TELL THEM I LOVE THEM

Luke 8:26-39

INTRODUCTION:

Dwight L. Moody was an unlikely evangelist.  He was born into poverty so deep that he had little opportunity for schooling.  By the age of 17, he could scarcely read or write.  Yet God used Dwight L. Moody to personally preach the gospel to more than one hundred million people during the mid to late 1800’s (in a time before rapid transportation and mass-communication).  It is said that his preaching and teaching led to the conversion of nearly 750,000 people in a span of some 40 years.  But given his modest start, Dwight L. Moody was an unlikely evangelist.

However, in the history of unlikely evangelists, has there ever been a more unlikely evangelist than the man we met last week in a cemetery in Gerasa?  Yet, with the exception of Simon Peter and the apostle Paul, no New Testament character may have taken the gospel to more people.  Will you listen to his story from Luke 8?

^26 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. ^27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. ^28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” ^29 For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.

^30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. ^31 And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.

^32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission. ^33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

^34 When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, ^35 and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ^36 Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. ^37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.

^38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, ^39 “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

In this text, there are two evangelistic stories: two narratives of someone telling people that Jesus loves them.  There is the account of how Jesus reached a mad man with the good news of the gospel.  And there is the account of how the once-mad man then took the good news to the ten cities of the Decapolis. 

If we are going to be effective at telling people that Jesus loves them, perhaps we can learn from the incidents in this text.

To be effective at telling people that Jesus loves them, we must first of all learn to see with the eyes of the Lord.

1. SEE WITH THE EYES OF THE LORD (8:26-31) 

The people in the region of the Geresenes saw this man as a bundle of trouble to be avoided.  He was demon-possessed.  He shrieked like a banshee.  He didn’t live in a house; he lived alone among the tombs.  He was totally out of control.  He was so unbelievably strong that he broke the chains when people tried to shackle him.  And he didn’t wear any clothes.  He was an undesirable character and he was a bundle of trouble.  So the people avoided him.

 But when Jesus looked at the man, he did not see him the way others had seen him.

A.     Jesus looked at him and saw the problem – the man was possessed by demons.  The people of the region of the Geresenes saw him as a dangerous naked mad man.  But Jesus knew that these were symptoms.  Jesus saw the underlying problem that produced those symptoms: he was demon-possessed.

As I mentioned last week, we might think of ourselves as too sophisticated to regard him as demon-possessed.  We might classify him as schizophrenic or as suffering from a multiple personality disorder or some other complex psychological condition.  But Jesus saw that the root problem was that he was demon-possessed.

Sometimes we are not effective at telling others that Jesus loves them because we see symptoms and not the real underlying problem.  We see someone who is angry or who is demanding or who is withdrawn.  We see someone who steals or who kills or who abuses substances or abuses people.  Here’s a principle you can hang on to: hurt people hurt people.  If you see someone who is hurting other people, bank on it: that is a person who is hurting.  Hurt people hurt people.  Jesus saw the source of this man’s hurt and it was the evil that was inside of him.

B.     Jesus saw the person – he asked the man’s name.  When Jesus looked at the demon-possessed man, he didn’t see a demoniac, he saw a man: a man made in the likeness and image of God but who was living beneath his dignity as a child of God.

Don’t you wonder how long it had been since anyone asked this man his name?  Oh, the people of the area had names for him, no doubt, but I wonder how long it had been since someone asked him for the name his mother and his dad had given him.  I wonder how long it had been since someone saw him as a person: a person with feelings, with needs, a person who once had dreams.

If we are going to be effective at telling others that Jesus loves them, we need to see them as real people and not just someone we can use to further our own cause.

C.    Jesus saw the potential.  Later, we will see that he sent the man out to tell what God had done for him.  Jesus valued him enough that he gave him a ministry. 

When you look at problem people, do you see the God-given potential that is in them?  If you see with the eyes of the Lord, you will see not just what they are but who they can become.

If we are going to be effective at telling others that Jesus loves them, we must learn to love them with the heart of the Lord.

2. LOVE WITH THE HEART OF THE LORD (8:32-37) 

Beyond just seeing people with the eyes of Jesus, we must love them with the heart of Jesus.

A.     Loving people with the heart of Jesus means loving them with a heart that values faithfulness over fear (8:35).

Isn’t the gospel account of this incident telling?  Here was a man who was a notorious problem.  People wouldn’t have anything to do with him and they had driven him out of town to live among the tombs.  No one could control him and he had no self-control.  Then Jesus touched his life and changed his life.  An infamous mad man was now healed.  And how did the people react?  Look at verses 35 and 36 of our text:

^35 and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ^36 Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. ^37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.

When the people heard what had happened out among the tombs and they came out from the towns around, the text says they saw the man who had been demon-possessed.  When they saw that the man was clothed and in his right mind, they were afraid!  Which is not to say that they weren’t a bit skittish about him when he was naked and mad.  But when they saw him healed, they were afraid.  What’s up with that?

Well, I have a theory.  The demoniac hadn’t been much of a threat when he was out among the tombs.  But now they were in his presence and they were afraid. 

Often, we can be all enthusiastic about supporting someone else to go tell people that Jesus loves them.  We can be very generous to help them tell the good news.  But when it comes to us being the messengers who tell them the good news, well that can be a different story.  We’d rather pay someone else to do our evangelism for us.  Sometimes I wonder if we only have a heart for the outcast and the sinners as long as we don’t have to be in their presence.

We may be intimidated by the responsibility to tell others that Jesus loves them but if we love with the heart of the Lord, faithfulness will triumph over fear and we will tell them anyway.

B.     If we love with the heart of the Lord, we will love with a heart that values people over possessions.  In Mark’s account of this same incident, Mark wrote, “Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man – and told about the pigs as well.  Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region”  (Mark 5:16-17).  There is just something about the tone of those verses that leads me to believe that the people may have been more concerned about the pigs that were lost than the person that was saved.

What about us?  If we love with the heart of the Lord, we will value people over possessions.  We will make any material sacrifice for the sake of getting the good news to those who need to hear it.

Think of what it cost Jesus to bring good news to the earth.  Scripture says he left the glories of heaven to live on earth; he sacrificed equality with God to become equal with men; he endured false imprisonment, false accusations, false condemnation and an unjust execution to bring good news to us.  Don’t you think we can be inconvenienced a little to take that good news to others?  Don’t you think it would be all right if it cost us a change in our lifestyle so that others can have eternal life?

To love with the heart of the Lord is to value people over possessions.

And, if we are serious about telling people that Jesus loves them, we will need to go with the Word of the Lord. 

3. GO WITH THE WORD OF THE LORD (8:38-39) 

A.     When I was a kid in grade school, we had a weekly feature called “show-and-tell”.  Each week, a different student would be allowed to bring something from home to show to the class and tell them about it.  I always enjoyed seeing what other students brought and talked about.  But I especially liked it when it was my turn to bring in something to show and tell.  For days I would anticipate my turn and I would try to make sure I found something that was important to me to show and tell.

B.     For this man from the tombs it wasn’t so much “show and tell” as it was “Go and tell”.  Jesus told this man to GO and tell: Go home and tell how much God has done for you.

Ultimately, that is the message we all are to share.  We are not called to be scholars or linguists or orators.  We are called to be witnesses, bearing testimony about what the Lord has done for us.

We need to make it public – go and tell.  We ought not to swallow our testimony, we need to get out and go and then speak up and tell.

We need to make it practical – go and tell them what the Lord has done.  We are not commanded to share theories or theologies; we are commanded to bear witness to what the Lord has done.

We need to make it personal – go and tell them what the Lord has done for you.  Yours is no borrowed testimony of what the Lord has done for others, yours is the personal witness of what the Lord has done for you.

So, what have you got to tell?  What you have to tell is how the Lord has had mercy on you.  Tell them you were a sinner.  Tell them that you were a sinner deserving of death.  Then tell them you were forgiven and acquitted: judged as not guilty.

You’ve got something to go and tell.  And you’ve got something for show and tell: the difference Jesus has made in your life.  Now go with the Word of the Lord.

CONCLUSION:

You may think, “I’m no Billy Graham.  I can’t lead others to Christ.”  You’re no Billy Graham but you can still lead others to Christ.  Jesus uses unlikely evangelists as his most effective instruments.

People who have received mercy have a message to share.  Others may dispute your knowledge, your training or your credentials but they cannot dispute your first-hand testimony of what you have experienced.  If you have received mercy when you deserved justice, you have a story to tell.  And if you believe God’s mercy is for others, you have a message to share.

 Back to Sermons