The adage is “There is no such thing as a bad, short sermon.” I choose to disagree. As a one-time District Superintendent, I will say that I’ve actually heard some bad short sermons. Actually, I’ve heard some bad sermons, and I found myself giving thanks to the good Lord that they were short. If one has to endure bad sermons, it is good when they’re short!

Why am I talking about short sermons? Well, as one who has been known to preach long sermons, I’m trying my hand at a short sermon this morning. Why a short sermon? Numerous reasons, but primarily because we’re having a potluck after worship this morning, and we have to flip our worship space into fellowship space. That, and the food will get cold. Oh, and I have to be in Dallas before 5:00 p.m., and I need to hit the road.

Yes, I know. Selfish reasons for preaching a short sermon, but it is what it is. The problem lies in the fact that my chosen passage (Luke 8: 26 – 39) is a long and difficult passage. How does one distill demon-possession, cemeteries and suicidal pigs into a 1,000 word manuscript? I’ll give it a try. My fear is the congregation will like it and they’re response will be, “Why can’t all your sermons be that short?”

So, here goes…

A Brief Introduction

I really should have entitled the sermon “Comfortable with Our Crazy,” because that’s what we find in the unfolding events of Luke 8: 26 – 39. I went, instead, with “A Disturbing Presence,” because as we read the passage, we are a bit disturbed by the entire scene.

I mean, really, demon possessed people, graveyards and suicidal pigs is enough to disturb anyone. Yet, as disturbing as those images tend to be, the most disturbing presence is Jesus, Himself. When Jesus comes to town, He tends to disturb everything.

Our natural tendency is to focus on the demon possessed man whom the community has sent to the cemetery. You know? That’s what we do with broken people. We send them to the margins. “That man is crazy! Let’s push him away. We can’t deal with his kind of crazy.”

If we were doing an in-depth bible study, we’d take time to look at this whole idea of demon possession because we are a bit disturbed by the whole idea. This is, however, a Sunday morning sermon and we’ve got food getting cold, so we’re not going to dive into that subject.

The Power of Jesus

This is, ultimately, not a story about demon possessed people. It’s a story about the power of Jesus to transform a broken life. It’s a story about the authority of Jesus, even over the darkest of powers. It’s a story about Jesus’ call to tell others about the goodness of God, so, let’s focus on Jesus this morning.

Let’s focus on the disturbance Jesus brings to the demons. This man lived among the tombs, isolated from society, stripped of dignity, and enslaved by spiritual oppression. Yet, Jesus does not avoid him; instead, He steps into his brokenness with authority and compassion.

This reminds us that Jesus is not intimidated by the darkness in our lives. He has the power to confront and overcome anything that binds us, whether it be sin, addiction, or fear (Luke 8:29-33). His authority over the supernatural demonstrates that He is Lord over all creation.

I am reminded of what the Apostle Paul told the Church at Philippi: “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2: 10 –  11 NKJV).

The Inclusivity of the Gospel

Jesus not only disturbed the demons, but He also disturbed the pig-herders. I mean, seriously, he destroyed their livelihood. If we were doing that Bible study on this passage, we’d look at the significance of the pigs in the encounter, but since it’s a Sunday morning sermon and it is supposed to be short, we’re only going to mention that the fact there were pigs nearby indicates Jesus was in Gentile territory. 

So, what do we learn about Jesus? The Gospel is for everyone! Jesus intentionally went to Gentile territory to spread the Good News. The Gospel is the most inclusive message in the world, but the very nature of the Gospel is it’s power to transform people. Jesus doesn’t intend to leave us the way he found us, either individually or corporately. His Gospel transforms people and entire communities.

The Real Disturbance

When we talk about communities, we can’t overlook how disturbing Jesus was to the townspeople. They had become comfortable with crazy, and when Jesus showed up to deal with the crazy, they preferred crazy to Christ. 

What was their response when they saw the crazy, naked, homeless man clothed and sitting in his right mind? It wasn’t “Oh, how wonderful. Now we can invite him back into the community and to his family.” No. It was, “Hey, Jesus? Could you just leave and leave us alone?” 

Jesus’ presence there on the seashore became a threat to the townsfolk’ own complacency. He upset their apple cart. And worse still, he cost them money. After all, 2,000 pigs cost a lot of money in the first century. Jesus took their known, comfortable circumstances (they had gotten used to the crazy man in the cemetery and knew how to handle that situation), and forced them to confront the unknown. They could cope with the known, even if the known was bad, but they were afraid of the unknown.

The most disturbing thing of all is the fact that the power of God was at work among the people and they failed to see it. Jesus’ presence forced the people to confront the evil that was around them, and that was a very uncomfortable position. We’d rather turn a blind eye to evil around us. Doing so allows us to turn a blind eye to the evil within us.

That is what is most disturbing. If Jesus can drive out someone else’s demons, He might be able to drive out mine. I’m rather comfortable with my own sins. “No, Jesus, could you just leave me alone? I don’t want to be disturbed?”

A Brief Conclusion

Jesus comes in power to transform us and our communities. As the old hymn says,

He breaks the power of cancelled sin,
he sets the prisoner free;
his blood can make the foulest clean;
his blood availed for me.

There are only two responses to the power of Jesus among us. One, is to follow Jesus’ command to the healed man—“Go tell others about the goodness of God,” or two, ask Jesus to leave us alone.

My friends, we are called to tell others about the goodness of God! That is the mission of the Church. Unfortunately, too many of us in the Church would rather be left alone. Which will you choose today?

So, you tell me–a good, short sermon? Eh! Maybe I should stick to longer ones.

Until next time, keep looking up…