Jeff Tacklind’s message on Luke 8:22-39
Sermon notes:
Luke 8:1-3
Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.
I know your generous soul is well able to let me go
You will in the end be happy to know my God was true and that after so many years of loving you so long
I find myself in the wide, infinite mercy of being mothered myself.
P.S. All of your intuitions were true. By David Whyte
You may be a construction worker working on a home
You may be living in a mansion or you might live in a dome
You might own guns and you might even own tanks
You might be somebody’s landlord, you might even own banks
But you’re gonnahave to serve somebody, yes
You’re gonnahave to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonnahave to serve somebody by Bob Dylan
Luke 8:22-25
22 One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, 23 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 24 And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”
Luke 8:26-33
26 Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.27 When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” 29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him.31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 32 Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.
Luke 8:34-39
34 When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 36 And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed.37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.
“It’s always shocking to meet life where we thought we were alone. ‘Look out!’ we cry, ‘it’s alive.’ An impersonal God – well and good. But God Himself, alive, pulling at the other end of the cord, perhaps approaching at an infinite speed, the hunter, king, husband – that’s quite another matter. “There comes a moment when children who have been playing at burglars suddenly hush, was that a real footstep in the hall? There comes a moment when people who have been dabbling in religion suddenly draw back. Suppose we actually found God! We never meant it to come to that. Worse still suppose He finds us?” C.S. Lewis, Miracles
What have we learned?
1.Safety isn’t in avoiding life’s storms, but in remaining close to Jesus in their midst.
2.Abiding with Christ requires trusting and obeying his view of reality over my own.
3.God’s miraculous, redemptive acts increase our authority, but also our responsibility be a witness
4.God doesn’t answer all our questions. He shows us His goodness and asks us to trust him
Psalm 46:1-3
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
“Your primary job is to experience deep contentment and joy and confidence in your everyday life with God.” John Ortberg
Romans 8:35-39 (ESV)
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
1. What is the storm in your life? Are you coming to the end of your abilities to navigate? Are you tempted to lose heart? Is God showing Himself in your peripheral vision? What past showings can you cling to for support?
2. Are there areas of your life where you’d rather God didn’t come? Where are you resisting God’s power and authority? Where would you prefer to be left alone? Where have you bought into the lie that you would be better off without Him?
3. How has God passed on his authority to you? Where is He asking you to be responsible to tell others? How might you share God’s redemption in your own life with those needing to hear?