Luke 8:22–39

²⁴ The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”

He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. ²⁵ “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.

In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

²⁶ They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. ²⁷ When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” ²⁹ For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.

³⁰ Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. ³¹ And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.

³² A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. ³³ When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

³⁴ When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, ³⁵ and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ³⁶ Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. ³⁷ Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.

³⁸ The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

I am familiar with fear. My mother would tell you that I am her least courageous child. Having started my life in Vietnam, I fear Communists. Continuing on the Philippines, I fear Earthquakes. As a traveling expat, I fear plane travel. As a mom, I fear for my kids.

In the two stories we read today, the participants also faced fear. What they did with it, however, makes all the difference. Read these familiar stories:

One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.

The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.

In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.

Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.

The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

If you are like me, you’ve heard the story of Jesus calming the storm many times. It always strikes me as odd that when Jesus speaks a word and all the tumult comes to a crashing halt in silence, that the men in the boat would react in fear. Wouldn’t you be thrilled?! So I tried to put myself in their shoes…

Picture a speed boat with about 30 passengers zipping between Phi Phi Island and Phuket. As you cross an area of open ocean, the waves grow HUGE, making the boat ride up high and then smack down into the deep trough in between. Your heart begins to accelerate, and you pull your safety vest on a little tighter. Another wave comes and this time the water sprays in, wetting everyone in the back half of the boat. You look out the small window and can’t see any land. Maybe you begin praying?

In front of you, a Thai man stands up, raises his hand and speaks a word. Suddenly the crashing din of the waves stops—what is your first reaction?

I realized that my first reaction would be fright. “What just happened?! Is this the calm before an even bigger wave??” And then, as everything stayed quiet, I would start to relax and maybe shoot an incredulous look at the person beside me, and I would wonder, “Who IS this guy?”

In the second story, Jesus heals a man who has been terrorizing the neighborhood, and when the residents see the guy calm and in his right mind, they’re frightened. Again, odd. Shouldn’t they be thrilled? Relieved? So, let’s take a walk in their shoes, too.

Suppose we also live in the Gerasenes, and we know all about the wild crazy man who lives in the graveyard near town. Maybe he’s been violent before, because we’ve tried to tie him up with chains and with shackles. Nothing held him. He’s the reason none of us go out at night, and when we do, we always go in a group. And bring a stick. So, when we follow the herders at a run to see what on earth has happened to our pigs and almost trip over the maniac sitting at the feet of another man. What’s our instinctive reaction? Me? My heart stops and I can hear thundering in my ears.

So, I guess I can see why both groups of friends reacted first in fear. The really interesting thing, though, is what comes next. The men in the boat went from fear to amazement. The word here means to be awestruck, to be astonished out of ones’ senses. They went from fear to: WOW! You ROCK!

The villagers, on the other hand went the other direction. In fact, here we read one of the saddest sentences in the Bible—“all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them.” Did they ever realize who they sent away; I wonder? In their fear they began looking for ways to protect themselves, control the situation, become comfortable again.

So, fear. It’s part of living in a world where we aren’t able to see the future and can’t control it even if we could. But what we do with that fear, that’s up to us. Do our fears push us towards Jesus, or do they make us push him away?

What fear has been nagging at you lately? Or maybe it’s felt more like an avalanche that has buried you. Here, today, you have a chance to let it push you to trust the One who loves you desperately, to let it aim your attention on his presence rather than on the storm. To help you end up at “Wow, Lord. You ROCK.” But it’s a choice. One that you may make this moment, and then have to make again in an hour, and then again a little later. But, it’s so worth it. May we never find ourselves saying, “Lord, I can’t. I won’t. You can’t…Please, just go away.”

Bonnie Burnett is a third generation Alliance missionary and she and her husband have served in Thailand for 25 years. She likes to say that if you cut her, she would bleed ‘Alliance’. They have two sons, a daughter and a daughter in law, all in Canada, of whom she is very proud.

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