Legions of Light: Luke 8:26-39 - Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

²⁶Then [Jesus and his disciples] arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. ²⁸When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me”—²⁹for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; 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.) ³⁰Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. ³¹They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.
  ³²Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. ³³Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
  ³⁴When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. ³⁵Then 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. And they were afraid. ³⁶Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. ³⁷Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. ³⁸The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹“Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him. (NRSV)

Fire, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. 

It makes no sense why people are angry…

One of their own was being tormented by demons—literally thousands of them.  He had no name except the name Legion, because an army of six thousand demons had taken him over.

He wore no clothes; he lived in tombs.  The people tried to keep him chained and under guard, but he broke the chains and ran amok in the wilds. 

Once Jesus shows up, the demons beg Jesus for permission to enter a large herd of swine.  They know their power is no match for Jesus.  So Jesus gives them permission.  They enter the swine, and drown the herd in a lake.

The man is finally free and in his right mind—but nobody’s celebrating, except the man.  A large herd of swine is destroyed.  The swineherds are out of a job, as are the men who kept him under guard. 

The way the townspeople saw it, things were better before Jesus showed up.  If someone was possessed by a demon, you chained them up, out of sight and out of mind.  Everyone slept well at night knowing that the problem was, for the most part, under control. 

To them, it was better when the six thousand demons were in the man and not the pigs. 

Exorcisms, healings, and miracles are all great if people can control who gets them and when.  But they can’t.  When Jesus shows up, the power shifts—from demons, from people, from institutions—and into Jesus’ hands.  This is why the people are angry and afraid!

Jesus disrupts the balance of power—and the local economy.  So they beg him to leave. 

What they miss out on is a freedom that they’ve never known before—because whether or not they care to admit it, what happened to the man formerly known as Legion could’ve happened to them.  Yet Jesus demonstrates his ultimate power even over a legion of demons.  Evil can’t stand Jesus.  When Jesus comes near, evil runs away. 

There’s demons in our world, too—and Jesus is not silent as precious human lives are tormented.  Jesus exposes them, Jesus draws them out, Jesus destroys them—and sets God’s children free. 

So what are they?

For starters, they are the violent hatred we saw early last Sunday morning as a crazed gunman massacred a nightclub full of innocent people in Orlando…

They are the greed that’s making it harder and harder for so many simply to get by…

They are the drugs poisoning this community, particularly the heroin overdoses which I learned continue to climb past historic levels right here in Armstrong County…

They are despair, frustration, fear, bitterness, and division paralyzing us in the face of all this calamity.

They are in our church, too.  They are words and deeds of desperation and defeat, like:

·         “I have to because no one else will”

·         “I am the only one who can do this right.” 

·         Our best days are behind us and our future is death. 

These demons are real.  They isolate us from community, cut us off from ourselves, and send us into places of death. 

But you and I are claimed by a Savior who has ultimate power over all the demons of this world.  When the demons are present, Jesus is too.

Jesus was there in that Orlando nightclub, suffering and dying with the victims.

Jesus is there when the money runs out and when the doctor tells you the bad news.  He is there with the addicts who can’t break the addiction on their own, and even with those who die from it. 

Jesus is here in our church, even as we and so many faith communities like us look with fear and uncertainty of what the future holds.  We must stop believing that because we are smaller we are weaker…

Jesus puts us here because he knows all the terrible things that are going on in this community—and you and I are being raised up to cast out demons.

So can you and I be bold enough—and confident enough in the power Christ over evil, to proclaim “Jesus is here!”? 

You name the demons, one by one; you fall before Jesus in prayer, and you and you seize the grace to destroy them.  The grace comes in the Word, at the Table, and even in the mission.  Then go to the dark places, where demons haunt and God’s children dwell.  Learn people’s names.  Hear their stories.  Accompany them on their journeys.  In Christ, we are a legion of life. 

We can’t wait until there’s time, because there is no time but right now. 

This is my prayer for you and me as I begin my sixth year as your pastor.  This is my prayer for our community and for our future.  Make no mistake—the need has never been greater for our church to exist.  You and I are a sign that Jesus is alive when so much is dying or dead. 

The only peace and the only freedom you will ever know is at the feet of Jesus and going where he sends you.  It’s not about security or control, but faith, hope, and love.

So will you walk with Jesus and me as a legion of life?