MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
CENTRAL CHRISTIAN, BROWNSVILLE, TX
A. In the 5th chapter of the Gospel of Mark there is an intriguing story. For many of you it is a familiar one, but let me briefly summarize it for you, & then read 3 verses from it.
When Jesus & His disciples cross the Sea of Galilee & approach the town of Gergesa they encounter a man possessed with many demons. He is wild & uncontrollable, & because of that the people of Gergesa have bound him with chains & forced him to live in the hills among the tombs.
Jesus sees him & takes mercy upon him, & casts out the demons. When He does this they go into a herd of pigs & the pigs rush into the sea & drown. The people of Gergesa hear about this & come rushing to the scene, & in Mark 5:15-17 we find their reaction. Listen as I read it to you.
"When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed & in his right mind; & they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man - & told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region."
B. I’m sure that if we had gone to Gergesa a few weeks before this event we would have found a peaceful little community with the people very comfortable & contented there. But now Gergesa is in turmoil, & the reason is because Jesus has come to their town. And it has turned out to be a very disturbing visit!
ILL. Over the years, I have really enjoyed being in summer youth camps. As either a student or faculty member, I have taken part in at least 125 weeks of camp. But I’ll never forget the work day at a youth camp in Mo. when we cleaned out the swimming pool that had not been emptied the summer before.
We found the sparkling clear water which had provided so much cool refreshment during the previous summer’s heat had become horribly stagnant. It was green & thick, & all kinds of creatures had made it their abode.
As we began working, some of those creatures would stick their heads up out of the water & look at us & then dive out of sight. Then they would come up & look again. That stagnant water was a seething bed of life & activity.
But we went right on ahead with our job. We put in a pump, started up the motor, & the water was soon gushing out of the pool onto the ground. A sickening green foam formed over the end of the hose & the air was filled with a terrible stench.
Then, as the water level began to go down, those creatures living in the depths of our swimming pool became extremely agitated. It must have occurred to their minute brains that their security was being threatened. As the water level went down they started scurrying around. We got rid of about 8 or 9 snakes, plus other creatures that inhabited the depths of the pool.
I’m convinced that if we could have heard & understood their voices as the water level was going down, they probably would have been crying in unison, "Leave us alone. We don’t want you here. We’re comfortable, & we don’t want to be disturbed."
APPL. That is exactly how they reacted in Gergesa. They were very comfortable in their lifestyle. But Jesus came & shook their complacency. And they begged Him to leave, "We don’t want you here anymore."
C. Now this was not the only time something like that happened to Jesus.
ILL. One day He was in the synagogue of His hometown, Nazareth, & read that wonderful passage of scripture from Isaiah where it says, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me."
I can just see the ladies nudging each other & saying, "Isn’t it wonderful that one of our hometown boys became a rabbi?" "Yes, & he reads so well." The Bible says that they "all were speaking well of Him."
Then he shattered their composure by telling them that the Jews were God’s chosen people, yes, but they weren’t the only ones who belonged to God. And they didn’t want to hear that.
Jesus illustrated that with two stories from the Old Testament. He said, "Remember when Elijah needed help & a widow helped him? She was not a Jewish widow. She was a Gentile, & God showered His blessings upon her. And remember that in Elisha’s day there many Jews who had leprosy. But only one leper was cured. His name was Naaman, & he was not a Jew."
By that time there were angry words flying in the synagogue. Jesus had come into their worship service & He had challenged their smugness. They put Him out of the synagogue by force, saying, "We don’t want to hear any more!"
APPL. Jesus has been uprooting nations & societies ever since then. He has changed the course of human history, & is still doing that even today.
PROP. I have 3 questions this morning. First of all, "How does He disturb us today?" Secondly, "Why does He disturb us?" And thirdly, "How will you respond to Jesus?"
I. HOW DOES HE DISTURB US TODAY?
How does Jesus disturb us today? I think that there are a number of ways He disturbs us, but maybe the most important is by His very nature. When we compare ourselves to Christ we can’t be very content, can we?
As long as we compare ourselves to one another we feel all right. "I may not be much to brag about, but compared to you I’m not too bad. I may have faults & problems, but you have more than I do." So we don’t seem too bad as long as we compare ourselves to each other.
But when we look at Jesus & His sinless life, we begin to see ourselves as we really are. The Bible says, "All have sinned & fallen short of the glory of God." And we are also warned, "The wages of sin is death."
ILL. Remember the thief on the cross? He was a thief & a robber. He had spent all of his life saying, "What is yours is mine & I am going to take it." But as long as he stayed in the company of other thieves his evaluation of himself was probably pretty good. "As thieves go I am not such a bad character. I take care of my wife. I take care of my children. Compared to all these other thieves, I’m a pretty good guy."
But when he was hanging on the cross next to Jesus, he said, "I’m here because I deserve to be here. But He has done nothing wrong. Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
APPL. And when we draw near to Jesus, we begin to realize that we’re sinners, too, & we need a Savior. That is a disturbing realization. And it is no longer possible for us to be content with ourselves the way we are.
The disturbing Christ comes to jolt us out of the rut of complacency, & to show us that we’re not all right the way we are. There are changes that need to be made in our lives. We’re sinners, & we need a Savior.
II. WHY DOES HE DISTURB US?
The second question is, "Why does He disturb us?"
A. Is it because God is some sadistic being who looks down & says, "Get that one because he looks too comfortable over there." Or, "That one is getting along too well. Let’s do something to him." Is God sadistic? Is that the reason He does it? Not at all.
Why, then, does He disturb us? The answer is, "Because He wants the very best for us." As long as we think that we’re good enough, we’ll never become any better. As long as we think that we’re wise enough, we’ll never become any wiser. As long as we think that we have climbed far enough, we’ll not climb any higher.
Then Christ comes, & He won’t leave us alone. He won’t let us quit. "Get up!" He says. "You can be better. You can be wiser. Climb higher, because there is more to come than you can ever imagine."
ILL. There is a passage in Deuteronomy which illustrates this better than anything I have ever found. A mother eagle watches over her eaglets. She risks her life to feed them. She keeps them warm when they are cold. She protects them from all enemies.
Then one day she comes flying back to the nest & here are all the eaglets with their mouths open, saying, "Breakfast time!" But momma eagle says, "Guess what? No breakfast today." "What do you mean, `No breakfast’?" they cry. "Sorry, no breakfast today. And there is something else. I’m going to tear up the nest & you’re all going to be kicked out of it."
"You’ve got to be kidding. You’re our mother, & you love us." "That is the way it is," she says, & she begins to tear up the nest, & one by one she kicks the eaglets over the edge. Each one falls, helpless in space, frantically flapping its wings, wondering what to do next. And it all seems to be a cold act of cruelty.
But then the writer goes on to say that just as they’re about to hit the rocks their mother flies underneath & catches them. She flies them back to safety, & then kicks them off again. And she keeps repeating the process until the little eaglets learn to fly.
Why? Because eagles weren’t made to stay in nests. They were made to fly & soar high in the sky.
APPL. God does much the same to us. He is the great disturber, because He wants us to reach out & find the very best that life & eternity have to offer.
III. HOW WILL YOU RESPOND TO JESUS?
Finally, "How will you respond to Jesus?" You see, we do have a choice.
A. God will disturb us. His Holy Spirit will seek to convict us of sin & righteousness & judgment to come. But the question is, "How will you respond?"
ILL. It is like an alarm clock. Once it goes off, you have a decision to make. You can roll over, pull the pillow over your head, & go back to sleep. Or you can get out of bed, ready to face the new day & its challenges. It is your decision.
When it comes to the church it is the same thing. The Holy Spirit will seek to disturb you, & you have a decision to make. You can say "No," & go back to sleep again if you want. Or you can say, "Lord, I’m yours. Where you lead I’ll follow. What you command I’ll do. Fill me with your Spirit & use me to your glory." You see, it is your decision. How will you respond?
B. In Scripture we find examples of different kinds of responses. God came, & some chose to say "No" & to ignore Him.
ILL. The people in Gergesa said, "Go away. Depart from us. We want nothing to do with you."
ILL. At another time, Jesus & His disciples came to a little town in Samaria, & the people there cursed them. In response, James & John said, "Lord, let us call down fire from Heaven & destroy them." Jesus said, "No," but He left that town, & as far as we know, He never came back to them again.
ILL. The Apostle Paul preached to Gov. Felix about righteousness, self-control, & the judgment to come. Felix was so disturbed by it that he trembled. But he said, "Go your way for a time. When there is a more convenient season I will call for you." A more convenient season never came for Felix.
C. But others made the right decision, & said "Yes," to God.
ILL. Saul began by persecuting Christians, but he heard the call of Jesus. He became the great apostle Paul, & could stand triumphantly at the end of his life & say, "For me to live is Christ, & to die is gain."
CONCL. The alarm clock is sounding. You can turn it off & turn over & go back to sleep, comfortable in your complacency. Or you can say, "Lord, I am yours. Wherever you lead I’ll follow. Use me as an instrument in your hands. Mold me into whatever you want me to be."
The choice is yours. God comes to disturb, to shake you out of your rut, & cause you to find the best there is in Christ.
Will you come as we stand & as we sing?
