Scripture: Luke 8:26 -39; Psalms 42 and Isaiah 65:1-9
Theme: Jesus' D-Day Invasion
In this passage we see two very different approaches in dealing with sin/evil in our world and in our lives:
1. We see the community's (Gerasenes) philosophy of TOLERANCE and MAINTENANCE
2. We see Jesus who believed in a ministry of TRANSFORMATION and MAKING DISCIPLES
INTRO:
Peace and Grace from God our Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
Seventy two years ago this month our world started changing for the better. It started on five beaches called Utah, Omaha, Gold, June and Sword. On the morning of June 6, 1944, more than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50 mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline; to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which, "we will accept nothing less than full victory." More than 5,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft were involved in the invasion. By the end of the day, the Allies had for the first time gained a foot-hold in Nazi held territory. It came at a tremendous cost. More than 10,000 Allied Soldiers were either killed or wounded. But their sacrifice allowed more than 100,000 soldiers to begin their slow, hard march across Europe to defeat Adolf Hitler's Nazi Regime.
Our world is free today thanks to the blood, sweat and tears shed by all those brave men and women. Their stories are stuff of legends. Two of those legends were Britain's Private Robert Jones1 and American Brig. General Theodore Roosevelt Junior, the youngest and the oldest soldiers to fight that day.
Private Jones had lied about his age so that he could join the British Army. He was barely 16 years old when he and 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion’s ‘A’ Company parachuted into battle that day. Brig. General Roosevelt, on the other hand was 56 years of age, suffering with major heart problems along with arthritis when he came ashore with the 4th Infantry Division. Even though he was the son of former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and could have had a cushy job back in the states, Roosevelt wanted to be with his men when they hit the shores.
The D- Day invasion had been a long time coming. For over ten years the world had watched and attempted to tolerate Hitler as he rose to power in Germany. They watched as he pulled together the Nazi Party. At first British Prime Minister Chamberlain and other world leaders thought everyone could simply tolerated Hitler. They thought he and his Nazi force could be maintained. Even when Germany began to systematically invade neighboring countries it was felt that there was no still no need to confront Hitler. The major powers at that time believed that an all our war could be avoided.
By 1939 the philosophy of maintaining and tolerating Hitler was now seen as a mistake. His Nazi war machine was on the move. Like dominos falling, the Germans conquered Czechoslovakia, Poland, Holland, Norway, France and were on their way to overtake Britain. Everyone now knew that Hitler and his army could not be maintained or tolerated. No matter what the cost the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan had to be stopped.
In our Lukan passage this morning, we see another invasion. It too was an invasion that took place along a beach front. Only instead of it being Omaha or Utah it happened on the sands outside the Gentile city of Gerasenes. And instead of it being a military invasion it was a spiritual invasion led by our LORD Jesus Christ and his disciples.
The city of Gerasenes was located directly opposite the Sea of Galilee. It's citizens were made up of Syrians, Greeks and Romans. The area was a part of the Decapolis, a series of 10 communities that the Romans supported so that they could have a political and military presence in the Holy Land. These cities served as key military, economic and political land bases.
Many of these same cities had been founded centuries earlier by Alexander the Great after his armies conquered the Holy Land. It was Alexander's dream that the whole world would come under the influence of Greek culture in the areas of religion, language, philosophy, political structure, and values. He wanted to transform the whole world into a Greek state.
So, he started planting Greek cities throughout his empire. His plan was ingenious. Rather than deport the local populations he would infiltrate it with enough Greek citizens and ideas that over time they would make over the area. He died before he could make his dream a reality, but his successors continued with his plan. This area of Gerasenes was a part of that plan.
Later on during the time of the Maccabeans (167 - 64/63 BC) when the Jews wrestled back control of their homeland they did their best to eradicate these cities. They did their best to get rid of Hellenistic philosophy, culture and religion but by that time they were too well ingrained. These cities along with their influence were here to stay. Later on, when the Romans conquered the Holy Land, (starting in 63 BC) these cities were given even more money and protection. Rome saw them as tools to fight back against radical Judaism.
Gerasenes, therefore, was hostile territory. It's sole purpose for existing was to promote the pagan culture and religion of the Greeks, Syrians and Romans. It had been designed to be anti-Jewish. The herd of pigs that we read about in our story were not there by accident. They had purposely been brought into that area. They were there as a visible sign to tell the Jews to stay out. They were a visible sign that this city was polytheistic and that it worshipped Zeus. They were a sign that the cultural and religious landscape was changing and that Judaism needed to know it was on the way out. Nothing was more offensive to any orthodox Jews than a city or a group of people who raised pigs.
It all had to do with what happen back in 168 BC in the city of Jerusalem. The "abomination of desolation" that the Prophet Daniel had prophesied (Daniel 11:31; 12:11) had come to pass. A Seleucid king named Antiochus Ephiphanes IV was ruling the Holy Land at that time. He hated Judaism and did his best to stamp it out. He forbade the Torah and any Jewish rituals. To ridicule and humiliate the Jews, he turned all the priest's living quarters and their Temple chambers in Jerusalem into public brothels. Instead of worshipping God, masses of people would gather there to engage in all types of immoral behavior.
Then in December of 168 BC, Antiochus committed the "abomination of desolation". He rededicated the LORD's Holy Temple to the Greek god Zeus. He then commanded that a statue of Zeus (which he had made in his own image) be placed on the very site where the Ark of Covenant had rested. Everyone was now commanded (by threat of death) to come and bow down before the statue and surrender their heart and life to Zeus. Finally, he order that a pig be slaughter and sacrificed each and everyday in honor of Zeus on what had once been the LORD's altar. Instead of a lamb being offered it would now be a pig.
For the Jews this was the greatest of all sins. This was the abomination of desolation. This was the ultimate act of blasphemy and idolatry. They believed that there was no animal more unclean or unholy than a pig. There was nothing Antiochus could have done that was more revolting or disgusting.
That is why to this day the image of a pig, especially a pig that has been placed on a fire is still revolting to an orthodox Jew. It speaks of blasphemy against the LORD their GOD. It is a reminder of that time when God and His Holy Temple were being desecrated and defiled. It reminds them of when Gentiles not only ruled over them but also when they defiled God and His Holy Temple.
In verse 26, Luke wants us to understand that Jesus is spiritually invading the area of Gerasenes. He is there on a mission. He is coming in the power and might of His Heavenly Father. Like those Allied soldiers on D-Day, Jesus has come to get a spiritual foothold in hostile territory. Jesus is there to bring the message of salvation.
Verse 27 tells us that as soon as Jesus reaches shore he and his disciples are confronted by the enemy. A demon possessed man meets them at the shoreline. He is a man who has allowed a legion of demons to inhabit him. Historians tell us that a Roman legion could have a few as 1,040 men or as many as 6,000 men. So, when St. Luke tells us that his man had a legion of demons we are talking one very bad man. He was a man who possessed great supernatural strength. Anytime anyone would be brave enough to attempt to retrain him he would simply break the chains or shackles apart and walk back to the local cemetery where he lived.
Luke shares with us this morning; two very contrasting ways this man was approached and handled. The first way was
+how his local community approached him and
+ the second way is how Jesus handled him.
The way Jesus' handles this man is the way he wants us to handle those whose lives have been affected and enslaved by sin. He also wants us to understand the wrong way to handle and approach people who have been enslaved by the Devil and Sin.
This man's community handled him the wrong way.
I. We see that the people who lived around this man practiced a philosophy of TOLERANCE and MAINTENANCE.
They believed that the best course of action was to simply tolerate the man, his lifestyle and actions. They knew there was something was wrong with him and they knew that he needed help. After all, even the Greeks didn't want people running around naked, hurting themselves and others and living in the graveyard.
At times it seems that they had even attempted to help him. But either his condition was beyond their ability or their compassion we don't know. All we know is that they decided at some point to just tolerate him and try to maintain his outbursts and behavior.
As long as he didn't hurt anyone else they were content to let him go around unclothed living around the grave yard. He might have been an embarrassment, but as long as he didn't cost them very much time or money they were content to leave him alone. It was only when he did something they didn't like did they reach out and attempt to stop him. And even then they did not try very hard or else he would already been condemned to die.
All of this leads me to believe that perhaps in some way this demon possessed man may have served as their spiritual guardian. I know that may sound strange but the more you read this story the more you begin to understand what taking place. When Jesus and his disciples reached the shore line they were not greeted by the any city fathers or leading citizens but by this man. They were greeted by the spiritual gatekeeper of the area.
He doesn't attack Jesus' group nor does he curse them. He simply goes up to Jesus and:
+Reveals Jesus' true identity - "Jesus, Son of the Most High God"
+He seeks to know what Jesus' mission is - "What do you want with me?"
+Finally, he begs for Jesus to not torture him because he had allowed so many demons to come into his life
We miss what is really going on if we fail to understand that this man was not a victim. He was not someone that this multitude of demons had simply jumped on and took over. No, the truth is that over time he had invited them through worshipping them, learning from them and surrendering his life over to them. Legion had become their co-partner. These demons had given him great supernatural abilities and in return he had enabled them to control the people of that area. He was their strong man. He was their spiritual gatekeeper.
Gerasenes seems to have had two great ways to keep out any orthodox Jews - their herd of pigs and this demon possessed man. When any orthodox Jew would see either of them they would have quickly gotten back in their boat and sailed out of there. They would have known that this was not an area for them. They would not have even wanted to walk on the shore line - the very sand would have made them unholy and unclean.
But Jesus wasn't any normal Jew. He and his disciples came there on a mission. Jesus came there to rescue the man and the whole city of Gerasenes. He came there to not be tolerant or sin/evil or to allow things to simply slip into a maintenance lifestyle. He came to bring the Good News of grace, mercy and salvation.
II. Jesus came there to TRANSFORM and MAKE DISCIPLES of all the Gerasenes.
Back in verses 22 - 25, St. Luke shares with us the story of how Jesus had calmed the storm and the seas. It's an amazing story. No one had ever been able to rebuke the wind or the sea. And yet, Jesus did it with a few words. His followers were amazed as they said to one another - "Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him."
If they thought that was amazing, I wonder what they thought as they watched Jesus handle this demon possessed man. When it comes to sin, Jesus does not believe in tolerance or maintenance. When it comes to sin/evil Jesus believes in transformation and discipleship.
In a matter of seconds Jesus does something for this man that his whole town had been unable or unwilling to do. With a simple command Jesus overthrew Satan's hold on this man. With a simple command Jesus defeated and transformed Satan's highest general in that area. In a matter of minutes Jesus got rid of not only the Devil's power in this man but also got rid of the greatest symbol of rebellion in that area. Jesus got rid of those pigs.2
Therefore, it was Jesus' intention when he came onshore to:
1. Defeat Satan.
2. To cast out those demons and
3. To bring the message of spiritual freedom and salvation.
He came there to transform all the citizens of Gerasenes.
Where Alexander the Great, the Seleucids and the Romans sought to use the city of Gerasenes to infect Judaism, Jesus came to bring the Good News of Salvation. Jesus wasn't about tolerating sin and maintaining the status quo. Jesus was all about transforming and making disciples. Jesus was all about freeing people and allowing them to live the life He, His Father and the Holy Spirit had originally planned in Eden.
Today, we hear a great deal of noise about tolerance. There is this idea of just allowing people to be who and what they desire to be. That would be okay if there wasn't a devil, there wasn't sin and there wasn't a place called Hell. The problem with people becoming who and what they want to be is that they end up becoming slaves and victims of evil. They end up being enslaved to evil like this man in our story. They end up dying and going to Hell.
Some people believe that we should let people do all the drugs and alcohol they desire. We should let people see and practice all the things that they want to see and practice. We should let them live the way they want to live. After all we all possess the gift of free will and free choice. We should simply leave people alone to live the way they feel best for them.
However, it's that same lie and that some line of thinking that got us all kicked out the Garden of Eden in the first place. That philosophy comes from Satan himself. And look what happened to him when he tried it - he first got kicked out of heaven and very soon Hell will be his eternal home.
So, why should we listen to a loser like the Devil? Why should it surprise us that we become enslaved to sin when we follow his advice?
The LORD GOD created us. We didn't just happen by accident or fate. The Bible clearly tells us in Genesis 1:26 that God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit created us - "Let us make man in our own image, after our own likeness." We are made to live and love like God. We are made to be holy and pure. When we allow the Holy Spirit to help us live that way we find our lives genuine, abundant and full. It's when we disobey God that we find ourselves enslaved, addicted and imprisoned by evil.
Sin desires to control us and dominate our lives. Sin desires to enslave us. Recently, I saw this new TV commercial, It opens with this young man and girl who have gone to prom together. They are starting to dance with one another and have a great time. However, tugging at his leg the young man's cigarette habit is reminding him that it's time for a cigarette. No matter how much he wants to dance with the girl the physical and emotional need for a cigarette is greater. The commercial ends with him sitting outside smoking while everyone else is inside having a great time. His habit has control of him. That is what sin wants to do in our lives. Sin wants to control our minds, our hearts and our bodies.
We don't know how sin got a hold of Legion. Perhaps it all started with small fits of anger, or perhaps it started with money issues, lust or drugs. We don't know. All we know is that once he started down the road of sin he began to like where he thought it was leading him. He thought he was becoming a more powerful man. However, in the end, he wasn't a free man; he was a man who was totally at the Devil's beck and whim.
We must always remember - "Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay."
Sin has the devil for its father, shame for its companion, and death for its wages. ~ Thomas Watson
Jesus loved this man and the people that lived in Gerasenes. That is the reason he leaves the man there in Gerasenes. He is to be Jesus' missionary to that area. Even though they ask Jesus to leave, Jesus leaves behind a witness.
Jesus came to bring them new life. He came to help them experience what it meant to truly live. For centuries they had been serving false gods while all the people around them had left them alone. Jesus was determined to bring them the message of salvation. If that meant casting out the demons and getting rid of the pigs, then so be it.
All of this speaks to us this morning. We live in a land of reasonable comfort. Most of us have plenty to eat, something nice to wear and a nice place to lay down our head. Life is good. We give God praise and glorify for all of that.
However, all around us we need to understand that the Devil is busy at work. He is doing his best to enslave all the people that we know and love. He is doing his best to make our earth a literal Hell. He is doing his best to create a world filled with poverty and people enslaved to all sorts of addictions. He is doing his best to promote both human trafficking and marital discord. He is doing his best to divide families and friends. He doing his best to promote racism, violence and death. He tempts people to steal, to lie, to commit sexual immorality and to destroy their own lives.
But as long as it doesn't really touch us then for the most part we in the church have over the last few years become tolerant. We all too often want to keep the status quo and simply maintain. No one really wants to start a spiritual war with the Devil. There is more than one Legion out there in our world and we don't want to upset them.
The only problem with that philosophy is that while we are all being tolerant and maintaining our little individual worlds the Devil is picking us off one by one. Each generation is slipping a little more. Boomers are not as committed as the seniors. Busters are not as committed as the boomers. Generation X and the Millennials are even less committed. We don't hunger and thirst after righteousness as we once did. Our passion has waned and our hearts are growing colder. We say we have slacked and we confess that we need to change but in the end we simply don't. We just continue to tolerate and maintain the status quo.
We turn inwardly and put all our focus on family, on work or taking care of the things we have and enjoying life around us. We hunker down and somehow think that things are going to get better. We are tempted to put God, worship, small group study, prayer, fasting and community on the back burner. At times we don't even know what has happened before it is too late.
Before we know it, we are like the Church of Ephesus who the Holy Spirit tells us lost its first love. It lost is passion for Jesus, for worship, for Bible Study and for witnessing. We are like the Church of Thyatira who slowly allowed evil to just slip and take over. We are like the Church of Laodicea who over time just became lukewarm. Not hot, not cold, just tepid. Nothing really excites us, nothing moves us or interests us. And if we are not careful we become like the Church of Sardis who Jesus said had the reputation of being alive but actually was dead.
So, what's the answer? Tolerance and maintenance ? Look what happened when America and Europe tried that with Nazi Germany. Six million innocent Jews lost their lives because the world tried to be tolerant and just maintain. History tell us it cost somewhere around 55 - 60 million human lives and over 7 trillion dollars ( in today's dollars) to defeat the Axis powers.3 All of that could have been avoid.
Jesus shows us the true way. You don't need to defeat your enemy with bombs and guns and war. You confront evil like Jesus did here and in Luke chapter 10. You defeat evil with the Word of God. You defeat with a people who have been anointed with the Holy Spirit. You defeat evil through prayer and fasting and through the presence of the Holy Spirit. You defeat evil by binding it in the name of Jesus and casting it out.
Today, Satan has his sights set on America and our world. He knows if he can make America the Great Babylon - the Great Prostitute as it says in Revelation 17-18 that he has the world. He doesn't have to use bombs and guns. All he has to do is get the world to surrender to the sins of immorality, addictions and materialism.
Sin is the way he got Adam and Eve out the garden. It's the way he got Sodom and Gomorrah to become so evil that God had to condemn it and burn it with fire from heaven. It's the way he has destroyed the great empires of the past - Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome.
And it's the way he is destroying our nation today. Satan is preaching tolerance of all kinds of wickedness and evil. He is telling the CHURCH to simply be tolerant and maintain. He knows that if the Church of Jesus is just tolerant a few more years then it will be so weak and captured in its own sin that the whole world will be his for the picking.
But today, all over our land Jesus has boats on the shore. Boats that are ready to be filled with people who have the power and presence of the Holy Spirit and who are willing to pray, to fast and to witness so that others can experience true salvation. Jesus is looking for people like Legion - who have been freed of sin and sin's power. Jesus is looking for people who are ready to be dedicated solely to Him. People who will say that do all they can to defeat Satan and evil.
Tom Brokaw called those who grew up during the Great Depression and won WW II as The Greatest Generation. They were dedicated to God, to faith and to family. They knew how to read their Bibles, pray, attend church and live out a life of holiness. 95% of that generation of Americans believed in God, prayer and the Bible. Over 70% of them attended church regularly.
Is there any question why that same generation was able to defeat evil? They had surrendered their lives to the LORD. They already defeated evil on their knees and in their heart and lives. They were already a part of God's Army.
Today, we need an invasion force of saved, sanctified, praying, fasting, dedicated and committed disciples. We need people who will not be tolerant with evil or simply seek to maintain a status quo. We need people who will sign up as prayer warriors. We need people who are serious about worship - praising God and proclaiming His message. We need people who will go with Jesus and in the power of Jesus and confront evil. Not with tolerance and not with guns and violence but with the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.
This morning, Jesus wants us to follow his example in confronting the darkness in our own world. The power of Satan and his demons seems overwhelming. It would be easy for us to isolate ourselves in safe, rule-bound communities and just let the outside world destroy itself.
But that is not the way of Jesus. He needs us today. He needs us to be the Legions for our area. He needs us that have been redeemed by the Lamb to stand up and be counted. To not give in to tolerance and maintenance. He needs us to share the message of Transformation and Discipleship.
The question is will we? Will we become the greatest Christian generation on earth that will pay the price to defeat Satan and sin? Will we join Jesus in the boat and go and rescue people from their sins?
This morning, as we sing our closing song - # 714 - I'll Tell the World I Am A Christian our altars are open.
Today, if you can't sing that song our altars are open for you to come and receive Jesus as your Savior and LORD. Today, if your feel the tug of the Holy Spirit to come and kneel and pray for a need, for someone else or for our church then simply slip out and come down and spend some time with the LORD.
1 Private Jones had run away from home at 14 and enlisted in the Army, hoodwinking the NCO in his local recruitment office in Portsmouth by claiming to be an adult. Bobby was issued with a rail warrant and instructions to join the 2nd/4th Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2631313/The-runaway-boy-hero-D-day-At-14-lied-way-Army-At-just-16-parachuted-France-frantic-family-hot-tail.html#ixzz4AhvaBhIu
2 Now, I know that the death of those pigs might upset some people. But we always must remember that the LORD created them and they were under His control. And we need to remember that the LORD will do whatever is necessary to rid a place of evil. When it comes to sin and evil the LORD doesn't believe in a philosophy of tolerance or maintenance. He will do all He needs to do to get rid of evil and sin and bring about transformation and salvation.
3 (wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties and historynet.com/world-war-ii) . Back in 1934 when Hitler first rose to power it would not have taken much to defeat him and his ambitions. But back then everyone wanted to be tolerant with him and maintain their own peaceful lifestyle. Even though Hitler had written Mein Kampf years earlier (1925-26) in which he spelled out his anti-Semitic philosophies and thoughts of world domination no one took him serious. No one wanted to upset the apple cart so to speak. Everyone thought tolerance and maintenance was the way to go.
But not today. Not after the world lost some 55 -60 million people. Today, we know how evil and diabolical Hitler was. Today, we know what evil resided in his heart and how he became a tool of Satan. And we also know the tremendous cost of defeating evil. It took sacrifice, it took commitment and it took people digging in and paying the cost.
As an extra side note - This is just thinking but with the pigs being used in the sacrifice to Zeus could it be that the demons wanted to go into those pigs thinking that in just a few days those same pigs would be sacrificed as people would be worshiping Zeus thus allowing them to find new human inhabitants. It can't be proved of course but it is something to think about. They wanted the pigs to be their holding station until they found new human hosts (people worshiping Zeus). That way instead of being in one person they could be in 2,000 people at least. But pigs are smarter than humans - even they don't want to be possessed. Just a thought
