Today’s message comes from the gospel of St. Luke which gives us another account of Jesus getting some people upset, while seemingly doing something good or beneficial to others. This is a classic example of the expression that says ‘you can’t please everybody’.
The biblical account tells us that Jesus and his disciples have come ashore on the other side of the Sea of Galilee which is also called Gennaseret and are immediately met by a man who is described as being demon-possessed. Today we would most likely call this man mentally ill. It is clear from Luke’s description that this man is at times quite violent as he has to be bound with chains and even so he is able at times to break those chains that bind him. To add to this, he is most times naked and he lives among the tombs. What a dreadful sight! This adds to the gruesome picture we have of this man. He is virtually irredeemable. Surely no one in town wants to have anything to do with this man, not even his own family perhaps. What a dreadful sight we can imagine seeing a human being reduced to this wild animal-like condition. Surely no one wants to see him let alone have anything to do with him. He is no longer fit for human existence. Nothing it seems can be done for him anymore until of course he meets Jesus. Let us look at this text and reflect on a few important points in this account. How does each affect us and how do we respond to each of them in our own life today?
What is your name?
At the outset we have to pause to admire Jesus’ bravery because he obviously approaches the man and begins to confront the man’s condition, that is the demons that have possessed him for a long time. Jesus starts by asking the man what his name is. What did he expect the answer to be? It might seem a strange question. For some it is surprising that the man responds at all. Jesus’ interest in the man begins by asking him what his name is. It is more likely that Jesus wants to know what kinds of demons do possess this man but this question also suggests that this man is a real person who needs serious attention from the Saviour. All of us can agree that the most basic identifier we have is our name. Wherever we are under whatever circumstances, the first thing others who have to interact with us want to know is not the sport we play or where we are from but what is our name. This tells us that we are a part of a group, we actually belong, we are a part of a community. Is it possible that Jesus is asking someone here today what is your name? Is it possible that Jesus is asking someone here today who has been a virtual shadow to others, who are you? How do you identify yourself?
When is someone virtually irredeemable? Jesus the Redeemer is here.
As the man was described to us, we are visualizing a person whose condition was seemingly fargone. In fact, most people, probably even those disciples with him, would have very likely said in their minds that Jesus was wasting his time engaging this forever lost man who is virtually unhuman in his looks and his lifestyle now that he is totally controlled by these demons. To add to that sense of someone seen to be irredeemable or whose condition could be called irretrievable is the fact that the demons identified themselves as Legion. This was a description more so than a name. A Legion was a Roman military unit of six thousand men.The demons were actually saying that there are a great many of us in this man, too many to count and we would add too many for another human being to confront. Yet this story reminds us that no one or no situation is too far gone for the Lord to deliver us from or to make us new and whole once again.
Who is more important, a human being who needs to be saved or my financial bottomline?
The crux of the story lies in the convergence with the man being saved from the demons as they were cast into a herd of pigs and the town people’s response. On one level it may seem cruel that Jesus decided to send the demons into the pigs thus causing them to rush into the lake and be drowned, and on another level we can say that nothing supersedes the redemption or saving of a human life, not even a herd of pigs. These people in the region where Jesus was were most likely not Jews. It would be unheard of for jews to be rearing pigs since the pig was one of the animals regarded as unclean according to Jewish law. The large number of pigs being reared suggest that it was clearly for economic purposes not just for home use. These pigs were someone’s livelihood. Some one or some people would have a lot to lose economically by their destruction. It was probably for this reason more than anything else that they asked Jesus to leave. They were certainly not impressed by the miracle of a man who they all knew to be once demon-possessed now standing among them as a perfectly well man. They were more distressed and concerned that this man Jesus had devastated their economic potential. We may look at these people as being insensitive but the truth is more people around us than many of us realise, do think just like these people. Human conditions and needs are not their priority. Their priority is their economic status and their financial survival. Profit is more important to them than people. Sometimes we treat the church’s mission in the same way. We forget that the church’s business is not primarily for economic growth but for human transformation. This is not meant to convey the idea that fiscal responsibility is not important, especially for institutions that are stewards of money donated or given to it by other people. By no means. I am simply saying that money is most important when it is used for transforming and edifying the human condition. Money is most important and most valuable when it is used to lift up and improve the lives of others, not for personal gain. If you doubt what I am saying then look at the story of the rich fool in St. Luke 12:16-21 or Jesus’ own warning in St. Mark 8 where he says, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit their soul?” (See St. Mark 8:36-38 NIV) Many of us Christians with good intentions, do fall into the trap of trying to gain and protect our income more than seeking to help others who are in desperate conditions especially if it is likely to jeopardise our financial circumstances.
Go and tell others what God has done for you.
This story ends on a wonderful note, a note of celebration, as is the case whenever Jesus is present in a situation. Some people are of course angry that their livelihood has been lost but it is much easier to regain a lost livelihood and return to profit making than it is to regain a lost human being. In this case, Jesus reminds us what our priority must always be. We must be agents of God’s healing and love for all people. We should never be a part of or give credence or even quiet approval to any person or group or even nation that believes that the destruction of other human beings is a justifiable outcome. It is ungodly and unChristlike, pure and simple. No matter how different people’s views and ways of life or ethnic or religious or political circumstances are from ours, we must recognise and uphold and celebrate our basic and common thread, which is our humanity, the fact that we are all made in the image of God. As I said earlier, the most important news in the story is one of celebration. A lost man has been found. An almost irredeemable soul has been redeemed and best of all, this man has been told of the need to share it with others. That must be his life mission. He must now go and tell others starting among his own people, what God has done for him. He must now go back to the family that had rejected him, the people that had feared him and scorned him, and even some who may still have misgivings about what has changed him, and tell them and show them what a transformed man he is. By doing so, God will be glorified and these people will come to know that people are more important than profits. What has God done for you lately? Have you shared it enough? Have you shown God in your life what salvation and real transformation looks like to those who do not know? Telling others about God’s goodness and saving work in our lives must be our life mission as well.
Let’s go from here with a renewed sense of urgency and purpose to remind others, and to tell those who do not know, not only by words but in our daily living, that we are a people redeemed and transformed by the Holy Spirit and we are on a mission to help others to know the same God that has brought us new life in Jesus. May God grant us the courage and the strength to tell someone else and show to others what he has done for us today. Amen.