“Demons?  So Where Is Our God?”
Psalm 42 -   Galatians 3: 23-29 -  Luke 8: 26-39
June 20, 2010

And the people noticed the misery of the psalmist's life and taunted him asking....."Where is your God?"  The psalmist was asking the very same thing....for in moments of hardship, depression, unhappiness....we often wonder about God, how God could let this happen, where God is just when we need God most.  And then the psalmist remembers.....yes, my God, you have always been with me....I remember the times I felt your presence as I was with others...the throng....I remember your presence in the tender, deep moments of the night...when life itself felt like a prayer.  The psalmist remembered...God is always with us, and found hope.  Through hope, faith.  Through faith, hope.

And where was God and what was God doing that this poor man in Luke was possessed by demons?

         Think back to the beginning of the story and how the man had been hiding in the caves but then came to Jesus.  Some beginning awareness must have been within him that he needed to be seen or at least, he couldn't go on any longer on his own....he needed help even though he didn't know what kind.  (I wonder if we are aware enough of our pain to come to Jesus when we need him most, even when we don't know what we really need?)  And when the demoniac man throws himself down at Jesus' feet, Jesus sees all his demons...the demons that have taken over his life....indeed, taken his life away from him.  
          Demons....literally....yes!....figuratively....yes!  Seen any demons lately?  How would you name the demons of today? Your demons?
             And the demons have no inhibitions and speak to Jesus.  They beg him not to send them out of the man into the abyss.  You see, they know they do not exist outside of a host.....have no power in and of themselves.  They cannot exist on their own.  (A bottle of vodka isn't addictive till we drink it.  Emotions...anger does not exist on its own...only within someone.)  Demons have no power but the power we give them.....we give in to them...often because we try to face them alone.  And you can’t get rid of them simply switching one for another or an addiction in one part of your life for one in another won’t help…it’s the same core unmet need…doesn’t help to switch smoking for eating, drinking for shopping.  We so often over-schedule ourselves so we don’t face our demons.  
          Demons....mental illness including depression, addiction, homelessness, loneliness, grumpiness, bossiness, anger, sadness (little demons and big demons can take the same toll on someone's life).  When you let life experiences create in us an emptiness....a space....and do not consciously fill this space with "good", then demons/"bad"/evil comes in and pretty soon fills you up and takes you over.   When life experiences such as abuse, rejection, confusion, abandonment, denial come in and we don't honor them and let them empty us out.....evil will come in.  And you become a wild person living in the caves of your former life, running around without any clothes on....the demons within you visible, making you vulnerable to people's judgments.
        Where is God and what is God doing that demons take hold.....of the demoniac man...of us?
         Oh.....isn't the question:  Where are we when the demons come at us?  What are we doing?  Do we put ourselves in the places where we can be filled with good?  Do we face with awareness our demons or choices....or do we deny their existence thereby strengthening them?
        Do we just keep going along following all the laws, looking right on the outside while we're dying of sadness, anger, guilt, loneliness on the inside?  Do we give in to demons rather than give ourselves to God?
             We need others to help us remember just as the psalmist remembered....God is good and God is here for us....known to us in each other!  Life is too tough to live it alone without the support and wisdom of others....the nudges not to give in to the way it is but give yourself to a new way to live through what ever it is that is making you "crazy".
           And so....It's not so much where is God.....but where are we?  What are we giving in to and why do we face our demons alone?  (We all face demons you know!)   We cannot make it on our own and we cannot make it without God....Jesus is nearby....he sees our demons and is not afraid.....Jesus is ready to send them into the pigs....if we will come out of the caves of our lives and come to Jesus for the help we need!
           Six years ago when we worked with this passage in Faith Fellowship, LeAnne said....."I got to get me some pigs!"
           Yes, Jesus will get us "some pigs", if we come before the Lord in our nakedness and let our needs be seen and known so we can get the help we need.  It's not that God doesn't know what's going on in us.....but we often don't see or face what is really going on.  If we are self honest, turn to Jesus, then will not face our demons alone.  
          How do you get such awareness....look deeply into the mirror.  It begins by looking at yourself.  What do you see?  Do freedom and joy show through your face?  If not, why not?  Find the ones you know who you trust to love you enough to tell you the truth and stand with you as you find the way to freedom....to joy.....to health and wholeness.  It will take as much courage for you to listen to them as it took for the demoniac man to come out of the cave.
         You see, there was a time when living by the laws/society's rules and judgments, living with the appearance of happiness but inwardly hopeless things would change....there was a time this was the best people could expect.  But that time is over!  We have Jesus and his understanding faith and hope are stronger than the laws, judgments, and appearances.  Jesus understood that we are one.....must be one together....we need each other....we need to be clothed in faith and hope united in community.  Because it takes a legion to defeat a legion!
          We are one.  We can only be as healthy and happy as the least of us......  Whether we are Jew or Greek or slave or free or female or male....no matter how we are different.....we are one....and we inherit God's promise.  Together....we inherit God's promise.
             And what would that be?
                          What is God's promise?  Well, it's easier to name what it isn't.....
          So then, what is God's promise.....eternal life....life....beginning here and now.....never to be alone in life and so life's joy can be ours.....if we come to Jesus in awareness of our need, if we become one with others empowering faithful choices, if we remember God moments and let them give us in hope in this moment...the promise is fulfilled.  Heaven on earth!  God heals. 
                So…Demons?  Yes….so, where is your God?  How about:  Where are you?  Isn’t it time to come out of that cave!!