Deus Misereatur

[The following is what I presented on 22 June 2016 at the Capitol Forum, at the Oklahoma State Capitol] Demon Piety Luke 8.26-39 Did you know that the devil is very pious or religious? And did you know that our best religious efforts are often duplicated by demons? Why should this matter? Because it ought to inspire in you and me to examine ourselves, our religiousness, our Christianity, and yearn to be authentic God-lovers ! Consider the “piety’” of the demoniac: Demons have religious insight: “ Jesus, Son of the Most High God” (v.28). Demons have a form of religiousness: notice they pray to Christ for some form of mercy: “ I beg you, do not torment me” (v.28)! Demons were persistent in their prayers: “ they begged him... ” (v.28, 31, 32). Demons praying in a humble, subservient posture: “he cried out and fell down before him” (v.28). Demons pray with deep feeling: he cried out... and said with a loud voice” (v.28). Demons use humble expressions in their p...

My morning reading today (17 September) took me into the gospel according to Luke 8.26-39 . This is the episode of the man “who had demons” (v.27) in the country of the Gerasenes. There are several connections between this story and the sea-storm that precedes it (22-25: you can read it on yesterday’s post ). I’ll bring those out as we go along. To begin, the man who had demons is quite frenetic, frenzied and frantic. He is naked, lives among the dead and decaying (tombs – v.27), and is unrestrainable, even by shackles and human force (v.29). Just as with the sea-storm, this man is raging and fuming, and his presence is threatening to others. Then he meets Jesus and his whole way of existence changes. Once our Lord sets him free from “Legion” (v.30), there is a complete change of his manners and mental state: “Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in ...