Community Covenant Church - Sermons

June 24, 2007

Living on the Edge

Luke 8:26-39

Scripture Reading - Luke 8:26-39

26They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. 27When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don't torture me!" 29For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.

30Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"

"Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.

32A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission. 33When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

34When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 37Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.

38The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39"Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

Message – “Living on the Edge”

In the world of retail sales it is said that “location is everything”. Location, location, location. It was observed years ago that McDonald’s would invest on average a million dollars to determine the location of each new restaurant. It was also noted at that time that Burger King would simply wait for McDonald’s to purchase land, and then buy up the corner across from McDonald’s land. Location; it’s an important consideration for businesses, and even a factor that churches have been know to consider when building or relocating. (Our own history serves as an example.)

But today as we explore a very fascinating story from Luke’s gospel, seeking to understand its relevance for us today, I would suggest that it is very important for us to take note of the location of the events so vividly conveyed by Luke. For as Jesus’ ministry revolved primarily about the town’s of Galilee, a stormy boat ride leads them to a location “on the edge” of Jewish life.

One of the clue we have of that is that there are pig-farmers in this region known as “the Gerasenes” and pigs were not kosher; they were consider unclean animals to Jews. And on top of that, the description of the demon-possessed man whom they encounter there, tells us that even for the non-Jewish pig farmers in that region, this place of the caves was on the edge of even their world.

Location is everything…. And here it defines the situation; Jesus and His disciples are far out on the edge of life… they are at a place that is beyond “different”…. It is a scary place where spiritual powers rule with blatant, tangible force. And the message we receive this morning is likewise scary:

Followers of Jesus are called to such edges of life, where faith grows along with God’s Kingdom.

1. We are not edgy people.

Let me first acknowledge a problem with today’s message from God’s Word, a problem seen in just how often preachers skip preaching on this text; and that problem is that we are not “edgy” people. With the notable exception of those people who make list of what they want to accomplish in life before dying; including items like sky-diving, bungee-jumping, skyscraper climbing, or swimming with great white sharks… most of us seek safer lives, far from the “edges” that cause our adrenaline to kick on our “fight or flight” instincts.

The news has been reporting recently about an Indian tribe living on the edge of the Grand Canyon who have designed and built a giant glass horseshoe-shaped overlook that allows visitors to go beyond the edge of the Grand Canyon to look ¾ mile straight down. When I heard of this 30 million dollar project, I couldn’t help but think of my Grandma Peterson who once, upon taking a elevator to the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago, refused to walk to the glass windows of the observation floor. For her, as for many, “the edge” is not a comfortable place to go. It may be for the adrenaline junkie… but certainly not a place most people would choose to set-up shop!

But that is where Jesus brought His disciples; to that edgy place in life where one’s location was different, and where they would encounter a very different kind of ministry: a man whose condition was extremely serious.. a man “echon daimonia” a man who had demons…. Several demons. When Jesus asked one demon for his name, “Legion” was the response; a reference to a unit made up of thousands of soldiers.

I remember being 16 years old in Chicago, and driving off the edge of the road while driving home one evening after going to the movies. I had just seen in the movie “The Exorcist”.

I have a feeling that even the scariest movies of our day today would still be nothing compared to what Jesus and His disciples were encountering on their journey to the edge of life!

- Here was a man so wounded by the evils of this world that he lived naked, isolated from his society.

- The restraints society had put upon him for his own safety, and the safety of their society had all failed, leaving him hopeless and certainly generating fear among his community.

- The Bible alludes to the numerous times this diabolical power had enabled the man to break bonds that were designed to contain him. One commentator wrote that:

Such ancient fetters could have been made of hair, cloth, rope or chains, but the Mark 5:4 parallel suggests that these had been chains. This foe is so powerful that other people have been unable to control the man. So they have left him in the solitary confinement of the tombs. Citation: IVP New Testament Commentaries IVP Press.

We are not edgy people, but it is on such edges of life that our faith grows along with God’s Kingdom. For some of us those edges are as far away as the Dominican Republic, or Phoenix, LA or the Upton area of Chicago where Jesus People USA Covenant Church ministers to homeless and hopeless people. But for others, those uncomfortable edges of life may be as close as their next door neighbors; for to journey next door along with Jesus can for some raise the adrenaline rush to uncomfortable levels.

Would you take a moment and ask yourself this question:

Where does your faith need to go in order to grow? Where is that sharp & dangerous edge in your life where you must rely on Jesus’ power to bring healing and wholeness to a situation?

2. Although we are not spiritually adventurous by nature, God prepares us to exercise faith.

As we note the importance of the geographical location of today’s story, note also the location of the narrative within Luke’s larger Gospel story. If we do so, we will see that Jesus did not take His disciples to the edge of life unprepared. Do you recall the story immediately preceding their arrival at the region of the Gerasenes?

Luke 8:22-25

22One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out. 23As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.

24The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!"

He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25"Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."

Before their encounter with the demon-possessed man Jesus gave a glimpse of His power/identity to disciples. Holy Scripture had taught the Jews that Yahweh…. God has control of the winds and the seas. (Psalm 18:16; 104:3; 135:6-7; Nahum 1:4; Wisdom of Solomon 14:3-5). In fact, Psalm 107:23-30 says that God delivers the sailor who is imperiled at sea.

Even before this lesson on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus had forgiven sins; now he calms the seas. Who can do such a variety of things?

>>> Jesus did not take His disciples to the edge of life unprepared. He gave them something upon which to hook their faith, a faith that would grow if they followed Jesus to the edge of life trusting in His power.

3. There are personal & shared costs of furthering God’s Kingdom

As we are challenged to follow Jesus to such edges of life, it is important for each of us to be aware that for our faith to grow along with God’s Kingdom, there will be a cost to pay; a cost you must pay, but so also others in your world. And sometimes it is that cost to others, especially if those “others” are loved ones that make following Jesus so difficult a decision.

To be honest, the most difficult part of my calling to be a Pastor is not what I need to do, it is cost to my family. Growing faith and the Kingdom of God is a costly venture. .Just talk with anyone going on mission trips this summer; about the costs in family time, money, vacation time they and their loved ones are having to pay so that faith and God’s Kingdom will grow.

In today’s story about following Jesus to the edge of life, where we must rely on God’s power to restore wholeness, we see some of the costs of bringing healing to the demon-possessed man.

· First there was a cost of pigs

It truly intrigues me that Jesus apparently shows mercy toward the demons who possessed this man, at the cost of a herd of pigs. The animal lover in me, and I would suspect in many of you, has added a question or two on my list for God to answer one day in heaven as to why this played out the way it did. I don’t have an answer.

I do know that the demons were begging Jesus not to send them into the abyss… the abode of the dead where they would be judged and permanently confined. Perhaps it was in the knowledge of what a horrible place that is, that Jesus showed mercy. I don’t know…but what we do know is that their presence in the herd of pigs was short-lived, as it sent them all over a cliff and into the sea. There was a high cost paid for by the pigs for this demon-possessed mans’ healing…. But perhaps it was also a cost paid to teach us of evils potential and utter destructiveness. It is not something to play with, or something we can control or contain by our own powers.

· There was also a cost to the farmers and residents of the nearby town.

Despite the great healing that had taken place in one mans life, when news spread Jesus was asked to leave. His power was too great; the people’s fear was too overwhelming.

As Eugene Peterson would paraphrase Luke 8:37-38 in The Message translation of the Bible:

37-38Later, a great many people from the Gerasene countryside got together and asked Jesus to leave—too much change, too fast, and they were scared. So Jesus got back in the boat and set off. .The Message

It is interesting to compare the joy and freedom of the healed man with the fear of those who had to pay a price for God’s Kingdom to come through this act of healing. Later on, as recorded in the Book of Acts and in the Epistles, we will see similar joy and release as people are touched by God’s healing mercy even as others become fearful and resentful as their personal Kingdoms are challenged by God’s advancing Kingdom.

Which bring me to a final point:

4. “Living on the edge” brings healing to individuals, and a greater witness to the world of God.

We cannot help but be touched by the radical transformation in this once demon-possessed man. In it we see the love and mercy of God, a shepherd who goes wherever and does whatever is necessary to rescue the sheep of his fold. So great is this man’s thanksgiving, that he begs Jesus to allow him to go with him… to be a disciple, a servant a slave… whatever. But Jesus has somewhere else for this man to go…. a different edge of life toward which to go in the power of Jesus. He was to go home and offer witness of God’s love for him.

And so he did, and we are left imagining who in his town will come to God through his life-witness, and who will only feel fear as they remember a power that was greater than that which had once controlled this man.

As the disciple’s faith grew more as they followed Jesus and witnessed his power; as it grew upon their earlier questions asked on the Sea of Galilee, questions about who Jesus was, the faith of this once possessed man surged past that of Jesus’ disciples as he was personally and profoundly healed because Jesus lived on the edge of life, sharing God’s love and power. For when Jesus sent him home to tell those in the Gerasenes how much God had done for him, Luke records that this man went and declared “how much Jesus had done for him”.

The faith of this man was willing to do whatever Jesus told him to do, because this man believed Jesus was God.

Where do you need to go in order for your faith to grow strong and confident in Jesus? While I encourage all of us today to aim toward an “edge” in our life journeys so that others will be blessed by God, know that as Luke’s gospel story continues, and Jesus’ and His disciples’ location changes and it becomes “safe” again, even there the brokenness of the world will find Jesus power and identity in the touch of a bleeding woman and in news of Jairus’ daughter’s death. In fact there is no escaping the opportunities God will give us to “live on the edge” of God’s power and the world’s brokenness. So the question today is less about if you will go to the edge, and more about your willingness to live for Christ when you find yourself on the edge.

· Do you have faith that God is more powerful than any force in all creation?

· Do you have faith that through His Spirit working in you, that He will give you opportunity to share His healing?

· Do you have the spiritual sensitivity to hear and respond to God’s will?

A couple Sunday’s ago, Ron Collman shared his story of God’s transforming power in his life. When I heard him a few weeks earlier at Pelletier, Ron offered a few more details about the time when he had hurt his knee and how God had miraculously healed it.

The details we didn’t hear on Sunday evening was that the pastor who had come over to him and to his friend (who had an elbow injury) to prayer for them, had come because God had directed him to do so…. The pastor was responding to God’s will to pray for and to offer God’s healing to these two young men.

As in Jesus’ day, not everyone who is sick is healed today. Everyone whom Jesus touched was healed because Jesus was doing the will of His Father. Sometimes God’s will is that a person will suffer… even die. Remember that even Jesus, despite getting word from Mary & Martha, allowed their brother Lazarus to die before obeying the Father’s will to raise him from the dead. Why? Because it was the Father’s will that Jesus be glorified even more through Lazarus’ resurrection.

I believe that God is just as alive and active on the edges of life today as he was in biblical days.

I believe in God’s power to heal, and I believe in his desire to work through all who have His Spirit.

But I also believe that the limiting factor in God’s work is the human factor; will we yield our wills to God’s will? Will we allow His will to guide the use of His power within us when we find ourselves on the edges of life?

Starting next week will we begin to examine spiritual disciplines designed to transform our spirits to better hear and obey God. If we take this summer instruction seriously, we are going to be more effective in living for Christ on the edges of life where brokenness is mended, and God is made known in the lives of people touched by His power. grace and mercy.

Do you want to be more effective for Christ?

If so, anticipate our July & August Sunday’s together.

Let us pray….

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (r).