Sermon Sunday August 28th 2022 (Mark 5: 1-20): “The trouble with Jesus…”
(Please read Psalm 66)
Graveside story – an illustration
On the outskirts of town, there was a huge nut tree by the cemetery fence. One day, two boys filled up a bucket with nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts. "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me," said one boy. The bucket was so full, several rolled out towards the fence. Cycling down the road by the cemetery was a third boy. As he passed, he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetery. He slowed down to investigate.
Sure enough, he heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me…" He knew what it was. "Oh my," he shuddered, "it's Satan and St. Peter dividing the souls at the cemetery." He cycled down the road as fast as he could and found an old man hobbling along with a cane. "Come here quick," said the boy. "You won't believe what I heard. Satan and St. Peter are down at the cemetery dividing the souls." The man said, "Shoo, can't you see I'm finding it hard to walk as it is."
But after several pleas, the man hobbled to the cemetery. Standing by the fence, they heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me…" The old man whispered, "Boy, you've been telling the truth. Let's find out if we can see the devil himself."
Shivering with fear, they peered through the fence, but they were still unable to see anything. The old man and the boy gripped the wrought-iron bars of the fence tighter and tighter as they tried to get a glimpse of Satan. At last they heard, "One for you, one for me. And one last one for you… That's all. Now let's go get those nuts by the fence, and we'll be done." They say the old guy made it back to town five minutes before the boy.
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Things are not always as they seem… When we were at Theological College our homiletics teachers would often ask us would-be preachers to find the trouble, or the tension in a particular passage of scripture. What is there that is difficult? What jumps out? What concerns you? It may be there, to that very point, that God wants you to go…
What concerns you about the passage we have heard this morning? Take your pick!
The eerie evening time surroundings in which Jesus and his disciples find themselves; the ominous proximity of malevolent spirits that move, mist-like, through the wilderness and among the craggy tombstones? The sight, perhaps, of a half-naked, self-mutilating crazy man hurling himself full force at Jesus’ feet and screaming? Born in the rational twentieth century you may find the reality of miracles just a little troubling – miracles were ‘okay back then’ easy talk of demons and exorcism may offend your contemporary sensibilities which prefer illness…
It might be that, just having been tossed about on the sea like corks during a storm, Jesus would even want to bring his followers into yet more danger, at least so soon afterwards. It may be (the seeming unfairness) that that the healed man is told to stay where he is and not permitted to come along with Jesus.
We might be troubled by the thought of a God who would cast out legions of demons only to send them into 2000 pigs which hurtle to a watery and surely undeserved grave; what would the RSPCA say?!
The best horror films or suspense films (Hitchcock/Carpenter) often leave much to the imagination. Often it is not the obvious which is the most unsettling or troubling thing about the film; it may be what remains unspoken or suggested; it may be in the small and the subtle that the most sinister and troubling is sometimes found. It may be what you cannot see or easily detect…
There is something troubling – read Mark 5: 14-20. – and we might miss it. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region (Verse 17). The most troubling aspect
(perhaps) in this passage is the townsfolk. They are disturbed by the madman – they have been for years – but they are even more disturbed by the arrival of Jesus of Nazareth on their shores.
They want Jesus gone; not just the swine herders but the whole town joins in one accord, in one prayer – Get Out! This is not a polite request – it is a heart-felt pleading/begging for Him to depart and never come back. It’s hard to believe; to understand. Why?
The people were amazed but the passage also tells us that the people were feeling afraid (Verse 15). They were witness to something infinite and quite terrifying, and strangely beautiful. They were in no doubt that they had been in the presence of Almighty power and they were scared – out of their wits. Even the demons recognised the power of God in Christ, and His power over them. You might expect them to bid Him depart… they don’t.
All their own attempts to subdue the Demoniac had failed; the townsfolk did not have the strength to handle the monster and yet here is the “man” calm, collected and clothed – as normal as you and I! They were afraid of the power of Christ to change things.
But it (this power) is also good. Think of the incident in the Narnia chronicles of C.S. Lewis when Lucy discovers that Aslan the king of Narnia is a lion. “Is he safe?” she asks quavering. “Safe?” one says, scornfully, “Safe? No. But he is good.”
When Jesus comes to town He disturbs more than the peace – he disturbs the heart. “He comforts the disturbed and disturbs the comfortable”.
The people feared that Jesus’ coming meant change, not only for the demon-possessed man, but also for them – change which they did not want, change which they did not need. They wanted to maintain the status quo. Jesus threatened that. He threatened their ease; he threatened their economy, their business-as-usual.
God is good and merciful to a wretch. But what good is mercy or goodness if it means I have to earn less or own less? The material loss far outweighed the spiritual gain – they are appalled.
“Beauty always exposes ugliness, spotless perfection unmasks a sham; nothing reveals to us our emptiness and woe so much as . . . the life of our blessed Lord himself. Standing in the presence of this amazing person who’s just performed such a wonderful deed, seeing and observing his meekness and his calmness, his unaffected manner and his quiet confidence, catching perhaps a glimpse of something superhuman in his eyes, they just felt themselves to be vile and contemptible. He seemed to be opening up the very recesses of their hearts. He seemed to read them as an open book. (Martyn Lloyd-Jones).
Beauty always exposes ugliness… Light exposes imperfections; Christ exposes sin: seeing the “new man” the villagers would rather Jesus go than have to look at themselves, their own lives. If he could do the impossible and change that man from raving to rational, what might He do with them?
It is the discomfort (no less) of conviction. That’s what God’s holiness does. Peter said to the Lord (when he first met Him) – “Depart from me Lord; for I am a sinful man!” Jesus took a look at Peter and saw what was there.
19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. (John 3: 19-20)
People will do just about anything to avoid the pain of self-appraisal! They like their naked maniac running through the cemetery as long as they don’t have to look at themselves… Hell is robbed of another victim, sins are forgiven, death is cheated – but the townsfolk could not care less if angels rejoice in heaven.
As he had cast the devils out of that man and into the swine, so he seemed to be able to look through them to divine their deepest thoughts. What might he do or not do? They just felt themselves withering in his presence. If he did not go soon they might all be unmasked in the presence of everyone and all their sins revealed, and they were afraid of it. Afraid of themselves, afraid of their guilt and afraid of the judgment that was to come!” (Martyn Lloyd-Jones).
Here was a man who had once lived in demonic despair but now was content to be quiet, sitting in the presence of Jesus Christ. What an impact on those who knew him. The angels in heaven rejoice over one sinner saved – but the town says: Just go! Leave our shores.
People don’t want change. Men preferred (loved) darkness, according to John.
The enemies of Christ arrested, tortured and executed Jesus Christ rather than turn to the light. He was rejected by His own city; his family took offence at him. The enemies of the Church stoned Stephen to death. They did not want the truth.
Keep your Jesus…and it is still the same all over the world today. Go to North Korea!
The greatest threat to the tyrant is Jesus Christ and his people. Whole towns and cities (countries) have been cleaned up when a little salt is spread and a little light is shone – when, like the man in this story, people beg him to stay…
The attitude of the townsfolk is the most troubling part of this horror story. Where is the evil now; now that it has been banished from one man’s life and found its way into the pigs? Is it in the pigs? No. It (the influence of evil/satan) resides in the lives of ordinary (respectable) folk who have rejected the offer of love from Jesus.
The difference between the Legion and the people is not one of kind, it is one of degree. The enemies of Christ and his church are often respectable people who run the media and walk the corridors of power; they’re many and subtle – it was many of the “good people” who were at the forefront of the execution of Christ…
We’ve never begged Jesus to depart from us, have we? Surely we haven’t? We do, we have perhaps. Have we ever quenched the Spirit? Have we ever been moved or disturbed as we read hard sayings from the Bible or been convicted during a sermon?
Have we allowed God to work on all the parts of our lives? Or have we said, Go! Get out of town! Have we refused to obey the still small voice of God which says, “Go and deal with the things I have been pointing out to you…?”
When God the Holy Spirit begins to work in our lives he tells us what’s wrong and starts to put us right, but we (can) refuse the Spirit and go on doing what (in truth) what we know is wrong – this is troubling…
Have we stayed away from the fellowship, in truth because we don’t want Him to change us? Have we consistently ignored the voice of a God-given conscience?
Have we said, I’m just too busy to think about these things, too busy with work and family?
You know, God won’t make us change! He won’t force us. Christ left the shores…he got back in his boat (V 18).
There is trouble… but there is (also) triumph. At the heart of the story is the Lord who crosses the dangerous lake and comes to seek out and save one person and by the power of love a life that was once a legion of issues is now become a new creation – dignified, sane, at peace and useful. This is my story. It is yours, or can be…
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. (1 John 3: 8)
Jesus died to break the chains of sin and Satan. He died to bear the penalty for sins – no-one else was good enough. All who have trusted in Him will readily acknowledge that they have been saved from the power and dominion of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of light (Colossians 1: 13-14). In this there is anything but trouble!
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 20 Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!
MF