Made for Mission: What's My Message?

Over the last couple of weeks, we have talked a little bit about being called into mission and what that might mean for us as a community of faith together. The first week, we talked that we are all called to be on mission regardless as to how we might feel. And last week we talked about how we often get distracted but that we need to be opening our hearts to God’s leading and prompting, again regardless as to how we feel.

So today we take our discussion one step further and continue our conversation on being on mission by thinking about what it means to spread the love of God, which ultimately should be our message, one last time, regardless as to how we feel. We have said it before and will emphasize once again that this is not an easy thing to do but it is what we must do.

The Story

The story we have before us today is one that we have reflected on at least a couple times in the last two years because of our work on mental health. It is a story that is often chosen to discuss mental health because of what most scholars believe is the individuals expression of his mental health issues in the story. So today, I want us to consider the story of the Gerasene demoniac from Mark’s perspective.

Mark’s Telling of the Story

Let’s consider this...

He’d shared his story several hundred times but it never got old. He loved seeing the look on the listeners face as talked the day that he first heard the voice. It was so real and near that he turned around to see who was whispering in his ear. It took almost a day to realize the voice was coming from inside his own mind. It wasn’t kind either. The voice said all kinds of horrible things about himself and would not leave him alone. Then one day the voice took control of his own mouth. Randomly horrible and crazy things would come out of his mouth and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He tried to explain his struggles to those near him but nobody understood. He’d already lost all hope when the now voices took over control of his body to the point that people in his village, even his own parents, would chain him up in the cemetery. The message couldn’t be more clear, they just wanted him to die already. He tried to scream, “I’m the victim!” but no words could come out.

One day as he was walking along the beach alone, he was always alone, there was an unmistakable fear in the voices he’d never heard in his head before. They were saying something about a man named Jesus and that he was on the boat that could barely be seen in the distance. The voices pressed him to run into the hills but with all his might he stayed put with both feet in the water. He had no idea that the man on the boat was about to change his life forever…and give him a commandment that he could not avoid.

A Question to consider...

As we begin considering this story today, I have a question for you to contemplate…do you ever feel like sharing your faith is like trying to speak or listen to someone else speaking in a foreign language? I mean, for me, I remember enough of my French classes in High School, the Spanish I learned from reading Spanish financial statements, and I definitely remember only enough of my Biblical Hebrew to get myself in trouble. However little I remember, when someone is speaking in one of those languages, I can pick out a few words to get a small idea of the context but not enough to truly know what the person is saying to me. With me? I believe, that we as Christians, are like someone who is speaking that foreign language and we have lost the ability to speak a language that others can understand. It is for this primary reason that I believe why most people look at us as hypocrites...

So, let’s consider what this story holds for us…just a general note, I am going to use several translations this morning so that we might get a little different perspective on this story…so let’s read the first two verses again...

Mark 5:1–2 CEB

Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the lake, to the region of the Gerasenes. As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out of the tombs.

The fact that Jesus and the disciples went across the Sea of Galilee is hugely significant. The area of the Gerasenes was where Gentiles or non-Jewish folk lived. This area was primarily occupied by the descendants of the people that the Israelites did not chase out when they took over the Promised Land at the time of Moses and the Wilderness wanderings. Young Jewish men did not travel to the other side of the lake. Like I mentioned last week, and apparently for Jesus, safety at all costs was not one of his core values. It was a dangerous area for Jews to go and here we have Jesus traveling with his young disciples, newly called to serve beside him.

What happens as soon as they get out the boat? A demon possessed guy approaches them. The disciples have got to be thinking “this place is worse than we thought? I bet everybody here is like this? Let’s get back on the boat and go back home. It’s where we are safe and secure and it’s exactly where we will never be challenged or need to do something we really don’t want to do.” Here’s the thing though, Jesus didn’t react that way...check out what happens next...

Mark 5:3–5 AMP

This man continually lived among the tombs, and no one could subdue him any more, even with a chain; For he had been bound often with shackles for the feet and handcuffs, but the handcuffs of [light] chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he rubbed and ground together and broke in pieces; and no one had strength enough to restrain or tame him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always shrieking and screaming and beating and bruising and cutting himself with stones.

This man that the disciples encounter is someone you fear seeing on the streets. He’s a man who is at his wits end and cannot imagine a way out. He’s alone, and lonely. He fights being bound up everyday because in his own mind, he needs to be free.

Here’s the thing that, ultimately this man teaches us, we have no idea where we fit into God’s plan and how the words we speak impact those around us. Trust me, God is far more concerned with our obedience than our impact. This guy apparently had a past but it didn’t seem to bother Jesus at all. Notice too how the scene got intense really fast. We never know when we’re going to have an opportunity to share so we better be ready at all times.

Let’s look at the next piece for a moment...

Mark 5:6–8 NIV

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!”

The first thing to take notice of here is this...the man’s question, “What do you want with me?” Step into this guy’s life if you can for a moment. He fully expects Jesus to say or do something horrible to him. The man expects some sort of torture. Why? Because that’s all he’s ever known. His experiences with people have probably only ever been bad. The passage says that he was often in chains. He didn’t put himself in them, other people did, and in the cemetery.

Unpack that, how significant is that? He’s chained in a cemetery, how more clearly can you communicate outside of killing something that “I wish you were dead! Why won’t you just die already?” Ever more painful is that his family must have allowed it to happen. This guy has nobody. Disgust, Isolation, Fear, Rejection—not to mention the fact that he has some form of mental incapacity. I mean think about it, he’s prepared for the worst…but here is what Jesus does...

Mark 5:9 NIV

Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.”

Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” What is your name? Jesus wanted to know his name? Jesus took an interest in this man. This is a new experience and the man has no idea who Jesus really is, remember he is not a Jew. Imagine the thoughts that might have run through his mind in a split second. No one else has ever taken an interest in me…why would this man even want to be near me let alone know my name. And this man responds with words that are inconceivable…he calls himself Legion. He has no idea who he is himself any more. I mean, can someone’s life seem so hopeless that they forget their identity in God and instead label themselves—ugly, worthless, alone, evil?

The really interesting part of this to me is that we have so many in our society who would love for someone to just simply ask their name…or take a small interest in them. Here’s this guy who no one wanted to be around...everyone else wanted to bind him and keep him away but Jesus came to free him. He cared infinitely more about the man than any mess this guy could have created.

And it was definitely messy. However, to Jesus, this man’s life was a bigger deal. Jesus showed that he cared even if this man was messy or if doing for him would be even messier. Even if it’s not the popular decision or he might get some flak for it. Now, let’s consider what happens as a result of what Jesus did for this man...

Mark 5:15–16 The Message

They came up to Jesus and saw the madman sitting there wearing decent clothes and making sense, no longer a walking madhouse of a man. Those who had seen it told the others what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs.

Remember that this whole scene is with a naked crazy dude on the shoreline. In today’s world, we would probably run and call the cops for indecent exposure. I’m not saying if you’re in that situation you’re supposed to go hug them but Jesus definitely saw him differently. The man didn’t have any clothes, he was wild looking, and probably did not look like any person the disciples had ever known in their life. But the minute Jesus speaks, the man becomes docile, receives clothing, puts them on, and sits at the feet of the one who took an interest in him. Jesus not only took an interest, he cared about this person and how people saw him. The man asked, what do you want with me? And Jesus said, I want to know your name; I want to help you; I want a relationship with you.

And there is that word again…relationship. We have talked a lot about relationships already this summer and it is not going to end here, trust me. But we need to keep moving here if I want to get us all the way through this story…because the end is the most important piece for us.

Now, here is the even crazier implication. Jesus came all the way to the other side of the lake for this one guy. If you read the passage before this one you find that the disciples almost died in a storm on the way over. Jesus believed that this one demon possessed guy was worth it. We are all worth it.

Mark 5:18–20 NLT

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him. But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.” So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them.

At first Jesus’ reaction here seems pretty cold. Think about it…what does this man have in that area? In all truth all he has is a really bad reputation. Imagine him walking back into town and everyone knows his past. He has to feel like Jesus rejects him.

What Jesus is doing is giving this guy a mission. He tells him to return home and tell how much God has done for you. I’d take that to mean go tell your family about what happened today. I have to think that this guy took Jesus’ instructions very seriously. We are told that instead of just going to his family, he went way above and beyond and shared his testimony all over the entire region. The area was called Decapolis because it was made up of 10 cities that were all together. He went all over the place and told people how much Jesus had done for him.

What’s My Message?

What’s my message? It’s simple, To share how God’s goodness has intersected with your life. What is expected of us, just like this man who lived his life alone and in turmoil is to share how God has helped us through this day, or this week, or maybe a challenging year. It is up to us to take the message that God loves us unconditionally, I mean isn’t that what Christ did here?

We have no idea the impact God wants to make through us. Jesus took the craziest most insecure guy and used him to start a revival. We often say, “I can’t do this.” “I’m shy.” “I can’t talk with people about God” “This is just not my thing.” Let me ask you, “Are you known for running around the local cemetery and your neighborhood naked? Has anyone ever chained you up because you are so out of control?” If not, then you have far less to overcome than this guy did and he brought about one of the Bible’s best spiritual awakenings. Stop saying I can’t and Say God can. I mean here is a a man who was out of his mind and alone and Jesus made him one of the first gentile disciples in the world. He did not need to learn anything in particular, he just needed his life to be touched by God. He did not need to go to Seminary to share the love he felt in that day when Jesus touched him and he was healed. He just needed to share his love with others.

When we go out from this place each week, are we sharing the love we felt in these moments with others? I know that there are some who are but here’s the thing…we not only need to share the message with those who don’t know it, we also need to be sharing it with each other. IF there is no love here then there is no way love can be carried into the world. Our message needs to be not only do we love others outside, but that we love each other here because this is where it starts...

Prayer

Jesus, I can’t give You much today but I give you today. It’s not my day, it’s Yours. Use me however you want. I am Yours.

Amen