GOSPEL LESSON: Luke 8:26-39 [Jesus casts the demon into the herd of pigs.]

Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me." For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.)

Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion," for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.

The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

In the time of Jesus, many diseases were blamed on being possessed by evil spirits. Fevers, epilepsy, schizophrenia, mood disorders, accidents, bad luck, etc, could all be blamed on evil spirits or demons. Modern doctors do not speak this way anymore. In the Christian church, most of us believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to conquer those evil spirits, so we do not think about or worry about evil spirits at all. Some people in the world fear evil spirits or the spirits of dead people and ancestors that might return to do harm. But we in the Christian church know that our dead loved ones are with the Lord, and so we do not fear them. The Bible talks about the devil and demons and evil sprits, so we must admit that they do exist. But usually we do not blame things on evil spirits; rather we usually find medical or physical causes and cures. Or we find mental or spiritual problems and try to cure people with counseling and prayer and the Word of God. But whether our problems are physical, mental, or spiritual, whether we are crazy or not, we find ourselves in a situation like the man nicknamed "Legion."

We try to hide our craziness. We try to hide our problems. When Jesus met the man named "Legion," Jesus exposed something deeper than his wild behavior. He exposed the demons. This made the man afraid. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me." For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. �c. Many demons had entered him. And the demons begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Many people say something similar today. When their sin is exposed, they tell people to leave them alone. When they are challenged by Jesus, they want the church to stay out of their "private" lives. In the Bible story, the town's people had tried to control the crazy man. They had kept him under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert. We try to control our problems. Or we try to control the problems of others by making rules and other boundaries. But we break loose. And then it like being wild in the desert with no one to help us. But do we want the help of Jesus or not? Do we want to lose the sin we like? Do we enjoy being crazy?

But sending Jesus away is completely crazy! We fear the abyss of hell and know that God's judgment will put us there, so we plead for God not to destroy us. But unfortunately our sin will destroy us. And we are crazy not to see that, apart from God, our sin will drive us off the cliff and lead us straight into the abyss.

We may be crazy, but it seems that God is even crazier. Look at Jesus! The Pharisees and other people thought that he was beside himself, out of his mind. He talked about the love of God. He talked about loving the enemy. Jesus willingly takes our sin, takes our torment, is stripped naked and nailed to the cross. He heard demonic voices that tried to persuade him to come down off the cross. "Save yourself if you are the Savior!" But Jesus willingly surrendered himself to the abyss in his death. He is vindicated by the Father. He is raised on the third day. It sounds crazy that someone can rise to new life. But this is the wisdom of God.

And because Jesus has conquered sin, the devil, and the abyss of hell, we can be rid of the demons that are in our lives. We jump off the cliff, into the waters of baptism. And now the Holy Spirit is in our hearts and so we do not drown, but rather rise to new life.

When we trust in God's word and promise, the world will judge us as crazy. That is because we who are freed now help free others. We see the people in our society who are living in the tombs in shame and chained because of the demons in their lives, the various problems they have. We reach out and unchain them. We clothe them with God's righteousness (Gal. 3:27). We feed them with the Word of God. We give them the bread of life and give them the cup of salvation to drink. We share the good news with them and call them "sister" and "brother." We baptized them. It may seem scary to jump off the cliff into the lake of baptism, but first we confess that Jesus is our Savior. We see the other Christians who have taken the plunge. We see that the Bible is not crazy. We see the love of Jesus Christ.

I like the last part of this Gospel story. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. We too want to go with Jesus. But we know that Jesus is always with us. We too can tell those we know "How much Jesus has done for us." And people will believe us when they see us clothed and in our right mind and see how the Holy Spirit is in our lives.

Amen.

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