The Fifth Sunday of Pentecost
‘Fraidy Snakes Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. In today’s Gospel, Jesus performed a powerful miracle for a suffering man. After the miracle, Jesus said to the man, “*Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you*.” Dear Christian friends: A couple of months ago, I went out to the barn to get a tarp. When I picked up the tarp, a big black snake rolled out of it. I nearly went through the roof. (Some of you probably know the feeling.) My reaction, of course, was completely irrational. I had absolutely nothing to fear: · That snake was totally harmless. Even if the thing wanted to hurt me, it had no power to do so. Its bite probably could not even break my skin. Maybe it could get my finger into its mouth, but that is all. · That snake was not only powerless against me, but it was also very afraid of me. It had no plan to stick around, but it immediately devoted itself to getting away from me. You have heard the saying (and while it is hard to believe, it is also true): The snake is more afraid of you than you are of it. More afraid of you than you are of it: That saying might provide us with some good help for today’s Gospel. Here Jesus met a violent and dangerous man. All his friends and neighbors must have felt afraid of him because For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. [They always made their best effort to see that] he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert. Keep the children away from that guy! Be on your guard whenever you are around him! For all the fear the people of the Gerasenes might have felt toward this demon-possessed man, they feared Jesus even more. The people could live with their fear of the demons that had possessed their neighbor, but their fear of Jesus was as great and as irrational as my fear of that harmless black snake on the floor of my barn. Get’em outta here! Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. … Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. More afraid of you than you are of it: why does this saying provide you and me with such good help for today’s Gospel? Let’s count the ways: · You and I are now living in place that is very comparable to the “*region of the Gerasenes*.” The Gerasenes were Jews, which means that they had heard the Word of the Lord. Many of them had been raised in the Scriptures, only to turn and to go their own way once they became adults. They were raising pigs, for goodness sake! God in those days had prohibited the use of pigs. A Jew raising a pig in the days of Jesus is roughly comparable to a Christian today who has no time for preaching and no interest in the Holy Communion. Keep the name Jew, but do not act like a Jew; keep the name Christian but act like you have no idea who you are. The townspeople in today’s Gospel are our friends and neighbors. They may have all kinds of fears and struggles and challenges in their daily lives—just as these people had to contend with a raving maniac every day—but at least they did not have to be around Jesus! For all the fear the people of the Gerasenes might have felt toward their demon-possessed neighbor, they feared Jesus even more. Keep Jesus away from us! Send Him back across the lake, back into Galilee, where we do not need to deal with His reality. “*They asked Jesus to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear*.” In addition to the unbelieving Christians who are everywhere around us, think about the entire culture in which we live. Most of our scientific assumptions, most of our historical thinking, most of our philosophical presuppositions, and most of our educational content are all built upon the evolution. Evolution gets called scientific, but it is simply fear: fear of God’s judgment; fear of Jesus who shall “return to judge the living and the dead.” The only and only purpose of evolution is to keep the Lord our God out of the equation. Call it science; call it advancement; call it enlightenment or rationality: all forms of unbelief are simply a façade that hides fear. “*They asked Jesus to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear*.” · We should wonder what comparison might be made between our Lord’s gift to the man in this Gospel and our Lord’s gift to us. You and I have not been so possessed by the powers of darkness that we have insisted upon running around naked or living in cemeteries. But our Lord has indeed acted powerfully and personally for each of us. Just as this man was set free from the demons who once held mastery over him, we ourselves have been set free from the equally frightful powers of sin and death. Like the new freedom Jesus gave to this man in today’s Gospel, we too have been given great freedom to be something other than what we once were. Thus it is written, “*If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed*” (John 8:36); and again, “*For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm the, and do not submit again to slavery*” (Galatians 5:1); and yet again, “*God gave us not a spirit of fear, but a spirit off power and love and self-control*” (2 Timothy 1:7). All of this is to say that, our Lord’s act of chasing the demons out of the man in today’s Gospel is really no different than His equal act of fully forgiving each of us all our sins. Because we have been forgiven all our sins in Jesus’ name, you and I are now able to join this man in today’s Gospel—and to do so without fear—“*sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind*.” · Who remains afraid? All the people who want nothing to do with Jesus remain afraid. Who remains afraid? All the people who might be willing to keep a general idea of Christianity, but who feel no need for the gift and the presence of their Lord. Who remains afraid? Everyone who knows in their conscience who Jesus is – “*What have you to do with us, Jesus, Son of the Most High God*” – and refuse Him nevertheless. Today’s Gospel gives us the distinct impression that the people of the Gerasenes liked this poor man much better with he was naked and violent and living among the tombs. Now that he has been cleansed, his friends and neighbors must suffer the much greater nuisance of hearing this man continually talk about Jesus. · We should make yet another comparison between ourselves in this man, if only for the sake of our neighbors and our loved ones: The man begging that he might depart and be with Jesus, but Jesus sent the man away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. If you have ever attempted to speak about Jesus to your friends and neighbors, then you might have an idea how intimidated this man could have felt. The people of the Gerasenes had made it clear that they wanted nothing to do with Jesus. Now this man is given the task of speaking to them about Jesus. Would they listen? Would they still accept him as a friend and neighbor, or would they turn against them as they had the Lord? The man had plenty of reasons to feel nervous and uncomfortable about his task of “declaring how much God has done for you.” Maybe you feel nervous and uncomfortable about speaking such things, too. Take comfort from these Words in today’s Gospel: The people found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. … Then all the people asked Jesus to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. These Words indicate that your unbelieving friends and neighbors are a little bit like that black snake I discovered in my barn: The thought of telling them about Jesus might freak you out, but they are infinitely more afraid of you than you are of them! They might get coil and hiss and act like they are about to strike; they might pretend that your words are foolish and insignificant because they have heard them all before; your friends and neighbors might even plug their ears or refuse to answer their phone; someday some unbelievers might even become so angry that they turn violent against us. THEY ARE REALLY JUST AFRAID—more afraid of you than you are of them. What do you and I have to fear? Jesus has given us His great gift of forgiveness of sins, and where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. Because Jesus has given His forgiveness and His eternity to us, we are now free · to jump when we see a black snake in the barn, but maybe not go unconscious. To be sure, the snake can create a case of the heebie-jeebies, but how harmful can that little mouth really be? · to say to ourselves, “*The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me*?” (Psalm 118:6, Hebrews 13:6). · to “*return to our homes and declare how much God has done for us*,” as did the man in today’s Gospel. The power of Christ’s resurrection has now come fully upon you. Knowing that, what is the worst that can happen?
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