Luke 8:26-39
26 Then
[Jesus and his disciples] arrived at the region of the Gerasenes, which is
opposite Galilee. 27 As he stepped out on shore, a man from the city who had
demons met him. For a long time he had not worn any clothes, and he did not
live in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell
down before him, shouting, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most
High God? I beg you, do not torment me,” 29 for Jesus had commanded the unclean
spirit to come out of the man. (For many times 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 wilds.) 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is
your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. 31 They begged
him not to order them to go back into the abyss.
32 Now
there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding, and the demons begged
Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 33 Then the demons
came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd stampeded down the
steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
34 When
the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and
in the country. 35 Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they
came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the
feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they became frightened.
36 Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons
had been healed. 37 Then the whole throng of people of the surrounding region
of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave 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 out 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.” So he went
away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.
Reflection
I just returned from a vacation, and it was wonderful and relaxing, with exception to the lingering sadness that greeted me at my return. The congregation lost two beloved members. So, it was hard to not give the bread and wine to Pat upon my return, her empty chair where we meet at the Personal Care Home for communion just sitting there, so very empty. Then there was the devastating news that there would be an empty seat in church as I returned to preach once again, right where Suzanne should be sitting, her death so unexpected and nonsensical because she was so full of life just the day before. Throw in the shooting death of a teen, a school friend to one of our family members. And, is war just around the corner? Am I hearing the news right? And, it is all because I decided to take a vacation! "Oh world, I cannot leave you alone for one second!"
How nice it would be to be free: free from the grief and sadness; free from the mounting troubles of this world; free from all that grabs a hold of us and will not let go and will not let us truly live. How nice it would be to be free from death. How nice it would be to be free from pain. How nice it would be to be free from sin, both the effects of our own sin and the effects of other people’s sin on us. How nice it would be for everyone in the world to be free!
But, how do we get there? How do we free ourselves and others? What do we do?
Especially, when freedom for all hangs on freeing individual people who are trapped in unhealthy and destructive lives, what do we do to set them free?
Freedom is the goal after-all. A person cannot live any other type of life until they are free from the old one. But, how do you get a person to that place of freedom? What do you do?
What do you do?
Take this man that Jesus and the disciples encounter as they pulled up in their boat. Imagine a stark, naked man running up as your welcoming committee as you row ashore. You see that the man is clearly infested with demons. He screams at Jesus, yelling next to you in the boat, calling him by name. He screams, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me!”
What do you do?
Well, it is clear what the disciples intend to do. The Bible clearly says in Luke 8:27 that Jesus stepped out of the boat to talk with the man. Think about that. It was Jesus, who “stepped out on the shore” (Luke 8:27). What do you do?
Apparently, one way to deal with such a man is to just stay in the boat. The disciples did! It is kind of like the drill sergeant who asks for a volunteer for a dangerous mission and everyone but one guy takes a step back. “We’re just going to stay right here while you take care of that Jesus. Thanks.” Maybe the answer is to just stay in the boat; to just pretend like you did not see the complete mess that is standing in front of you.
But here is the thing: no person has ever found freedom when those around him or her decided that it was not their fight. No one finds freedom when everyone around them decides to stay in the boat. That is the absolute truth. So, what do you do?
I know what Jesus did. Jesus stepped out of the boat, and he walked up to the man as if he was someone who mattered. After-all, we are all someone who matters to God.
Caring alone does not solve the problem though. You see, part of the issue with figuring out what to do, is that this guy (with an army of demons tormenting him) truly believes that he has found freedom by living with his demons.
He is like the homeless person who leaves the brand new home that was a gift because they liked the seclusion of their tent in the woods much better.
He is like the child who strips down immediately after arriving home from school, finally free to be as God created them to be! Not that that has ever been a part of my experience as a parent. You just pray that no one comes to the door.
More than being free from restrictive clothing though, the man is free from the demands of everyone else, living in tombs rather than houses and finding freedom while living in the wild, apart from those who would force him to dress as they dress and live as they live and think as they think. The demons have convinced the man that he is free.
But, clearly he is not. He is exposed to the elements. He is literally living next to the dead. And, his thoughts are not his own. Even his words are not his own. The demons speak for him. The demons make his decisions. He is so trapped by the many demons of his life, that he cannot even see how trapped he is.
Do you know who can see how trapped he is? Everyone. The townspeople can see how trapped he is. The Bible says that “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 wilds” (Luke 8:29). You see, the demons made the man think that the townspeople were the enemy. And, when he broke free from the chains and shackles put on by those who sought to keep him safe, for his own good, and when he eluded those who kept guard, he truly thought that he had found freedom.
And tragically, all of us understand this dynamic very well. How many of you have a really good friend or family member who thinks they are living so full and free in this life, going where they want, doing all they want, drinking what they want, eating all they want, hooking up with who they want, free from the cares of the world and free from the cares of those around them, and you cannot do anything about it but watch them slowly destroy their own lives little bad choice by little bad choice?
“I can’t do anything about him,” the adult son admitted. “I can see how my father is just destroying everything that he built, and there is nothing I can do. He thinks the affair is some sort of freedom from my mom. He thinks that he can just go off to the bar each night without consequences. He thinks that spouting off his hateful opinions do not hurt all of us. He is destroying our family night by night, drink by drink, and word by word, and I can’t do anything to stop him. He thinks he is the man. He thinks that he is completely free. But, he isn’t…at all.”
Of course, we friends and family try to fix things. We try to contain the damage. We carry secrets to protect loved ones from themselves. We smooth over hurt feelings. We try to restrict their ability to venture into harmful situations with deflection or restriction. We have our own chains and shackles that we clamp on people’s hands and feet, and from which they continually break free. So, we clamp down tighter and they break free again and again, and, the cycle just keeps happening again and again.
It is like the forces of chaos want us all to be bound up in cycles of struggle and pain. It is like the forces of chaos are legion, are like a Roman army charging forward, that cannot be stopped. It is like chaos wants to convince us that pain, struggle, war, and self-destruction are what life is all about.
What do we do with people whose very lives have become complete chaos? What do we do? What can we do?
I think the book of Genesis has an idea.
God sent the wind, spoke a sacred Word over the chaotic waters and gave order to the chaos. God gave light to a dark and chaotic existence. God separated the light from the darkness. We, feeble human beings can try all we want to put chaos waters behind our makeshift, plywood walls, but the chaos will always leak out; every single time. Genesis seems to say that only God is able to separate it out. Only God is able to transform chaos into something good. And, when we let that sink in, we suddenly realize that our problem from the very start was that we forgot to trust that God will bring order.
What can we do? Trust the one who creates order. Trust the one who steps out of the boat.
Jesus stepped out of the boat and approached the man, to drive the demons out.
“Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.
Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding, and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd stampeded down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind” (Luke 8:30-35).
Maybe, just maybe, rather than staying in the boat, pretending that the problem does not exist, or rather than relying on shackles and chains to keep the problem bound up and contained, maybe we can try something else completely. Maybe, we can invite Jesus to step into the situation.
After-all, it was the Word of God that calmed the chaos. It was the Word of God that created light in dark places. And, it is God’s Word taking on flesh who compassionately steps out of the boat. It is God’s Word made flesh who takes the time to care for us. It is God’s Word make flesh who does not fear talking to our demons. He does not fear talking to the most chaotic parts of our very souls. And, it is God’s Word made flesh who, out of a grace that expects us to do nothing to heal ourselves, casts all of our demons away so that we can finally live in true freedom. Out of grace Jesus casts out our demons so that we can finally sit at his feet, fully clothed, and finally able to think clearly.
What do we do? We allow Jesus to get out of the boat and trust that he can actually do something!
“Dad,” the adult son got his father’s attention.
“What is it?”
“Can you please come with me to church this morning? There is someone there that I would really like you to meet?
Was the son playing on his father’s adulterous curiosities he silently wondered? Maybe? Maybe not. But, what he did know was that he could not fix his dad. There is only one savior who can make a chaotic sea go still and rip that same chaos out of a person’s soul. It was time to trust that Jesus could do something. It was time to introduce his dad to the one who creates order in a chaotic world. It was time to introduce him to Jesus Christ our Lord.
And, it is our time as well.
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