He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters

 And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute.  So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; sand the multitudes marveled.  But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."   Others, testing Him, sought a sign from heaven.  But He knowing their thoughts, said to them:  "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.  If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?  Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub.  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they will be your judges.  But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.  When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.  But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.  He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first." 

- Luke 11:14-26

On Saturday, we read that as Jesus was praying in a certain place, when He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."  So He said to them, "When you pray, say:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us day by day our daily bread.  And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."  And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'?  I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.  So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a  serpent instead of a fish?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute.  So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; sand the multitudes marveled.  But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."  Beelzebub refers to a pagan god, which the Jews derided by calling "the Lord of the Flies."  In this case, it's a direct reference to Satan (as Jesus infers).

 Others, testing Him, sought a sign from heaven.  This will be the constant theme in Jesus' ministry; He refuses to give proofs to those who demand it.  A sign isn't given to those whose motive is just to test God. (See 4:9-12; this is one of the temptations of the devil in the wilderness). 

 But He knowing their thoughts, said to them:  "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.  If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?  Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub.  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they will be your judges.  But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you."  The finger of God is the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:28).

"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.  But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils."  Here, the strong man is Satan (also called by Christ the prince or ruler of this world - John 14:30), who holds sway over the fallen human race, while the stronger man is Christ (see 1 John 4:4).  One could say this is a parable of the mission and ministry of Christ which is ongoing.

"He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters."   My study bible suggests here that it is the work of Christ to gather the children of God, while those who scatter are in direct opposition to Him.  Those who work in opposition to Christ are different from those who work in good faith toward His purpose but aren't yet united to the Church (see 9:46-50).   My study bible quotes from St. Seraphim of Sarov who says that only "good deeds done for Christ's sake bring fruit," and therefore deeds done for other purposes, "even if they are good, are deeds that scatter abroad."  Clearly this is a statement of Christ's power and centrality to the mission of salvation.

"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first."  The unclean spirit, according to St. John Chrysostom, refers to the rebelliousness cast out of the Jews by the Old Testament prophets to prepare them to receive Christ.  Those who refuse to receive Him are left open to the wickedness of seven other spirits or demons.  We recall that seven is also a number of completeness or fullness. 

St. Paul writes about the sons of disobedience in Ephesians 2:2.  Although he is speaking to a formerly pagan audience, and not a Jewish one, we can see the same idea at work:  disobedience or rejection of Christ, His words and His teachings, is a problem of a complex spiritual nature.   Similarly to Christ's words above, St. Paul refers to the "prince of the power of the air;" that is,  to a spirit that is lower than Christ but has power in this world.  In the  Gospels there is often reference to a 'worldly' state of mind in those who cannot receive Christ.  John tells us that even among the rulers in the temple, there were those who believed, but who feared the Pharisees, and loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.  This is a type of worldly point of view, in which the 'desires of the flesh' (in this case, one's image in the eyes of others) rule.  It's not easy to stand up to the world, to a social milieu, to one's environment.  This is precisely why one needs the power of the "Stronger Man" to draw us out of the world, so to speak, and refashion our lives (see John 15:19).  At the heart of Christ's teachings there is a choice on offer, and that choice is found in our own hearts.  Christ's reference to the unclean spirit that is cast out, and does not find rest elsewhere, but draws seven spirits more wicked than himself and returns, seems to me to be a reference to a pattern of life, in which we are always asked to make this choice, and with His help.  Without Him, the commitment cannot be strong enough for the consistence and power to refuse to fall back into the same pattern.  It's a common wisdom to observe and understand that life is a kind of road; we don't remain in one state, but are on the way somewhere.   So much depends on choice, in order to avoid "the last state" that is "worse than the first."  As discussed in a reading last week, when we think of evil or demonic influence, we should not fall into the trap of assuming that popular culture can teach us something about what this looks or feels like.  The influence, if present, is subtle.  Things take place in the heart that a person may barely be aware of.  A lie can be subtle, a deception is something we may all be tempted by and subject to.  St. Paul includes himself in Ephesians 2:3, when he writes that "among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others."  One presumes he is speaking of his own role in the persecution of the Church.  Ultimately Christ is speaking about the openness of the heart to the saving mission of God, the revelation that takes us "out of the world" so that we may come to senses that have been charged only with material ways of thinking, of fitting in, of the "praise of men," of everything we are minus a communion with God that changes the ways we see and experience life and the world.  Jesus teaches us that there is a power struggle going on, a battle that takes place in the hearts and minds of human beings, and that we are always left with a basic choice through all things.  This choice is neither simple nor easy; it's often not at all black and white.  What sounds good may not be good at all -- and what is truly good may sound like a really bad idea (see Matthew 16:21-23).  We should be aware of the ways in which deception works through our own senses and perceptions.  The one place we can rely on is also in the heart, and that is in the affirmation of love for God, love for Christ, and a dependency on this love to show us the way.  We should remember that He is the "stronger man," the one who has come to bind up the ruler of this world, and to set free the captives and give liberty to the oppressed.  We put our trust there.  It's not our own power we rely on.  Prayer and all the practices of the Church are designed simply to shore up that basic choice, to help us with what we truly need at the heart of everything.   It all starts and ends with this love, this deep and gentle place that is stronger than all the rest.