Proper 7 C I Love to Tell the Story

 Proper 7 C I Love to Tell the Story

June 24, 2007

By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell

The Gospel story today is taken from Luke 8:26-39 and tells the story of the healing of the man possessed with demons. 

No matter how the demoniac’s problem would be diagnosed with today’s understanding of the human mind, we must accept that his “demons” were very real to him. And that he had a powerful lot of them. From the Gospel –

“Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion;” for many demons had entered him.” 

A legion in the Roman army was 6,000 men. Can you imagine what havoc 6,000 warriors in the heat of a bloody battle could unleash? Peterson in “The Message” describes the man’s demons as a “mob.” I thought of the news pictures of the riots in Watts; pictures of mindless mayhem. 

We are told that this demon-tormented man was physically strong; strong enough to snap the fetters they used on him, to protect themselves. Again, from the Gospel –

“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.”

 You would need real courage or a riot squad to approach this guy. He was a victim of violent insanity. 

In some hospitals, a call for Dr. Strong to report to room 423 over the PA system, is code for all able-bodied men on staff to report to room 423 in order to intimidate a violent patient into submission. Most likely if the demoniac were in a modern hospital he would have met Dr. Strong. 

Remember what the man said as Jesus calmly approached him? “Jesus, Son of the Most High God!” it is clear that the man and his demon’s saw something in Jesus that gave them pause, a one-man Dr. Strong. 

There are times when we have to be rescued from ourselves. There are times when the vicissitudes of life jackpot, and we are left thrashing about in our grief, fear, loneliness, resentments, etc. There are times when we all need help. The process of sorting things out, gathering our wits, getting back on our feet, finding a new direction takes time. In today’s Gospel that time is condensed into an afternoon. 

In William Barkley’s commentary on the passage, he suggests that it happened like this. In Jesus, the demoniac sees the need and the possibility to surrender his demons. AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) has a twelve-step program to facilitate that decision. The man cannot fight the love in Jesus’ eyes, and he goes down screaming. It is the scream that comes just as you let go. Let go of the effort to hold it all together.

I can only imagine that the demoniac went down with a spine-bending scream. He had a legion of demons. That scream, writes Barkley, spooked the pigs, and like a crazed mob, stampeded over a cliff to their death. And Jesus, writes Barkley, seizing the moment, says to the demoniac, “There go your demons.” The stampeding pigs were an outward demonstration of what had taken place in the demoniac’s inner spirit. 

What a story!

The news of what had happened got out and about as fast as the witnesses could run. Many came out to see for themselves. And what did they see? The drowned pig’s carcasses washed up on the rocks, and the crazy guy properly dressed, in his right mind, and sitting with Jesus.

“Then 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.” 

But what did they see?

What they saw (what some of them saw), I believe, was a big bite taken, suddenly and without warning, out of their livelihood. Yes, the demoniac appears to be healed, but what we are afraid of is what heard of livestock will this man Jesus stampede next? What part of their economy would be threatened if Jesus remained in the neighborhood? If Jesus has that kind of power, what else can he do?

We know that there are far too many mentally and emotionally disturbed people in our society who have repeatedly worn police handcuffs. Handcuffs, for the short-run, are less expensive than a more humane approach to the deeper and more complicated problems that we read about in our newspapers every day. The response to the question, “What would Jesus do?” can in the short-run cost more in both time and money than we as a society are sometimes willing to give. 

Example) I once heard a shelter worker respond to being questioned about the “What would Jesus do” question with… “Let’s keep Jesus out of this!”

None-the-less, no matter how hard we wish these “problem people” would go away, they doggedly persist. 

I am told that when some people hear this story they are upset for the poor pigs, as if they were as important as a healed, human being. The pigs were in fact headed for slaughter, to make a profit for their owners, to buy things. There is nothing wrong with making a profit unless it becomes more important than people. 

Didn’t Jesus say “Don’t worry about what you are going to wear or eat?” First seek God’s passion and you will have all the material things you need. 

The man Jesus healed of the demons begged Jesus to let him join him. But Jesus sent him back to his village.

“Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” 

When he returned home, he would have a great opening line to his testimony; “Remember the crazy, naked guy at the cemetery who used to scare the sandals off the gawkers?" Then, with a big grin on his face he would say, “That was me!” Then, he would tell his story.

I tried to imagine what the important points of his story might be. He might begin telling them about the fear of being feared, the fear of being the focus of someone’s prejudice, (People like that are better off dead). He might talk about the agony of separation and loneliness. And the frustration of living among the dead. Both the dead; the buried dead, and the blank-stare-dead. 

Joke) A man died in church and the paramedics carried out three parishioners before they found the man who had really died.

Then he would get to the heart of the story. This man Jesus showed up and I could see in His eyes that He really cared about me. The real me. In His compassion He called out the fear, and the loneliness and the hopelessness and He gave me a purpose for living.

I will tell you what the Lord has done for me, Ernie Campbell. He has shown me that people are more important than things. People like me….and you! And, as you are my witnesses, that’s how I try to live my life. As you all know, I have a long way to go, but I am here to tell you what a joy it is to be on the way. 

People count more than things! With God’s help, I try to make that the purpose of my life.