Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac Mark 5:1-13
They came to the other side of the lake, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. 3He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; 4for 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. 5Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. 6When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; 7and 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.’ 8For he had said to him, ‘Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!’ 9Then Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He replied, ‘My name is Legion; for we are many.’ 10He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; 12and the unclean spirits begged him, ‘Send us into the swine; let us enter them.’ 13So he 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 lake, and were drowned in the lake.
I recently attended a seminar designed to help leaders walk with people who were having suicidal thoughts. I felt it was important to attend this seminar because there have been so many in our church (and most churches) who have been impacted by suicide and suicidal thoughts. 54% of Americans have been affected by suicide in some way. 47,511 Americans die by suicide each year. That is enough to fill a major league baseball stadium. What a disturbing image!
So why should we talk about this difficult topic in a church setting? Dr. David Litts had this powerful thing to say: “People think about suicide for all kinds of reasons, but it basically comes down to two: A loss of hope and a loss of social connection. And if the church of Jesus Christ can’t do something about those two things, it might as well just close its doors.”
WOW. That really got my attention. The work of talking about suicide is absolutely work the church should be doing, but most congregations do not address the issue. It was an outstanding seminar, and one of the pleasant surprises was how well they integrated discussions about faith and scripture into the conversation. The scripture quoted above was one of the ones we talked about.
Legion was a tormented man. In those days, there was not vocabulary for a lot of what they called demons. Now we have terms like mental health/ mental illness or addiction or epilepsy or a variety of disorders one might receive a diagnosis that sure feels like demons. It is unclear what ailed Legion, but it is clear that Legion was battling a multitude of struggles. Legion spent his life living among the dead. He was strong enough to break free of chains that people put on him, but he was not strong enough to break free of whatever burden he carried. When Legion was confronted by Jesus, he instantly knew who Jesus was and expressed fear of being tormented by Jesus.
There is a thing that Christians tell one another when they are tormented, and no one knows what to do. We tell one another, “God will never give you more than you can handle.” There are a few things that make this phrase problematic. The first is that it assumes that God is the author of our torment. That is not the God I have come to know over the years. Note in the story how Jesus chooses NOT to torment Legion in his illness. Does God challenge us? Absolutely. Torment us? I do not believe that.
The other problematic part of claiming that God will not give us more than we can handle is that there really are some things that are too much for us to handle on our own. Sometimes the “demons’ we encounter are more than what our minds, bodies and souls can process and function they way they are supposed to. Illness, addiction, grief, and so many other things come to mind. When we tell each other that God will not give us more than we can handle, some are comforted, but many others come to the conclusion that their faith is not strong enough because they are stuck and helpless.
When Jesus meets Legion, it is obvious that whatever he is carrying is too much for him to handle on his own. He cannot be restrained by others, and he lives as an outcast among the dead. Jesus brings him new life by releasing him from his torment. The torment is so significant that whatever it is, it is so much that 2,000 pigs could not handle it and ran into the lake to drown themselves.
When we feel tormented, this is the relief we pray for. We would like for Jesus to walk right up to us and throw our troubles into some pigs or whatnot. But, Jesus does not walk the earth in the same way he did in the first century and so it feels like maybe the story might not have the same possibilities for us as it did for Legion. However, that does not mean that he is not with us, by the power of the Holy Spirit and through the people we are given with whom we journey this life. When we suffer, we are meant to reach out to others for help. Sometimes it is too much to handle on our own. Sometimes people who suffer from these hardships think about suicide, and because talking about suicide is taboo, they become isolated in their despair. With community, we can figure out a way to get by. When we create a community where sharing our deepest grief is possible, we prepare an environment that is more welcoming to those who are in deepest need.
If you are feeling like life is too much to handle, please reach out to someone you know who will help you. It could be a friend, a colleague, someone at church, a therapist, or a pastor, among many options. And if the burden is so much that you have ever considered suicide, it is important that you know that you are not meant to battle those demons alone. Help is available. Look around you. And if you do not know who to talk to, please come talk to one of the pastors.
Finally, if you know someone who is struggling with more than they can handle, and you need support in helping them, you should also reach out. Here is a list of some resources you may find helpful . Also, if you would like to contact me, you can click here. If you would like to contact Pastor Karen, you can click here.
Be safe. Commit to one another that you will tell each other when you have too much to carry. Know the 3 people you could go to who would help you no matter what. Talk to your kids about it. Talk to your neighbors about it. Together we can normalize creating safe communities to share our fears. You are not alone.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Rob
