Who is the best, or worst, monster ever? Do you have one in mind- a movie

Transcription

1 Luke 8:26-39 The Monster Who is the best, or worst, monster ever? Do you have one in mind- a movie monster, or one from literature, from mythology or fairy tales or comic books, or from your own imagination or your nightmares, perhaps? There have certainly been some real life monsters throughout the world s history and even in our times, who have ruled nations and brought war and torture and destruction; and in our political climate these days, some people on one side may consider politicians and commentators on the other side, or companies and organizations, to be monsters. This man in our scripture, the Gerasene demoniac, I believe meets the criteria as a monster. He is completely nuts- doesn t wear clothing, lives in the graveyard, must have spoken incoherently (in our story, it is the demons who speak and not he); he is unbelievably strong- and fierce and fearsome according to the account in the gospel of Matthew; in fact, I think the author wants us to see him as inhuman. So I think he qualifies for our list of great monsters. We could read this story as just one more miracle by Jesus- albeit a big one - except that there are some strange elements in the tale, and some reactions that may be unexpected. It looks like Jesus doesn t even break a sweat, casting out these demons- even if there were several or dozens or hundreds of demons

2 possessing this man, or if you prefer a psychological approach to this story, several or dozens of different personalities living in his confused mind. But we can see immediately that Jesus has won the battle. The first thing the demons do is to beg Jesus to leave them alone. Here is the terrifying beast cowering before gentle Jesus. Although that shouldn t be too surprising. If we were reading Luke s gospel straight through, we would just now have finished the amazing story of Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee and his disciples asking in fear and astonishment who is this with such power over the natural forces. Just like the people here who were seized with great fear because of his supernatural power over the spirit world, or his superior control over a chaotic psyche, and so they ask him to leave. I think we need to come to this story thinking of Jesus who, just moments before, had stilled the wind and the waves, and of his disciples who are afraid and trying to figure out who he is. And now here is the monster who recognizes Jesus and confesses him as the Son of the Most High ; and here as well, the normal Gerasenes who are afraid- not of the monster, but of Jesus, the peaceable man who cured him. We need to look at what happened to the monster and to the other citizens of the city.

3 They are the two main characters of the story- along with Jesus, of coursethe man whom we first meet as the monster, and the people of the city and the region. We perhaps should see the man at the beginning as an outcast- he isn t a subtle, charming monster like Dracula, or like the serpent who tempted Adam and Eve in the garden. Rather, he is violent and antisocial, but who nevertheless is overpowered by the strength of God and made human again. The people come and find him healed (the Greek word in verse 36 can mean made whole, or saved, or rescued); they find him in his right mind (that is, he is in control and sane and clear-headed); and they find him sitting at the feet of Jesus (which is where any disciple would be, at the feet of his teacher). So in this monster-made-human, we see the might of God in Jesus overcoming evil and inhumanity, creating another follower to give him praise, and another resident of the Kingdom of God. And more than anybody else he needs to be a citizen of God s realm, for he doesn t have a home of his own. Remember he was an outcast- didn t live in a house amongst the people, but among the tombs outside the city, but even now he is still an outsider. Jesus has made him human again, but he is the only believer in Jesus in all that land, despite the fact that everyone knew who he was and could see what he is now; regardless that so many beheld the miracle. He is the only one because

4 all the others were afraid and asked Jesus to leave. So the monster is the only one who gets to sit at Jesus feet, and the only one changed and made whole, the only one put into his right mind. That is the great power of Jesus, but its opposite is the power of fear, which seems to surround Jesus in Gerasene. What is there to be afraid of? The monster has been defeated and in his place is a rational, calm man. The people must be afraid of the mighty and inexplicable power Jesus possesses. They knew already the physical strength of the monster, and they knew he could be frightening, but most of the time he hid out at the cemetery, and they didn t have to think about him much. But now here he was maybe possessed by an even greater power- should they be expected to welcome him back? That would be too much to ask- who knows when he might go crazy again! Jesus, it s one thing if you give us miraculous food or if you want to preach a rousing sermon, but we don t need any big changes in our part of the world. The people seem to fear any break from the status quo, and they are confident they can deal with the occasional monster. A very familiar sentiment. But maybe there is more to be afraid of. Not just the fear of change, but the price of change. The herdsmen had seen the pigs jump off the cliff; that was part of the story they told to everyone. And now their fear was that healing and good

5 news would be too costly. Perhaps they are thinking it s really ok for a certain amount of suffering and poverty, that s just collateral damage; and some percentage of unemployment and sickness and homelessness is just the way the world works, and keeps society running smoothly. But if we lose a herd with every healing, we ll go bankrupt. Well, how much is a human being worth? More than a herd of pigs? Jesus seems to think so. Is this man s health worth more than another person s wealth? These people- and they are pretty much like the rest of us- don t want to share in the struggles of the monster, they just want him out of the way. And perhaps that is what creates the monster: rather than caring for him, they merely cast him out, and when the moon is full, or he causes trouble, they arrest him and tie him up; until he breaks free and runs away to where he won t bother them for a while, where his is out of sight and they needn t think about him for a while. The point here is not that the people could have helped the man possessed, but that they sent away the only one who could help, and thus show themselves to be the monster, unloving to the difficult person and ungrateful to the healer. Note that when they ask Jesus to leave, they are doing exactly what the demons ask in verse 28 at the first part of the story, do not torment us, just leave us alone. And

6 yet, he has come to heal and to save, has come to call them- and us- into the fellowship of caring for one another; come to show us what our lives, and the lives of others, are worth. I think I like the monster in Young Frankenstein best. He s the one monster who never really hurt anyone, even though he is over seven feet tall and has an abbynormal brain; but the people of the village hate and fear him and want to kill him. Until Dr. Frankenstein performs the brain transfer, and we see him at the end of the movie no longer a hulking, voiceless brute, but intelligent, reading the Wall St. Journal, and married to the Doctor s former fiancée, while Doctor Frankenstein is on his honeymoon with his beautiful assistant. Our story in Luke doesn t finish with a romantic, comical ending. The man is healed, yes, and he is made Jesus disciple, but he doesn t receive his greatest wish. He had asked to go with Jesus, but Jesus says to go home and tell all the good things God had done for him. So he finally gets his home back. But he is still the outsider. He is the only one in all the country who follows Jesus, because everyone else was afraid and sent Jesus away. They had refused the grace of God that was right in front of them. But even so, Jesus has left them with another

7 chance. The monster, now a man, sane and thankful and loyal, goes about the city telling them all that Jesus had done for him. This is the opportunity the Lord gives to us all. Weren t we all monsters once, and aren t we sometimes monsters still? Full of pride or rage, self-pity, or self-righteousness and prejudice sometimes? And yet, he makes us whole and human, makes us his own; forgives and never stops loving; and commands us to go out and tell what he has done for us. And so, by his grace we will make sisters and brothers and friends of the monsters who live around us. If we are not afraid, he will heal them and win them over with his love.