“Jesus Enters the Scene”Main point: Jesus has power over the evil forces of our world and is at work driving them out.BLESSING THE CHILDRENSERMONIntroductionThere is a story of the young monk who came to his Spiritual Father, the Abbot of the Abbey, with a question…“Master, yesterday I was in the village and I saw a girl who was hungry. I was moved with compassion and gave her my lunch. We speak of the holy angels who lead us to do good deeds for others. We also speak of the Holy Spirit who lives in us to show compassion. Help me, Abbot, was it the angels or the holy Spirit who led me to do these things?”The Abbot replied: “Was the deed you did good?”The young monk replied: “Yes, as much as I can tell.”The Abbot answered: “Then you have your answer. Go and do more of the same.”In our gospel story today we encounter a man plagued by demons. They are destroying him. His body is cut. He is ostracized from society. He lives among the dead - the tombs and catacombs of the city. He is shackled and bound, but chains cannot subdue him. This was not a new condition for this man. Long before Jesus showed up he was subjected to the demons’ torments. It was likely he placed himself in cooperation with the demonic forces at the direction of the people in his town - and now these forces control him. The pattern has been habituated over such a long period of time that the people in the town and in the surrounding area have come to expect what this man has become. Stark, raving, mad. A menace. A terror. A boogyman of the worst degree.Just like every person who is overtaken by demons, he is being destroyed.(Long pause)Jesus enters the scene. Jesus enters the scene..and things begin to change.In a demonstration of divine order Jesus enters the scene and commands the mayhem and the chaos and the confusionand the destruction…to be sent back to where it came from.Because that’s all the demons can do. Where disorder, destruction, and chaos reign, there is the work of the unholy angels. But their activity only goes so far. Until the one whom they must obey comes on the scene…Until the one who has authority speaks and says, “What is your name?”Until the one who created all things seen and all things unseen shows up and orders those chaos dealers to be gone. Expanding the TerritoryIt says that Jesus was in the area of Gerasenes. This was a territory outside of Galilee where Jesus was spending most of his time up to this point. When Luke tells us they were in the area of Gerasenes, he’s saying to the reader that Jesus and his band of merry men are not in a Jewish-typical area. Worship of Yahweh is not the norm in Gerasenes. By going to this place, Jesus is expanding the boundaries of his ministry to include the non-Jewish nations. This message of freedom from the evil forces of this world is for all people in all places! Jesus enters the scene..and things begin to change. The boundaries of God’s reign are expanding.Jesus asks the demon’s name. You’ll also notice that Jesus asks the demon its name and addresses it specifically. Have you ever had a problem in your life and you struggled and struggled not knowing why you were struggling so badly? But then you discovered the source of your struggle and this new insight changed the way you engaged. Your struggle now had a name. No longer were you struggling in general. You were now fighting something in particular.

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