I am told that my great grandfather was an orphan. He lived at an orphanage in Canada, and in those days the orphanage would organize what’s called an Orphanage Train. The orphanage would put kids in box cars, and take them to cities where they would offer them up for adoption.
It’s hard for me to imagine having my life being given up to so much chance and risk. It’s hard for me to think about children being shipped from city to city like food or farm animals, and being handed out here and there. But, apparently that’s what happened.
So, my great grandfather arrived at a city called Winnipeg. He got adopted on the spot by my great-great grandfather, who happened to be the town drunk.
Remember my great-great grandfather? Well one night, my he stumbled out of a bar and onto the street where the Salvation Army was holding an open air (an outdoor church service). The preacher gave a call for anyone who would to confess their sin and receive forgiveness through Jesus. Right there, my great-great grandfather knelt, prayed and was instantly healed of alcoholism.
Because of that my great-great grandfather and his newly adopted son got connected to the Salvation Army. Then my grandfather became an officer (pastor) in the Army, and my Dad did too, and here I am working for the Army.
I tell that story because healing is what God does. He wants to take our mess and turn it around. If we let him.
Mark 5:1-15
1 So they arrived at the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from a cemetery to meet him. 3 This man lived among the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with a chain. 4 Whenever he was put into chains and shackles—as he often was—he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones.
6 When Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him, ran to meet him, and bowed low before him. 7 With a shriek, he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had already said to the spirit, “Come out of the man, you evil spirit.”
9 Then Jesus demanded, “What is your name?”
And he replied, “My name is Legion, because there are many of us inside this man.” 10 Then the evil spirits begged him again and again not to send them to some distant place.
11 There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby. 12 “Send us into those pigs,” the spirits begged. “Let us enter them.”
13 So Jesus gave them permission. The evil spirits came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd of 2,000 pigs plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water.
14 The herdsmen fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran. People rushed out to see what had happened. 15 A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. He was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid.
So Jesus and his disciples are traveling across the lake and come to a region called the Gerasenes. As soon as they get out of the boat they were traveling in, a man, who is described as “a man with an evil spirit”, came out to meet Jesus.
I we can identify with this man more than we let on.
-He lived in the tombs alone (loneliness and isolation).
-He was often chained up, hand and foot, presumably by others, but was too strong, breaking even the irons on his feet (addictions, bad habits).
-He howled at the moon and yelled out loud, for no apparent reason (we freak out for no reason).
-He cuts himself with stones. He’s a cutter.
He’s got issues. He’s got baggage. Can you relate to that? He’s someone who obviously has his fair share of problems and pain.
Jesus just happens to run into this crazy mess in human form. And he gets out of the boat, and meets this guy. And we’re told that the first thing that Jesus says to the man is: “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!”
I think sometimes we are afraid to come to God, to bring our mess to him, because we are afraid that he’ll reject us. We see in this story that Jesus meets this man and goes directly for what’s wrong with him. It’s important to Jesus! He wants to deal with our sin! He loves us too much to leave us the way we are.
Now, interestingly enough, we find out in verse 9 that Jesus is dealing with not just one demon, but multiple demons that had taken up residence inside this man. We know this because the evil spirit tells Jesus that his name is Legion. A legion was the largest division of troops in the Roman army, numbering anywhere from 3,000-6,000 men. In the very least, this guy had a lot of demons inside him. He was really messed up.
The demons actually seem to be afraid of Jesus and they actually beg him to send them in to a herd of pigs so that they can jump off a cliff and die. And it actually says that Jesus gave them permission to do that!
If Jesus has authority over a legion of demons, he has the authority to deal with whatever sin we have.
I think we all come to certain point in life at times when ask ourselves if we’re too far gone, if we’ve maybe done too much wrong and that there’s no recovery, no way to make things better again. But that’s not true. It’s happened in my family, and it can happen to you. Like a man in a cemetery, or a kneeling drunk. It’s all possible.