Fear or Faith? ~ Luke 8:26-39 ~ Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

On Route 8, north of Butler, there’s a place called Ghostriders…

And during my second year of college, my friends successfully convinced me to go there with them.

For this city boy, going to Ghostriders was like going the moon—because Ghostriders was about two things totally unfamiliar to me: country music, and dancing—specifically, country line dancing. 

When I arrived, I found myself surrounded by a sea of cowboy hats, pickup trucks, and a mechanical bull.  My friend puts his hand on my shoulder and he says, “Jim, you’re a long way from home…  Stick with me.”

So me and my two left feet went out on the dance floor—and we laughed like we’ve never laughed before.  It was a great time—but I’ll never forget what it felt like, being that far out of my comfort zone…

This is what Jesus’ disciples were feeling.  Just before our Gospel story begins, Jesus gathered them all in a boat to sail across the sea of Galilee.  That night, a storm nearly killed them—a frightful prelude of what awaited them on land…

Immediately, they encounter a man possessed by demons.  Did you hear the text describes him?  This could be the most gruesome incident in all of Luke, save the passion narrative.

He wears no clothes, he lives in tombs, and his voice is not his own.  His name is not his own.  His humanity has been usurped by a legion of 6,000 demons.  The townsfolk have tried to chain him up—but the demons are so strong that he breaks the chains.

Just think of that experience: Jesus and disciples, face-to-face with pure evil.  Face to faith with the power of death in the act of destruction, of a human being…

Have you ever been face-to-face with death?  Many of us have: we’ve watched death steal life away from people who are precious to us.  But that’s not the only way we see death…  We see it in illness and ailments of the mind and body.  We see it in addictions; we see it in people who abuse and who commit acts of violence and cruelty. 

Many of us have indeed experienced the power of death firsthand—and know all too well the helplessness of when we cannot free ourselves from its grip…

Today’s Scripture testifies to what we know all too well: that there are evil, cosmic forces at war against God’s people and the world God created.  And yet—they are no match for Jesus Christ.  God is doing something about death; God is doing something about evil; God is doing something about suffering—and we as God’s people must live our lives in light of this reality; rather than living in fear and trembling at what terrible things come to pass.  We must live by faith—not by fear.  This is not as easy as you’d think.

Sometimes we deny that evil is real.  “Things aren’t as bad as they seem,” we’ll say to ourselves.  Other times, we simply ignore evil—especially if it doesn’t directly impact our lives.  Out of sight, out of mind. 

Sometimes, we run away from it.  Daily life comes to exist only within the bounds created by our fears.  For a disciple, this means that we’ll do anything Jesus commands us to do as long as we can stay in our comfort zone.  The minute Jesus asks us do to something that scares or intimidates us, our answer is “no, Lord.  I can’t.”

And living by fear is, in essence, surrendering to fear.  Instead of acting in faith on the promises of God, we let the darkness overtake us.  How tragic it is for fear to rule the life of a Christian—fear makes death seem so large, and God so small…  How tragic that is that the fear of evil would define our lives, in terms of how we live and what we do.

But Jesus has come down from heaven to be with you and all who suffer evil, because God loves you too much to allow you or anyone else to be destroyed.  Jesus is more powerful than evil.  Therefore, we must trust in this promise and act accordingly.  We live by faith, and not by fear…  So what does that mean?

1.       It means that we name the evils before God (and maybe, even before the Body of Christ).  What are our hurts?  What injustices do people suffer?  Who is suffering?  How are they suffering?

2.       Then, we remember that Jesus is more powerful than evil; that he is more powerful than death. 

3.       We remember that we ourselves are set free from the deadly grip of evil.  This means that we’re not our afflictions.  We’re not our diseases.  We’re not those terrible mistakes we’ve made in the past.  We’re children of God.  We’re disciples—and disciples are created to shine the stars for Jesus, to those who are in darkness.  This means that we love.  We forgive.  We serve.  And we testify to true and certain hope.  Jesus never asks us to do anything impossible—but to do what we can, out of what God has given us, one person at a time..

We feed the hungry.  We visit the lonely.  We share one of our two garments with the one who has none.  We join our voices to those whose voices are silenced, in their cries for justice.  We invite un-churched people to come to worship with us; we tell parents of un-churched children about our church’s youth ministries.  We testify to God’s goodness before the non-believer. 

Far too many Christians never live the life of discipleship because they’re afraid—afraid of rejection; afraid of failure; afraid of making mistakes; afraid of evil.  We fear the future, thinking that is going to win in the end.  How tragic it is that this is how we live, far too often.  It’s time for us to stop living in fear—and participate in the life-giving power of God.

And yes, this world has changed—and the changes are not good.  But we must be willing to change, leave our fears and comfort zones behind, to live in the light of Jesus rather than the dark of fear.  We can do this—and we can see with our eyes that God’s promises are not merely some well-meaning promises, but powerful realities that are winning the victory over evil, every single day.

For if we live by faith, we will see God’s victory.  We will see it day in and day out, until the day comes when death will be no more.