The Mission Field - 1 - What We Have to Gain

Scripture: Luke 8:26-39

Luke 8:26–39 NIV

26 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” 29 For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places. 30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31 And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. 32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. 33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. 34 When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35 and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

06.22.2025

Order of Service:

Announcements

Opening Worship

Prayer Requests

Prayer Song

Pastoral Prayer

Kid’s Time

Ministry Celebration

Offering (Doxology and Offering Prayer)

Scripture Reading

Sermon

Closing Song

Benediction

Special Notes:

Ministry Celebration

Lay Delegates from AC Reporting

Opening Prayer:

Most holy and eternal God,

you dwell in the heights of heaven,

yet you walk among those who refuse to see you.

Hold out your hand to those who rebel against you,

and free us from the chains that bind us,

that we may be healed by Christ

and proclaim his saving deeds to all the world. Amen.

What We Have to Gain

The Mission Field

Jesus is asking us to go with him. He's always been asking us to go with him.

As we've traced his story throughout the year, it might seem like he's handed the torch to us, signaling it's our turn to get busy and be the church. He tasked us with making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We are to bring others into God's family and teach them everything Jesus commanded.

This mission is a powerful call to action, urging us to reach every street, country road, and field, leaving no stone unturned in search of those who do not know Jesus. He relies on us for this. But there's one more critical piece that we can't leave behind. The last thing he said was, "I am with you always, even to the very end." He's not passing the torch and heading up to heaven for a break. He's still here with us, leading us, and calling us to follow him through the power of his Holy Spirit. Our relationship to him has not changed from the day he first called us to pick up our sick bed, put down our nets, leave everything behind, and follow him. That call on our lives remains the same and defines us as the church. We are the people that God has called together, trained, equipped, and sent out on his mission. We are not merely a building or a service organization; we are a community called, trained, equipped, and sent on His mission.

Over the next two weeks, we will focus intensely on this mission. Our scripture this week presents an extreme example at the edge of our mission field, serving as a landmark to show how far Jesus is willing to go and how far he calls us to follow him. This reminds us that Jesus still has lost sheep whom we may not know about, whom He wants to bring into His flock. While they may be unable to answer his call right now, he has the power to make us all truly free and give us the opportunity to follow him in his mission and into true life.

Mission at the Edges

When you listened to the scripture read this morning, did it sound a bit strange or unsettling to you? Did it raise questions in your mind that seemed to have no easy answers? If so, those are all appropriate responses. As I mentioned earlier, this passage is an extreme example of what it means to follow Jesus into the mission field. It outlines some of the farthest edges of that field for the disciples. The disciples were so overwhelmed that they didn't utter a single word during this entire remarkable encounter. Considering some of them, like Peter, are usually quite vocal, rendering him speechless is quite significant. It's not even clear if any of the disciples stepped out of the boat.

Understanding the geography might help. Historically, in the United States, there have been trends where people have been more involved in church activities, especially in the southern and southeastern states. If you were to look at maps showing where many of the largest planned revival services are held annually, you'd likely see them concentrated in those areas. A similar pattern existed in Israel during Jesus' time. Jesus and his disciples began their journey in Galilee, in the north, but most religious activities were focused in the south, in Judah, around Jerusalem.

Jesus said He was sent to seek the lost sheep of Israel, so the disciples envisioned that over the next few years, they would gradually make their way south to the capital, gathering more followers, and eventually hosting the largest revival ever right in the temple in Jerusalem. There were no holy cities north of Jerusalem, just cities. The further north you went, the more Gentiles were present, and the disciples probably felt these places were beyond redemption.

At the start of this passage, Jesus gets into a boat and crosses the lake. However, instead of heading south towards more revival and renewal, he goes the opposite direction. It's as if he's saying, "Before we head down to Atlanta, I want to stop over in New Jersey for a minute." Even as he focused on saving the lost sheep of Israel first, before taking his mission to the rest of the world, he took time to step into Gentile territory, even if just for a moment. This was one of the extreme boundaries Jesus crossed in this passage.

Another boundary he crossed related to the extent and power of the enemy forces he confronted that day. Now, it's important to know that Luke was a doctor. He understood the difference between someone oppressed by an evil spirit and someone suffering from an illness. Throughout his Gospel, Luke depicts Jesus casting out demons, healing people of various diseases and injuries, and preaching to them. He calls them to follow him into God's kingdom and teaches them to give up everything to do so.

These challenges—spiritual and physical—are not always separated. Sometimes they are interconnected, and other times they are distinct. There are spiritual forces that try to keep us from following Jesus. Jesus came to confront these forces and set us free. Without him, we are lost from the start. Even after these spiritual forces are addressed, we may still face physical challenges that hinder our following of Jesus. For those, he often provided healing. After we are freed spiritually and physically, we still face the challenge of our own will, desires, temptations, and sins. We must surrender these to Jesus, and he helps us do so. His preaching convicts people to reach this point of surrender, and his teaching helps them live each day, continually surrendering to him, so they can remain free to follow him. The scripture is clear: you can be delivered from oppression by Jesus, only to turn around and fall back into it, which is always worse afterward.

In this passage, we see an extreme example. All Jesus does is step one foot onto the land of the Gentiles. It's almost as if the devil had his army waiting for him, not wanting him to advance further. He was immediately met by a man tormented beyond belief, one of the wildest depictions of demonic oppression in the scriptures. But Jesus didn't flinch. He saw through the oppression and hindrances that were dumped upon this broken man and saw him for who he truly was. While Jesus probably already knew more about the situation than anyone present, including the man, and while the demons within the man sensed the presence of God and panicked…

The first words that man heard Jesus speak were, "What is your name?"

Mission Results

The man didn't even have a name. He referred to himself as Legion, which suggested he was overwhelmed by numerous evil spirits and problems, too many to count. There were days he likely questioned if he was still a person beneath all that turmoil, or if he had been completely overtaken. However, Jesus recognized him and knew he was there. He asked the man his name not for Himself, but so the man would realize that Jesus saw him for who he truly was, beyond the spiritual and physical torment, the sins, and the temptations that bound him, making him wish for death.

Jesus empowered the man to recall who God had created him to be, despite the sufferings of his life. Jesus has the authority to do this. In this passage, Luke highlights Jesus' extensive authority. Not only can Jesus free this man, but He can also command the demons at will. They plead not to be sent back to the abyss—a prison for the devil and fallen angels—and instead ask to enter a herd of pigs. These evil spirits had made a home in this man. Yet, in Jesus' presence, they were willing to leave him immediately and go anywhere else. Jesus, with the authority of the triune God who created the universe, allowed this to happen.

That’s hard to understand. We often find ourselves bouncing between recognizing the difficult spiritual battles we face and believing that Jesus truly reigns and controls everything. It seems it should be one or the other, but here, in this passage, both are true. Jesus has the power to remove a legion of evil spirits and banish them to hell, yet He lets them go… and we wonder why. Will these demons simply continue to cause harm elsewhere? Indeed, they enter the pigs, drive them off a cliff, and drown them, which not only kills the pigs but also destroys the livelihood of the pig farmers, leading to economic and familial strife and further trauma in the community.

Jesus could have engaged in that spiritual battle and potentially won over thousands that day as He stepped into Gentile territory. But His focus was not on the masses; it was on one man. While we don't know this man's name, Jesus does. Once freed, the man found himself in a pagan land among people who had failed to help him. The best they had done was to chain him in a cemetery to prevent him from hurting himself too severely. They were not his allies or family, even if they were related to him. They were reminders of his painful past. The man pleaded with Jesus to take him along, but Jesus refused. It wasn't his time. Instead, Jesus sent him back to his community, surrounded by the same troubles, but now they were external, not internal. He was free to make his own choices from that day forward.

If Jesus had sent the demons back to hell, he might have helped more people that day. But because Jesus focused on one man, who was central to the community's problems, and set him free in a disruptive manner, and then had him stay, the community would never forget what He did. They would remember the man who stepped out of the boat and transformed their lives forever. They would recall his power, both to disrupt and to save. Later, in moments of despair, overwhelmed by problems and unsure of their identities, they would remember they could call on his name and be set free.

Guilt Driven or Spirit Led?

When we think about the mission field, our connection to it, and our work within it, what motivates you?

Are you driven by guilt or led by the Holy Spirit of Jesus?

For thousands of years, we've been conditioned to respond out of guilt. It doesn't matter if it's the person standing at the street corner with a sign that says they have no job and need money for food, or if it's the commercial on TV of children starving in any one of two dozen different countries, or if it's the picture of a very sad looking kitten or puppy that shows up on your Facebook feed. Every one of those is a form of communication designed to make us feel guilty and motivate us to give money to make that picture, that image, or that person go away. Sometimes, if we feel spiritually abundant and secure, this guilt can spur us to advocate for these issues. We might engage in conversations, volunteer, or even participate in fundraising efforts. But most of the time, when that guilt drives us, we don't even wonder what that person's name is until long after we've driven away, changed the channel, or scrolled on to the next picture.

Being driven by guilt makes us feel bad, leads us to take an action to relieve that bad feeling, and then leaves us with a sense of satisfaction about something we have done, until the next opportunity comes along. And it can become a kind of addiction, leading us to want to do more and more. Because if we give less than we did before, we don't feel as good afterward. As far as addictions go, that may not be the worst thing we can be addicted to. But we need to be honest with ourselves and realize that that is mission driven by guilt. This isn't the mission Jesus calls us to.

Unlike guilt and evil spiritual forces that drive people to despair, Jesus invites us to follow Him. He leads us gently, usually into less extreme situations than this passage today. But sometimes we watch Jesus walk into a war zone, where, unless there's a miracle, nobody's going to make it out. And we watch Jesus walk in with such peace, the way He calmed the storms and walked on the water without a second thought. And we watch Him go to individual people, call them by name, take the time to sit down and listen to them, and get to know them, their whole stories, even when He already knows them. In many cases, all that others see is Jesus entering a person's life, introducing Himself to them, inviting them into a relationship with Him, and then calling them to participate in His mission in some way. And all the problems of the world and all the problems that that person faces are still right there with them. He comes in and helps them remember who they are, invites them to be part of Him in His mission, and promises that no matter what happens, He will be with them always.

As we consider our role in Jesus' mission, individually, as our church family, and as the body of Christ across the world, what can we truly offer? Jesus Himself. There are times when we find ourselves bringing people to Jesus and sharing our testimonies about how He has helped, healed, freed us, and changed our lives. There are times when it will feel like we are taking Jesus to people who can't come to Him otherwise and introducing Him to them right on the spot. Other times, we watch Him transform the lives of those around us from a distance, praying for them until Jesus calls us closer.

So, when you look at the mission field and consider your role, are you driven by guilt or led by Jesus? What do you stand to gain or lose? Jesus taught that being faithful in small things leads to greater responsibilities in disciple-making. He also taught that failing in small responsibilities can lead to having everything taken away from you. He reminds us that those who work to win the world but lose their soul in the process lose everything that matters.

Where do you see Jesus working?

How is He calling you to follow Him?

Who is He leading you to share Him with?

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, we thank you for calling us to follow you, making us your disciples, and teaching us to live and work beside you as we grow in love with you.

We thank you for never sending us anywhere you have not already been first. Wherever we go, you are right there beside us, leading, guiding, and providing for us.

As we think of the vast mission field before us, there are people in our lives who need to know you more. We pray that you would help us start with them because we cannot be faithful with people you have not given us if we are not faithful to the ones you have given us.

Help us to see people as you see them, to know their names and stories, and to relate to them as the brothers and sisters they are, even if they don't realize or aren't living into that relationship yet.

When we feel driven by guilt to fix terrible and tragic situations, help us to understand that the best and only thing we have to offer that really matters in the end is you.

As we go into the mission field with you, help us to follow you faithfully.

In your holy name, amen.