They Were Afraid

10/31/15

Mark 5.15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. – St. Peter

Recently on the telly, a man proclaimed that, if we’re not careful, America is headed to become one of the darkest and most evil nations in history. At the rate things are going I believe that statement. It certainly is uncomfortable to think about, but it also certainly show signs of becoming true. I’ve also heard it said: the further a society drifts from the truth, the easier it is to hate those who stand for it… Hmmm. Mark 5: Scene 1: Jesus, a demon-possessed man, and a herd of pigs.

Everyone in the area of the Gerasenes knew the demon possessed man. Everyone stayed way clear of him. He made the guy in the Texas Chainsaw Murders look like a purring kitten. The Gerasenes were also known as the Gadarenes: perhaps the descendants of the tribe of Gad. What’s most unusual was they were herders of pigs – an unclean animal in those days. But like most things that are forbidden, pigs held great appeal; bacon was still bacon back then.

So, here we have Jesus, this demon-guy, and a herd of pigs (about 2000 in number). And Jesus heals the guy – drives the demons right out of him…into the pigs (which promptly stampede into the lake). Well, the pig herders are astonished and they run off and blab to the locals what Jesus just did! Wow! You shoulda seen it! And they all come running, and sho’ nuff, there’s demon-guy in his right mind, with clothes on, talking with Jesus; and there’s 2000 dead pigs floating in the lake. That musta been some sight. And they clamored to Jesus: leave.

An interesting phenom in life is a thing called Group-Think. Group-Think is a loosely held cultural thought that seems to drive groups of people to live a certain way and/or think a certain way. The Geras (or the Gada’s, however you want to think of them) seemed to like things just the way they were: as long as no one bugged them about pork they were happy; as long as the demon-guy stayed away, they’d deal with it. Their group-think let them do that. Somebody was eating that pork, and everyone was okay with the demon-guy living at a distance.

Then Jesus shows up and rocks their world. Demon-guy is now sane-guy, and the pigs, well, there’d need to be some breeding and time to replace a herd of 2000; pork prices were sure to go up. And when they all see Jesus, they react: Hey man! Wa’s wrong whichu!? Go bother someone else! The further a society drifts from the truth… America, the Beautiful?

Today is the day to stand up and face the hatred. Our friends and neighbors are drifting. It might be uncomfortable to do so, but there is a whole nation of people around us who are drifting from the truth and getting farther and farther away. Society is devolving to:

They say to God, ‘Depart from us!

    We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.

What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?

    And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’ – Job 21.14-15

Father, even in our gatherings we don’t want the boat rocked because we’re afraid of what it is going to do to us. We seem to like living in fear rather than living in the truth. Help us. Save us. Heal the sick. Save the lost. That’s my prayer, and I ask that You even do so, perhaps in spite of ourselves… Amen.