Psalms 42: 1-5
Luke 8:26-39
Some of our best memories often involve storytelling. It is hard to resist a small child, crawling up into your lap, looking up into your face and saying, "Tell me a story!" Many of us gained our religion
at the knee of a Sunday School teacher, telling those wonderful stories of Jonah and the whale, Noah and the Ark, Moses and the ten commandments. Many of us have experienced our grandmothers or mothers who did not want "their stories" (soap operas) interrupted. Many of us have learned about towns and cities through that popular tour that tells the history through ghost stories. Yes, a good story is a great form of communication, a good storyteller is an important person in our society.
And today's story is one that, having seen it really happen, would just have to be told. It has excitement, intrigue, redemption; an interesting setting; interesting characters; and even a lesson or two to carry away with the audience.
It begins with Jesus and his disciples arriving in a boat to a shoreline and receiving a surprising greeting. A crazy, naked guy screaming at them! Maybe they knew of this fellow...many in his town did. They had run him out of town so that he would have to live amongst the tombs. And it was believed in those days that if someone called a spirit or demon out of someone but not in the name of Jesus or God, then that spirit could come back with seven others and live again in that person. If called out again, those spirits could again come back, each with seven others. So, knowing this, one could presume that this is the reason that this crazy man has legions of spirits within him. Spirits that made him extremely strong, but out of control. Spirits that recognized Jesus, the Holy Spirit who reigned over them. Spirits that begged Jesus not to send them out into nothingness, so Jesus sent them into the nearby pig herd, who proceeded to jump over the cliff into the river and die.Can you imagine hearing that story from the crazy man's point of view? What about from the shepherd's point of view? His very livelihood having just jumped over the cliff? What about the town's people who heard Jesus had landed and came running to see their local crazy man looking as sane as can be? I can't help wondering how I would react, what I would ask, what I would say in return to hearing their stories. Would I also have become afraid of Jesus and ask Him to leave? Would I have wanted to go with Him?
Perhaps the man did want to go with Jesus, but he was told to stay and tell his story. And don't you think after telling the story, he would have to pick himself up and begin to make a life for himself. That IS what sane people do. They have jobs, and routines, and schedules, and after a while, those moments of clarity that we sometimes are privileged to have become clouded and hard to remember. And that can sometimes be like a demon returning.
We all have our own demons that cloud the clarity that a relationship with Jesus can bring. Things that worry or upset us can keep us from living life. They can distract us from our day-to-day routine. They can be little problems or life changing challenges that begin to take up so much brain space that you can hardly get through your regular day successfully. In fact, these demons sometimes grow so big that you can barely leave your house or bed at all. The demons certainly did that to our character in the graveyard. But once you interact with Jesus, you can have clarity because the main thing that Jesus can give us is Freedom.
We have heard "freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose" (Janis Joplin, Me and Bobby McKee), but it also is feeling comfortable in your own skin. Feeling OK about who you are means no demons. Our tomb raider was definitely given his own skin back and with it came some fear again because he didn't know what to do next. But that is where the story comes back in. Anytime you can look back and retell your story, you will gain peace of mind and with it courage to move forward. This is especially true when you can look back and see Jesus there. Once He has touched your life, He will touch it again and again, each time adding chapters to the story that will continue to build a person up to a place that has confidence and peace in all situations.
Telling yourself your story often restores this confidence, but beyond that--it can build confidence for others as well. In a different setting, we might break up into small groups and tell each other our stories right now, just to prove the point--to show how storytelling connects people to one another and helps strengthen each other. Storytelling is the way that Christianity has grown. Sharing the good news is the ultimate storytelling. "Each one, reach one" is a simple way to remember the importance of this storytelling process. As Christians, we should practice telling our story as often as possible. It should be easy to recall and easy to tell, so that we have an answer ready the next time someone looks at us and says, "Tell me a story."
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