One Big Mess, Luke 8:26-39, Pardon our Dust series
Eric A. Snyder, Minister, Farwell Church of Christ
August 4, 2002
A couple of years ago I was involved in youth ministry and the church which I worked for had a huge VBS every year. We would typically have 150 kids at the vacation bible school week. As a promotional too to get the kids to bring their friends and bring their offerings we provided some incentives. Such as if our attendance reached 200 people then one person would get a pie in the face. And if our offerings reached a certain number then another person would get a pie in the face.
I don’t think any of you have to guess where I’m going with this. Being new to the staff it was initiation time and I was pretty much the director for the week. So as you can see I was target number 1. Those of you know me know a couple of things about me. I like pie, but I really don’t like messes. The big day was Friday, the kids met all of their goals so I wanted to be the first to receive my sentence. I thought that pie to the face would take probably 3 seconds. Pie up and then gone. What happened to me however probably took about 20 seconds. And to this day I maintain that I was not hit with one pie but 2, Anyway my face went into the pie then it was smushed around my head. It was in my hair, my precious hair, it was all over my shirt, it was under my contact lenses, it was up my nose, it was packed in my eardrums. I was pulling whipped cream and graham cracker our of my ears for about a year.
Now that may be funny to you. But let me tell you that it was not humorous to me, Oh sure I went a long with it but I believe that God meant for pies to go in the mouth and not in the ear. I also learned that if you ever take a job as youth minister never go to the church the week before VBS.
Now I was not the only one who got a little messy that day. There was a long line of people who were forced to receive their “Just Desert”. But we all allowed that to happen to us because we realized one thing, and it may have been founded in a spirit of goofing off or just having fun. The thing that those people realized is that “Bringing people to Jesus never comes without one big mess”
We had number of people become a part of the church because VBS has always been a big thing. And when people see that others can have fun, and are willing to get messy The message of Jesus becomes just a little more real.
We are looking at how God has been changing some things in order to help us be more effective as a church. The Bible reminds us that God wants everyone to come in and be a part of eternal life and the message from God is no price is too high, no mess to big.
Right after September 11 of last year a lot of people were asking “why”. And although I want to stress that tragedies do not come from God. He worked through that mess and was able to bring people closer to him. Oh sure we hear reports about church attendance slipping back to where it was before but one thing is clear, in the middle of the huge mess there was a great ministry.
The facts about what God thinks are not debatable, and the stories are there to act as evidence and reminders that “No cost is to high, No mess to big” Need examples? Paul’s life was messed up because he followed God. He was mistreated and eventually killed for his belief. You know what some people didn’t like about Paul. He messed things up and let those Gentiles, those sinners into the church.
Zachaeus’ life was messed up because he followed Jesus. Read through your Bibles, almost everyone who gets serious about their faith has their lives messed up because their compassion costs them their temporary stability.
The stories of Jesus are full of messy situations. Here’s my problem, I don’t like messes. I would rather just let it go than rock the boat. I would rather just do what’s popular than receive complaints and criticism. But then I come back to the heart of it all and remember “no cost is too high is I can help someone to Jesus”
When my home church, the St. Louis church started build their new addition. There were people who didn’t even attend the church calling the minister and the elders asking them why they were “destroying the look of the building”. The St. Louis church knows that “no mess is to big” if it’s God’s will.
The truth is we have to look for ways to be more effective. We can not isolate ourselves from those who need Jesus. We are in a series called “pardon our dust” and the fact is it’s not the dust that needs pardoning. The mess does not need to be explained. The chaos does not need forgiveness. But the reason we are undergoing the changes that we are is so that people who do need forgiveness will come in and be a part of God’s work here.
Probably the most confusing thing to some of you is this need to go to 2 services. Professionals in the church growth business have been saying that when a church is 80% full then guests come in and can’t find a place to sit it’s a turn of and a hindrance to the message of Jesus. So we are going to double services to make some room for more people. Our average attendance is 75 right now and 80% capacity of this room is 72. So we are creating more room but that’s not the only reason. There are a number of people who cannot attend a late service because they work or have family plans or other things. And there are people who were out late last night who have a hard time getting up at an early time to worship. So hopefully you attitude is not one of “I want my way” but it’s one of “whatever it takes to bring people to Jesus”.
In the past year I have spoken with many people who have left our church many of them before I got here and you know what I found out. About half said there are not enough contemporary songs and modern technology for me and about half said there are not enough hymns for me. The question that we had to ask as a church is “do we want to cater to one side or do we want to be as inclusive as possible?”
If you are one of those critical people will you do me a favor? Will you just think about the men who are leading and pray for them to make the best possible decisions for God’s church. That way you will be helping the body and encouraging our leaders at the same time.
But the message today is not just about church changes it’s about personal changes. It’s about what kind of a mess you are willing to make in your life, with your preferences. Following Jesus comes at a cost and our story today shows that it was a cost that many people did not want to pay.
Our story today is from Luke chapter 8
This story is bittersweet. Because in it we find a man who needed Jesus and although the crowd does nothing to help this man Jesus finds him anyway. So the man is a changed person, but because the community where he lives had to pay a high cost they asked Jesus to leave. In fact the Bible tells us a lot about these people
Let me ask you a question? How much are you willing to pay so that others can experience Life in Jesus?
Now that’s a tough question but it’s not mine, it’s woven through the entire Bible. That’s the question when Jesus tells the parable of the lost coin, the lost, lamb and the lost son, That’s the question when the man comes to Jesus and says what is the greatest commandment, That is the question when Jesus tells the man to go and sell everything and give to the poor.
That is the central question today and it is directly out of scripture. That’s what Jesus said when He said count the cost of following me, he says that foxes have holes and birds have nests but if you want to follow me he says you just might not have a place to lay your head. Following Jesus is not a social club decision it’s a life changing decision. And it ought to be followed with incredible passion for bringing others to Jesus.
Just look around this room. Who are the people that have a burdening compassion for hell bound people? Invariably they are the people who were once hell bound themselves. And although we don’t like to paint ourselves with that brush that’s what we all once were. Even those who grew up in church and never spent a Sunday away.
Sometimes I think churches spoil us to think that people who do not know Jesus are just going to walk through the door and be changed people and like everything we do. But what it takes is messy, costly relationship building.
What cost are you willing to pay?
If you knew that someone would become a follower of Christ what would you be willing to do.
Would you be willing to cash in your retirement fund and give it away?
Would you be willing to move to Jerusalem and endure the conflict of a war Zone?
Would you be willing to spend time with people who scare you to death?
What would you be willing to do so that one person could know Jesus?
In this text Jesus makes it clear that one lost soul is worth more than any kind of material wealth. One lost soul is worth more than a feeling of security. And one lost soul is more important than popular opinion.
Luke 8:26-39; 26 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!" 29 For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places. 30 Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31 And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. 32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission. 33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. 34 When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35 and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
Prayer
I think it’s clear that this man needed help. And he needed more than chains. Now the people in this area would have heard about Jesus and they may have even anticipated His visit but because the cost was too great for them to handle, they asked him to leave.
Perhaps you’re here today and you’ve heard of this Jesus who brings hope and meaning to life. You know that he is the way to get to God but perhaps you have been resisting Him for years because you’re not ready to pay the price.
You might have even been baptized a while ago, you acknowledge that Jesus is the savior of the world. That he is God’s only son in the flesh. You might have been a worshiper her for years but you have never made the full step into complete wholeness in Jesus.
See acceptance and acknowledgement are not easy but I would suggest that unless you have said “I will follow at any cost” you have missed the meaning.
Now we don’t make you sign your house over to us or take an auto draft out of your account. We don’t sign you up to go to Afghanistan and put band aids on kids. But let the message be loud and clear from this place today; Following Jesus completely is going to cost you a lot. It may cost you money, it may cost you your earthly security, it may cost you your preferences. But seasoned mature followers know it’s about bringing people to Jesus.
This man needed not just a little help. Buying him a boat was not the answer, locking him in a cell was not the answer, chaining him up was not the answer. The answers could only be found in Jesus.
Have you ever wondered what would happen if Jesus followers would confront the scary, the convicts, and the dangerous. I believe that the reason that we don’t see life changing Christianity much is because we have played to our fears and stayed out of the smelly houses. We hear about prison ministry and then run the other way. When we hide from Christian responsibility we allow the power and potential of Jesus to go unused.
Here’s what it says in Romans 8 that the same power that was in Jesus is waiting to give life to your mortal bodies. That same power that Christ had is in you. Now it may manifest itself differently but it is there.
I want to ask another question. We real about the Jeremiah’s a prophet who God used to proclaim his message. We read about Jonah a man who preached repentance to a wayward people. We hear about John the Baptist who confronted wickedness and lost his life for it.
The last time I checked I don’t think anyone decided that the world is all Christian. In fact Jesus reminds us that the days are evil. There are 8 billion people in the world 2 billion profess to be Christians, giving them the benefit of the doubt there are still 6 billion people who are hell bound.
My question is: who are going to be the new prophets. Who will be our Jeremiah’s, who will move from place to place convicting people of their unrighteous state, who will be our John the Baptist pointing people to Jesus and the message of salvation
There are people today who are like this man. A man who was considered crazy and dangerous. How awesome it is to see the power of Jesus at work. To find this once demon possessed man sitting calmly at Jesus feet listening to his teaching and then later to see him tell the story of his conversion with great enthusiasm.
But god proved to the skeptics on that day that Satan is powerful but God is infinitely more powerful. Many demons that day were begging for a little more time before they had to spend their eternity in Hell. That’s what Satan’s mission is to take people to hell. Right now he’s taking a lot of people with him.
There are some who say these pigs committed suie side. But I think Jesus was just proving he was a master chef. With one threat of eternal punishment he create a whole lot of deviled ham.
A whole bay of pigs makes one huge mess. I’m sure there were those who found this whole situation very funny. But like me the pig’s owners did not find it amusing getting stuck with a pie in the face.
The main lesson here is that this miraculous healing cost everybody
It cost the man his life, in the end of the text we see him proclaiming Jesus truth. He would now have to become an active productive member of society. His life profession was changed and his eternity was altered.
It cost the people Their material wealth, their sense of comfort from having isolated the man. They lost their self imposed sense of security.
This text says that they were afraid. I think all of us have experienced fear this last year but real security is only found in Jesus.
This incident even cost Jesus something. Because of this he was asked to leave. Imaging how many more people he could have healed and helped if the people had not asked him to leave.
Everyone must pay a cost when it comes to following Jesus
The real question is “are you willing to pay what it takes”
Signal Ellen
Jesus knew the cost when he came to earth and because we had made a mess out of things God was willing to make a mess of his own. How hard it must have been for him to place his Son on this earth knowing full well that we would make one big mess and crucify Jesus. But because he did we can find order and cleanliness through Jesus.
Perhaps you’re like me. I tried covering up my sin. I tried to hide it so no one could see it. I beat myself up tried to isolate myself from society. But in the end I still had a big mess in my heart and Jesus took it from me. He brought me into a community of loving caring people. and thought my sin is gone my life needs to be messy with the dust of construction that brings other messy people to the fountain of cleanliness.
