Jesu Juva
“Fighting our Demons”
Text: Luke 8:26-39
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Some things about demons, unclean spirits, evil angels, we can learn from this story we heard in today’s Gospel . . .
Demons are powerful. Chains and shackles are useless. They cannot bind this poor man in the country of the Gerasenes who is possessed by them.
Demons are fearsome. They completely changed this man, who once had lived in the city, the regular guy next door, probably with a job, maybe married with children, but now lived by himself, naked, out of his mind and out among the tombs.
Demons are numerous. We don’t know how many there are, just as we do not know how many good angels there are, but this man we heard about today calls himself Legion, for many demons had entered him. At that time, a legion was a unit of Roman soldiers numbering approximately 6,000. Were that many in this man? Mark’s version of this story says that some 2,000 pigs rushed into the lake and drowned. That’s a lot either way.
Demons wreak havoc. They did in this man’s life and the life of his family. They did in the pig farmers’ lives. And they did in the pigs. For once they entered the pigs, the pigs all rush down into the lake and drown. I think we usually assume that the demons made the pigs do that. But maybe the pigs did it to try to get away from the demons!
Demons want you to believe that they’re in charge. They’re bold and arrogant. That was the attitude of their prince, who came to Jesus in the wilderness and tempted the very Son of God. And when you look around at our world, it can seem as if they are, in charge, that evil is winning. The things of this world and the direction of the world crowding God and Church out of people’s lives. Matters of right and wrong that were once common knowledge aren’t so much anymore. Division, hatred, wars, disasters, seem to keep getting worse and worse.
But then into the picture steps Jesus. And everything changes. In His presence, the powerful demons beg for mercy. Fearsome demons are now themselves filled with fear. No matter how many there are, they are not enough to stand up against this one man. Jesus is outnumbered but He is not outmatched. He wreaks havoc on them and their up-until-now comfortable existence. And there is no doubt who is in charge. They have no choice but to leave the man when commanded to do so, and they are again reduced to begging, asking permission to enter the nearby herd of pigs.
Well, as you can imagine, when something like this happens, word gets around fast! And when the people go out to see what had happened, what once was a scene of chaos and danger is now just two men sitting there, talking. The man once out of his mind now in his right mind. The man once naked now clothed. The man who couldn’t be controlled now sitting calmly at Jesus’ feet.
I would think the people would have been thankful for such a change, such a rescue of this man, to no longer have him around them! But instead they are afraid, of Jesus, and they ask Him to leave. A sad ending, really, to what should have been a great and comforting day for them.
So why did they do it? Why did they ask Jesus to leave? Was it the loss of the pigs? Could have been. Money talks, and 2,000 or so pigs is worth a lot of money. Better that one man be lost than the whole economy of the city be tanked. 2,000 pigs is an awful steep ransom for just one man. What else would Jesus do if He stayed? No, better that He go.
That could have been it. But this is true as well: raw power is fearsome. The raw power of hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes strike fear in people’s hearts. The raw power of guns in the hands of those who shoot up schools and malls is frightening. The raw power of dictators who can start wars or launch nukes make many people afraid. And as fearsome as those demons were who possessed this man and changed him so, the one with power over them is fearsome, too.
Unless you know that He is come to use that power FOR YOU. An army is frightening unless it’s your army fighting for you. This the people must learn: that Jesus has come to use His power for them. So for now, He leaves. And though this once-possessed-but-now-set-free man wants to go with Him, Jesus says no. He has an important job to do. Jesus tells him, Return to your home, and declare how much God has done - and here are those words - FOR YOU.
Because once you know that, that changes everything. It did that day when Jesus stepped out of the boat in the country of the Gerasenes. It did the day Jesus stepped down from heaven and was born in Bethlehem. And it did when Jesus stepped out of the tomb, alive. Everything changed. For Jesus has come to use His power FOR YOU.
This is something we must learn, too. Starting with the realization that those demons haven’t gone away. They’re still here, they’re still active, and they’re still dangerous. Just maybe their tactics have changed. Maybe they’ve gone undercover. Maybe they’ve convinced you that Jesus is more a threat to you and your life and your happiness than they are.
Oh, not you! Right? OK . . . ask yourself some tough questions . . . like:
What do you think about more, what’s more your concern, what do you mostly pray for: a holy life, an eternal life, or a more comfortable life here for a few years?
What do you really want: to stop sinning, or just to get away with it?
How about loving your neighbor? There’s a limit, right? Maybe you’d give up a few pigs for him, but a thousand? Two thousand? All of them? And maybe some neighbors: yes, and some: no way!?
Do you really want Jesus around in your life? Do you really have the time? Or only on Sundays? So (just like the people of the town), Jesus, please leave the other parts of my life . . .
Truth be told, you’re probably a mishmash of all that, like I am. Some good, some bad, sometimes yes, sometimes no. So in need of help. Jesus help.
And it’s always interesting to note which phrases or thoughts from Scripture make their way into our everyday thinking and vocabulary. One of those is: fighting your demons. You’ve heard it. Maybe you’ve used it. What are yours? Many people today tend to look at their problems from a purely physical point of view, but maybe there’s a spiritual aspect, too? Fighting your demons . . . maybe there’s more truth to that than we know?
So it’s good that Jesus has stepped in here, today, and for us, too. Fighting the demons that are powerful, fearsome, numerous, controlling, and wreaking havoc in our lives. For as hard as we may fight our demons, they are too many for us and too much for us. We fall into sin. We succumb to temptation. But they are not too many or too much for Jesus. For Him who battled them in the wilderness, and won. For Him who battled them in the story we heard today - and many others - and won. For Him who battled them on the cross, and won. Who laid down His life in what looked like defeat so that He could take it up again in victory. So there would be for us cleansing, resurrection, and life.
For the same voice that commanded the unclean spirits to depart from that man, and which would say It is finished from the cross, now speaks that victory to you and me. Casting our old, swinish selves into the waters of baptism to drown the old, out-of-his-mind, unruly, and sinful man in us, and raise a new, right-thinking, holy, and righteous man. Then cleansing our uncleanness with His words of Absolution, teaching us as we sit at His feet and listen to His Word, and feeding us with His own Body and Blood, that what live and work in us be HIM, not the unclean spirits. That we be victorious, and free. And when those demons come back, knocking, luring, tempting, and seducing you, take a lesson from the pigs today! Rush right back into the waters of your baptism and drown them! Don’t let them drive you out of your right mind and your new life in Christ.
And just as the man in the story couldn’t go with Jesus, but returned to his home, so we have not yet ascended with Jesus, gone with Him - not yet! For now, it is for you to return to your homes and declare how much God has done for you. FOR YOU. For He really is FOR YOU. Fighting for you to rescue you from a world gone mad, chasing after evil, whose god is happiness, whose creed is “anything goes,” and which has asked Jesus to leave them alone. But Jesus won’t leave us alone. Or them. He loves you too much. He loves them too much. And a legion of pigs wasn’t price enough to purchase your freedom. That price could only be paid by a lamb. A single lamb. The Lamb of God. And that price has been paid once and for all. For all time. For all people. FOR YOU.
Which means that while demons are powerful, the one more powerful than them is on your side.
That while demons are fearsome, you need not be afraid.
That while demons are numerous, in this case, one is the greatest number. One God, greater than all demons put together.
That while demons wreak havoc, and our world cannot put Humpty Dumpty back together again, Jesus can. And did. He rescued you and made you new.
And while the demons want you to believe they’re in charge, as Luther wrote, One little word can fell them. The word for forgiveness. The word of life. The Word made flesh. The Word who came for you, and is FOR YOU.
So, yes, this story that can teach us some things about demons. But even more about Jesus. And the new and right and confident and secure life we have. In Him.
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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