Sermon from January 21, 2024 by the Rev. Dr. Tara W. Bulger

Mark 5:1-20

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when (Jesus) had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man— out of the tombs with an unclean—spirit met him.

(The man) lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones.

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; and he shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” For (Jesus) had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.

Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; and the unclean spirits begged him, “Send us into the swine; let us enter them.” So (Jesus) gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea.

The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood.

As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. But Jesus refused, and said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.” And (the man) went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

All the Distractions

Sometimes, a story in scripture has so many compelling elements that it can be hard to discern the lesson. Take our story of the Gerasene demoniac: first is the knowledge that this man is a gentile because we have the story taking place "on the other side of the sea in the country of the Gerasenes. One wonders what we are to learn about gentiles in this story. Second, we have the heartbreaking description of the man himself. He is isolated, deeply afflicted, and living in the tombs. He has been in shackles and chains, and yet they cannot hold him. There is a sense of something profoundly evil in this man, and it is heartbreaking and scary to behold.

We also have this weird interlude where we have Jesus sending the evil spirits into the pigs and them going off a cliff. That seems deeply interesting, but most scholars cannot agree on why Jesus does this. In fact, most agree that Mark did not even care why Jesus did this because Mark was trying to tell us something else about Jesus. Mark is less concerned with why Jesus did something and more concerned with showing us this story's importance. This story is about who has the power to control even the evil spirits of the world.

It Is About Power

Right before this passage, Jesus is in the boat with the disciples as they cross the sea. A windstorm arose, and they woke Jesus up and asked, "Do you not care that we are perishing?" Jesus then calmed the wind. And his disciples are left asking, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" Jesus has the power to calm the natural world.

And now we come to the demoniac--the man enslaved by this legion of evil spirits. In our story, the first thing that happens is that the evil spirits recognize and fear Jesus. "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God; do not torment me." They know who Jesus is and the power he holds over them. Jesus speaks to the spirits, has no fear of them, and then sends them out of the man.

Jesus has power over the evil spirits and banishes them. For the townspeople who witness this it is every bit as frightening as the demoniac himself. Evil they know, but this Jesus is doing a new thing.

Evil In Our World

There is so much evil in our world, but we don't often use that language, do we? Evil is at the root of addiction, poverty, and injustice. That which enslaves just like the Gerasense Demoniac was enslaved. Evil resides in lying, vitriol, jealousy, and a love of money and success more than people. Evil enslaves us, and sometimes, we don't even know that we are bound.

But the Good News of this story of Mark's gospel, the Good News that we each have to share in our lives is that God can redeem even the evil things that happen in our lives.

Opal Lee

Opal Lee, a black woman from Fort Worth, Texas, knows this. Opal is an active 97-year-old retired teacher and community activist in Ft. Worth. When asked about getting older, Opal said, "We don't have to sit around and wait for the Lord to come for us. Fact is, He's going to have to catch me." Opal has seen some things in her 97 years: some lovely and wonderful things and some awful and dark things. But none was darker than what happened to her family when she was 12.

The year was 1939, and Opal and her family bought a new house and moved into an all-white neighborhood. They had lived there for five days when a mob showed up. That mob destroyed the house and everything in it, setting it on fire, all while a crowd gathered to watch. Opal and her family were left with nothing. They left Ft. Worth and tried to forget all that had happened to them, and Opal didn't return for almost eight decades.

But as she was in her nineties, she didn't want the evil of that night to have the last word. She went back to Ft. Worth, went to the address of that house, and found a vacant lot. She found out who owned the lot and called to ask if she could buy it.

She was told she could not buy the lot because Habitat for Humanity owned it and would not sell it to her. But out of the Christian heart of that organization, after hearing her story, they told her they would give her the lot and build her a house on it, too. That's where she lives to this day.

Jesus Can Redeem Evil

Jesus has power over all evil and can redeem even the worst and darkest stories. Jesus can take what was once only a memory of pain and bitterness and bring new life out of it. He did it for Opal, and he does it for us too. There is no darkness we have faced or will face that Jesus is not there, with the power to heal and to save. I don't know why God allows evil in our world, but I do know that Jesus Christ has power over all of it.

We Have To Tell the Story

Just like Opal told her story, notice too that the Gerasene demoniac, healed and in his right mind, notice that he wants to follow Jesus. All the other townspeople have fled in fear, but this man whom Jesus has healed has a story to tell. Jesus tells him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you." That's what he does. He tells everyone in the Decapolis what Jesus has done for him. He tells them who has the power over the evil in the world.

May we each remember that there is no evil so great that Jesus Christ cannot redeem it, no darkness so dim that Jesus cannot bring light to it. May you be comforted by this and share your own story of its truth. May God deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.