Old Testament Lesson; Isaiah 65:1-9
Epistle Lesson; Galatians 3:23-4:7
Gospel Lesson; Luke 8:26-39
Sermon Text; Luke 8:26-39

This is the most dire account in scripture of demon possession. As I read through it, I would like you to particularly take note of the people's reaction to this healing of this demoniac.

They sailed to the Region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. 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. 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!" 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.

Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.

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. 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.

When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 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. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 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.

The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, "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.

These are your words Heavenly Father. Lead us in the way of truth. Your word is truth. Amen

A few years ago there was an elderly pastor, who knew he was nearing the last years of his life. He was well known and was asked to give a little speech to a group of his close friends and associates. He wore a new suit he just purchased for this group. As he made this speech, he related the following story.

Once, Albert Einstein, the great physicist, who was named the man of the century, left Princeton University, and got on a train bound for some destination. As Dr. Einstein sat on the train, the conductor made his way down the isle, punching people's tickets. When he came up to Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein reached into his vest pocket and discovered his ticket was not there. So, he reached into one pant pocket, but his ticket was not there. He reached into the other pant pocket, and the ticket was not there. He opened his briefcase, and started looking through, but he could not find his train ticket! He began to search on the seat beside him, frantically, looking for his train ticket!

The conductor said, "Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. I am sure you bought a ticket. Don't worry about it." And the conductor then continued down the isle, punching tickets.

As he was about to leave that car and go into the next train car, the conductor turned around and here, low and behold, he saw Dr. Einstein down on his hands and knees, frantically searching underneath his train seat, looking for his ticket.

The conductor rushed back to him and said, "Dr. Einstein, it is ok. I know who you are. I am sure you bought a ticket. You don't need a ticket. It's ok. Don't worry about it."

To which Dr. Einstein replied, "Young man, I too know who I am. What I don't know is where I am headed."

He was looking for his ticket, because he had forgotten where his destination was and he wanted to find the ticket, so he knew where he was headed.

Then this pastor relayed this to the group.

I am wearing a new suit. I bought this suit for this occasion, and one other occasion - that is my burial, someday. When I am laying in a casket and you come and see me, I don't want you to think about this new suit, but I want you to think, "There is a man who could say, 'I know who I am and I know where I am going.'"

Each one of us in this room, as a child of our Savior, Jesus can say that, can't we?

I know who I am. I am a child, a redeemed child of God, purchased by the blood of my Savior, Jesus.

I know where I am going. I am going to be with my Savior in Heaven, someday.

Today's sermon is intended to turn our hearts particularly toward those people like Dr. Einstein who said, "I know who I am, but I don't know where I am going." They are the lost in our community, the unbelievers in our community.

I don't want to spend a lot of time talking about the actual miracle that Jesus performed. Rather, what I do want to do is spend time talking about people's reaction to that miracle.

To quickly review what happened, with this, the most dire account in all of scripture of a man who was suffering terribly from demon possession. We know from the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, (who all record this account, and fill in different blanks, here and there), this man was demon possessed by a number of demons. However, we don't know how many. And, it had been for a long period of time. This man wore no clothes. He ran around naked. He had superhuman strength. When they would try to chain him or imprison him, he would simply burst the chains. We know that he lived in the tombs. These would have been caves where the bodies of dead people, decaying, dead, people were. He lived in those tombs. The Bible tells us that he cut himself, and cried out, day and night.

It must have been a terrifying thing for that community to have this man living in their community.

When Jesus landed on this shore, of the Lake Genesert, this demon-possessed man ran up to Jesus and said, "I know who you are, Son of the Most High. Don't torture me."

The Bible tells us,

"You believe that there is one God.

Good!

Even the demons believe that - and shudder."

Here the demons recognized who Jesus was, and they shuddered. They were terrified of what Jesus could do to them.

Jesus performed a miracle. Jesus drove the demons out of this demon-possessed man, clearly showing that He is God and He has full control, also over Satan and all of his minions.

Now, let us get to the reaction of the people to what happened. Jesus permitted these demons to go into a herd of pigs. To us, it is an interesting account that they went into this herd of pigs, and the pigs rushed down a steep hill and were drown in the sea.

I don't know if you have ever been at a farm, at noontime, sitting around the table with the farmer and his family,
(maybe his grown sons). The radio is on in the background and all of a sudden the farm report comes on. If you have ever been there, you know what happens. Everyone stops talking. Everybody stops talking and they listen to the farm report, as the announcer says, "Soy beans are selling for 'such and such' today. Corn is selling for 'so much' and oats are selling for 'so much.' Pork bellies are selling for 'such and such.' Pigs are selling for 'x' amount of dollars, per hundred weight."

If you were a pork farmer, you would know that probably by today's standards the average pig weighs about 250 pounds, when the farmer sells it. And, by today's standards, pigs sell for somewhere around what is called '50 dollars per hundred weight.' Which means the average pig of 250 pounds would sell for about $125.00.

Do you know how many pigs rushed down the hillside, and were drowned in the Sea of Galilee? It does not say in this scripture lesson, but in one of the other gospel accounts it tells us how many – about 2,000. So if you do your math, 2,000 pigs at $125.00 a pig, I believe it comes out to about $250,000.00, by today's standards. That is significant. These people made their living, their agricultural living, this way.

So what happened? Those who were tending the pigs ran into town, to tell everybody what had happened. And, the Bible tells us the town's people came out to see it. You can imagine them looking down that steep bank, at all of those pigs, floating in the water – 2,000 of them - $250,000.00 worth of money, gone!

The Bible also says, "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." So, they saw the man who Jesus had healed, sitting there clothed, in his right mind, talking.

And, what was their reaction?

When the people went up to Jesus, what did they ask Jesus to do? They asked Him to leave. They begged Him to leave.

Why would they do that?

Here Jesus had performed an awesome miracle. They could see this man who had been healed. But, they begged Jesus to leave!

Why?

We assume that because this miracle happened on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, these were not Jewish people, and it was not wrong for them to have these pigs. But, they were afraid. The Bible tells us they asked Him to leave, "because they were overcome with fear."

What were they afraid of?

What had just happened? They had just lost a lot of money. Could it be that they were afraid that if Jesus stayed in their midst, performed other miracles, and did other great works, who knows what else they might lose? Who knows what might be at risk?

They were afraid.

And, they asked Jesus to leave.

It is so important for us to get into the mindset of the unbelievers, who live in our community. The unbelievers that you know, (whether it is at work, at school, in your neighborhood, in your family, or at the club you go to), oftentimes are like these people, who were afraid of Jesus. They were afraid of what they might have to give up, and so they asked Jesus to leave. Oftentimes the unbelievers in our community are also afraid of Jesus. They are afraid of Him, so they don't come to church. They don't want Him in their homes, because there is a fear of what they might have to give up, what they might lose, if Jesus were in their homes and in their lives.

There can be fear amongst unbelievers. Somebody who is used to making his or her own decisions, controlling his or her own life, guiding his or her life in the way it is going (and it seems as though everything is going well), fear "What if I have to give up control of my life, and I have to let Jesus control my life? Where will He lead me? What might I be led in to?" And there can be fear amongst unbelievers of letting Jesus into their lives.

For people who are used to depending upon their own intellect to solve problems, to get through and evaluate what is going on, there can be fear of letting Jesus into their lives. "Now it is not just my intellect, but there is intellect far superior to mine, and I have to submit to His Will and His intellect. What will He tell me? Will it seem to go against my way of thinking?" For unbelievers, that can be frightening.

It can be frightening for unbelievers who have learned to cope with problems in their lives, or troubles in their lives, in certain ways. Maybe unbelievers think that by drinking, they can cope with their problems and it will take their problems away, or at least help them get through their problems.

Or, maybe it is the idea, "If I am involved in sexual activity that I should not be involved in, somehow that will give me a higher self-esteem, or make me think higher of myself, or give me more meaning in my life, somehow."

And so, unbelievers can be afraid, "If I let Jesus into my life, I might lose those ways of coping in life. And then, what will I do? Where will I get my self-esteem? How will I get through my day-to-day life?" And so, they don't want Jesus in their lives, for fear. They don't go to church. They don't want to hear His Word.

Well, these people in our scripture reading begged Jesus to leave. So, what did He do? He did. He left. The Bible tells us, "So He got into the boat and left."

He left.

The man that Jesus had healed begged to go with Jesus. He begged to go with Jesus. What did Jesus reply to this man? Jesus had deeper plans for this man. This man could be used in Christ's Kingdom. The people did not want Jesus, and they asked Jesus to leave, because they were afraid of them. So what did Jesus say to this man? He said, "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." And although these people did not want Jesus, Jesus was able to send that man back into his community. He went into that community, and the Bible tells us he "told all over town how much Jesus had done for him."

Now, this man was not theologically trained. He had just been healed of demon possession and become a believer, and yet, Jesus told him something simple. You go. "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." That, he could do. He could tell the people the great things God had done for him.

There may be people in your life, who are afraid of Jesus and so they don't go to church. They don't read His Word. But, Jesus tells us, each of us, "You go home. Go home and tell them the great things God has done for you."

You work with people that the rest of us may not work with.

You go to school with people that the rest of us may not go to school with.

You are in a club the rest of us may not be in club with.

You have family members the rest of us don't have as family members.

Go home

and tell them

the great things God has done

for you!

This past week we had Synod Convention in Mankato and one of the topics we discussed was evangelism. It was about spreading the Good News of Jesus. A little poll was done at Synod Convention, as to the main reason people, (all of us in our congregations) don't spread the Word of God, don't go into our communities the way we aught to, and tell about Jesus. The number one reason is because we are afraid that we don't know what to say. We are afraid that we might not say the right thing, or might not know the right answer.

I want you to think about two things. First of all is this. What is the destination of the unbelievers in our communities, right now? There is a terrible battle going. And so as long as they are unbelievers, they are members of Satan's Kingdom. They belong to the kingdom of the devil. And, their destination is Hell. Their eternal destination is damnation.

So, what if you stumble in what you say to them?

What if you don't find the exact words that you were looking for?

What if your presentation to them doesn't come off like a pastor, and it’s just very simple?

You can't say anything to them that is going to make their destination worse than it already is.

Right now,

their destination is Hell.

We don't have to be afraid of talking to them. And the simple message is what Jesus said to the man He healed,

"Tell how much God has done for you."

He has done great things for you. God has done great things in your life and you know what they are.

I know a lady who is in the hospital, right now. Somebody came and interviewed her, because miraculously, she is doing far better than anybody expected. When they interviewed her, the first thing they asked was, "Why are you doing so well?"

Her first response was, "I have been on my knees, praying harder to my Savior than I have ever prayed before!"

What an opportunity for her to tell the great things that God has done for her - an opportunity to simply share her faith.

To simply share your faith, pray to God for opportunities to somehow get spirituality into your conversations, that God would open a door, that He would give you the words to say, that He would open their hearts to the words you say. It can be as simple as inviting them to come to church. Or, it can get much more detailed than that.

I know one of our members, who looks for spiritual ways to get into spiritual conversations with people, was talking to a neighbor. I don't know what they were talking about, but they didn't know the answer to something, so our member said, "Well, I will find out when I get to Heaven."

This neighbor who was an unbeliever, then asked, "How do you know that you are going to be in Heaven?"

Wow! What an open door! What an open door to tell the great things that God had done, for her! So, she simply told the great things that God had done.

And, what are the great things that God has done? We are sinners. We sin against God by thought, word, and deed. We deserve God's eternal punishment. And, even unbelievers know that. They may not acknowledge it, but they know it, because they have a conscious. To put it so simply and plainly, the great thing that God has done for us is,

He sent His Son, His own Son.

His Son came to the cross.

His Son took every sin that we have ever committed.

His Son was punished for every sin.

His Son made full payment for every sin.

God has declared us forgiven, for Jesus' sake.

Heaven is wide open to all who believe in Jesus, as their only Savior. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. That is the awesome great thing that God has done for us!

And, we can say to our unbelieving friends, "Therefore, I am not afraid to have Jesus in my life. I am not afraid. He died for me. He purchased me. He has given me a home in Heaven. I am not afraid to have Him be in control in the direction of my life, because He is only going to do what is best for me. I am not afraid to submit my will to His Will in scripture, because His way of thinking is so far beyond mine and it is always best. I am not afraid to give up those sins that I used to have in my life, that I used to cope with life. Now I realize they are only bondage. Now I am free to live for my Savior and cope, through His Word!"

What great things God has done for us! This man went home and he told throughout the whole town the great things that God has done for him! May God grant us, (whether it is a simple little statement to someone about our faith, whether it is praying for them, day by day that God would give us the words to say to them, or whether it is a full blown Law and Gospel presentation we make to them), may God send us out and say, "Return home. Return home and tell how much God has done for you!"
For Christ's sake,

Amen.