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Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Is there a spiritual difference between this demon-possessed man and an unbeliever? The answer is, "No." There is no spiritual difference between these two. Both are spiritually dead, blind, and enemies of God.

Now obviously, one is greatly more visible before one's eyes than the typical unbeliever, but both are the same. Now wouldn't it be nice if we could see which ones were unbelievers by their very actions and say, "Ah, now there's one we need to evangelize. Oh, there's one we have in our own fold"? It's not so easy.

This is interesting because this historical account is remarkable in many ways. Jesus leaves the fairly Jewish region of Galilee and goes across the Sea of Galilee to an area that was decidedly pagan both in its culture and in its worship. Going across the Sea of Galilee to evangelize over there and to proclaim the Good News…we know it is a very pagan region because they kept pigs. That never would have been done in a Jewish region.

Now note the condition of the man whom Jesus comes upon. First off, he has no clothes. He has no home. He lives among the tombs and is driven into the desert by the demons. And he is not in his right mind because later in the text it says now he is in right mind. He is demon-possessed.

Merely by seeing the Lord Jesus does he bow down before Him and cry out both in shame and in fear. Now an interesting aspect of this text…When he bows down and cries out, there ensues a conversation and in fact, of all the situations of demons encountering Jesus, this is the longest conversation by far that's recorded in Scripture. But after this great, long conversation, Jesus takes these unclean spirits, drives them into unclean animals, and sends them into an unclean death. End of story.

It is really what happens to the man afterwards. It is really what happened to you at the font. For if you are in agreement with the initial statement that spiritually, there is no difference between this demon-possessed man and an unbeliever, then we have a lot in common with this man. Now granted, we were not running around without clothes on, although lots of times, little kids do that a lot around the house.

But Jesus takes what is unclean and makes it clean. He takes you and me, who have no faith in God, who are not possessed by God, and cleanses us and makes us clean, driving out the unbelief and demon, and instilling Himself in that space and that place of emptiness and makes us clean.

Having cleansed us, He doesn't leave us alone and wash His hands of us and say, "Okay, now you're on your own. Go and do great things." He brings great protection to you and me, for having cleansed us by making that which was unclean, clean, He clothes us, just as He clothes the man in the great historical account.

Paul talks in that epistle reading about this clothing or raiment that God alone gives. "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ [have been clothed with Christ]." And having been clothed as you and I have been, after having been cleansed, we are protected by Christ's righteousness.

He does not let us go then. He brings more support. He plants us in the field known as the Church, and having planted us in the field known as the Church, He knits us together into a family, whereas Paul says in the epistle reading, we are all sons of God through Christ Jesus. We are all heirs of the same heavenly Father. We're not alone in this venture in which God has placed you. He supports us in this that He alone has brought upon us.

Next, He enables us to speak. The demon-possessed man could not speak and could not receive. After his healing, he is found at the feet of Jesus, just as you are at the feet of Jesus this morning. And each time you are opening that Word of God, you are at the feet of Jesus. He is the instructor. You are the receiver. He is the confirmation instructor. You are the confirmand. He is the catechist. You are the catechumen. And by being in such a position, you are the one who is being enabled to speak and proclaim that which God has done for you.

But having protected us and supporting us and enabling us, He now commends us as He commended that man. The man wanted to follow Him and go about Galilee with Jesus and the disciples. Jesus says, "No, you stay here. You do the work of My heavenly Father here."

And before we think, Oh, that's easy. He just went about preaching and proclaiming God, you have to put yourself in this man's shoes. He was well known in that region as a demon-possessed man. The people all kept their distance from him and now the very people who have kept their distance from him have heard about this same Lord Jesus Christ who changes this man's heart, having slaughtered a whole herd of pigs.

They don't want Him around. The text says the people of that region say to Jesus, "Get out of here. We don't want you around." They're fearful of it. And that's the kind of environment in which God has placed this demon-possessed man who now is in his right mind, clothed, clean, and enabled to proclaim. The region in which he has been placed, the people in whose lives he has been placed, and all that has been brought about by this event makes it very difficult for this man to proclaim…which is just like you.

God has placed you in among people who are fearful of the Lord Jesus and what He brings, just as this region was. For most of us who have grown up in the church, this does not cause us fear. This place causes great comfort. Jesus and what He brings to us does not put us at odds. It is embraced and received.

But for most of the people with whom you interact, who are not believers, one could say it scares the you-know-what out of them. They are the ones who need to hear it the most and they are the ones whom God has given to you to tell what God has done for you.

When we think of God's design, how He brought into this man's life the Light of Life, and how He illumined his darkness…when you and I ponder what God has done for this man and where He placed this man, you and I cannot think that we were haphazardly placed where God has placed us. The people with whom we are interacting have been placed in our lives for your proclamation.

You are the one who has been made clean. You are the one who has been clothed. You are the one who has been made heir. You are the one who sits at His feet and you are instructed and are given words to speak. And you are also the one who has been commended by God to go forth.

We, like the man who has been healed from the demon, wish to follow in His steps and go elsewhere. Absolutely. You and I know there are those people with whom we have to interact and we're thinking, Lord, send somebody else. Even family members who are difficult…Lord, please, somehow bring me a different family. But they are the very ones whom God has placed in your life for that reason. It is not haphazard. It is divine in its design.

The same Jesus about whom we just finished singing, who comes and brings all these gifts with Him…You and I know we've received such glorious gifts, and if that's not enough, you and I know we'll receive it again this morning when He gathers us again around His table to feed His hungry chicks, telling us to open wide our mouths that He may fill it. But then He commends us to go and proclaim that with which He has filled our mouths, with those people in your lives. No one else has been commended to proclaim to them what He has done for you, but just you.

But don't forget. Just as He sent this man into waters unaware and unknown, remember He cleansed him. He protected him. He supported him. He enabled Him and He commended him. So He has done to you. Do not forget that.

That is Satan's desire, for you to forget such glorious things that He has done, and that is your and my own flesh fighting such a commendation. And yet that is where God has placed us, for those people are the ones for whom He has designed your words, out of your mouth, that which has been filled by your God to proclaim. Go and do likewise as a son and daughter of the King. In Jesus name, Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and your minds on Christ Jesus to life everlasting, Amen.