Sunday, October 26, 2025

Scripture: Mark 5:1-20

Sermon Title: Go and Tell What God Has Done

It’s that time of season, horror films and scary movies are playing on cable networks andstreaming on every streaming platform. The most popular horror films seem to be adaptations of Steven King Novels. Do any of you like horror films? I’m not that big into horror movies, I like a good thriller or mystery, but horror isn’t really my genre. This time of year, I’m personally more of a Hocus Pocus fan, than a horror movie fan. But my dad and middle sister love a good horror film. While best horror film or scariest movie of all time is definitely subjective, there is one movie that seems to top the lists for scariest movie ever. Any guesses or ideas what most people say is the scariest movie of all time?

The Exorcist. Which came out over 50 years ago in 1973. This movie still tops the lists of scariest movies even 50 years after it came out. And I’ll admit, I’ve never seen it, I’ve just seen parts of it when I’ve walked through the living room when my dad was watching it on tv.

But I remember one time, I came in right at the end of the movie when my dad was watching. And the movie ends with the demon going into the priest and he hurls himself out of the window of her bedroom. I forget if I was in seminary or already a pastor home visiting my family. But I remember saying to my dad after watching that scene, “You know, in the Bible, Jesus heals a man from a demon, the demons go into the pigs, and they run off a cliff, I think that’s what kind of inspired this scene here.”

My dad had no idea that was a story in the Bible. I’m not sure if that’s what the makers of the movie were thinking when they made that, but that’s immediately what came to mind when I saw this final scene. Today’s scripture is what came to mind when I saw that ending scene.

Inspired by our upcoming Trunk or Treat Even, our current sermon series is called “Spooky Scriptures.” We’re looking at scriptures that at face value seem a little spooky. They seem to tie in with Halloween and this time of year. Two weeks ago, we looked at the story of Ezekiel and The Valley of Dry Bones, and at face value, that scripture might seem spooky. We have a prophet seeing a vision of dry bones, coming back to life. It might seem like a Zombie Movie.

But the truth is, it’s not spooky. It’s a story of hope. It’s a story of God promising to breath new life into those dry bones. It’s a story of how God brings new life, hope, and resurrection into the dry, weary places in our lives. The valley of dry bones is not the end of our story. It’s not the end of God’s story.

And while our scripture today at face value may seem like a spooky story, the story of a demon man being possessed, while I’m sure it was very scary for the man and his family, it too is actually a story of hope, healing, and freedom.

Right before our scripture begins, Jesus and the disciples are crossing a lake. This is the time where Jesus falls asleep and there is a storm, and the disciples are terrified. Then Jesus wakes up, rebukes the wind and the rain and says “ Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40)

And then the disciples are actually even more terrified and ask, “Who is this? Even the wind and waves obey him!” (Mark 4:41) They are more afraid, because they realize the power of Jesus, and their response is fear.

Today’s scripture is right after the storm. Jesus gets off the boat and is greeted by this demon possessed man. It’s interesting, the heading of the scripture says “demon-possessed,” but in the actual text it says “unclean spirit, evil spirit, or impure spirit” depending on your translation.

We don’t really hear about the disciples in this section, so I’m not sure if the disciples are still on the boat, afraid about the storm they’ve just witnessed or afraid of how Jesus was able to calm the storm. But this encounter seems to be just between Jesus and this man. It’s a one-on-oneencounter with Jesus.

And it’s truly a sad scene. This man is living in the tombs, showing that he wasn’t believed to be good enough to live among the living, so he lived among the dead. It says no one could bind him anymore, not even with chains. First, doesn’t it sound awful that people were trying to bind him with chains? It reminds me of a dog chained up in a backyard, with no one taking care of it.

The man would be chained, but he broke the chains. And hear this, “Night and day among the tombs and in the hills, he would cry out and cut himself with stones.” (Mark 5:5)

Isn’t this such a sad scene? I think it’s more sad than scary or spooky.

Now to us, this scene might be difficult to understand. We haven’t lived among tombs or been chained up by our community. The closest we might come to imagining this scene in today’s context might be a prisoner in prison.

We recently finished a book study called “Just Mercy.” There were 6 of us in the study, and we’re trying to figure out a date to watch the movie if any would want to join. But it tells the story of Walter McMillian, a black man who was put on death row for 6 years for a crime he did not commit. He even had lots of community members share his alibi of how he was at a fish fry at his home the day this murder was committed, and yet he was still arrested, convicted, and put on death row. The law enforcement in that town was just so desperate to have someone convicted, it didn’t matter to them if they had the right person or not.

I imagine that during his time on death row, locked up, isolated from his family, isolated from society, his community thinking he was a murderer, Walter felt a lot like the demon possessed man, living among the tombs, living in chains. Thankfully, after 6 years, he was exonerated, and set free, just like the demon possessed man in today’s scripture.

We might not relate to a demon possessed man living among the tombs. We might not relate to Walter McMillian being wrongfully imprisoned. But I’m guessing we’ve all faced our own demons in some shape or form. For some, it’s the demon of addiction. You want to break free from addiction so badly, but it seems like whatever you do, you are still in chains, in pain, living among the dead, not the living.

For others, it might be the demon of depression or mental illness. Maybe the demon of thinking about harming yourself like the man cutting himself with stones.

For others, it’s the demon of past trauma or grief.

Maybe it’s the demon of an abusive relationship.

For some it’s the demons of loneliness, hopelessness, and despair.

I’m guessing we’ve all experienced our own demons in one way or another.

This man has been feared and shunned by his community because of what is afflicting him. He must be so lonely. Living among tomb stones. Living in chains because his community is afraid of him. But when Jesus sees the man, and the man falls at his feet, Jesus’s response isn’t fear. Jesus isn’t afraid of the man.

Jesus speaks with authority and calls the impure spirit to come out of him.

And then, I love this, Jesus asks him, “What is your name?” (Mark 5:9)

What is your name? Such a simple question, but it means so much. Jesus wants to know him as a person, not as a demon possessed man.

Unfortunately, the man doesn’t respond. The evil spirit does instead and says, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” (Mark 5:9)

Apparently, there are many evil spirits in the man.

Sadly, so often we define ourselves this same way, not by our names, not by who we are, but by our demons. We have let the world define us by our pain and our demons instead of who we were created to be in Christ.

We do this to others as well. We define people as homeless, mentally ill, addicted, abused, immigrant, disabled, the list goes on and on. But do we seek to know someone by their name instead of the way the world defines them? Do we seek to know them as beloved children of God?

If you have been defining yourself by your trauma, your pain, and your demons, hear Jesus asking you your name. Jesus wants to define you not by your demons, but as a child of God. May we hear Jesus saying to us this morning, “You are my beloved child.”

Then Jesus sends the demons into some pigs, and they run off a hill into the lake.

Now there’s something interesting here to think about. The mention of pigs isn’t just a strange part of the story, but it’s a detail that tells us something important. The Jewish People did not eat pork because it was believed to be unclean, and so if they didn’t eat pork, they would not have raised pigs.

So what does this tell us? If people are raising pigs, it must be a Gentile area, meaning non-Jewish Area.

Why does this matter? It shows us this might be the first Gentile that Jesus healed. This might be why the disciples aren’t mentioned in this text. Maybe they don’t want to get off the boat into this Gentile, unclean area. It’s starting to reveal to us that Jesus didn’t come just for the Jewish People, but that Jesus came for all people. Even people raising pigs. Even people living in tombs. Even people possessed by evil, unclean spirits. Jesus came for all people.

The people tending to the pigs come to see what happened, and they find the man sitting, dressed, and in his right mind. And you would think their response would be praise and thanksgiving. They had probably seen this man day after day. They had probably heard him. Maybe even helped chain him up, maybe even made fun of him or gossiped about him.

But their response was not praise and thanksgiving. What was their response to the power of Jesus? Fear. They wanted him to leave their region.

Just like the disciples on the boat crossing in the storm. When Jesus calmed the storm, their response was fear. Fear at realizing what Jesus could do.

Sometimes our response to Jesus is fear.

We like power over our own lives. We like control over our own lives. And it can be scary to step out in faith and trust in God’s power and strength.

So, Jesus goes back to get into the boat, where I imagine the disciples are all still hanging out. Maybe even more fearful because they’ve seen him calm a storm and hurl evil spirits into pigs, and off a cliff.

And the man that Jesus has healed begs to go with him.

But this is what Jesus says: “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” (Mark 5:19)

You see, when God heals us, when Jesus sets us free from whatever chains, whatever demons are binding us, we are to go and share that good news with others. We aren’t to keep that good news for ourselves.

How has God healed you? How has God set you free? How has God brought you redemption? Don’t live in fear and be afraid to share that good news with others. Go and tell what God has done in your life.

In the book “Just Mercy”, Bryan Stevenson, the author was a lawyer, writing about his time working with death row inmates and others. And as he helped convicts, they couldn’t help but share with their friends in prison and write to Bryan Stevenson and ask for help as well.

When we have experienced a good lawyer who helps us win our case, or a doctor who has healed our disease, or a contractor who has done good work at a fair price, we can’t help but share those names with others right? We share about good restaurants, diets that work for us, favorite vacation spots and travel deals, but are we as confident going and sharing about Jesus, the one who has saved us? The one who has healed us? The one who has set us free from the chains of sin and death? The one who has cast out our demons and hurled them off a cliff?

Let us boldly share our testimony about Jesus, just as we share about everyone and everything else in life. Let us go and tell what God has done. And in our sharing, in our going and telling, may others experience the healing power of Jesus for themselves. Go and Tell.

Amen