"Demons" (Luke 8:26-39)

Our Bible story today says that Jesus had traveled by boat across the sea of Galilee to the country of the Gerasenes, where he was met by a man of the city who had demons.

The wording makes it sound like an infestation… like they are fleas or something. Or ghosts in need of the ghostbusters.

And that’s actually not too far off.

In that time there were people who went around, who were sort of “demon-busters,” or “demon-slayers”. And Jesus was perhaps the most famous demon-slayer around. Watching him slay demons - cast them out, send them fleeing - is one of the reasons people came out to see Jesus when he was in town.

Who wouldn’t want to see a bunch of demons slayed?

And what were those demons like?

Did they look like this?

I think this image is actually from a video game. I don’t play video games, but this one sure looks exciting.

So if you were there with Jesus, and you saw his encounter with this demon-possessed man, and you pulled out your phone to instagram or snapchat it, would the image you share look something like this?

Well, as cool as that would be...I kinda doubt it.

Somehow, I have a feeling that if you were there, and you saw Jesus meet this demon-possessed man,
I don’t think that you’d see anything like this...

To be honest, I’ve always been kind of embarrassed by Bible stories that have demons. And I’m not the only one.

There are those who say that demon possession was really just how ancient people understood mental illness. They say that behavior we attribute to mental illness, ancient people attributed to demons.
And there does seem to be evidence in this story to support that. This man’s behavior was out-of-control. He went around naked. He lived among the tombs, roamed around the wilderness, with no home.

That does sound like it could be mental illness.

When they could, the people bound him in chains, for his own protection, and, I think, for their own peace of mind. But he would always break his chains, and run off, and leave the people feeling unsettled and helpless.

I don’t know that being bound in chains was what this man needed. What did he need? Perhaps some therapy, and a prescription for some antipsychotic drugs.

The third hymn we sang this morning makes a connection between mental illness and demon possession. Did you pay attention to the lyrics?

Lord, the demons still are thriving in the gray cells of the mind: tyrant voices, shrill and driving, twisted thoughts that grip and bind…

It’s strange how Bible stories of demon-possession can seem so strange, and yet - at the same time - so familiar…

So I do believe that mental illness is one form of demon-possession.

However, I don’t think we can make a blanket statement that ALL demon-possession in the Bible is mental illness...

I’m not going to say that there are real, supernatural, creatures, little gremlins running around, or maybe big gremlins like the image on the screen, with horns on their heads, wreaking havoc in the human world.

But I do believe that there are, in fact, very real powers of evil in this world, powers that enslave and control.

In today’s Bible story, Jesus asks the demon what his name is, and the demon replies, “Legion.” ...Which is a strange answer if we’re only talking about mental illness...

“Legion” has a double meaning.

Literally, it means, 'Many, thousands, multitudes.' But it also alludes to the occupying Roman soldier legions which numbered 3,000 to 6,000 each. Many Israelites felt the Roman legions were a form of demonic occupation.

So it’s possible that this story of a man possessed by demons is a metaphor for the city being possessed and occupied by the armies of Rome….

What are we to make of all this?

If we interpret demon-possession as mental illness, well, we can lift up and support those living with mental illness, and advocate for better mental health care. That is an important task and challenge facing us today.

If we interpret this demon-possession as the region being possessed by the demonic powers of Rome, then perhaps we are being called upon to challenge present-day demonic powers at work in our world today, to stand up to those demonic powers the way Jesus did...

However you understand demons, it is clear that the man in this story was not in control of his own actions. No sane person would behave the way this man behaved, shrieking, walking around naked, roaming among the tombs and in the wilderness. Whether it is mental illness or some other form of demon possession, this man was enslaved to that demonic power. He had no control over his own life. And then he was placed in chains and irons by the people of his community, deprived even more of freedom.

No matter how you interpret or understand this story, this man was enslaved, imprisoned, to a power that controlled him.

The power of Jesus sets people free. This has kind of been the theme of our scriptures and sermons these past few weeks. Jesus breaks every chain. Jesus sets people free. And that is certainly the case in today’s story.

Jesus set this man free from the powers that were controlling him, and when some more people from town came out to see what was going on, they saw this man sitting calmly, fully clothed and in his right mind. He had been set free, and those who saw him were amazed, and they wondered what happened; and when the people who saw what happened explained it to them, then... everyone was filled with fear, and they shooed Jesus back into his boat and sent him back across the sea.

They wanted nothing to do with him.

Which is not really the reaction I would have expected!

Why would they be afraid, now that this man had been set free from the demons that controlled him?

I can only conclude that they themselves wanted this man to stay the way he was. Why? Because they benefited in some way from this man being controlled by demons. In the metaphorical story-world of the Bible, maybe the chains they placed on this man symbolized their role in keeping this man enslaved, bound to the powers that controlled him.

This shows the difference between how Jesus uses power, and how the demons use power. Jesus uses power to set people free; demons use power to imprison and enslave.

How you use your power determines whether you are on the side of Jesus or on the side of demons.
The demonic powers of this world see people as property, or as consumers, or as sub-human workers whose only worth is to contribute to the wealth of the elite and powerful.

And when a person is seen only as property, or as a consumer, or as someone whose labor can contribute to the power and wealth of the ruling class, then it’s easy to treat that person as less than human. It becomes far too easy to enslave that person, or to pay that person less than a living wage, or deny that person their rights.

When we see people this way, as less than human, it then becomes easy to tell them to go back to their own country, no matter what horrors await them there. When we see people this way, it becomes easy to deny them food or water. When we see people this way, it becomes easy to separate children from their families and put them in cages and concentration camps. When we see people this way, it becomes easy to deny them the right to vote without obstacles, the right to fair treatment by police, the right to a fair trial and sentencing, and so on.

This is how the demonic powers view and treat people. As property. As consumers. As less-than-human.

Jesus sets people free from these demonic powers! Which is why those powers are so afraid of the gospel; why they will fight to hold on to their own power, and why they will distort the truth, turning the gospel of freedom into a gospel that enslaves, which, of course, is no gospel at all.

But the gospel of Jesus is what we are called to follow. And it IS a gospel that sets people free from all the demonic powers of this world….

At the end, this man who had been set free is given a job: Jesus tells him to go and proclaim to the world what Jesus has done for him. Jesus has set him free. Jesus has made him whole…. Now he needs to go and proclaim freedom to others.

The job Jesus gave to him is our job as well.

Which is why Christians are compelled by the gospel to speak out against the mistreatment of so many in our world today… and to continue the work of liberating people from all that enslaves them.
It’s why Christians must continue to offer a drink of water to whoever is thirsty, no matter who they are or where they come from.

It’s why Christians must continue to insist that we improve access to health care for everyone in this country.

It’s why Christians must speak out against an economy that sends all its wealth to the ruling class, and keeps far too many in poverty.

It’s why Christians must hold our government accountable for each and every act that treats people as less than human. We must speak out for every child locked in a cage or separated from their family.

We must speak out for refugees escaping unimaginable horrors in their homelands. We must speak out against transgender discrimination. We must speak out for the earth itself, and the destruction wreaked upon it by those who only care about profit and production… the lives of us all depend on it, and especially the lives of those who are most vulnerable. Their lives mean nothing to the demonic powers of this world, but those who are aligned with the power of Jesus and his gospel see each and every person as a beautiful, beloved child of God, a human being first and foremost……………..

Next week, I’ll be at Loch Leven, directing a week of camp for middle school youth. There are so many powers in our world today, seeking to control the minds and the lives of people - especially our youth.

And many of these powers that seek to control their lives are demonic, and they teach them to hate, and they teach them to not love all neighbors as they love themselves, and they teach them that they themselves are not worth full acceptance and affirmation and welcome.

And my #1 goal as camp director is to create a camp that sets them free from those evil, demonic powers that seek to control them, and to help them connect to the power of Jesus that sets them free, the power that allows them to live lives of wholeness, lives of abundance, lives of overflowing love and goodness.

It really is a spiritual battle that we are waging, even if demons don’t look like the image I showed you earlier, with big horns and glowing eyes.

Pray for me. Pray for our children. Pray for our church.

We’ve all got important work to do.

Seized By Fear (Luke 8: 26-39)

It happens every so often that, as I read and ponder the scriptures, an idea presents itself to me, and at first I think, “Whoa, that’s a new way to understand things; I never thought of it that way before…” but then, during the days and weeks that follow, I see that idea or concept everywhere, until I think, “Whoa, why had I never seen that before?”

A few months ago, that happened with the idea that the way of Jesus is bigger than any religion. Well, you’ve heard me say that quite a few times since, even though the first time that idea occurred to me, it startled me. Now, it is so easy for me to see that it is true.

A little more recently, the idea occurred to me that following Jesus means refusing to play the game, refusing to play by the rules that determine who is a winner and who is a loser. I guess this idea isn’t really new, but the way that I have learned to talk about it is new, at least for me. Now, however, I see it everywhere.

Last week, I talked about how the kids on the TV show Glee refused to play by the rules, the rules that the world used to determine who is a winner and who is a loser. Well, earlier in the season, there was an episode in which one of the students anonymously posted on a bulletin board a popularity list. Those at the top of the list were the coolest kids in school; those at the bottom were the most un-cool. Obviously, this list created quite a bit of drama on campus, especially for those who found themselves at the bottom of the list.

A similar thing happens in the book Diary of a Wimpy Kid. This book has been at the top of the bestseller list, which may be surprising to you, unless you happen to have an elementary-aged boy in your house, which I do.

In the book – and also in the movie – there is a list of who is popular and who is not. The main character created the list for his own use, so he could see just where he stood on the social hierarchy, and figure out what he needed to do in order to move up the list. But of course, events transpire which, much to his horror, cause him to move not up, but down.

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid takes place during the first year of middle school, and a list of who is popular and cool seems immature, yet appropriate for that age. It’s funny, too. Adults who read the books or who have seen the movie with their kids can laugh at it, remembering their own middle school days, when things like that seemed so important … and they can give thanks that they are now adults, and have put behind them those childish ways.

Ah, but then there is that list in the Sunday Times, at the bottom of the Calendar page, that describes certain people in society or certain cultural phenomena as being overrated or underrated. In essence, this section of the paper is describing who needs to move up the list and who needs to move down.

And then there is the conventional wisdom section of Newsweek magazine, which includes the names of a dozen or so people; and right next to their names is a little arrow that either points up or points down, to indicate which direction they are moving on the list of what’s cool.

And then there are the bestseller lists, which I’ve already mentioned, and the Billboard charts, and a whole host of similar lists. We even have lists like these in our denomination’s yearbook: a list of the churches that baptized the most people in the past year, or that gave the most to the Disciples Mission Fund. It’s not too hard to interpret such lists as indicators of who are the winners and who are the losers in the church membership game. That’s not the intention of those lists, I don’t think; but it’s not hard to interpret them that way.

I’m beginning to think that lists like these are a part of our psyche, whether we are conscious of them or not. And yes, they are immature; and yet we carry those lists around with us, in our heads, constantly comparing ourselves to those around us. Our position on these lists is determined by what others think of us; and what others think of us is determined by such things as what we do, where we live, how much money we have, and with whom we associate. A lot of people refuse to do certain types of work or associate with certain types of people, because it will bring them down on the list of winners and losers. It is beneath them to do that work or to associate with those people.

This is the thinking that goes on inside all our minds. I for one like to think that I’m immune to this way of thinking, but I know that I’m not. I don’t always intentionally set out to compare myself to others, but more often than not, I find myself doing it without even realizing it. I find myself worrying too much about how to be respectable in the eyes of the world. I evaluate where I am on the list of winners and losers, sometimes without even realizing what I’m doing at first, and act in ways that I hope will move me up on that list. And I bet you do, too.

This is nothing new. People living in the first century had their own lists. At the bottom of the list were people who were unclean: those who had skin diseases, or who worked with unclean animals (like pigs), or who had mental illness, or who were possessed by demons. Dead bodies were unclean, and so was anyone who had contact with dead bodies.

In fact, just coming into contact with – or associating with – uncleanliness made you unclean. Whatever it was that put a person at the bottom of the list was contagious, and they could bring others down just by contact or association.

Demons were unclean, and at the bottom of the list. Non-Jews were down at the bottom, and anyone who was associated with the Roman government was down there, too. In fact, the number of those at the bottom of the list was far greater than the number of those at the top. The number of losers was far greater than the number of winners. This just made everyone try all that much harder to move their own names up higher on the list, even if they had to push others down in order for that to happen.

Now it so happened that Jesus had arrived at the land of the Gerasenes. Who were the Gerasenes? They were non-Jews. Actually, scholars think Luke might have been a little confused in saying that Jesus was in the land of the Gerasenes, which is why the NRSV includes notes that mention that perhaps what Luke meant was the land of the Gadarenes, or perhaps the land of the Gergesenes.

It’s not really important though; what is important is that Luke simply wants the reader to know that Jesus was not among those who were a part of the Jewish mainstream. He was among those who were lower on the list than that.

When he arrived, Jesus was met by a man who had been possessed by demons. That alone should be enough to let us know that this particular man was at the bottom of society’s list, but Luke goes on to say that this man wasn’t in his right mind: he went around wearing no clothes, and did not live in a house, but instead, lived among the tombs, the place of the dead – another sign of uncleanliness.

When Jesus asked the man for his name, he replied, “Legion,” which is clearly a reference to Rome and its military. More uncleanliness. When Jesus cast out the demons from him, they entered a herd of swine. Pigs! Still more uncleanliness.

It’s almost ridiculous how low all this places this man on the list. It’s just one thing after another. Luke takes the list of winners and losers, places this man at the bottom of that list, and then moves him down about five notches below that.

This is a man who any decent, respectable person would avoid at all costs. If you see him, you look the other way, walk a little faster, and pray to God that he doesn’t call out to you….

But that’s not what Jesus did. When Jesus saw this man coming toward him, Jesus turned toward the man, and walked in his direction. He even spoke to the man, ordering the unclean demons out of him, and the man not only called out to Jesus, but addressed him by name, calling him “Jesus, Son of the most high God.”

There is no doubt what the onlookers were thinking: This man – this man – knows Jesus?

Clearly, Jesus’ reputation is shot.

And Jesus doesn’t even seem bothered by this. He doesn’t avoid this man, and he obviously doesn’t care about what associating with him will do to his ranking on the list.

Jesus’ concern isn’t with lists and rules that determine winners and losers. He doesn’t care about who’s overrated or underrated in society’s eyes. He doesn’t care about how popular he is. He doesn’t care about which way he is moving, up or down, according to conventional wisdom.

What Jesus does care about is restoring wholeness to those whose lives have been broken; releasing people from whatever form of captivity they find themselves in; reaching down to those who are at the bottom, and letting them know that, in God’s eyes, there are no popularity lists. There are no rules of the game. There are no losers.

In God’s eyes, everyone is equal. In God’s eyes, everyone deserves to be restored to wholeness. In God’s eyes, everyone deserves to be saved from whatever hell they might find themselves in.

God’s passion is Jesus’ passion, and Jesus acts accordingly.
How does the crowd respond to this?

The scripture says that when they saw what Jesus had done, they were afraid. They asked Jesus to leave, for they were seized with great fear. Luke’s choice of words here shows that the fear by which they were possessed is every bit as demonic as the unclean spirit by which the man was possessed at the beginning of the story. He was seized by a demon; they were seized by fear.

They were seized by fear, because they realized what Jesus had done: he had allowed himself to be dragged down the list by associating with this demon-possessed man. Somehow it didn’t seem to register with them that this man was now restored to wholeness, now able to function as a part of society. Apparently, you can’t move up the list that quickly.

Or, maybe they just didn’t want him to move up the list, because he might surpass them, causing them to slip down a notch.

Whatever. It was too much to consider. And Jesus had to go.

Now, perhaps your religion would tell you to avoid those who are at the bottom of the list. Avoid the homeless. Avoid those afflicted with AIDS. Avoid the folks waiting at the bus stop. Avoid the mentally ill. Avoid immigrants. Avoid anyone who speaks with an accent. Avoid gays and lesbians. Avoid thinking about people in the third world. Avoid worrying about children who don’t have a blanket to keep them warm at night. Avoid anyone who might bring you lower on society’s list of winners and losers.

But the way of Jesus is bigger than that. The way of Jesus doesn’t care about lists of popularity or importance. The way of Jesus only cares about enabling every child of God to live as equals, to live lives of wholeness, in the kingdom of God.

If you and I are to be followers of that way, we need to let Jesus remove from us the fear that holds us back.