A sermon by the Rev. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mount Vernon, IL, Sunday, June 21, 2009
LECTIONARY - Job 38:1–11, 16–18; Psalm 107:1-3, 23–32; II Corinthians 5:14–21; Mark 4:35 – 5:20
At first glance when I read today’s gospel reading for the first time early this past week, the question came to my mind, “What do these two events have in common with each other, the calming of the storm on the Sea of Galilee and the deliverance of the Gerasene demonic?”
It turns out, these two events have a lot in common with each other, including these threads:
- Deliverance from destruction,
- God, through Jesus Christ, demonstrates His control over the forces of destruction,
- Water is the agent of threatened destruction (the boat in the stormy sea), and water is the agent of actual destruction (the herd of pigs who are drowned).
(Both events take place on or around the Sea of Galilee, that beautiful lake in the northern part of the Holy Land. When you see the Sea of Galilee, it’s easy to believe that it is a beautiful mountain lake, since it’s surrounded by hills and mountains on all sides. But in actuality, despite those hills and mountains, the lake itself is actually about 600 feet below sea level.)
In the first incident, the disciples see Jesus’ power in calming the storm. Jesus displays the same power of the chaotic forces of nature that God displayed in creating the world.
In the second incident, Jesus destroys the forces of evil which threaten the Gerasene man.
Let’s concentrate today on the second incident, which takes place on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, in a region called the Decapolis (which was a federation of 10 Greek cities), and whose major city was called Gerasa in biblical times.
As we look at this event, let’s concentrate on the destructive situation the man was in, and then let’s also consider Jesus’ power over the forces of destruction.
We begin with a look at the destructive situation of the Gerasene man:
Living among the tombs: The Greek words here suggest that the tombs the man was living among were caves or tombs dug into the hillside, not markers or mausoleums. The man was living in these hollowed out places in the hillside. In so doing, the man is living in an unclean place, a place where people would avoid.
Human power had failed to control him: The occupying forces had overpowered all the steps that human beings had taken to control him. Mark tells us that the man had “often been bound with fetters and with chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the fetters he broke in pieces.”
Reasoned discourse had ceased: We read that the man “cried out” day and night. Actually, the Greek word is much stronger, for it suggests that the man was “shrieking”.
Self destruction had set in: The man was “bruising himself with stones”. Actually, here too, the Greek word is stronger, for the Greek suggests he was “mangling” himself.
The description of the man’s situation is desperate….He is cut off from family, from all human relationships. He cannot carry on a reasoned conversation, but “shrieks” constantly. He is unclothed, and is gradually destroying himself.
Now, the encounter with Jesus is striking: Notice that Mark tells us that “immediately” as Jesus gets out of the boat, the man runs to meet Him. Here again, the English translation fails us a bit, for the Greek has the sense that the man “accosts” Jesus.
At this point in the encounter, things get a bit confusing: we ask ourselves, “Who is speaking? Is it the man, demon who represents all the other demons, or all the demons themselves?”
Look at the text:
- We first that the man “runs and worships” Jesus.
- Jesus is identified as the “Son of the Most High God”. The lead demon has correctly identified Jesus, just as He had been correctly identified in the first exorcism that Mark records (in chapter one, verses 23 – 24).
- Next, the lead demon seems to speak for all the others, as Jesus asks the demon’s name: “My name is Legion, for we are many,” the demon says in reply.
- Finally, in the last exchange between Jesus and the demon(s), Mark tells us that “He begged Jesus eagerly not to send them out of the country.
Perhaps the point here is that possession by the powers of evil masks the identity of the individual, as evil eradicates markers of an individual’s personality, self-worth and relationships. As I look at the text, that’s what comes to mind: that evil seeks not only to destroy us, but to erase the line between the person and evil as evil takes over.
Now, let’s turn from the text to our situation as Christian believers today…..
Fortunately, not many of us will ever encounter a person who is demon-possessed. That condition is rare, although I hasten to add that the phenomenon is real, and exists today. I know a priest who has taken part in an exorcism. When I was told what the demon-possessed man was doing, I agreed that it was a case of genuine demon possession. We should not discount the reality of this spiritual condition, even as we should not rush to conclusions about the existence of demon possession whenever we question what’s going on with an individual we might encounter.
But the reality of daily life is that evil influence is far more common. The influence of evil is present in the world we live in, in the lives of people we meet and interact with, and even in our own lives, as Christians. We live in a world that is under the influence of evil, an influence that cannot be escaped, even as we remember that Jesus is still in charge, still able to overpower and push back the forces of evil, just as He did on the eastern hillside of the Sea of Galilee 2,000 years ago.
How might we see the effects of evil influence in the world about us? I think the main points of today’s incident point to the ways we can see evil at work in the world we live in, so we return to those points, made earlier, to begin our consideration of evil’s presence and effects today. And as we consider these points, we’ll use the illustration of drug use to highlight each point:
Living among the tombs: No, not literally, but figuratively….For evil seeks to isolate us from others, to cause us to live in places where others don’t want to share our predicament. Often a drug addict will seek to withdraw into an isolated, unclean world of addiction, into a place where no one wants to venture.
Human power has failed: Often, the effects of evil seem to be too powerful, to be absolutely unconquerable to all the human measures we might apply to control the situation. A good example of the equation of human power vs. the power of evil can be seen in drug addiction, which often stymies all attempts to wean a person off of the addiction.
Reasoned discourse has failed: Along with the isolation that living among the tombs of life brings, comes the isolation from others that the lack of reasoned conversation also brings. Again, we return to the matter of drug addictions, where exchanges between family members and the addicted person turn into shrieks of anger and venom.
Self destruction has set in: All around us are examples of self-destructive behavior. Again, using our example, consider the destructive effects of using meth, for example. Do you remember the billboard that was on our roadsides not long ago that showed a young woman in four stages of decay from using meth? It was a vivid illustration of the self-destructive effects of drug use.
In such seemingly hopeless situations, we might feel that God is absent, much as the disciples might have felt as Jesus slept in the back of the boat that night on the Sea of Galilee. Their cry might be ours, too: “Don’t you care if we perish?”
But God, working through Jesus Christ, with the power of the Holy Spirit, has the power to calm the chaotic waters of life.
God, working through Jesus Christ, with the power of the Holy Spirit, has the power to drive out the influences of evil which seek to submerge our own unique human identity under their own corrosive powers.
I know, for I’ve seen God redeem my father from the addiction to alcohol. You see, my father lived in isolation, seeing the world from the inside of a bottle. My father’s human relationships were being destroyed. Reasoned discourse with him about this problem had ceased. He was bent on a course of self-destruction. All human efforts to stop this runaway train had failed.
But my mother never lost hope, and never stopped praying. For 35 years, she prayed faithfully. Then, one day, from a hospital bed in Eugene, Oregon, in the wee hours of the morning, my father ran and knelt at Jesus’ feet, and the forces of addiction were driven out.
My father emerged from his near-death experience a changed man…like the Geresene demoniac, he was sitting up, clothed in his right mind, free of the addiction that had fettered him, and he was restored to right relationship with God and with his family.
You see, it works. I know it does.
God’s power overcame everything we human members of my dad’s family couldn’t overcome.
That’s the God we serve, the God who loves us, who wants to restore us to life, to health, to right relationship with each other and with Him.
AMEN.
