Sermon Tone Analysis

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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.