First Reading Isaiah 65:1-9
1I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name. 2I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; 3a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks; 4who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig’s flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels; 5who say, “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.” These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day. 6Behold, it is written before me: “I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their lap 7both your iniquities and your fathers’ iniquities together, says the Lord; because they made offerings on the mountains and insulted me on the hills, I will measure into their lap payment for their former deeds.” 8Thus says the Lord: “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and they say, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,’ so I will do for my servants’ sake, and not destroy them all. 9I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and from Judah possessors of my mountains; my chosen shall possess it, and my servants shall dwell there.”
Psalm Psalm 3
1Lord, how many adversaries I have! how many there are who rise up against me! 2How many there are who say of me, “There is no help for him in his God.” 3But you, O Lord, are a shield about me; you are my glory, the one who lifts up my head. 4I call aloud upon the Lord, and he answers me from his holy hill; 5I lie down and go to sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. 6I do not fear the multitudes of people who set themselves against me all around. 7Rise up, O Lord; set me free, O my God; surely, you will strike all my enemies across the face, you will break the teeth of the wicked. 8Deliverance belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be upon your people!
Second Reading Galatians 3:23–4:7
23Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
1I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Gospel Luke 8:26-39
26{Jesus and his disciples} sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27When 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. 28When 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.” 29For 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.) 30Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. 31And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 32Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 33Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. 34When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 35Then 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. 36And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. 37Then 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. 38The 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.
A WASTE OF GOOD BBQ
Now I bet that that most of you here today, would say that our gospel lesson is one you’ve heard many times. During our 3-year lectionary, we hear this story twice. While Mark seems to add a bit more detail, saying that there were 2,000 pigs in the group, Luke simply calls it a herd. Overall however, both describe in detail the situation and the outcome. So in our familiarity with this story, we often fail to realize the sheer amount of information we have here, both stated and nuanced. So this morning I have both bad news, if you can call studying God’s word in depth bad news, and good news.
First the bad news. This story is slam full of information. Starting in verse 36 we read, “they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.” If you ever wanted to find examples of opposites, this story has them. First the country of the Gerasenes is gentile, Galilee is Jewish. In Jewish teaching you have the clean and the unclean. Next Jesus is met by a man filled with demons: Jesus, on the one hand is righteous, holy and God, the man is unclean, unholy and possessed by demons. Next the man is naked at the beginning and clothed at the end; without God the man has nothing, when God comes, he is clothed with healing, hope and salvation.
Next the man is said to be homeless, living in the land of the dead: after Jesus frees the man he is returned to home and community. Next the man is not in control of either his physical body or his mind, he is being completely controlled by satan; after Jesus delivers him, he is restored to wholeness in body and mind. Six, we have the picture of authority. Under the influence of the demons, the man is in complete submission to them, they are in control. But when “Jesus, Son of the Most High God” steps from the boat, ultimate authority comes. With a word, the demons must submit, and they are driven from the man. Seventh, under the control of the demons the man is without purpose, once Jesus restores the man’s life, he not only has a home, family and community, he also has a vocation; “declare how much God has done for you.”
Now if you’re like me, at this point your head is swimming because I haven’t even touched on the nuances like baptism, enslavement to sin, the struggle of good vs evil, the Prodigal Son parable, of the clear references back to the story of Adam and Eve’s fall and their expulsion from Eden, or of the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” In all, I counted at least 16 different themes within this story. This brings me to the good news: I’m going to let you struggle with all these and focus only on a very small portion of this story; control, or the lack of control. This also means I’ll keep this sermon to less than 3 hours.
So let me ask you a question; how do we handle what happens when we’re not prepared for a situation? Oh, and by the way, I named this sermon, “A Waste of Good BBQ.” I did this because the subject came up during our Tuesday morning discussion. I mean we live in the land of dueling BBQ ideas: everything from whether good BBQ must start with a whole hog or you can just use certain parts, to the argument over whether the sauce must be vinegar, ketchup or mustard based. People will get worked up over which is the best, eastern, western, Lexington or South Carolina. And then there’s those for whom the term BBQ means beef, Kansas City and KC Masterpiece. However, unlike the discussion that erupted in Tuesday’s meeting, I’ll let y’all sort that argument out. So, how do we handle what transpires when we’re not prepared for what happens? See how I demonstrated how I handle what happens when the subject of BBQ comes up! But avoidance wasn’t an option for those in our gospel reading for today.
For some of us, there are times and situations we don’t handle very well. When it comes to control, or the lack thereof, I’m reminded of the movie, Cheaper by the Dozen, starring Steve Martin. There are numerous scenes in this movie that illustrate how one father tries to take care of things while his wife is away. This movie is about a father Tom Baker, who has just gotten his dream job of coaching football at his college alma mater. But this job change calls for him, his wife, their twelve children — yes, twelve — to move from their beloved home and community in order for Dad to get his wish fulfilled.
No sooner have they settled into their new home, than his wife, who has been writing a book on how to successfully raise twelve children, is off to New York City to clinch a deal to have her book published. However, once she arrives at the publisher, she learns that the deal also involves obligatory cross-country tour engagements to promote the book. Meanwhile, Coach/Dad Tom is back home trying to handle this tribe and his new job at the university. The truth is, there’s just too much going on for any one person to manage all this. The theme of control pervades the movie.
In a last-minute, desperate attempt to salvage everything, Tom Baker comes up with a plan. He has the football team come over to his house for the briefing sessions and then takes the children, who are not already in school, to work with him at the university. Trying to work and take care of the kids at both home and school turns out to be another disaster. Things are so messed up, that Tom finally resorts to lying to his wife on the phone. He tells her that he has everything under control, when actually everything is in utter chaos. Meanwhile, the university officials and local media representatives are raising the same question: Can this man coach two teams, the one at home and the one at the university? As we see in the unfolding of the movie, there’s ample evidence that he cannot.
As I think back on my own fathering days, I don’t believe I was ever in over my head as much as Tom Baker was. But then, I didn’t have twelve children and a wife on a book tour across the U.S. However, one day in particular does stand out in my memory. It was during the time that we lived on Elmendorf AFB in Alaska. Terry, and I can’t remember why, was out and about, and I was in charge of getting the girls dressed. Now I was fortunate, Terry had taught the girls, from a young age, to choose their own clothes, but Leanna was still young enough to need some help. Krystle was old enough to pretty much take care of herself, but both needed assistance with their hair.
When it came to their hair, Terry always gave them a choice, down, half up or a ponytail. I had watched how all this was done, but, as I soon discovered, seeing it done and doing it was an entirely different matter. All I can say is I did my best and to say the least, the girls’ hair styles left a lot to be desired that day. When Terry came home, she was very sweet about the whole thing, she just simply looked at the girls and said, “you did a nice job dressing the girls.” I was really surprised that she could keep from laughing, but she did, and later I noticed she had fixed my mess and never said another word. I’m sure all of us have experienced a situation when we were in way over our heads, but I think the demon-possessed man in our gospel story probably knew it better than most, for he was literally in over his head.
What happens when you’re not prepared for what faces us? It can take various forms. In this healing story, we see a variety of reactions. It all begins when Jesus arrives in the district of the Gerasenes. We’re not exactly sure just where this village is. There’s no real scholarly agreement on the exact location of the town, but wherever it was, Jesus has just arrived by boat on the Sea of Galilee. No sooner has Jesus stepped ashore than he’s met by this man possessed by demons. By the time Jesus meets him, the man has been ill for a very long time.
The man had come to the point of no longer being able to live like a normal person in the village. For one thing, he lived in a graveyard, and ran around naked, yelling and screaming. To protect him from himself, and to protect the villagers from what he might do to them, the locals had attempted, probably more than once, to bind him with chains and fetters. However, under the influence of the demons, this poor man was so violent and strong that even the chains couldn’t hold him. Somehow, he would break these bonds and escape. However, we must see that this man’s bondage was twofold: yes, he was capable of breaking the physical bonds, but he was, on his own, incapable of breaking the bondage that sin had over him.
Sadly, there are a good many people today who are in the same situation as this man. They think they are in control, but when you stop and look at the situation, they are bound in ways they, on their own, cannot overcome. They think they have control, they, in many cases, will insist they’re in control, but the sad reality is, they’re in the grip of satan’s lie. Things like addiction to alcohol, drugs, to image, popularity, power, greed, covetousness, and the list goes on. They see themselves as free, as unbound, but in reality, they “are in bondage to sin and cannot free themselves.” They, like the demon possessed man in Luke’s account, may be physically unbound, but they are not in control. Now I need to pause here to clarify.
I’m not saying that someone with an addiction problem is demon possessed. That’s way too complicated a subject to address here. What we do know is that the man in Luke’s account was possessed, which is evidenced by the man’s response to seeing Jesus. “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” (Luke 8:28). It’s obvious that the demons are threatened by the very presence of Jesus. The demons know Jesus has control and the authority in this situation, to deal with them as He chooses. In fear they cry out “Don’t torture me.” They cry out in terror because Luke tells us that Jesus has already commanded these unclean spirits to come out of the man. The whole story paints a picture of chaos, yet Jesus stands out as the one person in this account who is prepared for whatever happens. Unlike Tom Baker, Jesus is in complete control.
Jesus knows the way to get the upper hand in this explosive situation. What is your name Jesus demands? “Legion,” came the reply and Luke tells us why, “for many demons had entered him.” Now I don’t want to get distracted by numbers, but the man’s answer is quite disturbing. Depending on the situation, in the time of Emperor Augustus, a legion was made up of 5,000 troops. Maybe this is why Mark feels the need to add how many pigs were in the herd. Nevertheless, even though Jesus was in control, He wanted absolute undeniable control, and the way to do this was to know the adversary’s name. What is your name, the demons were compelled to answer, “Legion.”
An elderly Catholic nun tells about the time she came home from the grocery store in Detroit, Michigan. Her apartment was in a rather rundown part of the city. As she was getting her groceries out of her car, this tiny, frail lady looked up and saw a gang of rough looking rascals headed toward her with what she felt was the intention to steal her groceries and rob her of what little money she had in her possession. As they approached her, she looked them in the eye, and in a strong, confident voice, said, “Now, Tyrone, help me up the steps with these groceries!” Shocked, one of the boys replied, “How did you know my name is Tyrone?” The nun exclaimed, “Ah, everyone in Detroit knows who you are. Now you and your friends help me up the stairs with these groceries!” which they did immediately.
When the nun was asked later how she knew that the boy’s name was Tyrone, she laughed and replied, “With that many boys on the streets of Detroit, I just knew that one of them had to be a ‘Tyrone.'” You see, just by saying that name, she cast out her fear and their hatred. Just as Jesus did with the demon possessed man, the Nun, but having the name of the individual, took complete and undeniable control of the situation.
When the demons heard Jesus calling them by name, they knew who had all authority; they were terrified and begged Him not to send them to the abyss. The Greek word used here for abyss is also translated as bottomless pit, an inescapable void, or the place no one wants to go, not even demons. It can also be translated, as hell. Of course, next comes the part of the story that no Carolinian wants to read: nearby was a large herd of pigs feeding. Why we don’t know, but out of horror and desperation, the demons beg permission for Jesus to allow them to enter into the pigs instead of the abyss. Without so much as a hesitation, Jesus agrees.
At their request, Jesus allows the demons to exit the man and go into the herd of pigs. This is of course confusing to me; what’s the difference between going to the abyss and drowning with pigs in the depths of the sea? Maybe they hadn’t been taught that in baptism sin is drown and we are raised anew in Jesus. The demons, in an ironic twist, get what they feared, they were drown in the abyss of the sea of Galilee. Now best BBQ aside, some people, at this point in the story, become worried about the fate of the pigs. Other people become concerned about the loss of income to the pigs’ owners. Still others are concerned about what this action says about Jesus. These are yet more issues that this story brings up. But we must be careful not to push the meaning of the story too far. For now, we need to content ourselves with the issue before us and that is, who has complete control.
We do need to recognize that the events that day did create quite a reaction with the townspeople, especially those in charge of the herd. The herdsmen were certainly not prepared for what happened. They immediately ran away and told everyone else. Then the townspeople came out to see for themselves, and from their reaction, we see that they also, were not prepared for what they ran into. They were not prepared to see this previously insane and violent man, whom they feared so much as to put him in chains, now sitting quietly and in his right mind listening to every word Jesus had to say.
So startled were the townspeople that they asked Jesus to go away, immediately, and to leave them alone. All their lives, they had been dealing with this demon possessed man. They may not have handled things the best way, but at least they felt they knew what to do, they felt in control of the situation. Now Jesus comes and shows them who really has control and they didn’t know what to make of it, nor what to do about it. Would that they could have rejoiced with the man and thanked Jesus for what He had done for the man. But then, to have done that, they would have had to admit that they were not in control, that they, on their own, could not bring healing to the situation. If they had simply welcomed Jesus into their lives and villages, they would have had to have been a lot better off in mind and body and spirit than they obviously were.
In denial themselves, they simply could not deal with the One who has all authority and control. They simply refused to let go and let God. So, their only other response was to reject this new foreign element that had come into their lives. They simply were not prepared to handle the man’s being well. Maybe they were afraid of the fact that it might require too much change on their part. Family counselors see it from time to time.
Sadly, if a family is too dysfunctional, when one family member begins to gain some measure of freedom and health, it often shakes the other family members up. Rather than undergo the change required of themselves, they unwittingly ignore or even refute that anything good is taking place in the person receiving counseling. We have the ability to accept God’s help or reject Him. We have the choice of who has control in our lives, and it’s silly for us to think that we have complete control.
Rejected by the people, Jesus went away as they requested. He moves on to a town, to a people that will give a better reception to His authority and ministry. I’m glad the story doesn’t end here because the closing two verses gives us both hope and vocation. In gratitude for his newfound peace of mind, the man healed begs Jesus to let him go with Him. Jesus says, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you” (Luke 8:39). And that’s exactly what the man did. So, what happens when we’re not prepared for what comes our way?
In the movies, it all tends to end happily ever after, the so-called Hollywood ending. At least in the movie Cheaper by The Dozen, the ending is a little more realistic. Tom Baker comes to his senses when he realizes what an impact fulfilling his dream has had on the rest of the family. Fulfilling his and his wife’s dream has almost cost them their marriage and their family. That was the one thing he wasn’t prepared for. He was not prepared for what his actions did to the rest of the ones he loved. At the end of the movie, like the demon-possessed man in Luke’s story, Coach/Dad Tom Baker is now in his right mind. He now knows he prefers the name “Dad” to the name “Coach.”
There are times when we need to let go and let God exercise His complete authority in our lives. When we’re confronted by a situation which binds us, we know the One who we can turn to, the One who can and will take care of the things that are beyond our control. Just like this dad, who had to admit that fixing the hair of 3 and 6 year old girls was beyond his control, there are times when we need to go to the One who can and does have the ability to take control and make all things whole. Amen
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