Pentecost 2C

The story of the Gerasene demoniac in Luke’s Gospel disturbed me from the first time I read it. It’s one of those stories we don’t like to think about. Here we have a poor man who is so out of his mind that he lives in a place of burial - “among the tombs.” Remember: for a Jew to be anywhere around dead bodies is extremely unclean. This would be a worse thing than to live in a garbage dump. This poor man is an outcast among outcasts.

Besides where he lives, he is not wearing any clothes. Luke tells us he behaved like this “for a long time.” So we have a human being, living in a cemetery, never wearing clothes. This is so far from normal it’s barely imaginable. But of course, that’s not the worst of it. This problem he has had for a while has caused him to act uncontrollably. The people would incarcerate him, put him in chains, but he would break the chains and run away, back to an undesirable area, where he would be alone. Have you ever tried to break a chain with only your bare hands? Good luck.

This is no mere case of mental instability. This is no-kidding demon possession. Do you think we have this problem, this affliction in our world today, or is this just the stuff of Hollywood and fantasy novels? Here’s what I know: one of my fellow NALC pastors was invited to go with a Catholic priest friend of his to do an exorcism. Having seen it with his own eyes, he absolutely believes it to be a real problem. Within the NALC, we have one pastor who has been trained in Rome at the Vatican in exorcism. He’s written a book on the subject. It’s very real to him.

I hope you all will agree with me when I say that there *is* evil in our world. There are unquestionably demonic forces at work in the world around us. We may not see anything like a naked man living in a cemetery tearing shackles apart. We should acknowledge that the case in today’s Gospel was truly an extreme case - a “Legion” of demons in one man. When Jesus asks the demon’s name, “The answer ‘legion’ comes as a surprise, and the reason for this name and for its appropriateness is added, namely the number of the demons that had entered into the man… A full Roman legion consists of 6,826 men. That so many demons could possess [one man] is incomprehensible to us although it is already incomprehensible that one should possess a human being.” [R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Luke’s Gospel (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 471–472.]

Any demon possession is an awful thing. Any evil influence in the life of an innocent human being is a truly awful thing. It’s something we really don’t want to think about, but we must first acknowledge it’s real before we can look to the cure. “In the NT and contemporary literature the term δαιμόνιον ...[refers] not only to malevolent spirits but also and more precisely to beings who in their true nature are agents of Satan and whose mission is to oppose the work of God and his people.” [Charles Yeboah, “Demon,” ed. David Noel Freedman, Allen C. Myers, and Astrid B. Beck, Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 2000), 338.]

Do we have any evidence in 2022 that anyone is in opposition to the work of God and His people? Let’s see what we can come up with from the last few years:

Demands for the removal of the 10 Commandments from courts of law

Demands for the removal of Christmas or Easter displays from public property

Demands for the removal of Gideon Bibles from hotels and government facilities

Denial of the importance of the Christian ideal of family structure and the biblical model of marriage

Denial of the biblical explanation of Creation and the biblical understanding of gender as male and female

Denial of Christians to practice their faith in public (Supreme Court case of Coach Joe Kennedy)

Denial of Christians to practice their faith in groups (Canadian pastors arrested for continuing to worship)

Critical Race Theory - teaching that people are guilty of social sins simply on the basis of their skin color, not because of any act they themselves committed; sins for which there is no atonement and no forgiveness

I can’t help but remember in 2020, when Judge Amy Coney Barrett was being examined by the US Senate as a candidate for the US Supreme Court, one of those opposed to her being nominated stated “The dogma lives loudly within you.” This referring to Judge Barrett’s devout Roman Catholic faith. The senator was opposed because of the fear that Christian principles would influence decisions the judge would make as a Supreme Court justice. Because Christian principles would oppose abortion, and that senator did not want to see Roe v. Wade overturned.

Abortion - there are now states that are considering passing new laws to expand abortion rights which would allow a mother to kill her child up to 7 or more days after the child is born. Can such an idea come from anything other than evil?

These are just what I came up with from memory very quickly. We all know this is just scratching the surface. These efforts seek to directly oppose God’s Law and God’s will for humanity. Listen again to that definition of demons: “beings who in their true nature are agents of Satan and whose mission is to oppose the work of God and his people.” Doesn’t that sound like what’s going on here?

Let me make myself clear: I am NOT calling that senator or any other pro-choice politician demons. I am not calling the people who ask for these other things demons either. I am saying that there are demonic, evil forces at work who are *influencing* the people involved. Is there possession going on? I don’t know. But the presence and the influence of these evil forces is - to me at least - unmistakable.

Evil seems to come across as powerful, great in number, unbeatable. And that’s part of evil’s trickery. Evil will make us think that it’s stronger than it really is. This becomes evident when confronted by the cure, and that cure is God’s Only-Begotten Son. “When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.’” [Lk 8:28]

“The shriek of the demoniac as he fell before Jesus and the unnatural ‘loud voice’ with which he shouted out his words reveal the viciousness of the demons that held the man in their possession… he fell down before Jesus and sought to fend him off, his question meaning, ‘[You] leave me alone!’ All the demons know what the coming and the presence of Jesus mean for them, namely that ‘he might destroy the works of the devil,’ … He does not want to be sent into the abyss now, before the final judgment. The demons recognize and openly acknowledge the absolute power of Jesus over them. This is why they obey every command of his without the slightest resistance.” [Lenski, 469-470]

Jesus then asks the unclean spirit to name itself. This is not simple curiosity. This is a command from the Son of God who holds Divine Power and Authority from the God of the Universe. He is commanding this evil being to announce its name out loud, for all to hear. “Jesus wants his disciples and the men from the other boats to know that he is not dealing with one or two demons but with a great host of them.” (Ibid.) Legion has no choice but to obey and to do so without hesitation.

These demons now fear for their future. They do not want to be sent to “the abyss.” This is the bottomless pit described in Revelation - “the burning pit of hell which was prepared especially for the evil angels.” [Lenski, 473] This is a place of eternal torment for them. For Jesus to send them there would be to send them to the place of their eternal judgment before the Day of Judgment. But they know who Jesus is, and what he will do. 1 John 3:8 tells us that “the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” These unclean spirits know this. Their very existence is now in danger…from this one carpenter’s son. And they are LEGION. But despite their great numbers, they are done for.

I found this next part quite interesting: why do you think Jesus granted the demons their request? Why did they want to go into the pigs in the first place? Historians tell us that this area was also inhabited by Jews, so these pigs were owned by men who were Jews. They were not law-abiding Jews - to own and raise pigs would be against God’s Law. So “according to the law that God gave them the Jews’ hogs were unclean, and these demons were also morally and spiritually unclean.” (Lenski, 474) Such hogs would have been a very appealing option for the unclean spirits, rather than being sent to the abyss. So into the pigs they went.

But then the pigs went quickly down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. “Swine were an illegal possession for Jews; their destruction through the permission of Jesus was, therefore, the execution of God’s law. The fact that devils were used in this instance is quite in accord with God’s practice, who uses devils to punish the wicked, and sin and crime to make away with sinners in judgment.” [Lenski, 475.] Mark’s Gospel tells us that there were about 2,000 pigs in that bunch of pigs, so their Jewish owners actually had a pretty big business…which tells us that there were likely a large number of Jewish customers also not following God’s law. “The transgression of these Jewish hog-raisers was flagrant and on a grand scale, which called for God’s judgment the more.” [Ibid.] The destruction of the pigs was not an accident, but God acting to wipe out sin… and at the same time, healing a deeply troubled man!

Now look at the reaction of the people - the pig farmers tell the townspeople, who come out to see. The demoniac is “clothed and in his right mind”, but they’re afraid. Isn’t this the *best* possible outcome for this man? Jesus has unquestionably fixed the problem with him, but the people are afraid. Certainly the pig farmers were upset with Jesus - he cost them their livelihood. Is it that the people who were illegally raising the pigs, and the people who were illegally eating the pork were both feeling guilty that they had been caught, and their sins both exposed and forcibly taken away from them? Did they already miss their sin? Maybe. Luke doesn’t tell us their motivation…only that they were afraid.

“The deliverance of the demoniac meant nothing to them; they regretted the loss of the swine. Any further deliverances of poor human sufferers at such a cost of material values, even if these were owned in contravention of the law, seemed to them to be paid for at too great a price. They were afraid of what Jesus might do if he remained with them.” [Lenski, 478–479]

This hit me hard. Here is the Messiah foretold by the prophets. He has displayed his power and authority, cast out many evil spirits, and the people who are comfortable in their sin, don’t want him to stay. They preferred their sin over Jesus’ righteousness and his ability to carry out God’s promises. They rejected God’s Son and asked him to leave. It appears at this point, Jesus has done what he has set out to do. His mission was accomplished. All that was left now was for witnesses to tell the story - including the healed man, who is the best possible witness. Jesus can leave knowing that he had done what he set out to do.

Perhaps the best news of all is from the very first sentence of the Gospel lesson today. “Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.” Before this, Jesus had been teaching a crowd of people. After his teaching, he told his followers that he wanted to “go across to the other side of the lake.” [Lk 8:22.] He WANTED to go to this man. And they sailed over there. They didn’t know why they were going, but Jesus knew. He had something he wanted to do. He wanted to show evil that evil doesn’t win, even in large numbers. I love that.

Do you remember the Isaiah passage? God said, “I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks; who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig’s flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels; who say, ‘Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.’” This is our God - He comes to those who think they don’t want Him, so that He can heal them. He comes to those who don’t deserve Him, so that He can take away their sin. He doesn’t ignore sin. He doesn’t pretend it isn’t happening, or look the other way. He goes out to do something about it…whether the sinner wants something done or not.

That can be a scary proposition for a sinner…especially one who is comfortable in that sin. We prefer our comfort. Righteousness isn’t comfortable. Holiness isn’t comfortable. We want comfort. God doesn’t call us to be comfortable. God calls us to be His Children. And that means holy and righteous…like His Son.

He sent His Son to us for this purpose - to take sin and evil out of our way, so that we can grow in faith. The color green which will hang on our altar for the next 20 weeks is the color of the season because it represents growth - our growth in the faith for the remainder of the church year. We are able to grow in faith because of all that we have just finish celebrating - Jesus earthly life & ministry; his suffering, death, and resurrection; his ascension and sending of the Holy Spirit; and after that, the growth of His Church. We are now ourselves in the time of the growth of His Church. That doesn’t simply mean growth in numbers. It means growth in the faith of those who are a part of our flock. We believe and trust in the Son of the Most High God, so we need not fear anything - even a Legion of evil. Let us spend the weeks and months ahead growing in our faith and walking ever closer to the God who has done so much for all of us.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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