Weekly Sermons

Fear or Faith

Luke 8:26-39

Pentecost 6

June 20, 2010

            ²⁶ Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee . ²⁷ When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” ²⁹ For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.)

          As we come to our scripture today where we find the worst case of demon-possession in the NT, let me ask you this: Have you ever known a situation something like this, where someone is caught in some sin, some situation, some habit, or some sickness or pain or trial, and it all just seems to never end.

          Maybe it’s hard to relate, or maybe not, but this is that kind of situation that the demon-possessed man is facing. This man, his community, and probably including his family, are completely powerless and helpless to change the course of this man’s life. The authorities attempt to lock him in prison, to chain him up, but he breaks the chains and runs away into the wilderness. And in the wilderness he has hardly any food, any clothes, and he is completely alone. He is completely helpless.

          Our story today begins by giving us a perfect image of the power of sin in this world. And though we don’t usually see or experience such vivid and extreme cases in our day to day life, nevertheless this is the power of sin and evil in this world. Any sin, small, large, subtle, quiet, hidden, or exposed … it doesn’t matter. We should want nothing to do with sin because it will only enslave us and leave us as helpless creatures.

          Do you have sin in your life? What kind of sins do you have in your life? Of course, I’m not saying we are here to think of and search out our every sin so that we might rid of it all and become pure and perfect. We can’t do that. We live with our sinful nature our whole life. But what I’m saying is that today we begin by remembering how helpless we would be if not for the power of God in our lives. In other words, there should be nothing that we really desire and need more than God’s Power, that is, God’s Presence, God’s Spirit in our lives.

          This is what we need. We need God’s Presence in our lives. We need more than anything in this life a Father, a Heavenly Father who is strong, loving, and in control, able to guide His children no matter where they go.

          And so in our scripture today the presence of God enters the land of the Gerasenes, where the demon-possessed man resides. Jesus and his disciples cross the Sea of Galilee over night. And it was on that night that Jesus calmed a wild storm upon the Sea, and the disciples are still asking themselves who this man with them, really is. Even though at this point in the Gospel, the disciples have seen Jesus heal hundreds of people, cast out hundreds of demons, forgive sinners that no one else would even consider forgiving, and they have now seen him control the seas and the wind, and they are still wondering who this Jesus could be.

          I wonder if we sometimes, even though we have seen the works of God, and even though we are so blessed by God, I wonder if we still act as if we don’t really know who Jesus is. As if we have forgotten that He is the Almighty Lord who can change the course of the seas and who can change the course of our lives. It is easy for sinners to forget.

          So Jesus and His disciples get off the boat and they are almost immediately met by the demon-possessed man. He can no longer speak for himself. He is helpless to speak. It is in fact the demons who speak through him. It is a terrifying and a real situation. I have heard of personal stories of this thing still happening. And the situation gets even more terrifying and dramatic when Jesus casts the demons into a herd of pigs which then rush headlong into the lake and drown. And the pig’s owner runs away in fear to tell the town what has happened.

          And soon thereafter most of the town comes to see what has happened, and the demon-possessed man is clothed, sitting with the Lord, and in his right mind. And the text says: “the people were afraid.” And the next verse then says ALL of the people of the region also came and asked Jesus to leave, why, because it says, “they were seized with great fear.”

          And here I believe the question to ask is: why fear? I understand that whole situation at first was a bit unbelievable and dramatic. But when the people came and saw this man healed and in his right mind, wouldn’t you think they would be rather amazed? Questioning? But it says, not just “fear,” but “great fear.”

          And this line stood out to me. But I soon realized something. There are times in my life where I fear the Lord, and not a holy fear of reverence and honor, but fear of what God may call me to do. We are called to follow our Lord to the cross, and that is not always a peaceful, happy place. It can be a place of fear and terror, for it calls on me to die to myself. It calls on me to give up things I maybe wasn’t ready to give up. My time, my selfish dreams, my emotions, my things, my perceptions, anything.

          The people in our scripture were not expecting God to be working among them. And they must have sensed that it was God, it was something beyond their control and beyond their expectations that was at work in their presence, and they were not ready for it.

          It is true that none of us are ready, in and of ourselves, to face the Lord. To follow Him to the cross. And many times we are not looking for God to be at work in our lives, or we’re expecting Him to work the way WE WANT Him to work. The demon-possessed man was definitely not looking for God to work in his life.

          But just because this man and the people were not expecting the Lord to show up, that doesn’t mean the Christ stays away. In fact, Christ sailed across the Sea of Galilee to the other side for apparently just one day, apparently to save this one man, and hopefully more through him. And just because many times in our lives we have not expected Christ to be a Lord who can change our lives, this doesn’t mean that Christ is not with us. He has come to be with you and He has never left your side, not a day in your life.

          Jesus brought the very presence of God to a place that no one would expect. This land of Gerasenes was over the Sea of Galilee in Gentile country. You can notice that by the pig farmers. Unfortunately for Jews who might have liked bacon, God never allowed them to have pigs. They were unclean animals.

          Jesus also finds this man dwelling among the tombs which is also an unclean place for a rabbi. No God-fearing Israelite would ever have considered stepping foot onto this land. The whole situation is ripe which uncleanness, sin, and evil.

          If there is anything in your life that seems too difficult to discuss or to deal with, know that Jesus has come to heal to you and to be with you. OR, if your life is quiet and simple and this whole situation of a crazy demon-possessed man is too far-fetched and out there, too dramatic… if you are like one of the town’s people living a peaceful, godly life, away from the ugliness of this chained up freak … you too can expect that God has come to be with you and to have an effect on your life. Unfortunately for the townspeople in our Scripture, they were not ready at that moment to realize that it was God who had come to be with them.

          Let me conclude by coming back to our scripture:

³⁴ When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. ³⁵ Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ³⁶ And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. ³⁷ Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. ³⁸ The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.”

          Oh much Christ has done for us! I’ll tell you as life continues on and we go about our business of day to day life, we tend to forget how much God has done and how much He is doing for us each day.

          Today remember this: that what you need in your life, what you really need, God will provide. The hard part is that half the time we don’t understand what we really need, we know only what we want. And our wants are not all sinful! They just are not always in line with what God wants. God knows what you need.

          God knows that apart from His Son, we would be caught in a world that would only continue to oppress and depress us. If you ever feel burdened by demons, burdened by this world, if you ever feel helpless, remember the salvation of Christ that is yours.

          Christ crossed the Sea of Galilee on that stormy night in our scripture, and for us He has crossed the Sea of Death and Hell, and He has gone out of His way, to come for you, that one lonely person that needs to be restored and set free. And he clothes us in His righteousness. And He renews our minds so that we might see clearly. And He sends us to our family once again, filled with joy and with praise.

          We are no longer helpless, wayward children. We are the Holy Spirit-filled, righteous and powerful Children of God.

          And as His Children, we encourage one another to trust in the Lord and to expect Him to continue His work in us until the day when it is truly complete in heaven. And until that day, proclaim to one and all how much Jesus has done, is doing, and will do for you. Amen.