All right, final sermon in Luke. Maybe for a while. Maybe we'll have to come back to it, because I quite enjoyed this series. It's nice to look at a book kind of as the story reveals itself, to work your way through. You learn new things when you follow a story as it's presented versus jumping around all over scripture. And that's been a good thing, and it's been a gift to me. And I've heard from many of you that you've appreciated it as well. Anyways, let's read the text. It's Luke 8, 26, I think, to 39. Yeah, 26 to 39.
"They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time, this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, 'What do you want with me, Jesus, son of the most high God? I beg you, don't torture me.' For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him. And though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places. Jesus asked him, 'What is your name?' 'Legion,' he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the abyss.
"A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs. And he gave them permission. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. 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. So he got into the boat and left. The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, 'Return home and tell how much God has done for you.' So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him."
This is the word of the Lord.
What's interesting is, as I was reading that, I felt something click, and something was revealed to me that I didn't get in my week of study. I'm like, "Oh, wow. That's, I hadn't thought about it like that." It's amazing how scripture can do that. We'll see if it makes it into the message or not. But it's really interesting how that can happen, how I was kind of struck just even reading it to you now. I've probably read it 15 times this week.
So what I'm going to do this morning, as I kind of take us through a study of the passage, is I'm going to take you on the journey that I went on this week as I prepared this message. What I often do is I spend the bulk of my time studying the text, trying to answer questions, trying to figure things out, and then I try to put all of that, like I try to discard pieces and put all of it into something that makes sense. But I wanted to wrestle together with a few of the things that maybe typically I might discard or leave to the side.
And I want to start with a few of those things, because I spent a decent amount of time on this first question. And I think it's an obvious question that you get when you read this text. What's with the pigs? What's going on here? All right, we've got this legion of demons that basically says, "Don't cast us into the abyss." And our best understanding of what the abyss probably is, is it's the underworld, the place of the dead, and often in that culture and timeline they would see that at the bottom of the sea. It's like this unknown, dark, hidden place where dead things go, belong. So in some ways you could interpret this like, "Don't send us into the sea." Okay.
And then the legion says, legion of demons says, "Can we go into the pigs?" And Jesus says yes to this, and then he casts out the demons. They go into the pigs, and then the pigs run into the abyss, or the sea, and they drown. This is puzzling, because some of the obvious questions that come up are like, well, what's going on here? This looks like destruction of property. This looks like a pretty negative thing that's happening. Why would Jesus let this happen?
Spent a long time trying to figure out an answer to this question. And I have to tell you, I didn't really get anywhere too tangible. I found some answers. There were some people who were confident they had figured it out, but it just didn't end up carrying a lot of weight or making a lot of sense as I processed it, a lot of the reasons that were given.
And as I was studying this, and really because this is what I wanted to know, this was my primary question with this text, something I realized though as I was studying that and trying to figure that out. It's pretty relevant and relatable to questions that we have in our life a lot of the time. All right. We look around us and we see suffering and we see sin in the world, and we see that and we say, "God, why? Why would you allow this? Why would you choose to do this this way? How come we see it happen like this?" It doesn't make sense in our minds.
And so I realized I wasn't going to get a good and clear answer to that question this week. And I think that's true for a lot of us as we wrestle and struggle with sin and suffering and hardship in our lives. When we take the exact circumstance and we say, "God, why?" Instead of going to God first in relationship and saying, "We submit to you. We are in relationship with you. We love you and we trust you and we don't need the answer to every little question," things tend to go better. So we're going to discard that big question that maybe you had and were really hoping would get answered this morning, and then we might see how it connects to the bigger lesson of the message later on. Okay. So we're discarding that.
As I was studying this, of course, I did a bit of a cultural study to see if there was a cultural explanation, like, oh, pigs were bad, so he was doing the culture a favour by, none of that turns out to be true. But one thing I did uncover culturally, that I thought this was another learning that I had this week, or maybe it's something I already knew but I was reminded, as Jesus is travelling and visiting all of these little towns and all these little places, we have to remember how small these places are. Some of these towns are only a couple of hundred people, like two, 300 people. Some of them have a couple of thousand, but they're small places.
All right. We think PEI is small. We think that this is a small place, and we don't get a lot of, we're not anonymous here on this island. I've noticed that. I was driving last week and I cut someone off on the roads, and turned out it was Reverend Rollwage. So we haven't talked about it yet. I'm not really sure. He looked pretty startled. Maybe a little angry. I don't know. I'm going to have to ask him, and I'll keep you posted on how that conversation goes. Or maybe he brings that up. I become the sermon illustration in the next message. I don't know. We'll have to see where that goes.
But we're not anonymous here in this small place. Now, imagine living in a town of a couple hundred people. Okay? If there's someone who lived their entire life demon-possessed in the community, everybody knows who this is. Everybody knows who this is. So when he's healed, nobody can say, "Oh, this is a fabrication. This is some kind of magic or sleight of hand. This is a trick." It's not like what we experience today when we hear or see about miracles. Often we have the opportunity to dismiss them because we don't know the people involved. Maybe it's on TV, or maybe it's a testimony you hear on some social platform, and we can dismiss it because we don't know. That's not the case in this culture and timeline.
All right. Now I would like to get to the heart of where I landed this week as I was studying, and it has to do with the fear. Jesus rescues this man. It's undeniable that he has been healed and he has been changed, transformed by the power of the gospel, by the Messiah, by the son of God, Jesus Christ. And the people are afraid, and their response is to send Jesus away. Their fear pushes them away from Christ, or pushes Christ away from them. They say, "God, go away from us. Jesus, go away from us." And he does.
What I wondered about this week is that idea of fear as a negative thing. Because is fear itself the problem? Would it be appropriate for me to get up here and preach a message to say we need to abandon and abolish all fear? We must submit all fear. Maybe you've heard the song "Fear Is a Liar." Fear is a liar. These are lyrics from the song. "He will take your breath, stop you in your steps. Fear, he is a liar. He will rob your rest, steal your happiness. Cast your fear in the fire, because fear, he is a liar." Or maybe you've seen the shirts, faith over fear. I have that shirt. I have one of those shirts. And I'm not saying those things are bad, but there's this idea that fear is the enemy.
But wait a second. As we came into worship this morning, focusing and centring ourselves, we read from the Psalms and we heard, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And we read that also in the Proverbs, wisdom literature. You could argue the theme of the entire book of Proverbs is Proverbs 1:7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So how do we understand this? And it's important, because we have to know what to do with our fear. Do we trust it? Do we abandon it? What do we do? What can we learn from this text?
All right, I'm going to continue to bring you along in my study this week, because often what I try to do when I'm trying to understand scripture is I use scripture to try to understand scripture. So I started looking through the whole Bible for examples of fear. I'll give you some. There's many, by the way.
Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve run from God in their sin and their shame. And it says in the text, "But the Lord God called to the man, 'Where are you?' He answered, 'I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.'" It's negative fear.
Abraham is willing to sacrifice his son because he trusts God's will. And the text says this in that story. "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said, when God rescues his son and stops Abraham from doing what he was about to do. He said, "Do not do anything to him. Now I know you fear God, because you have not withheld even your son, your only son." Because he fears God, he's willing to submit to God. The fear is a positive thing that draws him into relationship with God.
Number three, from the Old Testament, the midwives at the beginning of the book of Exodus, who protected these little Hebrew babies that were supposed to be killed by Pharaoh's decree. It says this in the text: "The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do. So they let the boys live." Their fear of God was greater than their fear of Pharaoh. It's a positive thing. It saved lives.
All right. So we're not getting a lot of clarity yet on the answer. And then there was this one that I found. And this one has both fears in one Bible verse. Try to understand this. Okay. This is in Exodus 20, where God gives his law and his commandments to his people. Shortly after the Israelites received the Ten Commandments, it says this in verse 20 of that chapter. "Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid. God has come to test you so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.'" What? "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning." All right. Okay. You're okay. We're at about Wednesday now. Okay. This is where we are Wednesday.
There's a lot of examples in the New Testament as well. We can find a bunch. The New Testament has tons. But what if we just look at the book of Luke? What if we just look at what we've been studying the last six months? Zechariah, the priest of the temple. Gabriel speaks God's words in the temple, because Zechariah is gripped with fear, and the angel says, "Don't be afraid. I've brought you a son who will prepare the people and go before the Lord." And then we have Mary in Luke chapter 1. She's given good news. Angel says, "Don't be afraid." And then Luke 2, we have the shepherds and Simeon and Anna. And then Luke chapter 5, when Peter realizes that Jesus does miracles and they cast the net on the other side. Peter says, "Go away from me, for I am a sinful man." He's like sending Jesus away. And Jesus' response to Peter is, "Don't be afraid."
And then in Acts chapter nine, we have this text. "Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers." The church grew in the fear of the Lord. And then Paul teaches in Philippians 2:12 and 13, "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purposes."
All right. So if there's anything to learn from all of this, it's this. Fear itself, all instances of fear, are not the enemy. They are not the problem. There's clearly a good understanding of fear, and a place where we have to be cautious and difficult. Now I think we know this. We know this. If there's a hot element on the stove, you don't touch it. You are afraid to touch it because it will harm you. That fear is protecting you. Or what about a fear of heights? Why are people afraid of being up high? Because you can be hurt if you fall. Now, of course, there's instances where fear becomes irrational, or it doesn't protect you. And now we're getting closer to an understanding. If we start to see that it might be the interpretation or understanding of where that fear is coming from, is it helping us or harming us?
I'd like to read with you a text that really unlocked understanding for me. Now we're at Friday, and this is 1 John 4:12 to 18. This letter talks a lot about love, talks a lot about relationship with God, being children of God. And here are the words from 1 John chapter 4. "No one has ever seen God. But if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. This is how we know that we live in him and him in us. He has given us his spirit, and we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us, so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment. In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear," because, and these are the words that really hit me, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment." Fear has to do with punishment. "The one who fears is not made perfect in love."
I had to get my head around that a little bit. What does that mean? Fear of punishment, or a fear of being harmed. What can that possibly be about in relation to God? Okay. If we know who God is, if we believe that he is the creator of heaven and earth, has a will, a plan, and a purpose, and that he is for us and wants good for us. If we believe that, then that is the root of our relationship with him. That is the knowledge that we have. We are not then saying God is this person that I need to be afraid of, because if I make a wrong step here, or if I go this way. It's not a blaming, criticizing, condemning purpose. God is love. God wants good things for his people. See how there's an orientation shift here in understanding who God is.
Now, there's another story that's going to help us to understand this even a little better that I found. This is a parable that Jesus tells when he's talking about the kingdom of God. This is Matthew 25:24 to 30. And I only have the tail end of it here. So let me bring you into this story. All right. Jesus tells this parable and he says there's a master and he's going on a journey, and he's got bags of gold and he's going to give them to his servants, his people. So to one he gives five, to one he gives two, and to one he gives one. The one with five, while the master is gone, works hard using the five that he's been given, and he turns it into 10. Same so with the one with two. He turns his two into four, and they are blessed by it. And you can imagine they blessed others in and through it.
And then the master comes to the one who had one. It says this. "Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and I went out and I hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'" He returned simply what had been invested in him. "And the master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant. You knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed. Well then, you should have put the money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.'" That's the least he could have done. "'So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has 10 bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance, and whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"
A key line in this story is when the man justifies his behaviour to do nothing. He says this: "I knew you were a hard man, harvesting where you haven't sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid." This servant's knowledge and understanding of who the master was was tainted. He saw the master as a hard man. He saw the master as his enemy. He saw the risk of punishment if something went sideways, if he invested the bag of gold and maybe something goes sideways. So he protects himself. But it doesn't appear that he needed protecting, because his understanding of the master is wrong. The master is good and wants good.
You see, a healthy relationship is rooted in the love of God. It's not rooted in an improper understanding of who God is. And then the fear becomes appropriate. Because when you say, "I love God and I know he's for me, yet he is incredibly powerful. He knows way more than I know," and his purposes and plans are impossible for me to understand. Kind of like wrestling with the pig story, or wondering exactly what's going on with the sin and suffering that we see in the world. And if this is something you're wrestling with, the book of Job is really helpful for getting at the point here. The fear of the Lord becomes an awe of who God is. It has us trembling at the depth and wonder of who he is and how he brings his kingdom to fruition.
The interesting thing is that doesn't mean that there's not consequences, that there's not difficult things that happen. This story in Matthew 25 finishes with the worthless servant being cast out, which is another difficult reality. Kind of like what we see in the world today. Kind of like trying to understand why this herd of pigs is sent into the water. "God, why would you do it this way? I would do it differently." But instead of standing in opposition to God and being afraid for ourselves, worrying about punishment, we submit ourselves to God and allow the spirit of God to work in and through us powerfully. And that changes everything.
One last point as I wrap this up, and it has to do with mission, because this should make a difference in our lives. What difference does this make in our lives? And I think we can go back to our text for this, to see what happens in the story. Those who are oriented with fear improperly ask Jesus to leave. But the one man whose life is changed by the power of the gospel, not because of anything he did, but because of the work of the Holy Spirit, the work of Jesus in his life, who healed him, rescued him, and restored him. He says, "God, let me go with you. Jesus, let me go with you." The others are sending Jesus away, but he says, "I want to follow you."
And what struck me as I was reading the text earlier today was that the demon, when the demon speaks earlier on, he says, "Don't torture me. Don't hurt me." The demon has a negative sense of fear, which I just caught as I was reading that today. But when the man is sitting and in his right mind, he says, "Lord God, let me follow you." That's what happens when the gospel takes root in our lives. That's where we see change in the world in and through us, in partnership with the Holy Spirit of God active in his people.
Now, here's the really interesting thing. Jesus says, "No." He says, "I don't want you to come with me. I have other purposes for you. I want you to stay right here and I want you to minister to these people. I want you to be a flower that blooms where it's planted. I don't want to transplant you somewhere else. I want to use you with your friends and your family and your small community."
Now, what's the higher calling, people? Is it to go and follow Jesus? I mean, Peter, he's the rock star, right? I mean, he leaves everything and follows Jesus, which is what this man was willing to do. But the call for this man is to stay. But if we're honest, what's the harder calling? Let me ask you this. Have you ever had to speak truth to people that you are in deep relationship with, friends, family, community, and you know they don't want to hear it? How many Thanksgiving celebrations did I just summarize? It's hard to speak truth in love to those that we are shoulder to shoulder with. And these people asked Jesus to leave. How do you think they're going to treat this guy? It is not a higher calling to become a missionary somewhere else. It's very possible, seeing as you are in these pews right now, that God has called you into mission right where you are. But that doesn't mean it's easy.
Let me pray for you. Lord God, your gospel changes the world. And not just the world, but it changes us. Lord God, help us to be open to the work of your Holy Spirit in and through us. Help us to really wrestle with what calling you have for us. It might not be the one that we want or the one that we choose, but it is what you have for us. It might be far away, but it might be right here. Lord God, challenge us today. Challenge us to say something that might be hard to say. Challenge us and help us to live faithfully where you have us. And Lord God, help us to do that not with a spirit of fear that worries about punishment or broadcasts punishment on others, but a spirit of fear that says, "I will not be afraid of speaking the gospel truth boldly in any circumstances, because I have more fear for the Lord God, the creator of heaven and earth, than I do for my neighbour or my brother or my church." Lord God, we need you for all of this. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.