The First Missionary: Breaking Boundaries
Luke 8:26-39 Mar 8, 2009 Lent #2
Intro:
This morning marks the second week of the season of Lent, which is the time when the people of God prepare to remember and celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection. Easter is coming closer each week, and as we walk towards the cross and the empty tomb we have been following the stories of Jesus from early in His ministry, and seeing week after week how Jesus continually broke down the boundaries that existed – boundaries of all shapes and sizes and types, boundaries between Jews and Romans, between rich and poor, between sick and healthy, between fear and faith, all so that Jesus could bring people across whatever boundaries that existed and into relationship with the one true, forgiving, loving God of the Universe.
Last week we saw the story of Jesus calming the storm, and I challenged us to not only see ourselves in the role of people who have had Jesus bring peace to us, but more importantly to see ourselves in the role of people who have been commissioned and sent with power in the name of Jesus to bring peace to others. That story, where they had been on the boat at night, ends with the disciples “amazed and terrified”, and then Luke continues the story:
Luke 8:26-39 (NLT)
26 So they arrived in the region of the Gerasenes, across the lake from Galilee. 27 As Jesus was climbing out of the boat, a man who was possessed by demons came out to meet him. For a long time he had been homeless and naked, living in a cemetery outside the town.
28 As soon as he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell down in front of him. Then he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please, I beg you, don’t torture me!” 29 For Jesus had already commanded the evil spirit to come out of him. This spirit had often taken control of the man. Even when he was placed under guard and put in chains and shackles, he simply broke them and rushed out into the wilderness, completely under the demon’s power.
30 Jesus demanded, “What is your name?”
“Legion,” he replied, for he was filled with many demons. 31 The demons kept begging Jesus not to send them into the bottomless pit.
32 There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby, and the demons begged him to let them enter into the pigs. So Jesus gave them permission. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned.
34 When the herdsmen saw it, they fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran. 35 People rushed out to see what had happened. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been freed from the demons. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid. 36 Then those who had seen what happened told the others how the demon-possessed man had been healed. 37 And all the people in the region of the Gerasenes begged Jesus to go away and leave them alone, for a great wave of fear swept over them.
So Jesus returned to the boat and left, crossing back to the other side of the lake. 38 The man who had been freed from the demons begged to go with him. But Jesus sent him home, saying, 39 “No, go back to your family, and tell them everything God has done for you.” So he went all through the town proclaiming the great things Jesus had done for him.
Context:
Another great story, again emphasizing the power of Jesus. Last week it was power over nature, here it is power over the demonic forces that had ruined this man. The geography here is of particular importance: Jesus had left the Jewish nation and gone to the Gentiles. The region mentioned is Gentile territory, which is also clear in the detail of the story of the “large herd of pigs”, which Mark tells us had 2000 pigs in it (Mk 5:13). Pigs were “unclean” animals, with no role or purpose for Jews, so it seems clear we are in gentile territory dealing with gentile people. Here is how one commentator introduces this passage:
“At a fundamental level, then, this text concerns the crossing of boundaries in Jesus’ mission, and more particularly the offer of salvation in the Gentile world. Within the larger setting of this account, this emphasis is striking, for Luke thus portrays how the lessons of the story of the sower (8:4-21) are appropriate to the Gentile world too. Here is a man, first full of demons, then saved, who responds as a disciple and becomes the first person commissioned by Jesus for missionary activity” (Joel Green, Luke, NICNT, p. 336).
The Man and the Miracle:
I heard that one pastor, preaching on this story, titled his sermon “A Nude Dude in a Rude Mood”. Cute, I suppose. But let’s talk about this person. He has led a pretty awful life. Imagine being his brother or sister, or parent, or close childhood friend. Imagine all the attempts to help him when things first began getting hard. Imagine all the tears, confrontations, promises that he would do better and keep himself under control, all the medical treatments and prayers or sacrifices to whatever gods they worshiped. They even got a guard, to protect the man and to protect others from him. Imagine the heartache when everything had been tried and failed. The Bible says that “This spirit had often taken control of the man” – that tells me that it wasn’t constant, that there were moments when the man was in control and not the spirit, and he was likely confused and horrified at what he had done, anxious to change, but it would last for a time and then the spirit would take control again and wreak havoc. Then things got dangerous, note the power of the man, “Even when he was placed under guard and put in chains and shackles, he simply broke them” – actually broke the chains that would likely have been on his wrists. That would, for all of us, be terrifying. The result of all this is that he “broke them and rushed out into the wilderness, completely under the demon’s power.” A life ruined, thrown away, days lived out in isolation and agony among the tombs. He was physically alive, but in pretty much every other way he was dead. Until he meets Jesus…
I want you to notice the beauty of the miracle and Luke’s writing:
Before: After:
naked clothed
shrieked and fell down sat quietly at Jesus feet
possessed by demons free from demons
out of his mind perfectly sane
Past the Sensational:
In studying this story, we could spend a lot of time on the demonology – the number and the naming and the whole thing with the pigs and how Jesus has so much power over them that they beg Him to let them leave the man and go to the pigs. It could be an interesting and insightful study.
But I’d rather move past the sensationalism of that particular part of the story for today, to focus instead on the man who is healed, and what a difference Jesus makes in his life. A moment ago I asked you to imagine how hard it had been for this man’s loved ones to watch him suffer at the hands of the demons, now imagine how great it is for him to be completely and totally healed. Imagine the reunions, the celebrations, the tears of joy and forgiveness, and then the hard work of building a new life after this season of horrible pain. He could laugh again. He could talk to people. He could work. He could eat a meal with other people. He may have reconciled with his wife, or maybe found a wife for the first time. He would have found a new place in his community, from a restored life, all because Jesus crossed a lake, weathered a horrendous storm, and showed up in this man’s life. Think of all Jesus’ has done for this man.
Then we start to understand his reaction. The rest of the community that arrived and witnessed the healing miracle were afraid and told Jesus to basically “get lost” – they didn’t like having this outsider with that much power around, so Jesus obliged, got back in the boat, and continued on. But there is more to the response of the man who was healed – he “begged” Jesus to let him go with him. He begged to become one of Jesus’ disciples, to join the group of people like Matthew and Simon and Thomas and Mary and Joanna and the other disciples, if he was going to start a new life then why not start it by dedicating it to serving and knowing this Jesus who had healed him…
Now we read the end of the story already so we know what happens, but before going there let’s pause to think about this for a moment. It sounds like a pretty good idea, don’t you think? If someone we knew was healed by Jesus and then wanted to spend their life following Him, listening to Him, learning from Him, serving Him, going deeper and deeper, I think most of us would be very quick to encourage this. We would be thrilled, ecstatic even. Jesus heals this man, and he begs Jesus to let him come along.
Jesus has a Better Idea:
But Jesus has a better idea. Instead of coming with Him, “Jesus sent him home, saying, 39 “No, go back to your family, and tell them everything God has done for you.”
When I really stop and think about this, it is quite incredible. I don’t understand it, to be completely honest. Instead of letting this healed man join His disciples, Jesus sends him home with a very very simple mission: “tell them everything God has done for you.”
- no further training
- no in-depth discipleship
- no Bible, no literature, no study guides
- no invitation to become a jew
- no evidence of filling with the Holy Spirit (that happens after Jesus is resurrected)
- no follow up plan
- no mentor
- no promise that Jesus will come back and check on him
As the earlier commentator noted, “Here is a man, first full of demons, then saved, who responds as a disciple and becomes the first person commissioned by Jesus for missionary activity”. This is the first person commissioned by Jesus for missionary activity, and what tools does he have to be successful? Nothing more than a story about how he met Jesus and was healed, and Jesus instruction to “tell (the people of his homeland) everything God has done for you”. And maybe that is all we really need…
The Power of a Story:
And when I continue down this train of thought, I realize that this one encounter may be all this guy ever experiences. It may very well be that he only had the one story to tell. But it is a good one – he was lost, but now is found… he was a prisoner, but now he is free… he was an outcast, but now is restored… We don’t know from Scripture that there was ever anything else for this man, but I like to imagine that during the 40 days between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension that maybe he paid him a visit; or that on the day of Pentecost when Luke tells us that there were people from “every nation” who heard Peter and the other disciples speaking in tongues and sharing their story, maybe one of them was from this region and had heard the story of Jesus and the demon possessed man and now heard the story of Jesus the resurrected Messiah and connected the dots; but we don’t know these things for sure. All we know is this: Jesus sent a healed Gentile back to his home to tell his story. And he did. “So he went all through the town proclaiming the great things Jesus had done for him.”
The Freedom of the Mission:
I got really excited in my spirit as my resources helped me see this whole story in this light, because it really and truly sets us free. My suspicion is that we think that telling others about Jesus means we have to have it all figured out, we should have to go to Bible school and understand all the answers to all the questions, be prepared, discover our spiritual gifts, get trained in effective means of evangelism, etc etc etc…
But I think there is something else here, which is beautiful and powerful and freeing in its simplicity: “go and tell them everything God has done for you.” Go and tell your story! That is it, it is that simple. You have a story, I have a story, otherwise you wouldn’t be here listening to a sermon. None of us have a completed story, and maybe most of us do not have a sensational story like this guy, but if you think you don’t have a story worth telling then you are telling me that God hasn’t done anything for you, and that I do not believe.
So what is your story? Mine is of a simple boy, another victim of divorce, who found a father in God brought to life by a group of men in a church, who then adopted me into His family, joyfully forgave my sins and filled me with life “abundant”. Yours may be of a messed up teen, who turned to a bunch of things to find identity and meaning but found they couldn’t satisfy. Yours may be of reaching a point of desperation, having no where else to turn, and turning to God. Yours may be one of searching to understand purpose and your place in the universe, and having it all make sense as God helped you see who He is through His word. Yours may be a story of walking with God for many years, through many things, and Jesus just constantly being there with you.
Whatever it is, you have a story. And it needs to be told. What God does with it is not your worry, nor your responsibility. And that is really freeing.
Conclusion:
The last line of the story tells us that this healed man did exactly what Jesus told him to do, “he went all through the town proclaiming the great things Jesus had done for him.” That is the simple summary statement, which begs the question of us: will we do likewise?
