June
24, 2001
Luke 8:26-39
They sailed on to the country of the Gerasenes, directly opposite
Galilee. As [Jesus] stepped out onto land, a madman from town
met him; he was a victim of demons. He hadn't worn clothes for
a long time, nor lived at home; he lived in the cemetery. When
he say Jesus he screamed and fell before him, and bellowed, "What
business do you have messing with me? You're Jesus, Son of the
High God, but don't give me a hard time!" (The man said this
because Jesus had started to order the unclean spirit out of him.)
Time after time the demon threw the man into convulsions. He had
been placed under constant guard and tied with chains and shackles,
but crazed and driven wild by the demon, he would shatter the
bonds.
Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"
"Mob, My name is Mob," he said, because many demons
afflicted him. And the begged Jesus desperately not to order them
to the bottomless pit.
A large herd of pits was browsing and rooting on a nearby hill.
The demons begged Jesus to order them into the pigs. He gave the
order. It was even worse for the pigs than for the man. Crazed,
they stampeded over a cliff into the lake and drowned.
Those tending the pigs, scared to death, bolted and told their
story in town and country. People went out to see what had happened.
The came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had been
sent, sitting there at Jesus' feet, wearing decent clothes and
making sense. It was a holy moment, and for a short time they
were more reverent than curious. Then those who had seen it happen
told how the demoniac had been saved.
Later, a great many people from the Gerasene countryside got together
and asked Jesus to leave--too much change, too fast, and they
were scared. So Jesus got back into the boat and set off. The
man whom he had delivered from the demons asked to go with him,
but he sent him back, saying, "Go home and tell everything
God did in you." So he went back and preached all overt town
everything Jesus had done in him.
<The Message >
=======
1.
Again and again we see the "emptying" of Jesus. He does
not use his power but can wait. Jesus had started an exorcism,
but was stayed by the demons. Finally he had their number, their
name. At that time the demons understood that the exorcism they
dreaded could be delayed, but not escaped.
Here they request the best of a bad bargain, not to be sent to
the pit but to the pigs. It turned out that was also simply a
delay, not an escape. The pit of death was exactly where the pigs
took the demonic mob.
I wonder why we don't laugh more in some of these scenes. Surely
we would be helped if Luke had placed an emoticon :-) here.
So how have you bargained to keep your anti-social and personally
compromising habits going? May you laugh as you catch on to the
losing proposition it is to bargain with bad behavior. We are
looking at the big picture of conversion here and the change it
brings.
2.
For the former demoniac the change was rapid and dramatic and
appreciated. Now in his "right" mind he desired to follow
the cause of this conversion from the land of the dead back to
the living.
For the people of the community, they found the change to also
be rapid and dramatic, but very unappreciated. Having second thoughts
about the cost of guarding one crazy man and losing the economic
value of a herd of pigs they asked the cause of converting change
to leave.
So, how does rapid and dramatic and conversional change affect
you? Do you relish it and desire more? Do you see through the
first blush to see too many more changes on the horizon and turn
it away?
3.
Play a little with the difference in translations regarding God's
actions. The NRSV has it that "God did for you" and
Peterson has it that "God did in you."
Does the phrasing make a difference to you or not?
My bias is for the "in you" language. It is important
to tie our experience in with God's action and not to simply report
about what was done for us.
Whichever way you lean ("for" or "in") may
you have a story to tell about God's goodness and your life and
may you tell it.