Century Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ)

1301 Tamarack Road, Owensboro, KY 42301, (270) 684-0286, Pastor:  Rev. Jim Westmoreland

Fear or Fullness

Luke 8:26-39

by Jim Westmoreland

The noted author, John Killinger, tells a powerful story about a man who is all-alone in a hotel room in Canada. The man is in a state of deep depression. He is so depressed that he can’t even bring himself to go downstairs to the restaurant to eat.

He is a powerful man, usually the chairman of a large shipping company, but, at this moment, he is absolutely overwhelmed by the pressures and demands of life, … and he lies there on a lonely hotel bed far from home wallowing in self-pity.

All of his life, he has been fastidious, worrying about everything, anxious and fretful, always fussing and stewing over every detail. And now, at mid-life, his anxiety has gotten the best of him, even to the extent that it is difficult for him to sleep and to eat.

He worries and broods and agonizes about everything, his business, his investments, his decisions, his family, his health, even, his dogs. Then, on this day in this Canadian hotel, he hits bottom. Filled with anxiety, completely immobilized, paralyzed by his emotional despair, unable to leave his room, lying on his bed, he moans out loud: “Life isn’t worth living this way, I wish I were dead!”

And then, he wonders, what God would think if he heard him talking this way. Speaking aloud again he says, “God, it’s a joke, isn’t it? Life is nothing but a joke.” Suddenly, it occurs to the man that this is the first time he’s talked to God since he was a little boy. He is silent for a moment and then he begins to pray. He describes it like this: “I just talked out loud about what a mess my life was in and how tired I was and how much I wanted things to be different in my life. And you know what happened next? A voice!! I heard a voice say, ‘It doesn’t have to be that way!’ That’s all.”

He went home and talked to his wife about what happened. He talked to his brother who is a minister and asked him: “Do you think it was God speaking to me?” The brother said: “Of course, because that is the message of God to you and everyone of us. That’s the message of the Bible. That’s why Jesus Christ came into the world to save us, to deliver us, to free us, to change us and to show us that ‘It doesn’t have to be that way.’ A few days later, the man called his brother and said, “You were right. It has really happened. I’ve done it. I’ve had a rebirth. I’m a new man. Christ has turned it around for me.”

Well, the man is still prone to anxiety. He still has to work hard. But, now he has a source of strength. During the week, he often leaves his work-desk and goes to the church near his office. He sits there and prays. He says: “It clears my head. It reminds me of who I am and whose I am. Each time as I sit there in the Sanctuary, I think back to that day in that hotel room in Canada and how depressed and lonely and lost I felt and I hear that voice saying: It doesn’t have to be that way.’”

That is precisely what this story in Luke 8 is all about. Christ walks into the tormented life of the Gerasene demoniac, this madman, whose life is coming apart at the seams and He turns it around for him. He gives him a new beginning, a new start, a new birth. At the beginning of the narrative, it sounds like a horror-story. This wild-eyed, adrenalin-filled, madman comes running and shrieking out of the tomb. He is so unbalanced! He is convinced that he is being held captive by a whole legion of demons, who are pulling and jerking him in every direction.

This is an eerie, grim, suspenseful, frightening situation. Jesus and His disciples have just come through a storm on the Sea of Galilee. It is nighttime, and, having survived that frightening storm, they are thrilled to now set foot on solid ground. But, as they get out of the boat, they encounter a different kind of storm… yet another scary experience. They hear strange sounds coming from the tombs… shrieks, growls, screams, moans, the rattling of chains. Then, suddenly, a horrifying sight. A madman with tattered clothes, bruised, dirty, bloody and battered with pieces of chains dangling from his arms and ankles, comes running and screaming directly toward them!

Now, let me ask you something: “What would you have done in that situation?” Would this be a time when you felt fear, or would it be a time of peace and fullness? This story tells us that this was a dangerous place, a bloodcurdling experience… a dangerous, powerful, berserk man was charging at us. I think I would have run for my life... or jumped back in the boat.

But not Jesus! Jesus stood His ground and faced the madman. Undaunted, unafraid... Jesus stood there and dealt with this wild, but hurting man. Jesus healed him. He brought peace to his troubled soul. He changed him. He cleansed him. He turned his life around. Turning our lives around, re-centering our life on Jesus–that’s what the Lenten season is about.

Now, let me underscore this and spell it out a bit more by lifting three ideas out of this great story in Luke 8. First, You Don't Have To Be At War With Yourself. It doesn’t have to be that way. This man, called “Legion,” was at war with himself. He was hurting, bruising, and injuring himself. How often do we do that, if not physically, then emotionally and spiritually? As the old cartoon character, Pogo, put it: “We have met the enemy and he is us!!”

In fact, we can be our own worst enemy, and we need to learn to treat ourselves better. One day, a young father was shopping in a crowded super-market. His three-year old son was with him. The little boy was riding in the grocery cart, ... and he was misbehaving terribly and causing all kinds of problems.

Every time the father would put something into the cart, the little boy would grab it and throw it back out. If the cart went close to the shelves, the three-year old boy would just rake stuff off onto the floor. At one point, the little boy crawled out of the cart and ran down the aisle (knocking over every display he could get his hands on) with his father in hot pursuit.

People who were in the store at the time could hear the father saying out loud over and over, “Just be patient, Tommy. It won’t be much longer Tommy. It’ll be O.K., Tommy. Be calm, Tommy. Hang in there, Tommy.”

Finally, a distinguished looking woman came up to the man and she said: “I just want to compliment you. I’ve been watching you and I want you to know that I admire you and the remarkable patience you have with little Tommy.”

“O, but Lady,” the man said. “You don’t understand.” His name is Michael. I’m Tommy!!!”

Sometimes, we may be overwhelmed too. But, we need to deal with the voices and the battles within us first. If we are going to set a problem right, we have to get ourselves set right first.

When our re-actions, defensiveness and low self-esteem are creating conflicts with others, hurting ourselves and driving people away from us, remember that Jesus did not run from this man from Gerasa. When our relationships with others and ourselves are the most confused and most broken, remember: “You are special to God. He loves you! You are extremely valuable to Him! He claims you as His child!”

You don’t have to be at war with yourself.... It doesn’t have to be that way. You are special to God and that makes you supremely valuable.

A Second thought from this story, You Don't Have To Be At War With Other People! It doesn’t have to be that way. In Luke 8, Legion, the madman, was very much at war with other people. He had been cast out of society… chained, shackled, exiled to the tombs, constantly doing battle with other people… here in this story he runs out toward Jesus and His disciples looking for a fight. Finding fault, being critical, nurturing offenses can become a way of life, and we can become chained and bound by destructive habits and attitudes.

Third and Finally, You Don't Have To Be At War With God. It doesn’t have to be that way. In Luke 8, Legion, the madman, is also cut off from God. “What have you to do with me?... don’t torment me,” he says to Jesus.

Carl Michalson, a brilliant young theologian who died in a plane crash some years ago, once told about playing with his young son one afternoon. They were tussling playfully on their front lawn when Dr. Michalson accidentally hit the young boy in the face with his elbow. The little boy was stunned by the impact of the elbow. It hurt… and he was just about to burst into tears. But then, he looked into his father’s eyes and instead of anger or hostility, he saw there his father’s sympathy and concern; he saw there his father’s love and compassion. Rather than pulling back in fear, he felt love , safety and fulness. Then, instead of exploding into tears, the little boy suddenly burst into laughter. What he saw in his father’s eyes... made all the difference!

This is one of the reasons that Jesus is so important to us. He lets us look into the Father’s eyes! When we look at Jesus we see what God is like and what God wants us to be like!

Jesus shows us the love, the compassion, the concern and the empathy in the Father’s eyes... and that’s the good news of our faith. Jesus reveals that God looks at us not with angry, vengeful, condemning eyes, but with the eyes of love.

So, we don’t have to be at war with ourselves, we don’t have to be at war with other people, we don’t have to be at war with God. Jesus comes into our lives, just as He came into Legion’s life, saying: “It doesn’t have to that way!”

Legion got it right. Instead of being filled with fear, his life was changed and his heart was full. He wanted to stay with Jesus, but Jesus sent him back to make known to others what great things Jesus had done for him.

Sadly, the Gerasenes saw all that happened, and they were filled with fear.

Fear or Fulness? Which will you choose. If you stay on the Lenten Journey, Jesus will come to you, and you will get to choose, Fear or Fulness? Amen.