Urgency pt5

How much do you want to be free from sin? From oppression? From a pattern of life that is destroying you?

How desperate are you for real change? What would you be willing to give up?

What lengths have you gone to in order to manage your sin? To attempt, in your own power, to keep your sinful desires at bay?

In this passage, we see a living, breathing example of the damage sin can do to a life. We have a man LITERALLY so consumed with demonic forces that he lives in a graveyard and is so filled with demonic power that shackles and chains cannot hold him.

Nothing can change him, until he meets someone who can actually se him free from his spiritual darkness.

Today, as we look at Mark 5, do not fall into the trap of seeing this as an extraordinary, non-relatable moment. You may not have a legion of demons living in you, but some of us are in real bondage. We are living in a graveyard of our own making and desperate to go home. And Jesus is arriving. With what kind of urgency will you come to Him?

(Read Mark 5:1-5)

Let’s set the scene. Jesus is on a boat and has crossed the sea to a different part of the region- called the country of the Gerasenes. And where they arrive is within close range of a guy whose whole life is consumed with demons.

The description of this guy is really wild. He lives in among the tombs. He breaks chains that people use to try and subdue him. And he is in agony. He cries out and he cuts himself. He is a walking picture of what sin does to us.

I know we don’t like that word, but sin is a reality. And it has a plan and purpose. Sin kills us. Over time it destroys us. A little more each day. It is like a slow acting, but surely lethal poison that eats away at our souls and as a result at our lives. Sin always ends ugly.

And this man is a wreck.

But he is drawn to Jesus. Look at verse 2- the guy is there immediately.

I want you to take note of something, over and over again the people who are riddled with undeniable sin are drawn to Jesus. Somehow they know, He is their hope and He will not reject them.

We need to see people like that. Full stop.

Far too often, we are making judgments about who is worthy of Jesus. Jesus seems to make no such judgments. He welcomes anyone who is willing to come. What He asks of them may be difficult, but the approach is never the issue.

(Read vs6-13)

Jesus knows what He is seeing immediately. He knows the power and devastation of sin. And He springs into action immediately.

The Gospel according to Mark Creation from Chaos (5:1–20)

Contrary to all reason and expectation, however, Jesus goes there. He penetrates both the ritual wall of uncleanness and the formidable reputation of the demoniac. For once, however, the explosive terror of the demoniac does not prevail, for rather than falling on Jesus he “fell on his knees … [and] shouted at the top of his voice, … ‘Swear to God that you won’t torture me!’ ” The Greek verb for “fell on his knees,” proskynein, denotes prostrating oneself before a person to whom reverence or worship is due, even kissing his feet or the hem of his garment. When demoniac meets divine, it is a no-contest event.

He rebukes the sin- v8

He names the sin- v9

He takes control of it and kicks it out- v10-13

The Gospel according to Mark Creation from Chaos (5:1–20)

with Jesus there is no elaborate protocol, nor is the effectiveness of the exorcism dependent on the words he utters. The power to prevail over the demonic resides within Jesus himself. He speaks and the demons are expelled; his word is deed

Can I ask you something, if Jesus can handle an out of control legion of demons, don’t you think He can handle your sin? What is keeping you from bringing your sin to Him?

I think there are several stumbling blocks to bringing our sin to Jesus:

embarrassment

self reliance

respectable sins

love of sin

When we realize how sin is destroying us, none of these excuses matter anymore. When Jesus reveals to us how deep our sin truly is, we will know He is our only hope and we will run to Him.

(Read v14-20)

The reactions to the man’s freedom are strange:

The horrified herdsman

The fearful townspeople

The grateful man

Why the differences in the reactions? Think about it: for the herdsmen the cost is great. Your freedom from sin is going to cost someone something. They may feel they are losing a friend, or a fellow sinner, or a customer…the list is long. Your sin is often helping someone else.

The Gospel according to Mark Creation from Chaos (5:1–20)

The good done to the demoniac results in great misfortune for the swineherds. Ironically, both Jesus and Mark pass over the obvious plight of the swineherds without comment. As it stands, the story directs undivided attention to the rescue of one man from a tragic and torturous fate. Here perhaps is the essential moral of the miracle, surpassing even the dilemma of the loss of pigs. In the eyes of Jesus, the rescue and restoration of one person is more important than vast capital assets. Compared to the redemption of a human being, the loss of the swineherds, considerable though it is, does not rate mentioning

The townspeople have lost the person they compare themselves to. They can no longer say, I’m not as bad as crazy tomb man. And his freedom makes them confront their own sins. And Jesus’ presence means that what happened to the tomb man can still happen to them.

But the man of the tombs is grateful. He has a new life. He is free. And instead of taking him along, Jesus leaves him to be a missionary to his own people. They cannot deny what God has done, because every day they have to see him.

Some of you may wonder, why does God leave you where He does. For some of the people you are around, you are the greatest example of the power of God they will ever see or hear or know. You are their daily reminder that God loves them and is calling them. You have an urgent ministry right where God has put you!