Beyond Your Comfort

TEXT

5 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

Leading by Example

Jesus had begun his ministry and was well into preaching & teaching through short stories called parables. The disciples were front in center of the action. Seeing how Jesus dealt with sinners, tax collectors, & the religious leader of their day.

We can say that during Jesus’ time here on earth was a very hands on type of leader.

If there is a leadership quality that draws us in, its a person like Jesus.

He didn’t just give his disciples a list of instructions to carry out day by day. Rather he lead by example.

After teaching a good round of parables, Jesus and his disciples took a boat ride across Galilee. (Now remember, this was Jesus’ idea). As they continue in their boat journey, a storm begins to pick up and the disciples start to panic. Now here is where me and Jesus really relate here. Jesus was a sound asleep during the storm. So either the storm was really bad, and Jesus can sleep through anything (again, like me) or the disciples were like us San Diegans when it starts the drizzle on the freeways (instant panic and gridlock).

But as the story goes, Jesus woke up and calmed the storm, the disciple were speechless, to say the least! “Who is this that the sea obeys His command?”

So far, we see a really good picture of one of Jesus’ personality traits. The Son of God, who came to lead by example. And if we pay attention, this is the same personality trait that is consistent with God’s nature.

Unknown Land

It is noted in commentary that this was a Gentile region. (The Disciples “Jewish” would never enter these cities for recreation”)

They are surrounded by tombs (These are considered unclean to the Jew)

They are surround by pigs (These are also considered unclean to the the Jew)

We can say that the disciples were extremely freaked out here. Definitely not in their comfort zone, and absolutely wanting to get back in the boat, with the storm.

The demon possessed man, was the icing on the cake!

But here is what I want to point out.

When Jesus calls you and I to follow Him, He is going to take you to places that we would consider unapproachable.

He is going to have you and I confront things in our lives that we would rather not.

What I want us to understand this morning, is that God’s Word has no limits to who is reached by it. Its not limited by our fears, our boundaries, our likes or dislikes.

This man who had been an outcast by his community, at one time bound by chains, but no longer able to be restrained was shouting at the top of his lungs… I can only imagine the fear in the eyes of the disciples! But rather than avoiding such a person, Jesus steps into the mess, into the chaos.

That is the character of Jesus, just as he was with this man He is with us. Ready to visit the darkest, loneliest, dirtiest places of our lives to speak to the chaos, and calm the storm in us.

We have all experienced being the outcast

Just like this man was ostracized from his people. We have all experienced some level of rejection. Maybe like this man, our own actions have caused other to walk away and excommunicate themselves from us. Among being tormented this man was extremely lonely.

The demons in this man knew the superiority of Jesus, begging not to be tormented before their time.

Sometimes the bigger evil is Fear.

This man was delivered by Jesus! Set free and returned to his correct state of mind.

As scary as the whole situation was for the disciples, the story reveals the bigger evil, FEAR.

You would think that seeing such a powerful testimony, the community would embrace Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but the exact opposite occurs, they begged Jesus to evil.

I believe FEAR cannot see good or evil.

If FEAR were to root itself in the hearts of the disciples, they would have never gotten off the boat.

If FEAR, were to root itself in the demon possessed man, he would have never ran to the feet of Jesus.

FEAR is what caused the people to not see the good that was done that day.

FEAR caused a whole community to not know Jesus personally.

I want to close by saying, Jesus wants to invade the chaos of our lives.

He wants to silence the things that keep us bound to sin.

He wants us to have a whole, healthy mind.

The only thing that would stop Him from doing all this, is our FEAR.

Allow Jesus to come into your life today and be Lord and savior of your heart. As you surrender, He will silence the chaos and bring peace to the storm.