Scripture always surprises me.
Every time I read it, something new.
Or something old, in a slightly different way.
Like touching a pool of water … images shift and flow …
At a nearby movie theater, a large 6 by 8 ad for a new children’s animation – a digital image, with an invitation to touch it - the moment a child puts her hand on it, the image turns to water – colors flow around and into one another.
Take the hand away, and the image settles down once again.
Scripture invites us to put our hands on it, but the moment we touch it, the image begins to move and shift and flow, and who knows what we’ll find!
Let’s put our hand on the story – the healing of the Garasene Demoniac.
On the other side of the Lake.
Foreign territory – Gentile territory.
A wild man … violent and alone.
Lives in a cemetery …
Shouts at the top of his voice when he sees Jesus – What would you have with us? Are you here to hurt us?
And Jesus says, Get out of the man. Leave him be. Let him have some peace.
The demons plead for mercy.
But where shall we go?
You’re not gonna send us back to the abyss, are you?
What’s your name, asks Jesus.
I am Legion … I am many.
How about the pigs?
Send us to the pigs!
Go ahead, says Jesus … pigs it’ll be.
The large herd of pigs, hell-bent for destruction, rushes down a steep embankment and into the lake, where all are drowned.
When the swineherds see it, they run to town and tell everyone.
Folks come out to see for themselves, and they find the wild man - wild no more – clothed and clean and in his right mind, and Jesus with him.
But the pigs.
Where are the pigs?
And the people ask Jesus to leave.
Jesus gets back into the boat.
The man begs to go along.
But Jesus sends the man away.
Go back home.
Tell your story.
What God has done for you.
That’s the basic story.
But let’s put our hands on it.
Like the kids in the movie theater touching the digital ad:
Images swirl and shift beneath our touch.
Colors bright and beautiful, dark and sad.
Let’s ask some questions:
What was Jesus doing there in the first place?
It’s foreign territory, the land of the Garasenes.
On the other side of Lake Galilee.
Pigs are raised there.
A good Jew would have nothing to do with pigs, or Gentiles.
But Jesus pays no attention to such things.
Jesus crosses boundaries, and breaks a lot of rules, to reach us …
Amazing Grace for all of us:
Once I was blind, but now I see.
Once I was lost, but now am found.
No one finds Christ!
Christ finds us.
Yet even for Christ, it’s not easy.
Christ has to cross a wild sea and calm a raging storm in order to get to the other side.
Before our story begins, there’s a nighttime crossing of Lake Galilee …
With a sudden windswept storm.
Violent night winds, as lake and land cool.
Night winds rushing from the east.
Waves washing over the gunwales, flooding the boat.
Ever been in heavy seas in a small boat?
It’s no fun.
One grey summer afternoon, a friend and I set out from Grand Haven, Michigan in his runabout.
A storm the night before - the skies were still leaden with rain, but out we went.
He was an experienced boater – not me; I’m a total landlubber, but he knew what he was doing.
As we left the breakwater, we encountered heavy swells … six, eight, ten feed above my head, the boat straining to climb a wave, only to plunge down the far side into a trough – like a very wet roller coaster.
After a bit of it, my friend said, I don’t like this.
That didn’t sit too well with me.
If he didn’t like it, what about me?
We turned around … and made it back.
Glad to reach safe harbor.
That night on Lake Galilee,
Hell’s fury broke upon Jesus and the disciples.
The demons knew full well what was up.
They shouted at Jesus with howling winds and raging waves:
Never, no never, shall you make this journey.
Hell protects its turf.
Hell does not relinquish its grip easily.
Never without a fight.
As the Apostle Paul would write years later in his letter to the Ephesians:
Our struggle is not against enemies of flesh and blood.
But against cosmic powers: rulers and authorities of the present darkness.
Jesus is engaged in a battle.
He’s the light of the world.
And the darkness hates him.
That night, hells throws a fit.
A storm.
Winds and waves.
But Jesus calms the storm.
Jesus has a mission.
A purpose.
Boundaries to cross.
A man to save.
On the other side of the lake.
In the early morning hours, they arrive on the east side of Lake Galilee.
Immediately, a man, full of madness and malice, runs to meet Jesus.
Hell isn’t finished yet.
Hell sends its finest work to greet the Son of God.
Hell’s own ambassador.
Deformed and beaten.
Uncontrollable and violent.
But if a midnight storm cannot stand before Jesus.
Neither can hell’s ambassador.
The man falls to the ground.
Oh, how this must have galled Satan.
That his ambassador should grovel in the dirt before Jesus.
Stand up, you fool. Stand up!
But not today Satan.
Not today.
And then in the most bizarre fashion, Jesus and the demons carry on a conversation.
What are you going to do with us? They ask.
Jesus asks for a name.
We are Legion.
We’re an entire army.
It is not by coincidence that the demon’s name is Legion.
A Roman Legion was anywhere from four to five thousand men … heavy infantry, cavalry and specialized soldiers.
The success of the Roman Empire lies with its Legions, highly trained, exceedingly efficient, bloody and brutal … think Russell Crowe and Gladiator!
But not today, O Legions … Not today!
That Jesus would carry on a conversation with Legion has left generations of interpreters without any clear answers.
But in the Book of Job, the heavenly beings gather to present themselves to the LORD.
And among their number, Satan … and Satan and God have a chat.
In the wilderness temptations, Jesus and Satan carry on a conversation as if they’re old friends, debating the fine points of Scripture and how best to carry out God’s purpose.
Satan and Jesus are not strangers to one another.
Satan is a heavenly being … an angel of the LORD.
But fallen and full of darkness.
Consumed with envy and hatred.
Though the conversation seems all too casual, Jesus knows what he’s doing.
In the ancient Middle East, it was believed that demons die in water.
The pigs, full of hell, surge down a steep slope into the lake, and there in the waters of Galilee, pigs and demons die.
What a price to pay for the soul of one man.
An entire herd of pigs – a lot of money!
From our perspective, we might say, The price is worth it.
But what if those were our pigs?
A large herd.
Large enough to hold a legion of demons.
Economic disruption to the town.
Swineherds, butchers, merchants – people out of work.
Not to mention a shortage of pork, and higher prices.
I’m surprised they were so gentle with Jesus.
In the Old West, this tale from the crypt would have ended with a hanging …
Here’s the gospel:
There is a price to be paid for life.
Jesus chose the man over the pigs, and the pigs pay with their lives, but the demons are dead!
A material loss for an eternal gain!
I don’t think Jesus does this with any joy!
For he loveth all creatures, great and small.
But for Jesus, one human being is all the world
One human being - more precious in the sight of God than all the oil wells in the world, or whatever herds we have.
We may have to pay quite a price to set things right in the Gulf, to clear its waters and restore the environment, and keep God’s green earth green.
Jesus invites us to keep our priorities clear!
It’s not about profits and loss, it’s about human beings … and yes, ultimately, fish and frogs and oysters and crabs, who pay the price of our reckless ways.
The man restored to life begs to go with Jesus.
Why?
He’s afraid, that’s why! – Every time they see me, they’ll be reminded of their loss; every time they see me, they’ll be thinking of their pigs!
But Jesus is firm:
Go home and tell them what God has done for you.
In other words, be my ambassador now.
Once you belonged to Satan.
But now you belong to me.
Years later, Paul captures this image in the second letter to the Corinthians:
We are ambassadors for Christ, writes Paul.
Go back home, says Jesus –
Your town has been hit hard with loss!
Your people need to hear the rest of the story!
The text ends on a small, but important, note.
Jesus says, tell others how much GOD had done for you.
But it’s not God of which the man speaks.
The man speaks about Jesus, how much JESUS has done for him.
Luke wants us to know and trust that Jesus is God.
God with us.
God in the flesh.
Up close and personal.
If we want to know what God is like, look no further than Jesus!
Years later John would write:
The Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
We have all been saved by Jesus.
Our stories are all tales from the crypt.
To each of us, Jesus says, Go home now!
Tell others how much God has done for you.
And that’s what we do.
Where’re our home might be.
Down the street or far across the sea, in a country called Swaziland.
By word and deed, we tell others how much Jesus has done for us.
Amen and Amen!
1 comment:
Well done, Tom. Even though I'm in Michigan, I know your voice and I heard you throughout this message. It's all about what God in Jesus does for us, and what we are called to do in response. "Preach the Gospel always, when necessary use words." St. Francis of Assisi
----Thanks, Bob
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