Delivered into Greater Freedom
- davidwperk
- Jul 24
- 6 min read
Daily Office Devotional, Thursday, July 24, 2025
Proper 11, the week of the sixth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Phrase for reflection from today’s reading:
18As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. 19But Jesus refused, and said to him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.’ 20And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.
(You will find the full text of today’s Gospel reading at the end of this reflection.)
Daily Office Lectionary readings (BCP, 976)
AM Psalm 50; PM Psalm [59, 60] or 8, 84
1 Samuel 28:3-20; Acts 15:1-11; Mark 5:1-20
Today we celebrate the Feast of Thomas À Kempis. See below.)
David's Reflections
This bizarre story takes most of us outside our experience. Jesus, on several occasions, freed people from demonic powers, but this particular exorcism contains the most striking and unusual elements of any of those healings.
We pray for deliverance from the Evil One each time we offer the Lord's Prayer. "Deliver us from evil" could be translated "deliver us from the Evil One." The New Testament affirms the existence of a world of evil powers set against God and intent on our ruin. That does not mean that we are not capable of evil apart from the influence of those powers. (James 1 says we are tempted when we are lead astray by our own desires., making no mention of Satan.) But it does mean that we are vulnerable, not only to the dark powers that reside within our own souls, but also to that world of evil outside ourselves.
What is called demonic possession actually appears to be quite rare; but, it is not uncommon for people to find themselves caught and under attack from evil in less profound ways. As Jesus said in Mark 9, only through prayer can we find deliverance from those forces, whatever they may be.
The ministry of healing prayer includes prayers for deliverance from evil as well as physical healing, healing of memories, and healing of intergenerational wounds. We also offer the sacrament of reconciliation, or individual, private confession of sin, which offers freedom and healing from the oppressive power of guilt.
This Gospel presents us with a vivid image of Christ's desire for our wholeness and freedom and of his power to effect that healing. Nothing can resist his healing love. We can cast ourselves as totally as we can upon the grace of God, shown to us vividly in Jesus of Nazareth, and know that God’s grace will work to mend what is broken, to reweave what is tattered, to free what is bound, to deliver from what addicts, and to soothe and heal what is bruised and ill.
I have taken comfort and found enlightenment in a statement made by Church of Sweden (Lutheran) bishop and New Testament scholar Krister Stendahl.
“Jesus' miracles were not primarily signs of his power but acts of mending the creation, pushing back the frontier of Satan, healing minds and bodies, feeding, even counteracting the devastation of the premature death of the young and needy.”*
*Krister Stendahl, "Christ's Lordship and Religious Pluralism," in Meanings: The Bible as Document and as Guide, (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984), p. 235.
Collect of the Day, Proper 11, The sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 231)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Thomas À Kempis, priest, monk, and writer (died 25 July 1471 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Thomas À Kempis
Holy Father, you have nourished and strengthened your church by the writings of your servant Thomas à Kempis: Grant that we may learn from him to know what is necessary to be known, to love what is to be loved, to praise what highly pleases you, and always to seek to know and to follow your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Collect for Protection
O God, the life of all who live, the light of the faithful, the strength of those who labor, and the repose of the dead: We thank you for the blessings of the day that is past, and humbly ask for your protection through the coming night. Bring us in safety to the morning hours; through him who died and rose again for us, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (BCP, 124)
For Quiet Confidence
O God of peace, you have taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength: By the might of your Spirit lift us, we pray, to your presence, where we may be still and know that you are God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 832)
Collect from Night Prayer, New Zealand Prayer Book
God our Creator, our centre, our friend, we thank you for our good life, for those who are dear to us, for our dead, and for all who have helped and influenced us. We thank you for the measure of freedom we have, and the extent to which we control our lives; and most of all we thank you for the faith that is in us, for our awareness of you and our hope in you. Keep us, we pray you, thankful and hopeful and useful until our lives shall end. Amen. (NZPB, 697)
In the Evening
O Lord, support us all the day long, until the shadows lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in thy mercy, grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen. (BCP, 833)
A Collect for Mission
Merciful God, creator of all the peoples of the earth and lover of souls: Have compassion on all who do not know you as you are revealed in your Son Jesus Christ; let your Gospel be preached with grace and power to those who have not heard it; turn the hearts of those who resist it; and bring home to your fold those who have gone astray; that there may be one flock under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 280)
Daily Office Gospel, Mark 5:1-20
5:1They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. 3He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; 4for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. 5Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. 6When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; 7and he shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.’ 8For he had said to him, ‘Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!’ 9Then Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He replied, ‘My name is Legion; for we are many.’ 10He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; 12and the unclean spirits begged him, ‘Send us into the swine; let us enter them.’ 13So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea.
14 The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. 15They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had the legion; and they were afraid. 16Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. 17Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. 18As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. 19But Jesus refused, and said to him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.’ 20And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.
Daily Prayer Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, p. 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p. 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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