August 10, 2003
When we looked at how Jesus healed the centurion’s servant, we noted that
as we have entered into the kingdom of God, we have entered into a parallel
universe. It is very much like the parallel universe of fantasy literature.
Only this is real.
One of the characteristics of parallel universes in literature is that they
consist of unknown powers. They run by different power.
Likewise, one of the things that is true of adventurers in a parallel universe
is that they have to learn to live by a different power. This is usually difficult.
And so it is in the kingdom of God.
Peter said it this way: “His divine power had given us everything we
need for life and godliness, through our knowledge of him who called through
his own glory and goodness.”
What does it mean to know God? That’s what living in the kingdom of God
right now is all about. It means learning to live a different way than how
we did before. It means living a different way than the people around us.
It means counting on a new power in our lives, the power of Jesus Christ.
This is not easy. It takes faith, and it takes perseverance. We are living
in a kingdom that the people around us know little about, and have little
use for. But we are called to enter fully into that kingdom. We are to learn
about that kingdom. We are to learn about its power, and learn about its values.
Just like anything else, we learn best by experience. We learn new skills
not usually by reading about them only, but by actually putting them into
practice.
This is how Jesus taught the twelve disciples. This is how Jesus teaches
us today. He takes us through kingdom orientation trips that help us to learn
about the new values and the new power of His kingdom.
As we begin to understand that, the gospels come alive to us in a new way,
because we realize that the same orientation trips the disciples are experiencing
are the same ones we are going through. Jesus, present with us through the
Spirit of God, is training us the same way now as He did them - if we will
look for Him and expect Him to be at work.
With that in mind, let’s look at a particular training trip that Jesus took
the disciples on, that teaches them in a hands-on way truths about this new
parallel universe they are now a part of.
Turn to Luke 8:22-39
First of all, we must understand the significance of crossing the lake from
the west to the east. The west side of the Sea of Galilee is where every Jewish
boy could play with his mother’s blessing. But they were headed toward the
east side of the lake where every Jewish mother instructed her children that
they must never go! That is the land of the Gentiles. It is the land of darkness.
It is a land that is unclean. And if you go there, terrible things will happen
to you because it is a God-forsaken place.
So as Jesus gets the disciples into the boat, and gives instructions as
to where they are going, their minds become uneasy. They have a sense of
foreboding, of impending doom.
Understand that just by going to the land of the Gentiles, Jesus was shaking
up everything that the disciples had been taught about how to live for God.
They had been taught that you stay away from the accursed Gentiles. Granted,
if you look closely at the Old Testament, it is clear that God has always
been interested in reaching out to the Gentiles. This is why Jesus was so
distraught that the money-changers were filling the court of the Gentiles.
Any sense of the need to reach out to Gentiles had been buried in centuries
of callous disregard, as the whole definition of being holy had taken on mostly
a sense of whom you stayed away from.
But Jesus gives instructions about where they are going and then goes to
sleep.
Their feelings of impending doom and foreboding are realized in spades.
One of the horrific storms that the shallow lake of Galilee is famous for
comes swooping down on the disciples. And remember, some of these disciples
are seasoned sailors, and yet this storm is so bad that they fear for their
lives. And Jesus is awakened and rebukes the storms, and the disciples,
once again, are left dumbfounded. “Who is this? He commands even the
winds and the water and they obey him.”
I’m sure that the disciples, after their nerves had settled down were hoping
that Jesus would say, “Okay, let’s go back. That was a close call.”
But they are disappointed. Jesus reaffirms their destination. The region
of the Gerasenes. The dreaded land of the Gentiles.
And they learn an important practical kingdom lesson. There is no place
that Jesus Christ will not go.
Do you believe that? I want to challenge you to really think about that.
This means there is no set of circumstances, no kind of temptations or difficulty,
no condition of heart or mind, in which Jesus Christ will not go.
It is said that familiarity breeds contempt. Well, more commonly, familiarity
breeds dullness. We are so accustomed to hearing that God is with us through
Jesus, do we really think about what that means in our day-to-day lives?
It gives us a new kingdom perspective about how we live. Why, it’s almost
like living in another world, isn’t it?
What if you made it a goal in your life over the next year to begin to cultivate
a greater sense of His presence with you everywhere you go? How would that
transform your day-to-day existence?
It would certainly give you a new confidence and optimism about life, would
it not?
David Livingstone, the famous missionary to Africa, was once questioned
about the courage it took to go to all the places he went. His response was
to credit whatever courage he had with his deep and abiding conviction of
Christ’s presence personally with him. He said, and I paraphrase, “Without
Him, not one step; with Him, everywhere.”
There is not a set of circumstances that will deter Him. There is no darkness
so great that He will turn back. The disciples learned a very valuable kingdom
lesson that day: There is no place that Jesus Christ will not go.
Now, you have to see a little humor in where they land. They land at a pig
farm, or at least within sight and sound of a pig farm. Can you imagine the
disciples, good Jewish boys, as they tiptoed along, trying not to step in
the pig doo?
I am sure they were thinking, “Jesus has done some radical things, but doesn’t
He know that just being here is ceremonially unclean. And now we won’t be
able to worship in the temple. We are going to get pig manure on our sandals.
I mean, a pig is the quintessential picture of uncleanness.”
My brother won a county-wide pig growing contest. And his name and picture
were in the paper. And he got a nasty letter from a Jewish person telling
him what a terrible thing he was doing by raising pigs. What a shameful thing
to do.
But whatever thoughts like this were going through the disciples’ minds,
they were short-lived because of what happened next.
All of a sudden they heard a terrible sound, almost inhuman, and they look
up to see this man coming toward them.
This was Jesus’ first prospect. And the disciples learn another kingdom
lesson. There is no person who Jesus will not help.
There were some problems with this man. To begin with, he had no clothes
on, which can be discouraging to some people. I don’t know why people get
hung up about such little things, but some people are a little uncomfortable
meeting a strange man out in a field who doesn’t have any clothes on.
He had chains hanging on him. People had tried to bind him, but he broke
the chains. We learn in one of the other gospel accounts he wouldn’t let anyone
pass that area, Presumably he had hurt or killed people who had tried. And
he was all scarred, not only from his breaking the chains, but from where
he would purposely cut himself.
A great prospect. I mean, this is the person who almost anyone would immediately
target in a new community. Let’s go meet the wild-eyed, crazy man who is public
enemy No. 1!
Not only is there no place that Jesus will not go, there is no person who
He will not help.
Think about the people in your life. Do you think of some people as more
worthy of the gospel than others? Do you think of some people as more likely
to come to know Jesus than others? It’s been my observation that the nice
people around us are usually less likely to come to know Jesus than those
who are not so nice. Remember that there is no one who Jesus cannot touch,
cannot reach, cannot help.
It doesn’t tell us in the text, but I am sure that the disciples were filled
with fear by this time. I am sure that they were all glancing back at the
boat, thinking about making a run for it. Two things kept them from making
a break for the boat. First, none of them wanted
to be the first to run. But secondly, when they turned around from looking
at the boat, they looked at Jesus, and He was looking at this “thing” approaching,
and there was not a trace of fear on His face.
That was enough to keep their feet planted. And they watched an amazing
thing happen. They learned vividly another kingdom lesson. There is no power
that Jesus Christ cannot overcome.
This man comes running up, and instead of jumping on Jesus and attacking
Him, he falls at His feet and this strange voice comes out of him crying,
“What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you,
don’t torture me!” And at the same time they realized that Jesus had been
commanding the evil spirit to come out of the man.
Now, the demons address Jesus as the Most High God. This is a name often
used in the Bible by pagans. In the Old Testament it is usually used by non-Israelites.
But it is right. He is the Most High God. And these demons, who are able
to easily make this man do anything they want him to, not only bow before
Christ, but they fear Him.
There may be a lot of confusion in our world about the spirit world, there
may be a lot of confusion about the power of Satan, but there is absolutely
no confusion among the demons about Who is in charge!
They know that at the appearance of Jesus Christ, they have met the Son
of God!
They believe that God exists, and they tremble. They call Him by the name
that is self-evident to them: the Most High God.
There is absolutely no power that Jesus Christ cannot overcome.
Are you nursing weaknesses that shame you and that defeat you? Are there
areas in your life, patterns of behavior or habits of heart and mind that
you know need to be changed, but they are so much a part of you that you cannot
even imagine being transformed into the kind of person you would like to
be?
If this man can be changed, then God can change you. It’s that simple. That
is what we are supposed to learn here. There is no power, there is no habit,
there is no behavior pattern that can stand before Jesus Christ. Remember
what Peter wrote. His divine power has given us everything we need for
life and godliness.
It appears that Jesus is being the perfect gentleman here. The demons beg
to let them go into the pigs. And He gives them permission.
But then look what happens. The whole herd of pigs rushes to its death.
So far from giving anything to the demons, Jesus shows in a striking way
His total domination of them. Even as He appears to give them their way,
their haven is immediately destroyed.
But the most important thing here is that Jesus allowed the people to see
a visual demonstration of what was happening. How much more dramatic and convincing
when as soon as the demons left the man and entered the pigs, the pigs charged
down the hill to their destruction.
And look at the response here. “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."
What were the people afraid of? Was it the fear of God in their midst? Was
it because they realized that this must indeed be God, and so they were convinced
of their uncleanness and unworthiness? We are not told in the text. But we
get some idea from what they did. They asked Jesus to leave.
Jesus had just taken care of the biggest problem in their community. And
they saw this man who for years had been terrifying the community sitting
there in his right mind.
But they did not even want to hear what Jesus had to say. Why?
Because they were afraid. They didn’t want their lives to be shaken up.
They did not want to have to change their ways. They did not want to have
their own little world turned upside down. They didn’t even want Jesus to
speak to them, or hear what He might say. Just leave, Jesus. Just get out
of here.
Someone experienced a loss that day. Someone lost a lot of money. I am talking
about whomever owned those pigs! Was Jesus cruel? No. Remember, Jesus is the
Lord of the universe. He owns all. He was only using what belonged to Him.
One of the things that Jesus does mercifully in the lives of people is to
allow some suffering, or some loss, or some difficulties, for the very purpose
of giving us something that is transcendently valuable. Himself.
This summer I met for the first time as an adult, my great uncle’s grandson,
whose name is Bill. I remember when he was born when I was in Junior High.
I had a fairly long conversation with him. He was obviously a Christian.
Now the amazing thing is I knew both his father, and his grandfather. Let
me just tell you that they were very obviously not Christian people. He did
not have any Christian heritage.
I did not have a chance to ask him about that. But I do know this. His father’s
wedding was the first wedding I ever remember going to when I was in grade
school. Not long after his marriage, his wife, Bill’s mom, became mentally
ill. She has to this day never fully recovered. So this young man grew up
in less than ideal circumstances.
Undoubtedly, this created difficulties in his life. Undoubtedly, this had
something to do with why he is a Christian today.
We always learn the best through the tough things, the difficulties that
God brings into our lives. It’s just the way we are. Jesus opens our hearts
to Him through these things.
These people respond very badly. Just leave, Jesus.
Jesus appears to give up. Jesus told His disciples to get into the boat.
They want us to leave. We will leave.
I’m sure that the disciples were probably not that unhappy to leave.
But then something happened that reveals that Jesus had not given up at
all.
They get ready to get in the boat and take off, and the man who had just
been delivered from legions of demons begs them to take him with them.
This is certainly understandable. Just out of sheer love and gratitude,
this man would naturally want to stick with Jesus.
And in a way, it almost seems hard-hearted of Jesus to not let him go with
them. It certainly would have benefited the man to have gone and spent some
time with Jesus and His disciples.
Jesus tells all of us what He is telling this man personally. “Go and make
disciples – Go and make disciples and I will be with you.”
Jesus’ strategy for total domination is exercised not by taking the demoniac
in the boat but by leaving him there.
Jesus has a little ordination service right there at the shoreline before
He gets into the boat and the disciples row off.
Jesus commissioned that man right there to go back to his home, and tell
(literally evangelize) the people what God had done for him.
We read in the next verse that the man began to tell. What’s the word tell?
It’s the same word that means "preach." He did not just go to his immediate
family, but we are told he went all over town and began to tell people what
God had done.
This is an example of what Jesus taught us to pray in the Sermon on the
Mount. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
This is the wonder of the kingdom of God on earth. God brings His will to
earth through us. He brings His grace to the people around us, His help, His
truth, His compassion, His healing, His presence--all of this through us.
We need to see this man’s commissioning as our commissioning.
I have a couple of CDs of a singer by the name of Sarah McLachlan. I like
her voice, and I like her songs. They are poetic and have insight into the
depths of what it means to be a human. The first CD we got from her, there
were some songs on there I wondered might have a Christian meaning behind
them.
Well, maybe others wondered the same. The next CD answered that question
without any doubt. The first song was called Dear God, which is a stinging
and clear denial of belief in the God of the Bible, and mocks this God as
being unworthy of belief, mainly, it seems because of the suffering that
is so much a part of the world.
Some of the words include:
Dear God, Hope you got the letter and I pray that you can make it better
down here, I don’t mean a big reduction in the price of beer. And all the
people who you made in your image, see them starving on their feet, cause
they don’t get enough to eat, from God.
Dear God, sorry to disturb you but I feel that I should be heard loud and
clear, We all need a big reduction in the amount of tears and all the people
that you made in your image, See them fighting in the streets, because they
can’t make opinions meet, about God.
The answer Jesus gives to that charge seems to be very clear here. He has
ordained it, for us who live in His kingdom to be His hands and His truth
and His will extended.
Mahatma Gandhi studied as a young man in England. He looked closely at Christianity
as practiced around him in Great Britain, and he remarked that if only Christians
would live according to their belief in the teachings of Jesus, “We all
would become Christians.”
Those Christians were living according to their beliefs in Jesus. They did
not believe him. They did not believe that Jesus Christ wanted to live His
life through them, and to make their hand His hands, and their minds His mind,
and their feet His feet, and their eyes His eyes, and so forth.
The history of the church bears out the fact that where Christians actually
believe that God wants to use their lives, amazing things happen. The people
who complain that God isn’t doing anything about human suffering shut up –
because they see Christ’s compassion and power and love pouring through His
people.
Four great truths about this parallel universe we live in called the kingdom
of God. Four great truths about the new power we have access to because we
live in that kingdom. These are all truths we need to learn how to live out
in the day-to-day details that make up our lives.
There is no place Christ will not go.
There is
no person Christ will not help.
There
is no power Christ cannot overcome.
There is no person Christ cannot use.
Christ’s strategy for world domination is realized by mobilizing His people.
They begged Jesus to leave. And He got in His boat and left. But not really.
Because He left behind someone who would become His heart and mind and hands
extended.