Barneyisfat

Mark 5:1-20 

They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!” Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

I keep coming back to this story for reasons that I can't quite explain.  This is a strange story.  We love heartwarming stories - we love hearing pleasant stories.  We like the image of Jesus teaching on a hillside as the children and baby lambs gather around.

We aren't quite so comfortable with Jesus negotiating with demons and crazy people.  But, maybe we need to be.


Our scripture today finds us getting out of the boat with Jesus. Jesus had just finished up giving some difficult teachings to a large crowd and decides that they should cross to the other side of the lake. In the boat, while Jesus sleeps, a tremendous storm appears and terrifies the disciples. Jesus calls out to the wind and the sea is calmed. And now, safely on the other side, we happily step out of the boat - we are just glad that it's over.

This is where things get interesting. Jesus doesn't say why they should cross the lake. He doesn't give any specifics to his disciples. There had been a large crowd, it had been a stressful day and on other occasions Jesus and the twelve had slipped away to the other side of the lake to find some peace, quite, and rest. This is probably the conclusion that the disciples had made. They were going to rest and relax.

As they step out of the boat - ready for some restful quite time - a crazy man appears from the cemetery.

My family went to the big city a few times when I was a child. It was my first time encountering homeless people. I saw their unwashed, dirty hands and their swollen faces. My mother took my hand and began to drag me forward as I stopped to look at the rags they were wearing and to try and read their hand-written cardboard signs. My mother dragged me forward and scolded me saying, "It's not polite to stare."

It didn't seem very polite to just keep walking either. I couldn't believe that my mom and dad would walk past them without doing anything to help them. We were good people. We helped people. Why weren't we helping these people.

I apologized and kept walking. Soon, I learned to step over the homeless - and to ignore them completely. As I got older and traveled internationally I eventually learned to ignore even the children who were homeless. I learned the responses that my culture demanded. [They shouldn't be so lazy. They are just drunks. There are social programs - they choose to be homeless. They probably make a good living with all of the money people give them.]

We don't know much about this man. I love stories that leave us with more questions than answers. It says, "  They could no longer bind him."  So we know there was a "they" - there were people who cared about him enough to try and protect him from himself. He lived in the tombs. He was one of the dead - although he could walk and talk, he counted himself as one of the dead.  Night and day he would cry out and cut himself with rocks - his life couldn't get any worse.

As Jesus gets out of the boat, this man sees him and runs and bows before him.  Now - this next part - the whole "Jesus casts out demons" thing is where we get a little uncomfortable.  Trust me - I'm super uncomfortable preaching about it.  But, noticeably, Jesus doesn't seem uncomfortable in this situation.  Jesus confronts the demons directly.  He casts them out - and chooses to cast them into a herd of pigs.  Two-thousand pigs, now filled with a legion of demons, run into the lake to die.

This story is crazy and unimaginable - and we haven't even come to the interesting part.

At this point the man - the man who had been known by all of his community as "the demon possessed man" - is in his right mind.  He returns to the way he had been before the evil spirits had entered him.  He dressed himself in proper clothes and sits down.

Jesus and this man sit down and begin to speak.  I wish that every single conversation Jesus had was written down.  We don't know what they talked about - but it probably wasn't the weather.  Jesus had freed this man.  He had given this man his life back.  He had been all but dead - nothing could be worse in his life and suddenly Jesus shows up and his life is back to normal.  Everything is the way it was.

When the 2000 pigs killed themselves the people who were responsible for watching over the pigs went running into town to tell everyone what happened.  Now, in a small town - this is the kind of thing that, for whatever reason, tends to interest people.  So the town returns with these men and they find the crazy demon possessed man sitting next to Jesus having a normal conversation.

And of course - seeing this great miracle they welcome Jesus into their town with open arms and celebrate that this man has been made well.

Wait ... is that right?  Let's read this scripture one more time to make sure we've understood everything.

They were afraid.  They had learned to ignore this man and his screaming.  It became normal for them to send men to try and tie him down with chains - and to pay not attention when he broke the irons and chains and began to cut himself.  Everyone knew where he was and what was wrong and no one cared anymore.

And now, this man sits before them made well - and they are afraid.  They are afraid in ways that the demons never made them afraid.  They fear for themselves.  They fear for all that they consider normal.

They don't ask questions.  They don't try and piece everything together.  They ask Jesus to get back in the boat and to leave their town.

The demons - the legion of demons inside of this man - they have no option but to listen and do exactly as Jesus commands.  The people on the other hand - they have the choice of listening and responding to the words of Jesus or asking him to get back in the boat and leave their town immediately. 

This is a sermon about peace and rest.  This man whose life had been nothing but torture and torment had been made well - he was given peace and was able to rest for the first time.  But this is also an invitation.

And Jesus comes to this place - to our very room - and offers that all may be made well.  Everything could be different - the demons of poverty, racism, hatred, alcoholism, and sin could be cast out.  We could be made well.  And yet we find ourselves too often saying to Jesus, "Why don't you go ahead and get back in that boat and leave this place. 

I used to be angry all the time.  I don't mean that I would get angry sometimes.  I was always angry.  I hated everyone around me and wished they were dead.  I wished I was dead.  Sometimes I would get so angry that I would just start shaking from anger.  There are still holes in the room I grew up in where I punched or kicked through the wall when I was angry.  I would cuss and scream at people I was angry with.

Now, to those here who don't know me well ... I'm not an angry person anymore.  It is a rare occasion when I get angry enough to raise my voice a little bit.  After I decided to welcome Jesus' invitation for a new life - the whole idea of being angry just seemed silly to me.

Jesus comes this day offering the peace that passes all understanding - and it is choice to accept that great peace or to ask him to leave us alone.