Christ’s last commandments to His Disciples, the Holy Apostles, before His Ascension were the following words: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them all things I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20). The Apostles and their descendants have carried out this holy mission through the priesthood since that time, planting the cross of Christ throughout the world, bringing the truth and new life in Christ to all peoples.
It’s also the teaching of the Church since Apostolic times that the Orthodox Church is sent to transfigure a culture, a people, through baptism. As people come to “put on Christ,” in the words of St. Paul (Gal. 3:27), so too, the culture is meant to ‘put on Christ’ too. As Orthodox, we don’t destroy the cultures we evangelize; we redeem them by bringing the light of Christ and expelling the evil from them, all while recognizing their distinct identity within the larger Body of Christ.
For this reason, when St. Innocent came to Alaska, for instance, he didn’t attempt to make the native peoples ‘Russian’, but rather, learned and then translated the holy services and divine texts and Gospels into Aleut, Tlinget, and the other native tongues. Like St. Paul preaching to the Athenians about their “Unknown God” (Acts. 17:23), St. Innocent taught the native Aleuts that their ‘spirit houses’ were the resting place of those awaiting the Second Coming of Christ and the Final Judgment. And so, the indigenous peoples were taught the resurrection of the dead.
But where does the ‘baptism’ of the American culture stand today? We see that the Protestantism and Catholicism brought here prior to Orthodoxy, while still the dominant majority has steadily declined in influence. Secularism is now the dominant ‘religion.’ Holy days are now truly ‘holidays’ for most, if celebrated at all, and have lost much of their original meaning or even been completely divorced from their original Christian purpose.
We see this secularization in our modern American celebration of Halloween, for instance. Originally called “All Hallows Eve” was a solemn, sacred remembrance of those faithfully departed, much as our Soul Saturday commemorations are in the Orthodox tradition, has now become in many places an opportunity to dress up as witches, ghouls, and monsters. The underlying message inherent in today’s secularized Halloween is that evil doesn’t really exist, that these caricatures of the demons and those who worship the evil one are part of a fictitious, mythological past. Many are not even familiar with the holiday’s Christian meaning. Certainly, rather than being baptized, the culture has usurped the meaning of this once holy day.
There are at least two errors, flip sides of the same coin, we can commit in our thinking here: One is that we teach others that demons and those who worship Satan are just scary but innocent ‘fun’ and that there’s really no such thing as witches, demons, or the devil himself; the other is to attribute too much power to Satan and his minions, the demons, and those who serve them.
Holy Tradition clearly teaches us that Satan and his demons are a fallen entity that we have to contend with andfight against. St. Paul reminds us of this truth when he states, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).
Our Lord Jesus Christ had numerous encounters with the possessed (those indwelt) by the demons; they were tormented and controlled, forced to do the demons’ biddings and, ultimately, became their victims, destroying themselves and others. Today’s Gospel is one such account.
The Gadarene demoniac is a man possessed and tormented by a whole legion of demons. He was, literally, out of his mind, naked, violent—little resemblance to a human being remained. He was “bound with chains and shackles” and lived in the tombs. He is truly among the ‘living dead,’ so enslaved is he by the demons who control his animalistic behavior.
We don’t know how he came to be possessed. There are many sins and practices today that can give the devil a foothold. All people are capable of coming under demonic influence. Some actually come to be possessed by the demons. Demonic possession continues in our own day, but since many people no longer believe in evil even as they no longer believe in God, much of what is actually demonic possession is misunderstood or misdiagnosed.
Much of the evil we see in the world that we cannot explain is, in reality, demonic possession or influence. Only the healing in Christ through new life in Him, the exorcism of the demons, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and our ongoing repentance and “Yes” to God, can drive the demons away. There’s power in the Name of Christ and the sign of the life-giving cross.
Exorcism is the first part of the Sacrament of Holy Baptism and the entrance into the catechumenate, a necessary precursor to putting on Christ. We expel all demonic activity from the neophyte, the one to be baptized, so that Christ may come and make His abode with him through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. At baptism, the priest makes the sign of the cross over the waters to put the demons to flight. These are, likewise, not some theatrical displays: there’s nothing arbitrary in the ancient liturgies of the Church. Rather, they continue to communicate the Truth of God and His divine power and grace to us, His victory over sin, death, and the devil.
Christ came that we may be free of the demons, their control and their influence, by choosing life with Him who is the Life of all—the One who has power over the devil and His minions. They testify to their fear of Him in today’s Gospel, knowing His power over them: “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!”. God by the Holy Spirit equips us to do battle against the spiritual forces of wickedness, to overcome our passions and the demons’ temptations that wage war against our life with Him, so that, we can triumph over the forces of sin and evil. As we live out the Orthodox faith, fighting that spiritual battle, we become witnesses of the hope for a truly deified life in Christ, the fruit of communion, with the living God. In doing so, we help baptize the culture of which we are a part, making it more reflective of Christ and His Heavenly Kingdom, just as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer.
As Orthodox, we’re not to fear the demons: “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world,” (I Jn. 4:4) St. John the Theologian assures us. At the same time, as Orthodox we do not downplay the reality of the evil we’re fighting against, we do not let down our guard. Satan is described by Christ as the “murderer of man.” He and his demons are bent on our destruction.
We certainly don’t pretend that witches, demons, and ghouls are innocent fun or make them look ‘cute’, nor do we participate in activities that may make others think that this is what we believe.
As for the Gadarene demoniac, Christ cast out those demons and sent them into a herd of swine and they drowned at sea. The man went his way, liberated from his demonic enslavement and proclaiming through the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
What “great things” has God done for you? Have you thanked Him recently for His goodness, mercy, love, and faithfulness to us, His forgiveness of our sins, His calling to a virtuous life that fits us for His eternal Kingdom? Demonic possession and spiritual warfare is a reality. As Orthodox Christians we should think through how we participate in Halloween or anything that downplays that reality to make sure we’re not contributing to an environment that denies the reality of spiritual warfare or which makes the servants of the evil one into something innocent or fun. The reality is that the evil one delights in this. We do not need to play into their hands. Instead, we have the opportunity to shine with the light of the Gospel, to baptize the culture through our own actions and witness, bringing the light and truth of Christ into all that we do and say. We teach our children examples of Saints who strove with the demons and defeated the enemy—The Great Martyrs St. George and St. Demetrius, as well as St. John the Theologian and St. Anthony the Great, just to name a few. There’s power in the Name of Jesus Christ and in His cross. We call on His name and the holy angels for protection from the evil one.
Christ God gave the Gadarene demoniac new life, restoring his humanity. Christ God gives us new life by virtue of our baptism and our sealing by the Holy Spirit in Chrismation, continued growth through the sacramental life in Him. He offers us healing from the passions and the opportunity and strength to witness to His life-saving truth in the world around us. So, let us give thanks to God today for His freedom from the bonds of the enemy. Return to your own house, and tell all what great things God has done for you!
Fr. Robert Miclean
Holy Archangels Orthodox Mission
Sunday, 28 October 2018 The Gadarene Demoniac; Baptizing the Culture
Epistle: Gal. 6:11-18
Gospel: Luke 8:26-39
