Sermon: The Devil We Know

Luke 8:26-39 

Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac

26 Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. ²⁸When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me’— ²⁹for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) ³⁰Jesus then asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Legion’; for many demons had entered him. ³¹They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.

32 Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. ³³Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

34 When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. ³⁵Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. ³⁶Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed.³⁷Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. ³⁸The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying,³⁹‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

Prayer: Oh Lord, uphold me, that I may uplift thee.  Amen.

               

The Devil We know        

                I grew up in a medium sized church in a medium sized town just south of Atlanta, Georgia.  It was the only Presbyterian church in town, and my parents were faithful servants of this church.  Dad was an elder, Mom was the church secretary for many years.  It was where most of our friends were.   We all sang in the various choirs.  We played hand bells.  We went to every event the church held.  When they decided to build a new building, my dad was a leader in the capital campaign and in the design and building process.  My mom started small groups at this church.  I’m not overstating it when I say it was our home away from home.

                When I was in ninth grade, all that changed.  My mother had been nominated to be an elder, and this was a church that didn’t have women as elders.  But, we Benzes are movers and shakers, and decided it was high time this church came into the 90’s.  Well, they decided we needed to take our moving and shaking somewhere else.  Now, my parents are both very pastoral people, so it wasn’t a coup.  And the church truly was a lovely place, they just weren’t quite ready for us and our feminist ideals.  So, we parted ways.  It wasn’t an easy separation, but it wasn’t unwelcome for my parents. 

                I, on the other hand, was not pleased.  I have been a feminist all my life, so I knew that women should be afforded the same opportunities as men, particularly in the church, but none of that mattered when I was being ripped away from my church that I had attended since before I could remember.  And it wasn’t my fault.  I hadn’t been a part of the conflict.  All I knew was my parents came home one day and said we were done at that church. 

                Now, I know I said last week that I’m a person that thrives on change, so you’re probably thinking this is going to be a story about how I did so well at my new church.  I wish that were the story, but it’s not.  I was still a teenager, entrenched in my own brooding adolescence, and mad as hell at my parents and my church for being so stupid.  So when we found a new church, one my parents were thrilled with, I resisted.  They, being the faithful people that they are, dove in the deep end.  Dad was on committees, Mom taught Sunday school.  I snuck out windows in order to escape the agony of not knowing anyone.  I did attend worship, but only as a conscientious objector.  This change had occurred without my consent and I was, to put it mildly, miserable.

                And that was only one level of the anger I harbored.  I had never been new anywhere in my life.  I had no idea how to integrate myself into a new community of young people.  I was a stranger in a foreign land.  And, being teenagers, we were all reluctant to make friends with one another.  I was reluctant because I simply didn’t know how and was sure they wouldn’t like me.  They were reluctant because their group was set and there was no room for new people.  So I never became a part of the youth group at this church and spent three and a half terrible years sneaking out of windows and frowning at the preacher during worship.

                The Gerasene man wouldn’t and couldn’t integrate himself into society.  His situation caused him to stay on the periphery, because he was so unstable and he never knew when his demons would become someone else’s problem.  And he certainly wasn’t welcome.  Everyone knew he was there, somewhere, but no one bothered to talk to him.  In fact, when things got particularly bad, they would bind him so he wouldn’t cause too much trouble.  He was a stranger in his own land.

                When Jesus showed up and exorcised this man’s demons, he suddenly became an acceptable member of society.  But, even with his newfound freedom, the Gerasenes still didn’t accept him.  They were afraid.  The Gerasene man begs to go with Jesus when he leaves, but is refused.  So now that he has been healed, when you might think he would become a productive, contributing member of society, he is also afraid.

                Change can be so difficult, even change for the better.  But often, I think we prefer the devil we know.  It’s clear in this story from Luke that the people are more comfortable with the possessed man to continue to be possessed.  Perhaps even the Gerasene man is more comfortable being possessed.  Everyone knows their place, and this change will cause everyone to have to reevaluate their place and their relationships.  That can be a frightening prospect. 

                I imagine that the plea of the Gerasene man to go with Jesus is kind of like sneaking out of a church window.  He is surely afraid of this new thing happening in his life.  Despite the healthy change, he no longer knows how to be a healthy person.  Asking to go with Jesus, the man who healed him, is avoiding stepping back into life and finding his place. 

                The Gerasene people are just as afraid.  In fact, they demand that Jesus leave immediately, which he does.  But the text doesn’t indicate that they are afraid of Jesus.  It says “they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.”  They are afraid of this intruder.  They were used to the demoniac who lived on the outskirts, occasionally causing trouble.  They knew that devil, and were comfortable letting him be.  But this guy, this healed man, was altogether foreign to them. 

                The worlds of both the Gerasene man and the Gerasene people have been disrupted, without their consent, and now they have to deal with the consequences.  They aren’t excited about it, they are actually afraid, but we know, and I hope they came to know, that it was for the betterment of all.  Of course, hindsight is 20/20, so while we can see from our vantage point that this change in their lives was positive, but we will never know how it turned out.

                I have now been a member of the new church for almost 17 years.  It has been a place of tremendous growth for me, both personally and spiritually.  I have experienced healing there.  I met some of my best friends there.  My call to ministry has been nurtured there.  And all this from the place I wanted nothing to do with when I was 14.  This was the place I asked Jesus to take me away from. 

                But while all that is true, it has been a difficult road.  Things didn’t just magically get better one day.  I suffered a lot.  I cause my parents a lot of grief.  It took a lot of time before I was able to say I wanted to go to this particular church.  And it started with one activity.  I joined the hand bell choir.  It was all I did for many years, and once I became an adult, no longer living with my parents, I only went on Sundays when the bell choir played.  I began, slowly, to be more comfortable, to develop relationships, to extend the hand of friendship to my brothers and sisters in Christ.  Eventually I found myself fully integrated into this community, and thriving.  I relished the 11 o’clock hour on Sunday mornings.  I saw all my friends, sang amazing music, listened to one great sermon after another.  It truly became my home.  It’s the kind of resolution I hope for for the Gerasenes. 

                Fear is a natural reaction to change.  But it’s how you respond to the fear that truly opens you up, or shuts you off, to all kinds of possibilities.  The Gerasenes had a real opportunity with their fear.  They could either let it cripple them, or they could embrace it. 

                Jesus tells the healed man to go and tell what God has done for him.  He is being told to go evangelize.  And if the rest of the Gerasenes are able to embrace the opportunity they have been given, they’ll go with him and proclaim the Good News as well.

                Because it’s when we accept the healthy change that we grow. 

                There will be critics.  There will be cynics.  There will be moments when you want to sneak out the window or ask Jesus to take you away.  But if you stick around, you just might find that someone is extending the hand of Christian fellowship, and if you sneak out the window, you’ll miss it.