First United Methodist Church
June 22, 2025
Rev. Lauren Hall
Free Indeed
Several years ago I had a conversation with a person at one of South Bend’s emergency homeless shelters. He told me that he was “getting too old for this,” and then proceeded to tell me what led to his homelessness this time. After hearing his story, I felt sorry for him and thought he would probably always be in a situation that would require assistance from one charitable organizations or another.
Two years later when I attended a fundraising event for that same homeless shelter, this man was the speaker, and he shared how the people at that shelter helped him to re-claim his self-worth. He was several months sober, he had a part time job, and he was living in a very small apartment in South Bend. He still needed some public assistance, but he was willing and able to participate in providing for his own needs and he was no longer blaming everyone else for his circumstances.
The shelter was founded in order to keep people from freezing to death in the winter months, and it served its primary mission by providing guests a meal and a cot to sleep on for the night. Most of the guests used it for that purpose.
The volunteers at this particular shelter were committed to helping the unhoused beyond the basics of providing food and shelter for the night. They offered an optional Bible Study and discussion that focused on the self-worth of each individual person. Every once in a while, a guest would share their desire to find their way out of their situation. When this happened, the volunteers would connect them with the resources most suitable for helping them make progress.
While many people simply used the shelter as a safe place to sleep, those who participated in the Bible Studies realized that the volunteers looked beyond their hopelessness and saw a person – a person with potential who could not only support themselves but also give back to society. The volunteers introduced them to Jesus, and through this engagement with Scripture they were slowly freed from the chains that kept them isolated from society. They needed the resources too, but most of them never would have taken their first step without care they received at this shelter.
In our Gospel today, the Gerasene (J-EH-R-uh-s-ee-n) demoniac is an extreme example of the unhoused in our society. He represents the ultimate human isolation—cast out from family, community, and even proper burial places, forced to live among the tombs. The text emphasizes his complete alienation: no clothes, no home, no human contact except for failed attempts to restrain him with chains and shackles. The demons possess not just his body but his very identity; when Jesus asks his name, he can only answer "Legion"—the name of his oppressors rather than his true self.
The community's response reveals their inability to understand him. Like my initial reaction to the man I spoke with at the homeless shelter, they have given up on the demonic, treating him as a problem to be contained rather than a person to be healed. Their chains and guards represent their failure to address the root cause of his suffering.
In this situation, both the demonic and the community are trapped – neither can imagine life being different until Jesus arrives with his liberating power.
Like the Gerasene community, we often become comfortable with systems of exclusion and isolation, even when they harm our neighbors. We build metaphorical tombs for those we consider too difficult, too different, or too damaged to belong in our communities. Mental illness, addiction, homelessness, and criminal records become modern forms of demon possession—conditions that lead to social exile and dehumanization.
Our approach to addressing the needs of marginalized individuals frequently reflects the Gerasenes' strategy: prioritizing control over rehabilitation, and administration over outreach. We tend to stick to familiar suffering instead of embracing transformative change, fearing it may demand changes from us as well. When the release of the demons results in the destruction of the swine herd, the townspeople become frightened, even when they see the former demonic peacefully sitting at Jesus’ feet. They want Jesus to go away. Our fear of change keeps us trapped in flawed systems that isolate rather than heal.
Jesus shows us that healing and liberation requires direct engagement with both the demoniac and the demonic forces. Rather than avoiding the tombs or containing the problem, Jesus steps onto shore and immediately confronts the powers that have destroyed this man's life. The healing is complete—not just casting out demons but restoring dignity, sanity, and the possibility of community. The man sits at Jesus' feet, clothed and in his right mind, transformed from wild beast to devoted disciple.
God's grace extends beyond individual healing to challenge the community's systems of exclusion. When Jesus sends the man back to his home to testify to God's goodness, he's not just commissioning a missionary but reintegrating an outcast into society. The man becomes living proof that God's liberating power can transform anyone and that no one is beyond the reach of divine restoration.
When we hear this story, it’s important that we recognize Christ’s action in the liberating and healing process. As the church we have a responsibility to reach out to and include the oppressed in our society, but it is not our role to “free” them. We are commissioned to make disciples by baptizing and teaching and providing unconditional love, but Christ and the Holy Spirit are the ones who do the transforming.
At the homeless shelter I spoke about before, basic needs were provided, but it was through the Bible Study that the men realized that they were children of God, worthy of God’s love. The ministry involved offering a welcoming place to spend the night and an opportunity to claim their seat in the KOG. Over time, the “regulars,” or those who returned night after night for several weeks, were the ones who ultimately experienced divine healing, as their faith helped them to see beyond their present reality, and the volunteers encouraged them in taking their first step.
In Galatians, Paul reminds us that we also need to be freed and transformed. He claims that we are baptized into Christ. “Into” implies a direction, or a process. Our baptism is not an outward sign of belonging; it is the inward grace of God, and inward grace is a process of transformation. Individually, we have to allow Christ to free us from fear and isolation as well. By being baptized into Christ, we are letting Christ take over; we allow Christ’s love to guide us instead of our own wills.
Treating people with dignity rather than just addressing their symptoms reflects Christ’s holistic healing. The good news is God has the power to break every force that isolates and dehumanizes us.
Our mission is to live as liberated people who recognize God's image in every outcast and welcoming them as Christ has welcomed us. God is at work, still today, in Jesus, bringing God’s kingdom on earth, just as it is in heaven.
Let us pray:
Gracious and Loving Lord, we hear the stories in the Bible of Christ’s forgiving love. We sometimes look at them from a distance, believing that we could never be forgiven by God. We want to measure our sins on a grand scale, but in truth it is the little ways in which we disown you and run from your presence that form the foundation of our sins. Forgive us, we pray. Help us to be open to the needs of others. We have so much that we can do, and sometimes, O Lord, we are overwhelmed by their needs. We become paralyzed and fearful. Ease our hearts and give us strength and courage to be active witnesses for you. Give us such faith that we may place our whole trust in you. Today we bring before you the names of people near and dear to us to be lifted in prayer. Together we pray for [names, war, violence, poverty]. Some of these needs are for healing, for comfort, for solace; others are prayers of celebration and joy. All of these things we offer to you. Help us to truly believe in your abiding love in answer to all prayers that we willingly place our lives in your care. Heal and restore us; for we ask this in Jesus’ name. AMEN.
Benediction
Children of God, there is nothing to keep you from loving God and loving your neighbor. You are beloved, and you belong to Christ. You are claimed by God’s love, redeemed by Christ’s life, and set free to serve in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
