God’s Power In Us
Ann Beaty
Tarrytown United Methodist Church
June 20, 2010
Text: Luke 8:26-39
Sometimes we have a really special spiritual experience in life like a Walk to Emmaus weekend, or like the mission trip our senior high youth just took to Guatemala, and in that experience we are made very aware of the awesome power of God at work in our lives and in our world.
But the reality is that in our “day to day” life, it can be much more difficult to recognize and live into this transforming power of God. The story in Luke’s gospel helps us see that God’s power, while beyond our human comprehension, HAS the capacity to transform lives – even in the most difficult circumstances and even in the midst of our daily living. What a great word of hope and transformation from our scripture story today!
The whole 8th chapter of Luke’s gospel contains stories about Jesus’ teaching, preaching, and miracle working. All of these stories in their own way point to the authority of Jesus - the one who came to proclaim God’s power. In Luke’s gospel we see Jesus claim power over nature, power over demonic forces, power over illness, and even power over death.
Our story today deals with God’s power working through Jesus to overcome demons. In the story, the demons feared Jesus’ power, the possessed man was saved by Jesus’ power, the neighbors did not know what to make of Jesus’ power, and finally, the possessed man, once healed, is sent out to declare God’s power to others.
The story begins with Jesus’ arrival in the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galillee. This is significant because it indicates that he was in new territory and was among Gentiles – those who were not believers and those who had not been witnessing his ministry.
The first one to greet Jesus as he stepped out onto the land was a man who was in great torment. He was considered so possessed by demons, so worn out and distressed that he wore no clothes and lived among the tombs. He lived as an outcast in his community. He was so feared that he was often bound by shackles and kept under guard. We aren’t told the cause of this mans affliction, but there is no doubt regarding its intensity. His life was essentially out of his control.
But, something in him recognizes Jesus and he must have known or sensed his power because he drops down before him. Demons and all, he falls at the feet of Jesus in hopes of tapping into his healing power.
The demons that this man lives with are strong. They beg Jesus not to be ordered back into the abyss – into nothingness. What good is a demon if it doesn’t have something to attach itself to?
I want to say a word here about demons as they were described in the New Testament and at least one way we might understand that today. Demons were thought to be various spiritual beings that worked to get between God and humans. Sometimes they are also referred to as “evil spirits” or “unclean spirits”. In that ancient culture, they didn’t have the understanding of physical or mental illness that we have today, and so anyone suffering with either physical deformities or mental illness was sadly often labeled as embodying a “demon.”
In reading this particular story with our contemporary understanding, it seems that this man may have had some sort of severe mental illness, but we really don’t know.
In a bigger more general sense, however, they were aware, just as we are today, that evil does exist in the world and presents itself in many forms. Do we still talk about demons or evil, unclean spirits today? Yes – different Christian traditions try to explain it differently, but we, in the UMC, address it every time we participate in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.
In our baptism liturgy, we ask these 2 questions of anyone taking the vows of Christian discipleship:
Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin?
Do you accept the freedom and POWER God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?
In answering these questions, we acknowledge that “evil forces” exist and present in the world in different ways. And we say that we renounce all that is evil and that only with freedom and POWER from God, can we confront and deal with our demons – whatever they are.
So, it seems to me, taking the lead from our baptismal liturgy, that a demon, an unclean spirit, an evil spirit, is any force, power, or struggle that gets in the way of us experiencing the power of God’s transforming grace.
In God’s transforming grace experienced in relationship with Jesus, the demons that had plagued this man for so long were gone, not simply driven away, but destroyed. As for this man, his life was visibly changed; he was no longer a victim, but a victor, transformed and given a new chance at life by this one that the demons had called the “Son of the most High God”.
The neighboring people who are told of this story from the swineherds who witnessed it are struck with fear. There in front of them is evidence of God’s power, a gift given for their benefit, and they can’t accept it – they can’t accept the change they see in this man because of their fear.
Author Walter Wink says this: “Exorcism is a cleansing of the mind. We do not always wish to have our minds cleansed, our understandings questioned, our position or place challenged. I believe this is why the villagers are not ecstatic. ‘The system is working fine, thank you. May not be perfect, but we have found a way to manage, so please leave us alone. Do not threaten our sense of management. Do not remove our excuses for why things must be the way they are. Nobody likes a good exorcism.”
So now, the townspeople find this man – no longer possessed by demons – sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Who is this Jesus who has such power? And what might that power do to me? Do I really want to be changed? They are so afraid of this power that they ask Jesus to leave.
I am reminded of a great quote from Nelson Mandela’s Inaugural Speech in 1994:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our greatest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
The man who had been restored to his right mind begs to go with Jesus as he leaves. Little wonder! Here in his own land he has been, literally, no one. What reason is there for him to remain? Yet, while Jesus regularly invites persons; “Follow me”, this time he commands this man to stay and “declare how much God has done for you.”
Rather than take him on to further journeys, he sends him back to his own people, to serve as WITNESS to all that has transpired. The healing, transforming power of Jesus is now IN him and he is being asked to stay, return to his own home, and declare how much God has done for him.
He’s being called to “let his light shine and in sharing that transforming power, call forth that light from others to liberate them from their fears.”
For years, the church membership vow for all United Methodist Churches was this: Will you be loyal to the United Methodist church? Will you support the ministries of this local congregation with your prayers, your presence, your gifts, and your service. At General Conference 2008 – the body that makes decisions in the larger UM church changed that vow to include “witness”. So, now, it reads: Will you support the ministries of this church with your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, and your witness?
We can answer yes because we don’t do this of our own power. We do it with the authority of God’s transforming and healing power at work in us – calling out our demons, restoring and strengthening us in body, mind, and spirit, and then sending us out in our community and into the world to “witness” that power for others.
Sometimes we witness with our “words” – we tell others what God’s transforming power has done in our lives through Jesus. Sometimes we witness with our words by sharing the scriptures we others. Sometimes we witness with our “being” – because we have a deep prayer life with God, others are drawn to us, like the demoniac was drawn to Jesus, because they sense a power, a presence in us that they long to experience in their own lives.
Sometimes we witness with our actions – we go out and we ARE bodily the transforming power of God’s love in the world – through a kind word, through making a sandwich at the homeless shelter, through helping to build a home, through preparing a meal, and sometimes through experiences like going to Guatemala and sharing the transforming power of God with those in great need.
Sometimes, we are called to journey to new and unfamiliar places in us and in the world in response to God’s call. At other times following Jesus may mean staying where we are, bearing witness to the mighty acts of God we have experienced first hand in our own lives.
Let me remind us again of the vow we take when we are baptized or reaffirm our faith to join the church:
Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin?
Do you accept the freedom and POWER God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?
And the 3rd question is this:
Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as your Lord, in union with the church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races?
We renounce that which is evil only in the transforming power of God and in that power in relationship with Jesus Christ, we CAN put our whole trust in God’s grace as we move into our daily life to witness, declare, and serve in love.
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