There he was, a man shackled, not bound with chains, for no chains or shackles could hold him. The local authorities had tried many times to restrain the man, but to no avail, he simple slipped out of them or smashed them with what appeared to be super human strength. He was the kind of man who would cause people to fear. Little children would scream at the sight of him and run for protection for their mom or dad. He had the appearance of a wild man, hair flying in all directions and matted with dirt from not bathing. His face and body were dirty as well. His beard was wild and he smelled bad. He wore no clothes and ran around in the graveyard. This was a man that no one wanted to associate with. What was wrong with him? When someone asked his name, his reply would be legion. Legion was a menace to the village. Fortunately, most of the time he stayed to himself; running around in the cemetery and the caves that surrounded the village. Guest who would visit the village wondered about this man. How did he get this way?
The villagers would say, “He wasn’t always this way. He was once the pride of our community.”
“What happened?” the visitors would ask.
“We don’t know. We don’t know,” shaking their heads.
For the man, the voices inside are driving him crazy. He screams, hoping someone will come to his rescue, but they all run away in fear – fear for their lives – because he cuts himself with stones. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, the voices continue driving him more insane. The villagers have given up hope.
“There’s no chance for him. He’s beyond all hope,” they say.
But is he really beyond all hope. One day a group of fishermen come to the village. As soon as Legion saw him, he cowered in fear and yet he started toward on of the men in particular. He sensed there was something different about him. The voices picked up in intensity. They said, “Don’t go. Make that man go away. We don’t want anything to do with him. He’s dangerous for you.” What was happening? Legion continues to run to the man, hoping that this man can finally help him. The voices do more than just scream internally; they literally start screaming so everyone can hear. There is a loud shriek that comes from the man. He’s thinking “Save me,” but the voices restrain him. Instead they shriek, “Why are you bothering me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? For God’s sake, please don’t torture me!” Just moments before as Legion bowed before the man, the man had commanded “Come out of the man, you evil spirit!”
The voices (the spirit) refused to leave. They debated with the man. They told the man that they were many. That’s how Legion had his name. Finally the spirits negotiated with the man to send them into a herd of pigs on the hillside. The man whom we know as Jesus agreed and the evil spirits left the man.
As soon as Jesus commanded the spirits to leave the man, Legion changed. He was fully clothed and in his right mind. An amazing transformation happened instantaneously in his encounter with Jesus.
In our world, in our nation, in our state, even in our county and our community, people are bound in chains. No, their not visible chains that we can see, but invisible. The man formerly known as Legion was shackled by demons. While it appeared he could break any shackle, quite the opposite was true. There are even some in our church this morning that are bound up in chains. Some of you are bound by the chains of sin. We often think of that one. But there are other chains that bind us; alcohol, drugs, sex, lust, anger, jealousy, envy, hatred, discord, depression, phobias, and other psychological disorders. Some of these chains even cause us to sin. Think about the demon-possessed man, he was in chains and felt there was no way out. Perhaps this morning, you feel the same way. There’s no way out of what I’m facing this morning. For you there is hope. There is hope for all of us. His name is Jesus. Jesus is the friend of the broken heart. Jesus is the friend of the wounded heart. Jesus can break the chains that are holding you down this morning. Just as he cast out the demons and broke the chains of demon-possession, he can break your chains as well and set you free.
Perhaps your not bound by the chains this morning, but I’m sure you know someone who is bound. How can we help them? Let’s go to Ephesians 2:1-10:
1 Once you were dead, doomed forever because of your many sins. 2 You used to live just like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passions and desires of our evil nature. We were born with an evil nature, and we were under God’s anger just like everyone else.
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, 5 that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms—all because we are one with Christ Jesus. 7 And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus.
8 God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.[1]
Each one of us who sit here this morning was once dead in our sins. We lived the way Paul describes us living – living just for ourselves. So we were much like the demon-possessed man and we could not break ourselves free from the chains.
It is only because of God’s great mercy to us that we have any hope at all. God has saved us by grace through faith when we believed and even in that we can’t take any credit for it. God has given it to us.
When we look at what God has done for us – when we look at the incredible grace and mercy he gave us, we should be thankful as we sang this morning, but what should our response be to those who still haven’t believed.
We need to remember that God was rich in his mercy toward us. We like to categorize sin. We like to think that some sins are worse than others. That’s how we look at things. God looks at it quite differently. There is no difference in God’s eyes – sin is sin. There are no big sins or little sins. It’s all sin. If you are here this morning and you feel trapped – you feel chained – there is hope for you this morning. Christ can and will set you free. What Christ has done for many of us, he will do for you. None of us can earn God’s favor. Only God in his mercy can save you. You can’t do enough good things to please God. You can’t come to church enough to please God. You could feed all the poor and hungry in the world and still not please God. What pleases God is when we believe in his Son, Jesus, who died on a cross to purchase our salvation. He bled and died and was put in a borrowed tomb and on the third day, he rose again. He did this for us. He did this so that we would no longer have to be bound by chains of sin. He did this so that we would no longer have to be bound by any chains. We are free.
Several years ago, Pam led a devotional for our Wesleyan Women in New York. It centered on verse 10 of Ephesians, “For we are God’s masterpiece, He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” I remember playing softball a few weeks later and one of the community players for our team was getting beat up in everything she did. She had gotten hit by several balls and was involved in a collision or two. Pam said after the game, “Remember, Liz you are a masterpiece. God created you special.” Liz smiled and Pam and her reminded each other of that from time to time. We are a masterpiece in God’s eyes. Just a few moments ago, I said that we can’t please God by doing good things, however, in if we believe in Christ and are one of his followers, good things will be a natural expression of our love for Christ, as we love others as Christ has commanded us.
You are a masterpiece in God’s eyes. God created you special. God created you to be free in Christ. Do you want to be free this morning? Christ can free you and today can be a brand new start.
