A Sermon on Luke 8:26-39

Preached June 24, 2001

By Donald M. Tuttle

First Christian Church, Corpus Christi, Texas

A great biblical scholar by the name of J. M. Creed studied extensively the story of the Gerasene demoniac. After much contemplation, he declared in his book: "This is a strange story."

Apparently Dr. Creed was given to understatement, because this story is at least strange. It is not often—OK, it is never—that you and I run across a demon-possessed man living among the dead. We don’t run into folks that are possessed of demons bold enough to negotiate with Jesus. We have never seen swine stampeding off the cliff and into the sea.

Certainly this story is strange. It is so strange that one of Creed’s colleagues said it invites scorn from the skeptic. Another said it strains the imagination, raising questions such as whether Jesus was cruel to animals, whether he cared about the financial loss suffered by the swine owners and whether he believed the superstitions about demon possession popular in his day. It is so strange that another commentator noted that many preachers avoid this text. "Few of us," he writes, "really wish to deal with the issue of demon possession." And he’s right. I know I don’t. The whole idea evokes bad memories of "The Exorcist," of Linda Blair expelling pea soup or spinning her head around 360 degrees.

Yet maybe we should because the heart of this story is really not so strange. It all depends how we define "demon" and "possession."

To be "possessed" simply means "to be controlled," that our lives are determined, that there is a driving force behind who we are and what we do.

And by definition "demons" are forces that are opposed to God and bent on hurting human beings. They are forces that destroy our lives, isolate us from God and one another, foster fear in the people around us. They are forces that keep us from the grace and love and God.

"Demon possession" then can be nothing more than being driven by desires and powers that are opposed to the good intentions God has for us.

There are obvious examples of such possession. Alcohol is one.

It was my first conversation with a woman who had come to the church I was then serving.

"My sister is a member of your church, " she said. "Do you know her?’

I had to admit that I didn’t.

"I’m not surprised," she said. "She drinks a bit."

I soon discovered that was an understatement. Her sister was an alcoholic. She was virtually the town drunk. Alcohol possessed her. It had cost her the large inheritance she had received from her husband. It had alienated her from her children and her sister. It controlled her life from the moment she rose in mid-morning to the moment she passed out after dark. She was possessed by a force opposed to God and bent on doing her harm.

And she is not alone. We could say the same of Robert Downey Jr., Darryl Strawberry and Michael Irvin. They are the famous ones—the ones addicted to drugs. But they are not alone. In 1999, nearly 15 million people in the United States used illegal drugs. Not all were addicted, but many have their lives determined by their next joint, next bag or next fix. They are possessed.

Of course, such possessions are obvious. It is easy to identify them, to talk about what controls others. But dare we ask what possesses us? What controls your life or mine?

Leonard Sweet suggests that the most subtle and yet most dangerous form of demon possession alive today is not alcohol or drugs but rather our quest for possessions.

We are "captivated by our consumerism," he says, "ruined by our ravenous appetites for more, bigger, better, faster, grander.... we are possessed with a legion of all-consuming desires. Our minds and entire personalities are twisted as we recklessly and ravenously seek to gratify [them]."

It’s a harsh indictment, but could it be true?

Since 1960 we have had a soaring economy. Today most of us have money. We may not have a lot, but we have enough to pay our mortgage, feed our families, gas up our cars and go on vacation. Today the poorest of poor live better than all but the richest of rich did a century ago.

And yet are we not possessed by the need for more and more? Are we not controlled by the desire to live in a bigger house, drive a fancier car, and possess a larger portfolio? Are we not determined more by our jobs and what we make than any other single factor? Does our quest for possessions not possess us?

And hasn’t that desire for more and more been destructive? In the same 40 years in which some wealth has become accessible to most of us:

The divorce rate has doubled,

The rate of teen suicides has tripled

The rate of violent crimes has quadrupled

The prison population quintupled

The percentage of babies born to unmarried parents has sextupled

And the number of people cohabitating, which is a predictor of future divorce, has increased sevenfold.

Our quest for possessions possesses us and it is demonic, destroying our people, families, communities, even our relationship with God.

Yet there is Good News for us in this strange story. Jesus possesses a power greater than those that control us, and he has come to set us free.

When Jesus stepped out of the boat, the man was waiting for him. He was dirty, naked, a pathetic wretch whom townspeople feared. The demons in him were strong, stronger than anything others had seen. Yet before Jesus, they fall on their knees and beg for mercy. They know that he is the Son of the Most High God. They know that before his power they are nothing, that he has the power to drive them away, to restore the man to his right mind. And that is exactly what Jesus does. He offers the man grace, healing, wholeness, a new life possessed not by the demons of the past but by the love and power of God.

That same grace is available to us.

His name is Charles F. Feeney. An Irishman, he lives in New Jersey, where he has, through the years, accumulated a remarkable fortune--$600 million. It was his, all his, and he could make more with it. Yet what was more remarkable than the fact that he possessed such wealth was that he quietly, anonymously gave away all but $5 million of it.

"Money has an attraction for some people," he once said, "but nobody can wear two pairs of shoes at one time."

Whatever may possess Charles F. Feeney it is certainly not his possessions.

Or consider the young Duke grad of which William Willimon spoke. She was an honors student in premed who had her pick of medical schools. She was on the fast track to following her father to a very profitable career in medicine. But after college graduation she turned her back on the opportunities awaiting her and signed up for a stint in the Peace Corp.

Her father was upset and called Willimon to see if he could change the girl’s mind.

"Did you have her baptized?" Willimon asked.

"Of course," the surgeon said.

"Well you should have thought about this then," Willimon said. "That’s when Jesus set her free to live for him rather than you."

Here is a woman who knows what it is to live the good life, but through Christ refused to be possessed by it.

It is easy to get possessed by our possessions. TV commercials tell us we are nothing without the latest car or gadget. Our social circles are often determined by how much we make and in what neighborhood we live. Our worth as human beings is too often tied to that which we possess. And we can find ourselves working longer and harder so that we will be more and better.  Our lives can become controlled by the needed to succeed.

But for those who come to Christ, who bow before his love and grace, there is freedom. He sets us free, accepts us for who we are, changes our hearts and minds and priorities, possesses with no less than the spirit of God. Faith in Christ has exorcised the demon of possessions and set us free to live in the joy of knowing what God has done.