DRIVE OUT THE DEMONS

Does the feast of the Ascension of Jesus leaving you wondering, ‘Now, what do we do?”

 

There are several different ways that this last appearance of the risen Jesus is pictured in the Gospels. It is a time of completion of the earthy mission of Jesus. He now moves to glory within the Holy Trinity. At the same time, it is preparation time for the disciples to wait to be empowered by the Holy Spirit.

 

Ascension is not only caught in the upward movement toward divine glory. It is directed outward: the disciples are now to carry on the life and the work of Jesus. It is time for the people of the Church to become empowered in their mission. It is time for the people of the Church to become the living extension of Jesus Christ in their own geography and theirown history.

 

One of the signs that they have been empowered by the Holy Spirit is that they will 

 ‘drive out demons!’

 

Our first reaction is ‘this is such old fashion language.’ It does not mean much to us in our highly scientific worldview. We know much better than to believe that there are  such things as evil demons controlling the life and health of people.

 

Step back a minute. Separate the noun used ( the demons) from the reality that is named. It does not matter what kind of label you use to describe evil, the reality is still the same! Evil by any other name is always evil. 

 

Christ sends you into the world to drive out the demons, just as he drove out the demons.

 

Drive out the demon of poverty, that is, where the powerful do not care about the plight of the countless poor, who barely scrap by, within their own societies. Drive out eh demon of indifference where the people with power in all our countries are indifferent to the people at the bottom who struggle with food shortages. 

 

Drive out the demon of war. At the momen, t the entire world is suffering the death and destruction of the people of the Ukraine, in Gaza and in the Sudan. People in power (and with the money) are convinced that war can further their cause and make their country a more powerful country. But what about the women and children who are killed?

 

Drive out the demon of racism. In every country there are is the majority of the people of the same skin color, same religion and education class who structure the society so that people who are different cannot advance. In the painful past there were signs that “blacks need not apply.” Blatant racism! But today it can be more subtle. Your skin color or your religion may be reason to overlook a person with for suitable qualifications for a particular position. The rejection is all based on race!

 

You will be able to label other demons that are active in our society and within the lives of our individual family members. It is not important how you label these evil forces, but whatever the label they are active and forceful. The world is full of  many demons (evil  forces) as there were in the days of Jesus. 

 

The Spirit of Jesus is given to drive, to be a force, to drive out the demons. What demons do you have to deal with?