Miracles - Whose You Are…

For part of my childhood, I lived in a hollow on Tobacco Port Road in Bumpus Mills, TN. It was as small and isolated as it sounds. I slept outside in a school bus. I would say good night to my family and head into the backyard. 

As a child, at night, my imagination would wander, and fear would override my common sense. Shadows in the darkness would move. Dark shapes of trees, or shrubs, or things in my room, would transform into the faces of the characters that Hollywood had created, and I believed that they were going to leap out at me and kill me.

I was born in 1973. I grew up a child of the 70’s and 80’s. I was around when Hollywood invented Freddy Krueger. Jason Voorhees. Michael Myers. And Norman Bates. And, in the darkness. Alone at night, my imagination would kick into overdrive; I could see their faces, and I was certain Freddy was coming to get me. 

Today’s passage of scripture sounds more like a page from a Stephen King book than it does the bible.

Demonic possession.
A cemetery.
Shrieking.
Chains and shackles.
Self-harm and howling at the moon.

It is from Luke 8 and Mark 5. 

Luke 8:26-27 (NLT2)
26  So they arrived in the region of the Gerasenes, across the lake from Galilee. 27  As Jesus was climbing out of the boat, a man who was possessed by demons came out to meet him. For a long time he had been homeless and naked, living in a cemetery outside the town.

Mark 5:5 (NLT2)
5  Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones.

Luke 8:28-39 (NLT2)
28  As soon as he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell down in front of him. Then he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please, I beg you, don’t torture me!” 29  For Jesus had already commanded the evil spirit to come out of him. This spirit had often taken control of the man. Even when he was placed under guard and put in chains and shackles, he simply broke them and rushed out into the wilderness, completely under the demon’s power. 30  Jesus demanded, “What is your name?” “Legion,” he replied, for he was filled with many demons. 31  The demons kept begging Jesus not to send them into the bottomless pit. 32  There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby, and the demons begged him to let them enter into the pigs. So Jesus gave them permission. 33  Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned. 34  When the herdsmen saw it, they fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran. 35  People rushed out to see what had happened. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been freed from the demons. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid. 36  Then those who had seen what happened told the others how the demon-possessed man had been healed. 37  And all the people in the region of the Gerasenes begged Jesus to go away and leave them alone, for a great wave of fear swept over them. So Jesus returned to the boat and left, crossing back to the other side of the lake. 38  The man who had been freed from the demons begged to go with him. But Jesus sent him home, saying, 39  “No, go back to your family, and tell them everything God has done for you.” So he went all through the town proclaiming the great things Jesus had done for him.

 What a Bizarre story, right?

In case it is not obvious, let me point out this man:

 ·      Was naked, homeless, and lived in a cemetery. (v. 27)

·      He wandered around the cemetery day and night, howling and cutting himself with sharp rocks. (Mark 5:5)

·      The only people he interacted with were the ones that kept him bound and shackled (v. 29).

·      He had demons living inside of him.

I know, because you may be a little crazy, at least you are wearing clothes! Thank you for that! Evil controlled this man’s thoughts, life, and body. 

Once a person has become a follower of Jesus, once they have surrendered, received Jesus as their savior,and have committed their lives to Him, they have the Holy Spirit living inside of them. The Holy Spirit LIVES inside you. You cannot be demon-possessed if the Holy Spirit already lives inside you.

BUT, a follower of Jesus can still be influenced by Demons and the Devil.

I am convinced that the Devil tries to keep followers of Jesus in bondage through lies and deception about their identity. 

THE DEVIL WANTS YOU TO FORGET WHOSE YOU ARE (v.30)
(Rom. 8:15-17)

Jesus asked this man what his name was…But listen to the answer.

“Legion.”

That was never this man’s name. His mother never called him Legion. That is the name of what OWNED him. When Jesus asked who he was, the thing controlling him answered instead. That is what possession had done. It took his name. It took his clothes. It took his home and his family and his town.

Everything that said WHOSE he was was stripped from him, and a counterfeit owner answered for him. The devil cannot possess a follower of Jesus. So he does the next best thing. He gets you to answer to a different name.

Worthless. Disgusting. Addict. Failure. Damaged goods.

This man was consumed by the demons that controlled him, so he cut himself with rocks. He wandered in the countryside. He howled and lived like an animal rather than living like a child of God.

I understand the power of living under DECEPTION. I was called names so often as a child that I accepted them as my identity. For years, when somebody asked who I was, those names answered for me.

When you look in the mirror, who answers? The name God gave you, or the name somebody else stuck on you

Jesus freed me from that. He can free you.

Paul tells us exactly who answers for a child of God.

Romans 8:15-17 (NLT2)
15  So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16  For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17  And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

You BELONG to God. You are a CO-HEIR with Jesus. The Spirit inside of you AFFIRMS it. Stop answering to the whispers that have kept you chained. Be confident in WHOSE you are.

Now, I want you to notice something about how this trip started and how it ended. Look at verse 27 again.

Luke 8:27 (NLT2)
27  As Jesus was climbing out of the boat…

If you were with us last week, you know that the disciples were bailing water and screaming that they were going to die. Jesus stood up and told the wind to be quiet. And today…the boat lands…and Jesus gets out of the boat, and this demon-possessed man is right there. Jesus heals him…and later we see in verse 37.

Luke 8:37 (NLT2)
37  …So Jesus returned to the boat and left, crossing back to the other side of the lake.

He crossed the lake through the storm. He got out of the boat. He met one man. He got back in the boat. As far as Luke tells us, that is the whole trip.

JUST REACHING ONE, MATTERS.

Think about what reaching that one man cost. It cost a storm. It cost a night on the water with twelve terrified men. And it cost 2,000 pigs. (Mark 5:13)

Somebody owned those pigs. Somebody lost a lot of MONEY. So the whole region asked Jesus to leave. And He left. Temporarily, Jesus gave up an ENTIRE region for ONE man. That is how much ONE matters to Jesus…

…And that is how much YOU matter to Jesus.

That man could not free himself. He could break chains, but he could not break the power that held him. And the truth is, we cannot save ourselves either. That is why Jesus came.

He lived without sin. He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. And three days later, He rose from the dead. And the same Jesus who stepped out of that boat and changed one man's life can change yours.

You do not have to clean yourself up before you come to Jesus. You come to Him. You turn from your sin. You trust Him as your Savior and surrender to Him as your Lord. And when you belong to Jesus, your past no longer determines your future. He gives you a new life.

AND, if YOU matter that much to Jesus, then other “ONES” matter too.

Your coworker.
Your brother.
Your parents.
Your neighbor.

Just REACHING one MATTERS, because…the story is not finished when the one is reached. This story did not end with dead pigs, or the man remaining at the feet of Jesus. Jesus sent him home to his family and friends and told him to tell EVERYTHING about what GOD had DONE.

So, if Jesus has changed your life…

TELL OTHERS ABOUT YOUR MIRACLE.

Mark ends this miracle by showing us how far this man went to tell others.

Mark 5:19-20 (NLT2)
19  But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.” 20  So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them.

 Ten towns. One man. Jesus reached one. The one reached ten towns. The region that kicked Jesus out would now hear about Jesus from the man they used to chain in a graveyard. Everybody in that region knew what he used to be. All he had to do was show up wearing clothes… and others would see he had been changed.

Maybe Jesus pulled you out of an addiction to drugs or alcohol or pornography.

Maybe He saved a marriage you had already given up on.

Maybe He broke the hold of a childhood somebody else ruined.

Maybe He quieted the anxiety…

Your coworkers know what you used to be. Your family knows. Your old friends know. Those people are your TEN towns.

If the Son set you free, you are truly free. Step out of the shadows. Get in God’s Word and learn whose you are.

And then do what this man did. Go home. Tell your family. Tell your town what Jesus did for you.

He crossed a storm to reach one. Then He sent the one to reach everybody else.

You are the one.

Now – GO.