Mark 5:1-20
ILL. I was recently contacted by a pulpit committee that was interested in my ministry.
I met with Chairman of the Disenchanted, Bro Tepid. He described his church; First Lukewarm Church of the Apathetic. “Nothing too boring, nothing too exciting. We want it to fit into our American Culture Christianity. No songs too slow, no songs too fast. Nothing from the ancient songs and nothing after the 70's.” Nothing ever challenging. We want encouragement and comfort.”
He sang to me the Churches Theme Song.
“Sitting on the premises with of Christ our friend.
Through eternal ages let the service end.
Glutted to the highest we will moan and sing.
Sitting on the premises and dead.
Sitting on the premises, sitting on the premises,
Sitting on the premises of Christ our servant.
Sitting on the premises, sitting on the premises,
We're sitting on the premises and dead.”
He proudly described the Church as irresolute and uncommitted. He introduced to me the other committee members; Bobby Bored, Connie Cool. He described the great teachings the women received who participated in the Church's The Women's Indifference Society. There seemed to be great growth in one class; The Mellow Sunday School Class. They were excited about an upcoming event; The Men's Worldly and Wise Conference. An upcoming revival was going to be led by The Reverend Marvin Mundane. The church had started the Spiritless Seniors group who were going to focus on traveling to entertainment locations like Branson Missouri and Las Vegas. This would bring the Church back into balance because of the growing the Unresponsive Youth Program.
They were looking for a pastor who could scratch their ears, stir their emotions, help their self-esteem, complement their current spiritual condition and validate their unchanging ministries and priorities.
On the bright side, they were going to pay well and the benefits were killer.
The problem? That pig won't swim.
Mark 5:1-21 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. (Gergasines, Gadazarines)
I remind you from our study of the book of Judges, this was the area of which one of the tribes chose not to cross the Jordan for their inheritance. They wanted land East of the Jordan.
This typifies those who trust Christ but do not continue to grow spiritually to maturity in the faith.
I also remind you that despite these people's spiritual gifts, that pig don't swim.
We will see them involved in hog trade, which was strictly forbidden for Jews.
This was in an area where 10 cities were called the Decapolis.
2-5 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.
Here was a man that was a victim of failed spiritual policy.
When a people refuse to grow, they next find they have pigs of sins permitted in their fellowship.
Then they have spiritual problems that are not restrainable.
I am not saying that this man's problems were not related to his choices.
I am saying that his choices in life brought on more hideous consequences because of the spiritual condition in which he was raised; the decisions of his forefathers.
6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him.
When you read verse 2 and verse 6, you get the full picture.
As Jesus was sailing across the Gergazine Sea, this lunatic saw Him by looking out the cave opening.
He began to run to the landing spot.
They arrived there at about the same time.
As Jesus stepped off the boat, immediately this man falls at His feet and begins speaking to Him.
7-9 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me." 8 For he (Jesus) was saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!" 9 And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many."
Jesus was not welcomed by this man.
This man was begging Him to leave.
“What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?”
Translated into Tim Texan, “Why would you love me? Isn't there more important, loveable people to pick in this country?”
Verse 8 may indicate that Jesus told the spirit to come out of the man, but got no response. The Father works in mysterious ways.
So Jesus continued to question this lunatic.
“What is your name?”
Jesus knew the names of all the angels that fell before the foundation of the world.
He wanted to know exactly what He was dealing with.
He had given up His glory, the ability to know all things as part of the eternal Godhead so He could live in total dependency of the Father, the way we are asked to live as Christians.
The answer, “Oh, we are many. To give you all of our names would take some time.”
10-13 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, "Send us to the pigs; let us enter them." 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.
The demons had one request, realizing they would not get their first choice; to be left alone.
That was to be allowed to possess pigs instead of cast out with no bodies.
Lot's of theology about demons here, not enough time to cover it.
I have taught on what demons are and why they seek bodies to possess.
I will cover it again one day. I will gladly address that with you personally if you ask me.
Jesus allowed the request and the demons got a short stay in “sus scrofa domesticus” (swine).
But the pigs didn't like it and chose suicide (or is it swinicide?) instead.
They ran off a cliff into the sea and drown.
Pig usually can swim. But not when demon-possessed.
I have seen the San Marcus, TX pig swimming show.
14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.
The pig keepers were not pleased and went angrily to the city to report the loss of income.
Skeptics and curiosity seekers came out of the city to see if this wild story could possibly be true.
They found the lunatic possessed, not by demons that sought to destroy, but by Christ who sought to teach and restore.
Jesus had turned over the pig-trade and civilized a mentally ill homeless man in one afternoon.
What else would he do? The people were afraid to find out.
They had secrets that they didn't want Jesus near.
I can hear the questions? “What happened to Mr. Loon? Where are the pigs?”
They heard the stories, but their responses were negative.
“Jesus, would you please leave? This is not what we want for our people and families.”
Mar 5:18-20 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
Mr. Loon wanted to stay in Church. Who could blame him?
However, the Master had other plans.
“Stay here and be my witness. I have work for you to do.”
And his story was believable, and we can assume he was somewhat affective, for everyone marveled.
I. Degrees. Compromise kills.
When the forefathers of this land said they didn't want to make their homes in the promise land, it was compromise.
It was for economic reasons, not spiritual reasons.
It was for rain they prayed, not revival.
It was self-centered, self-serving.
That seemingly innocent step in history led to tragedy for later generations.
“What harm could it cause? What difference would it make anyway?”
A man buried a treasure in the desert. He started at a tree at the base of a mountain and went exactly 10 miles in the exact direction of the sunrise.
However, not knowing science, he didn't know that due to the seasons the sun comes up at minute difference every day of the year.
He also didn't have sound equipment to make sure he got the line and angle right.
20 years later, he went to uncover his gold.
For 10 years he dug and dug. He never found the gold.
He finally decided someone beat him to the gold and stumbled upon it.
However, he did not know that if you are off 1 degree, within 10 miles, you would be 898 feet off course.
If a moon explorer is 1 degree off course, it will miss the moon entirely.
A little adjustment today, one way or another, will make a huge difference in your life tomorrow.
As big of a difference as it makes in your life, will you hate your children?
Hate is not negative feelings. It is lack of putting their welfare first.
It is opposite of AGAPE, the other's welfare and value above ours. Hate is simply the absence of that.
Like darkness is the absence of light, cold is the absence of heat, hate is the absence of love.
If you do not act in love, it is hate. If I am wrong, bring me the Bible verses, please.
The problem with a lack of love? That pig don't swim.
The problem with compromise, it is a lack of love, and that pig don't swim.
II. Dignity. Jesus respects.
I find two seriously interesting things in this passage.
Knowing that Jesus did only what He received at that moment from the Father, through the Spirit, it really stands out.
First, the demons requested and Jesus relented.
“Put us in those pigs.” OK.
Secondly, the people requested that Jesus leave. And he honored their request.
Think of it! Jesus created the universe in six days by speaking.
That included so much energy that stars will burn for millions of years from His words.
He spoke to the storm and wind and they obeyed.
He talked to the dead and they became alive again.
He turned water to wine.
Some day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.
The entire universe will bow to His glory, His power and His reign.
Yet, when ungodly beings requested to be separated from Him, He nodded and consented.
What does that tell you about Jesus? What does that tell you about the Father?
God, in all His power, has chosen to give man the dignity of choice.
He honors our choice, although it breaks His heart.
God is not going to wrestle you into submission.
Same was true with Jacob.
Back in the Old Testament, one of the spiritual fathers, Jacob wrestled with God. Genesis 32.
I realize that verse 24 said “a man” wrestled with Jacob.
Verse 30 says, “So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered."
It is not uncommon for Jesus to appear as God in the form of an angel (messenger) or a man in the Bible.
Genesis 48:15-16 – Later, Joseph said, “And he blessed Joseph and said, "The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, 16 the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."
I Corinthians 15:47-49 - The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
Jesus could have whipped Jacob by assigning a butterfly to attack him.
He could have spoke ropes around him or vaporized him.
But God gives us a picture of Himself in this story. He allows our dignity.
He allows us our choice. He didn't want spiritual robots. He wanted free and full love coming to Him through us.
The only way to do that is to allow those who would to love Him and let those who would hate Him make that choice.
That is what Jesus did here. But let me warn you.
He will allow your choice, but HE will not withhold the consequences.
Galatians 6:7 - Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
That passage goes on to say, if you sow righteousness, the reward is awesome.
If you choose to sow the wrong decision, that pig don't swim.
III. Direction. Jesus sends.
In this story, Mr. Loon is saved. He got a dose of it.
He wanted to stay with Jesus forever.
Remember, Jesus allows the dignity of our choice.
After searching up the Greek word, “afeee, ha me.” = forbid, not allow, let go, let freely go.
“Mr. Loon, you can stay with me as long as I am here, but I would prefer you do something for me.”
Mr. Loon thought about it and said, “Well, Jesus, I just made you Lord of my life.
“It's not about me anymore. What do you want me to do?”
Jesus said, “I would prefer if you went back to your friends and neighbors and love them with the truth about what has happened to you.”
The Apostle Paul said the same thing when he told the Corinthians 5:7-8, “If I die, I get to be with the Lord, but my primary goal is to please HIM.”
Jesus changes our direction. Jesus changes our minds.
Jesus challenges our self-living.
If I were 45 minutes late, said I fell off a cliff, but there was no evidence of a fall, would you believe me?
We can understand the results of an impact with earth, or a car, or a truck.
We expect broken bones, open sores and deep, black contusions.
But we don't understand that a confrontation with the Living God of the Universe makes a dent?
We commit ourselves to look like the world, act like the world, dress like the world.
We smell like the world, even taste like the world.
“If salt loses its savor, what good is it far but to throw out?”
There is much out there today about radical Christianity.
God, through His writer Paul, through the breath of His Spirit, said, sold out, committed, self-sacrificing, self-dying, daring, fearless Christianity is the normal thing, not radical. (Romans 12:1-2).
We consider that radical because we have been so influenced by the siren song of a sinful world.
That pig don't swim.
IV. God Loves.
Jesus loved this man so much that He came across the Sea of Galilee just for him, as it turns out.
But Jesus doesn't stop loving.
“Mr. Loon. Do you understand who I am sending you to? I am sending you to the very ones who are running me off.”
“I am still reaching out to the ones who hate me.
“I don't stop loving someone when they reject me.
“Go to the pig farmers, sinners, adulterers, thieves, liars, cheaters, homosexuals, abortionists, liberals, cults, gossipers, pharisees, self-righteous...
“Show them a little bit of my warming love and create in them a hunger for the fireplace.
“Show them a little light and so I can create in them a despite of the darkness.
Mr. Loon said, “Lord, as soon as I graduate Bible College. As soon as I finish Seminary.
“At least let me memorize the names of the books of the New Testament.
“I should have time to meomorize the Roman Road.”
Jesus said, “There is an urgency for my message. I would really like you to go now.”
Love has an urgency to it.
That is why Jesus said, “Pray for laborers, the harvest is ready now,” Matthew 9:37-38.
There is an urgency for First Baptist of Eula, but many are living with a lack of urgency.
We are asleep as the world is dying around us.
In March of 2007, in the Kuban region of southern Russia, at least 62 people were killed by a fire that quickly blazed through a home for the elderly. The greatest tragedy was that it could have been prevented. Authorities say a night watchman ignored two fire alarms. When the third alarm sounded, and the watchman saw flames, he finally took the necessary action for evacuation. Even then, other staffers were notably absent from their posts, making the escape effort nearly impossible in some cases. By the time fire authorities and rescue workers arrived, many residents had already died from smoke inhalation.
There was an urgency, but those commissioned to sound the alarm had no urgency.
For us, that pig don't swim.
Conclusion:
Some today have made compromises in their Christian life. I promise you, that pig won't swim.
Some have made choices and God honored those choices. However, if those choices have moved you away from God, that pig don't swim.
Some have believed they are Christians, but Christ has made no difference in their lives. I don't have to tell you, that pig don't swim.
Some today are so self-center, they do not have the heart of God; to love those who are near us and far from us. That self-centered, self-serving pig don't swim.
Today, I call you to God. I call you to His heart. I call you to His side of the battle.
I call you to His life. I call you to His love. Will you hear Him and forsake your drowning pigs?
