is that all of the
things that I mentioned above can happen to us. We call ourselves the followers of Christ but
sometimes we lose our trust when difficulties become unbearable. Sometimes we confess Christ
in a very orthodox way calling Him the Son of God but we do not allow our hearts to transform
and change. Sometimes we share stories of miracles that God has performed in our life or in
the lives of the others, but our mind does not go beyond curiosity and we prefer to limit our relationship
with Christ as if he is there for us to fix the problems by miracles.
Besides the negatives, however, we also have something very positive in this story.
The positive lesson is the transformation of the life of the demoniac. First, he is liberated,
life is returned to him and he is returned to life. Second, he desires to stay with Christ who is
the source of life. Third, he obeys His commandment to go and tell others about the compassion
and the mercy of God that gives life and life abundantly.
The ultimate lesson that we learn today is that we all are called to the transformation of
our hearts and lives but the miracle of the transformation does not depend on external things.
The transformation of our life is the direct result of our choices.
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