Be Healed OR Ask Jesus To Go?

What's hidden at the back of the fridge that is your life?

The Tupperware sits within my refrigerator hidden by the spinach, filtered water, and package of chicken. I forget what is in it for at least a little while. Was it the pulled pork I cooked in the crock pot or the leftover sautéed squash that I put in the plastic container? A few days pass. Then, a few more days. I still don’t open up the Tupperware. I kind of know that it’s there, but for some reason I do not acknowledge its existence. The smell of rotting food, the guilt of wasting resources, and the other demands on my day keep me from prying open the container. I finally get a moment one evening and discover it was leftover sweet potato fries. I really would have enjoyed eating those again I think too bad I did not want to look inside. If you are anything like me and you do not like dealing with stuff hidden away in a cold dark place, then you know more about demon-possession than you ever knew.

There was a man in the land of the Geresenes who was possessed by demons. Enough demons that the evil spirits called themselves “Legion,” like the giant Roman formation of troops. The demonic force recognized Jesus, and what happened next is painful to all of the bacon-lovers among us. The demons drove the pigs down a steep bank and into a lake where they drowned.

The swineherds told the rest of the town, the town members came to find Jesus, and imagine that they grabbed pitch forks, torches, and machetes to form a viciously angry mob. This group of peo-ple was going to confront this man who had broken up their barbeque and plunged their pork into a pool. The text never says that the Geresenes got freaked out by the man possessed by demons, even when he went running stark naked through the graveyard. (Can you imagine a burial with a streak-er?) However, when the Gersenes saw that the man formerly possessed by demons was in his right mind, they were afraid.

They were not scared of a man chained up by the tombs, unafraid of a man possessed by demons, but when this man came into his right mind they were filled with fear. This makes absolutely no sense. And, what happened next is shocking! The Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave. First they get freaked out by a formerly demon-possessed man who was healed, then they realize the potential of Jesus, and so they wanted nothing to do with it. WHY?! Why on earth would these people want Je-sus to leave? It has everything to do with Tupperware, well Tupperware and God.

Anything we hide away or forget about without dealing with it can end up rotting, producing guilt, and hit us at a time when we feel like we just do not have time to deal with it. It could be a skeleton in the closet, a small moment where we traumatized that we just have not dealt with yet, or that re-lationship that just feels off, but we are too afraid to say anything about it. The Gerasenes saw Jesus offering to get rid of the old Tupperware (or demons), but they were too used to the way things were, they were too accustomed to the crazy man being crazy to actually allow Jesus to stay.

They did not want to go through the difficult work of healing. They would have rather just let eve-rything stay the exact same. They wanted their bacon. They were okay with the crazy person being crazy. We do this too. And not just with the Tupperware. We do this with relationships, with our own problems, with complexes, old traumas and with communal issues. God worked through Christ Jesus then, and God still works through Christ now to bring healing, but it is not easy.

If God brings this healing and it actually works, then it means that God is real and not in our imag-ination. If this healing happens, then it means that we might actually have to give up something we really like to see more healing take place. If this healing takes place, then God is the one that is in control and not us, and yes, the Geresenes were right to be scared, for this is scary! God being in control can produce fear in us, as we are not just making up God and we are not making up what is happening, but instead we are living into the reality of God, the kingdom of God, the dream of God. The question is would we rather have the nightmare that is our world as the Geresenes saw it and as it still is today, or would we rather live into God’s dream for this world?

Often it seems we would rather just keep the status quo instead of finding a way to dream with God. We would rather allow people on FBI watch lists have access to purchasing guns than create a safer world. We would rather keep silent than stand up for those who are struggling to have equal rights because of their race, gender, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. We would rather Jesus leave than guide us through the hard work of healing, the pulling open of old Tupperware, and the casting out of demons.

In an age of too much violence are we willing to listen to the ancient dream heard in Micah and Isaiah to beat our swords into plowshares? In an era of exclusion are we able to break down the walls built in obtaining a false sense of security, so that we might live as one body? In a time of stink and rotting will we allow Jesus into our lives, so that we may do the difficult, but life-changing work of reconciliation? Or will we be like the Gerasenes and ask Jesus to go?

Healing is hard. It’s much more difficult than pulling out old Tupperware from the fridge. God’s work is reconciliation though, and if we live freely in God’s grace our response will lead us to being more like Jesus who sought healing and restoration for all. To be healed is as great a transformation as one man going from a demon-possessed streaker to being a fully clothed, sane follower of Jesus. What will you do? Be healed or ask Jesus to go!