[RCL] 1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a; Psalm 42 and 43; Galatians 3:23-29; Luke 8:26-39 In the 1590s, William Shakespeare penned the line, “What’s in a name?” as part of a longer soliloquy that Juliet speaks to herself. She discovers Romeo’s family name and is dismayed – the Montagues and the Capulets have been feuding for…

[RCL]: 1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a; Psalm 42 and 43; Galatians 3:23-29; Luke 8:26-39 For years he haunted the tombs. The living dwelling in the places of the dead. He might as well be dead. No one remembers his name; they can barely register that he is a human being. “Crazy” they call him. Reduced…

Relationships are tricky. They require both well-formed individuals and a cohesive communal whole. Individuals who are too isolated, and deprived of human contact are often quite damaged. Mad and raving at the edge of society, in the tombs, in either literal or metaphorical deserts, in places where demons dwell… And people who are too group-centered,…

If Elijah and Jezebel were after me, I’d run, too! Elijah was so afraid, he wished he might just die, but God had other plans for him as God often does for us. This is a wonderful story from today’s reading from First Kings about one of the great prophets who is so human in…

[NOTE TO READER: Gerasene demoniac is pronounced JER-uh-seen de-MON-ee-ak] Let’s look for a minute at the story of the Gerasene demoniac; it’s about time somebody did. The story doesn’t get a lot of attention in preaching these days, and that’s a shame. There’s some really good stuff here, and it’s pretty funny if you come…

Last December, after a Fort Worth, Texas, policeman was killed in the line of duty, his family spent a gut-wrenching week, planning and attending the funeral and having many conversations with those whose lives had crossed that of their loved one. When all was said and done, this young officer’s mother realized that one story…

[Note: One of the joys of the RCL readings is that we get course readings in the Old Testament—such as the Elijah cycle we get this week. Pairing it with the Luke 8 story gives us some new ways of thinking and talking about God and healing.] Elijah and the Gerasene Demoniac are two important…

In today’s reading from the Gospel according to St. Luke, Jesus asks the disciples two questions, questions that still have significance for us today. The first question that Jesus posed to the disciples was, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” And they answered, “John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that…