A Squadron of Inner Demons

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
St. Mark’s, Houston
June 22, 2025
Proper 7, C
Luke 8:26-39

When Jesus cast the legion of demons out of the man in Gerasa, his healing was far reaching. The man was back in his right mind, no longer a danger to himself, no longer a danger to those around him. His community was healed because they no longer had the crazy demon-man just outside of town, afraid he may come and harm them at any moment. His community was then further healed because the man told everyone what Jesus had done for him.

This is the kind of healing I’d say all of us and everyone we know can experience, because all of us are struggling with our own inner demons. Now, I don’t mean full-on Exorcist kind of demon possession. I do believe that sometimes people are full-on possessed by demons, like the man who had a legion of demons in him, which Jesus cast into the pigs, and I believe Jesus has the power to cast out those demons. Powerful as they may be, Jesus is God, but what I’m talking about here is not that kind of demon possession. Please, no one go out from here saying, “the preacher said I’m possessed by demons.”

I’m talking about what we call our inner demons, our lesser angels. Think about things within us that keep us isolated, harming others and ourselves. Ways that we choose to be right and angry, rather than in love and charity with others. How we hold on to grudges and let that poison eat away at us, slowing harming those around us too. Think about the contempt we have for others, the fear we let lead our lives, and the huge amounts of time and money we spend numbing and trying to feel better.

We may not have a legion of full-on demons possessing us, but I’d guess most of us at least have a decent sized gang or a small squadron of inner demons messing with our lives. I can hear our lesser angels shouting, “What have you to do with us, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Don’t torment us. Just leave us alone so we can torment people.”

I see a lot of people who as far as I know aren’t possessed by demons, but their lesser angels, their inner demons are going strong. Fear from past hurts cause us to lash out in all kinds of ways. Where I work, I see a lot of this among Houstonians who are experiencing homelessness. Past trauma, combined with the trauma of being homeless and a profound lack of sleep and safety. Some folks have the additional challenges of mental health struggles and addiction.

There’s a crud ton of inner demons I see every day, and whether the inner demons are cause by trauma, homelessness, mental illness, or even the daily stress of a regular, working, with a home kind of life, our inner demons tend to do the same things to us that the legion was doing to the man in Garasa. We’re not exactly living among tombs, but metaphorically, sometimes we are, our inner demons keeping us from good relationships and community, leaving us in darkness.

Well, as we heard in our Gospel reading today, Jesus brings light into our darkness. For the man with the legion of demons, the first thing that happened was that Jesus was there with the man. Then, Jesus had a conversation, not just with the man, but with the demons; he knew exactly what he was dealing with. Then, he cast them out and brought light into the man’s darkness.

For us and our inner demons, the first thing to do is invite Jesus in. Ask for Jesus’ help in healing us and bringing light into our darkness. Then, have a conversation with Jesus, telling him everything that’s going on. We call this confession, being totally honest with God about ourselves. God knows all of it anyway, so we might as well tell the truth, trusting in God’s compassion and love for us. Then, offer to God all of your inner crud, handing all of your inner demons over to Jesus. Ask Jesus to hold them and heal them, to hold and heal you.

Then, commit or recommit to walk in Jesus’ ways. Like the man with the legion of demons, our healing goes far beyond ourselves as we bring greater light into the world. We bring healing to others as we are healed. Our anger turns to peace and forgiveness, our fear turns to trust and acceptance, our desires to be right turn to love and charity. Then, do it again, over and over, every day, continually seeking healing from Jesus.

The world could use more of that: peace and forgiveness, trust and acceptance, love and charity. That’s living out Jesus’ mission for the church, for us to be healed that we may help bring healing to others, to a world full of inner demons, bringing love and light.

“Nope,” Jesus said. Rather than bring death, Jesus transformed death into life.

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
October 20, 2024
Proper 24, B
Isaiah 53:4-12
Psalm 91:9-16
Mark 10:35-45

So, there’s an election coming up in a few weeks, and yes, I am encouraging you all to vote, and no, I’m not encouraging anyone to vote in any particular way. I’m bringing up the election because it is once again rather contentious, hotly contested, and there’s this feeling in the air of, “Holy Dear Lord Almighty Sweet Baby Jesus, if the right side doesn’t win, then the Kingdom of God will be destroyed, and Jesus will never return.”
 
That is, of course, not the case. Neither side winning is going to bring about the destruction of the Kingdom of God. The election may be important, but it ain’t that important. Not even the gates of Hell can prevail against the Kingdom of God, and the president and congress of the United States, as much power as they may wield, aren’t powerful enough to destroy or bring about God’s kingdom.
 
Our hope is not in whoever becomes president. As Jesus pointed out to his disciples in our Gospel lesson today, our hope is not in any human power or position. Our hope is in Jesus, in the unity with God and one another which Jesus has forged. The Word of God which spoke creation into existence became human, fully uniting humanity and divinity. God and humans are one, and nothing, not even a bad president can separate that unity.  
 
So, despite the terrible angst and seemingly large stakes of the upcoming election, our hope is in Jesus’ victory. His is the victory and power not of human governments, not of domination, or enforcing his will. Jesus’ victory is the power of service, surrender, and resurrection, transforming death into life.
 
That resurrection power of service and surrender is the power we live out when we live the life of the kingdom of God which Jesus taught us to live. In today’s Gospel reading, once again, Jesus taught us to wield resurrection power not through the might of ruling over others, but through loving and serving one another as we were created to do.  
 
When James and John sought great power from Jesus, he assured them that such power of ruling over others is not what makes us great in the kingdom of God. They wanted to sit one on his right hand and one on his left, and they weren’t thinking of life after this up in heaven. That idea was kind of a concept in Jesus’ day, but not the dogma we have now. The thought of, “Let me serve with you after I’ve died,” was almost certainly not in their brains.

No, James and John wanted earthly power to rule with Jesus as his co-world-dominating vice-presidents. They wanted power and might over other human beings, and that is simply not the way of the kingdom of God.
 
“You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you;” Jesus taught, “but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant.” That sounds a lot like Eden, being one another’s companions and helpers.  
That teaching that those who wish to be great must be servants in God’s kingdom is pretty darn similar to the teaching we heard last week with the man who had great wealth. Remember, he wanted to make sure that he had the best of everything in this world and this life, and also to make sure that he had the best of everything in the life to come. “Sure, Jesus, I care about others and hear you teaching that I can use my vast wealth to serve others and to make sure they have enough as well, but I really love my stuff more than I do other people.” He wanted an “all about me” salvation, making sure that he was going to be ok, and not thinking too much about the well-being of anyone else. That’s not salvation; it’s just selfishness.
 
Remember the man in the parable Jesus told who used his great wealth to make sure everyone who worked for him, had a living wage. He even went searching for more folks to work for him, even if only for an hour, to make sure that they had a living wage too. That’s greatness in God’s kingdom, using wealth as a servant, not as one to be served.
 
Greatness in God’s kingdom comes from using what God has given us for the benefit of others, not for ourselves to get even more, and greatness in God’s kingdom does not come by forcing the world to be how we want it to be. Even when we’re right, it’s not our world to force our will upon. Even if we’re right, forcing our will on others is being a tyrant, and Jesus expressly taught against being a tyrant. The world is not any of ours to rule, not even by proxy, electing the folks we think are the right ones to be in office. God’s kingdom and our hope do not come from us or through elected proxies on our behalf. No, our hope and God’s kingdom come from Jesus, from the unity with God that he gave and through the resurrection life that he continually gives.
 
Even so, a lot of us are going to be mightily disappointed the day after the election. Some will be angry. Some may be legitimately afraid because of who gets elected, and some will be afraid probably not so legitimately. Fear, anger, and angst are very human and understandable reactions to the changes and chances of this life. Reacting out of our fear, anger, and angst, are also understandable, and, those fearful and angry reactions go against the kingdom of God. Those fearful and angry reactions come from feelings of powerlessness, wanting power over a world that is not in our control.
 
That is the power that James and John wanted, and Jesus told them, “No.” That power is not the way of God’s kingdom.
 
Jesus teaches us instead to accept our powerlessness, just like he did before Pontius

Pilate. “I have the power to kill you or to save your life,” Pilate said. “Nope,” Jesus said. “I could command hosts of angels to save me and destroy you all, but I’m not going to do that.” Jesus could have brought death to thousands and saved his own life.  Instead, Jesus accepted the seeming power that Pilate held over him, and because of that, rather than just bring more death, Jesus transformed death into life.
 
So, what are we to do then with our fear, and anger, and feelings of powerlessness? Once again, we follow Jesus’ example and teaching. We give our fear and anger over to God. We ask God for the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We act out of the fruit of the Spirit, rather than the burning fire of our anger and fear. Let by the fruit of the Spirit, we can call and write our political leaders to let them know of our fear and anger. They probably won’t care, but we can.
 
We can let go our fear and anger, accept our powerlessness, and choose to love and serve one another because that is who and how we were made to be. Loving and serving one another is how we live the eternal life of God. Loving and serving one another is how we live the life of God’s kingdom.
 
Our hope is in Jesus, and our hope is in the resurrection life of service and surrender, loving one another, even loving our enemies, so that all things, even death itself, are transformed into life.   

“Smells Like a Big Smile and a Lobotomy”

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
June 16, 2024
Proper 6, Year B
2 Corinthians 5:6-17
Psalm 92:1-4,11-14
Mark 4:26-34

 

I have a candle in a metal jar which I often light when writing sermons. The scent is soothing and helps me set aside that time and place for focusing on God’s Word and how the scriptures impact and lead our lives. So, I light this candle, and on the outside of the candle, it says, “Positivity Depresses Me.” (https://www.davproco.com/products/positivity-retro-stripe-funny-candles) 

Once I saw that written, I knew the candle was for me. That’s absolutely my sense of humor, and it hits home just a bit for me. Positivity depresses me.

Now, the truth is positivity doesn’t actually depress me. False positivity does. When people start spouting off little quips and sayings about how wonderful things are, totally divorced from the challenges of the world, yeah, that bothers me a bit. But, true positivity, a hopeful outlook even with the problems all around us, I love that kind of positivity.

It's the positivity of embracing the good in our lives and accepting that bad that we can’t change. Embracing the good while accepting the challenges of life, builds me up and tends to spread, kind of like the Kingdom of God.

Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed, a tiny little nothing of a seed, which grows into a large plant. The thing about mustard plants is, they can also be considered to be like weeds. They grow and spread pretty quickly, and once they are rooted, they are frightfully difficult to destroy. Mustard plants aren’t always welcome near other plants because they can quickly take over areas of soil and box out the other plants.  

The kingdom of God can be like that. Deeply rooted in God and hard to destroy. The kingdom of God can spread quickly and thrive in new areas. Like with mustard plants, the seeds of the kingdom spread, and when they take root in new areas, they thrive because of their deep grounding in God.

The kingdom of God also spreads and thrives because, unlike depressing false positivity which ignores the problems of the world, the kingdom of God plants itself in the midst of the challenges and problems in our world and it lives out the true positivity of hope, accepting that there is bad in the world, much of which we can’t change, while also embracing the good in our lives.

The kingdom of God also spreads and thrives because it doesn’t force others to change. A mustard plant doesn’t make everything around it become mustard. It lives with the other plants around it.

Now, some people might see the kingdom of God as a weed because people don’t always want the hope, faith, and love that come with God’s kingdom. That’s ok. The kingdom doesn’t force them to. When we chose to be planted as God’s kingdom in places and communities in our lives, we don’t need to force others to become as we are, and we don’t need to coerce them with fear and threats of Hell. That’s not love. That’s abuse, and when people are converted to Christianity out of fear of Hell, that’s coercion, and the kingdom of God may not be the result.

When we are deeply rooted in God and living our faith and the way of Jesus, then the kingdom of God spreads as people see the healing and peace within us and decide they want what we have.

So, what does kingdom living look like? A life deeply rooted in God, in faith, hope, and love looks like the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When we plant ourselves and remain deeply rooted in God, then God gives the growth of those fruits. We plant ourselves in communities and with people, we remain deeply rooted in God, and God gives the growth of the kingdom.

Of course, one thing to consider is that in the places where we would plant ourselves to sow seeds of God’s kingdom, God is already there. So, if we plant ourselves as a mustard seed among any group of people or place in this world, our job is not to bring them Jesus. Jesus is already there, bidden or unbidden, known or unknown.

When we plant ourselves as a mustard seed, our job is to live the kingdom of God. We are to stay deeply rooted in Jesus. We are to stay deeply rooted in God’s Word, deeply rooted in prayer, deeply rooted in our faith, deeply rooted in one another.

Then, when darkness and sadness get us down, as they will, our way is to let others be light and joy for us. When we plant ourselves with others, to spread God’s kingdom, we are to be true to ourselves and live God’s kingdom, and we are to let God give the growth.

We don’t know how it’s gonna happen, or when, or even if. We let God give the growth, and we release the outcome to God.

In spreading seeds of the Kingdom of God, we don’t do coerced conversions. We don’t do forced conversions. We don’t even force everyone to come to church. We are the church. When we plant ourselves out in the world, staying rooted in God, we are the church out in the world as Jesus intended.

We don’t need to preach to be the church. No, to be the Church in the world, we need to actually live as the church. We need to live the gifts of the Spirit. We show people God’s kingdom by how we live, then we can talk about Jesus. We can let people know about the growth Jesus has given in our lives.

If we know the freedom of releasing our anger and our desire to force our way in the world by letting go and allowing God to give the growth, then we can let people know about that freedom. If we know the comfort and companionship of living the kingdom of God, kingdom of then we can let people know about that comfort and companionship. If we know the peace of being rooted in God, then we can let people know about that peace.

We don’t spread the kingdom of God just by talking about Jesus, especially if we’re not living as disciples of Jesus, deeply rooted in our faith. Talking at people about Jesus without showing them Jesus in our lives seems like false positivity, the kind of positivity that’s kinda depressing. The words are good, but possibly disconnected from our lives.

The kingdom of God spreads when we live deeply rooted in our faith and then spread the true positivity of hope amidst suffering, of accepting the challenges of life while embracing the blessings. Living the faith, hope, and love of the Kingdom of God and planting ourselves out in the world, God will give growth, and the peace of God’s kingdom will spread. 

Being born of water, we become like water.

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
May 26, 2024
Trinity Sunday, Year B
Romans 8:12-17
Psalm 29
John 3:1-17

 

The writer of the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tsu, is quoted as saying, “water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield.” As best I can tell, that quote is actually a couple ideas from the Tao put together, and the teaching holds simple truth. Water yields if you try to push it, moves around you if you jump into it, and yet, given time, water can wear away enough rock to form the Grand Canyon.

So, the teaching that “water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock which is rigid and cannot yield,” is meant to tell us to be like water. Water moves around obstacles in its way and still gets to where it’s going. Water flows into the deep places of life where other things cannot go, and water gives life.

If we can yield like water, then we can move around the obstacles in our lives without constantly fighting them. Flowing like water, without constantly trying to force our own way in the world, we find peace in the deep places of our lives, and if we can yield and flow, finding peace in God, then we will give life and love to the world.

Now, I am almost certain that Jesus did not have Lao Tsu’s teaching in mind when he said, “no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.” Jesus was talking about baptism when he talked about being born of water.

In baptism, there is a cleansing, a putting away of life lived according to one’s own way, trusting in oneself. There is instead, in Baptism, a trusting in God, living life according to that trust in God. There is a giving up of one’s own way and one’s own will, and there is a submission to God’s way and God’s will. That means we interact with the world differently.

Being born of water, we become like water. Accepting that the world is God’s and now ours, and putting our faith and trust in God, rather than in ourselves, we flow like water, without constantly trying to force our own way in the world. We find peace with God’s presence in the deep places of our lives. We yield to the flow of God’s love and give life and love to the world. Being born of water, we become “fluid, soft, and yielding, able to wear away that which is rigid and cannot yield.”

Being born of water and yielding to God, accepting life as it is, rather than we would force it to be, we are born of the Spirit, born of God’s Spirit. Now, this is not just some generic spirit thing. We believe in God’s Holy Spirit, who, along with the Father and the Son, is one God. We believe in this God who is a relationship of persons, three persons bound together so perfectly in love that they are one.

The Spirit of this three-person one-God is the Spirit of God that moved over the water of the Earth in creation, the Spirit of God that carried the Word of God through the prophets, the Spirit of God which the Word of God sent forth upon the Church at Pentecost. The same Spirit of God which blows and moves throughout all creation is the Spirit in which we are born.

Being born of the Spirit, we then become like Spirit, as Jesus said, “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” When we are born of the Spirit, we live according to God’s will, rather than our own, which means we don’t force our will on others. We also don’t force what we believe to be God’s will on others. We live according to God’s will like water, or wind, fluid, soft, and yielding. We live God’s will and allow that to influence others over time, as water to a rock.

Living as water or wind, what gradual influence do we have in the lives of those around us? Well, if we are born of the Spirit and live according to the Spirit, then our influence would be by the Gifts of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That is what we would bring to the world.

Have you ever seen someone remain in control and even at peace in a situation that was awful and kinda nuts. Rather than making things worse and adding even more anger to a situation, they have brought peace, patience, and kindness to that situation, you’ve been left wondering how in world they did that. I’d say it was the gifts of the Spirit and the Spirit of God leading to God’s will in the world.

So, what is God’s will in the world? God’s will for us is to “do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God,” from Micah 6:8. God’s will for us is that we would “love one another,” from John 13:34. God’s will for us is that we would “put away…bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven [us],” from Ephesians 4:31-32.

Justice, mercy, love. When we see injustice, vengeance, and hatred, God’s Spirit leads us to bring justice, mercy, and love into those places. We cannot and do not, however, do this on our own. On our own steam, we tend to want to force the justice, mercy, and love, and when we try to force justice, mercy, and love violence and control of others, we end up bringing wrath, anger, and malice instead.

We bring justice, mercy, and love like water to a rock, changing it over time, doing only the part that God has for us to do. We do this work together with God’s Spirit, trusting not in earthly powers or authorities, or do we really think any political party through our government is going to bring about justice, mercy, and love? Do we really think any business or human institution is going to bring about justice, mercy, and love?

Governments, businesses, institutions, they can all do some good, sure, but that is not where our faith lies. In bringing justice, mercy, and love into the world, our faith lies in God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In bringing justice, mercy, and love into the world, our faith lies in God’s Spirit to guide us together into living justice, living mercy and living love. We strive, each of us in our own ways, guided and strengthened by God’s Spirit to bringing justice, mercy, and love into the world through how we live. Then, we influence others as we go to live according to same justice, mercy, and love of the Spirit of God.

Slowly, over time, trusting in God’s Spirt, God’s will, and God’s ways, we are called to be born of water and the Spirit, trusting not in our own flesh to force our way in the world. Born of water and the Spirit we are called to become like water which is “fluid, soft, and yielding, and yet will wear away rock.”