Do you believe in unclean spirits that can distort and destroy your life, your relationship with God and with others?

Do you think you would ever find a story like this on the front page of the Home News?

I love this story because it is has some strange twists and turns which make you struggle with it.

To begin with, what is demon possession? Why does demon possession occur? Does it occur today or was it a condition that only occurred in Jesus’ day?

Some Biblical scholars try to explain this man’s demon possession as being a grand maul seizure or that he suffered from epilepsy.

If we buy that theory, what do you make of the man calling out to Jesus saying,

"What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?"

If he had a medical condition wouldn’t he have been like the other sick people of Jesus’ time who were seeking Jesus out, not chasing Him away?

What do you make of the man’s reply to Jesus,

"My name is legion; for we are many."

Before you answer that you should know that a legion was the largest unit of the Roman army, consisting of 3,000 to 6,000 soldiers? Are we to understand that this man was possessed not by one demon but by 1,000s? Yes!

If that is not mind boggling, how about the demons bargaining with Jesus. They begged Jesus not to send them out of the country. Instead,

"the unclean spirits begged Him, ‘Send us into the swine, let us enter them."

So Jesus granted the request of the unclean spirits.

The icing on the cake is when the people saw and heard what had happened. When they saw the man

"clothed and in his right mind." and "they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood."

If you were there what would you have done. Tell Jesus, ‘Go Away!’ Or would you have wanted to climb into the boat with Jesus and leave with Him.

We would like to think that we would pray that He would stay or that we would go with Him. I have heard in my 24 years of ministry, many intensive care unit promises to return to God and church. I have heard many parents, like MaryAnn and Donald make promises to raise their child in the church. I have heard many couples make promises for better or worse. I have heard a multitude of good intended promises, which went unfulfilled.

I have heard people bargaining with God because someone they knew and loved was afflicted with some awful disease. If that person is miraculously healed, they would be a faithful follower of Jesus for the rest of their life.

What would your reason be for not believing and following?

The same reason the towns people wanted Jesus out of their lives.

The towns people wanted Jesus to leave because His power scared them. They may have been afraid of the demon possessed man, who’s chains and shackles could not hold, but they were more afraid of Jesus and His power. They may have been afraid that if Jesus remained he might destroy more pigs. This would result in a lose of food, a lose of income, a lose of security. In spite of how wonderful the miracle of saving a man’s life was, they want Jesus to Go Away.

Are we any different from them? Haven’t we sent Jesus away for similar reasons. Ultimately haven’t we been willing to throw Jesus away for reasons of wealth, security, recreation, the satisfying of our own wants and desires. Haven’t we failed to keep our promises because they interfered with what we wanted?

We might not call it demon possession today, but in truth it is. We expose ourselves to so many different thoughts and ideologies that we have really told, ‘Jesus, Go Away.’

We say religion is a private matter. By private we mean that God should not stick His nose in our lives. We are more concerned with being politically correct than Biblically correct.

What we tend to dismiss as harmless is eroding the Godly values of our life. The church is criticized for not meeting the needs of the people. That it needs to come out of the dark ages into the 21st century. If that means changing some of the ways and means of presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ, then I say they have a point. If they mean changing the gospel, then I total disagree. The gospel is the Word of God, the same God who created us, the same God who sustains us, the same God who died on the cross so we might have eternal life, the same God who cast out the demons.

The time is now for us to wake up. Time to rid our lives of our demons.

What demons? The habits, the practices, the life styles that distort and destroy your relationship with God. The possessions and obsessions which strip us from living the full life God intended it.

Jesus is not some tele-marketer trying to sell you something to better your life. Jesus is offering Himself to you. Your choice is like that of the Psalmist who said,

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God." (Psalm 20:7)

‘Jesus, Go Away.’
or
‘Jesus, Come into my heart and mind.

amen