When God Says No I. Hear the story: the “terrible of the ... - Campbell

When God Says NoMark 5:1-20I. Hear the story: the “terrible of the pigs”A. A crazy man1. absolutely out of control —a. have you ever felt that way?b. this man felt that way all the time — every day, all day — and all night, tooc. must have felt like he was always coming out of his skin — couldn’t contain itall2. no wonder he was constantly hurting himselfa. no wonder he cut himself on stones and briars and anything else — everythingelseb. probably cut himself some just because he was constantly thrashing around, ormaybe because he could never keep any sort of shoes on, or adequate clothesc. or maybe some of it was self-inflicted — a desperate attempt to do somethingthat would let out the pain within3. no wonder he was screaming and crying and howling all day and all night —a. I wonder if the people of the area had gotten used to it — if it had become just abackground noiseb. Constant screaming, moaning, cursingc. Horrible screeching laughter that had nothing to do with anything funny4. probably there used to be people who cared about hima. probably used to be people who tried to keep him safe —1) but even when they tied him down to keep him from hurting himself, hewould just burst loose2) Even if they used chains, put chains on his hands and his feet, he was socrazy, so out of control, so driven by the screaming demons within that heshattered the chainsb. probably used to be people who cared, but after all this time, when it was sohopeless, when he never seemed to be able to respond to even the least effort tohelp him, when he was totally unable to do anything to help himself —c. well, no wonder they drove him out of town, up into the mountainsd. no wonder the only place he could find to live was in the graveyard5. A crazy man — so crazy that it wasn’t enough to talk about one demon, or twodemons, or even a dozen demons; this man was so horribly trapped and torturedthat the only way to talk about it was a whole legion of demons — thousandsB. And one day — he met Jesus1. Rather ironic, isn’t it, that the first person Jesus met over on the far side of the seaof Galilee — over on the Gentile side, in the area of the Decapolis, the ten cities —the very first person he met was this crazy, tortured, demon-possessed mana. I wonder how the chamber of commerce felt about that — surely they weren’ttoo thrilled to have this man acting as the welcome committee!

When God Says No, 2b. Or maybe they had just stopped caring — maybe they were so resigned to thisman, so hopeless about doing anything with him, that they didn’t even care anymore if he ran down and assaulted visiting strangers2. except he didn’t assault Jesus —a. as happened so often, this crazy man, this demon possessed man, this man whocouldn’t even think straightb. this man recognized Jesus! I don’t just mean that he knew Jesus’ name, or knewhis reputationc. I mean that somehow, this man recognized that Jesus was no ordinary person;somehow, he knew that Jesus was the son of God3. And so he knelt down in front of Jesus, and began to beseech hima. Think of it — here is a man that no one can control; no one can make him bestill; no one can get him to recognize even the most rudimentary authorityb. But here he is — quivering, wanting to run, and yet somehow held captive justby the look in Jesus’ eyes4. The demons inside the man began to plead with Jesusa. please, they said, please —b. please don’t torment usc. please don’t make us leave this regiond. look — look over there — there’s a herd of pigs! Please — please — if you’regoing to cast us out of this man, please let us go into that herd of pigs!e. Please!5. The demons begged Jesus — and Jesus said . . . “Yes.” Jesus said “Yes”!C. Well, you know what happened next —1. The demons fled from the man and entered into the pigs — and the pigs wentberserka. All that pain, all that screaming, itching, out-of-control agony suddenlyexploded into the pigsb. And they responded in the only way that seemed to make any sense — they didwhat it took to get rid of this horrible afflictionc. They rushed down the slope and into the water, and were drowned2. Can you imagine what the people herding the pigs were thinking?a. Here they were, minding their own businessb. Here they were, in the midst of a mind-numbing, boring day, watching thesesame old pigs do the same old thing the same way they always havec. And suddenly the pigs go berserk, and snort and sneeze and squeal and scream,and they all take off running straight down the bank into the sead. Just ran right into the sea — ran right around them — ran right over them!3. So the pig herders started running, too, back to the towna. You have to remember, these pig herders can’t have been very important people

When God Says No, 31) You had to be pretty low on the totem pole to be given the job of herdingpigs2) Probably not the smartest folks in town — wouldn’t be surprised if theywere a few french fries short of a happy meal, if you know what I meanb. And yet, when they come running back into town, practically frothing at themouth, shouting out about the pigs going crazy — well, everybody listenedc. Everybody listened, and everybody went running back to see what in the worldhad happened4. And when they got there, do you know what really scared them?a. It wasn’t the ground all churned up by the pigs when they went crazyb. It wasn’t even the dead pigs washing up on the shorec. It was the man — that man, that crazy man — just sitting there!d. Sitting there like he was as normal as you and me — not shouting, not shaking,not doing any of the things that he had always done, for as long as anyone couldremembere. Just sitting there — sane5. They were scared out of their wits, and the only thing they could think to do was totry to get rid of the causea. Please, they asked Jesus — pleaseb. Please leave this placec. Please, please, get in your boat and just go awayd. Please don’t ever come back here again!e. Please!6. The people begged Jesus — and Jesus said . . . “Yes.” Jesus said “Yes”!D. Jesus turned to go1. He began to get into the boata. Some of the disciples began to get the oars readyb. Others got ready to push the boat back into the seac. But here came the man —1) the man who used to be demon possessed, who used to be crazy2) the man who now was finally, at last, after so many, many years, finally inhis right mind2. The man came running up, clutching hold of the boata. Wait! He said, wait!b. Please, he asked Jesus — pleasec. Please let me go with youd. Please let me follow after you, and be your disciple, and learn from youe. Please let me stay with you alwaysf. Please!

3. The man begged Jesus — and Jesus said . . . “No.” Jesus said “No”!When God Says No, 4E. Three requests made of Jesus1. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs … and Jesus said “Yes.”2. The people begged Jesus to leave that place … and Jesus said “Yes.”3. The man, healed of the torment, begged Jesus to allow him to come with him …and Jesus said “No”!II. What does it mean when God says “no”?A. You’ve heard Him say it, haven’t you?1. You’ve asked God — you’ve begged God2. You’ve asked — and God has said, “No.”3. Why? Why does God say “No”?B. Maybe you’ve wondered, as I have, if perhaps it’s because ...1. Of us — of something we have done, or not donea. Maybe I’m just not worthy —1) Maybe there is too much sin in my lifea) Oh, I know — we’re all sinnersb) Yes, I know — we’re saved by faith, not by worksc) I know that as soon as I confess my sins, He forgives med) But still the niggling doubt remains: is it me? Is it something I havedone?2) What if there’s something in my life that I haven’t confessed?a) What if there is some part of my life that I haven’t turned over to God?b) What if there is some way that I am not in step with God’s plans?c) What if I’ve strayed so far from God’s will that even when I confess andreceive forgiveness, I am still not where I need to be with God?3) Could this be the reason God says “No”?b. But wait a minute: which of the requests in Mark 5 came from someone whowas most worthy?1) Were the demons worthy? Oh, surely not — If anyone in this story is sinful,surely it is the demons2) What about the townspeople — were they worthy?a) I’m sure they thought they were worthy; I’m sure they thought theywere far more worthy than the demon-possessed manb) They may have thought that, but we don’t, do we?3) Surely we think, surely we know that the most worthy person in this story isthe man —a) The man cleansed by Jesus, healed by Jesus, restored by Jesusb) The man who finally is able to think clearly

When God Says No, 5c) The man who asks Jesus, begs Jesus — and Jesus says, “No”!2. Maybe it’s not a matter of being worthy, then — maybe it’s a matter of asking forthe wrong thinga. I certainly know all about asking for the wrong thing — don’t you?1) I’m not talking about asking for things that are obviously wrong —a) I’m not talking about asking God to zap that man who just cut me off onthe freeway and fill his car full of frogsb) I’m not talking about asking God to give me a winning lottery ticketc) I’m not talking about asking God to help Carolina beat Duke yesterday— clearly that would be the wrong prayer, though apparently some ofyou were praying that way!d) It’s not hard to understand why God would say “No” when I’m askingfor for something that I know is wrong or bad or immoral2) But what about when I think I’m asking for something gooda) Could it be that I just don’t realize that it really isn’t good, after all?b) Could it be that I just haven’t thought it all the way through?c) Could it be that I have convinced myself that it is good, when really it isjust selfish, really just self-serving?3) Could that be why God says “No” — because I asked for the wrong thing?b. But wait a minute: who in Mark 5 asked for the right thing?1) Was it a good request from the demons to go into the pigs? Or was it justselfish — weren’t they just trying to save themselves?2) Was it a good request from the townspeople to ask Jesus to leave? Or was itjust an unthinking reaction to their own fear?3) Was it a good request from the man? He asked to follow Jesus —a) He asked to stay beside Jesus, to learn from Jesus, to be a discipleb) Surely of all the requests made in this story, this is the only request thateven came close to asking for the right thing4) So why was this the only request to which Jesus said “No”?3. Could it be a matter of faith?a. I know how often my faith falters —1) I know how often I ask God without really having faith in Hima) I don’t just mean that I struggle to believe that He will do what I askb) I mean that I don’t rely on Him to do what I ask — I ask God to act, andthen I immediately start planning how I’m going to fix the problemc) I ask God, but I’m not really asking out of a faith relationship with Him2) Could this be why we hear “No” from God?b. And yet, which of the people in Mark 5 had the most faith?1) Surely not the demons — they probably believed that Jesus could doanything, but they certainly weren’t in a faith relationship with Him!

When God Says No, 62) Surely not the townspeople — they had so little faith in Jesus that theycouldn’t even stand to be around him! They asked him to leave!3) Surely, if anybody in this story has any faith at all, it must be the mana) He knew that Jesus could do anything he asked — after all, Jesus hadjust done more for him than anyone had ever been able to dob) Not only that, but his request seemed to be all about faith: Let me gowith you! Let me follow you!4) So why, why, why did Jesus say “Yes” to the demons, and “Yes” to thetownspeople, but “No” to the man?C. Maybe we ought to ask the question a little differently1. Maybe we ought to ask the question this way: Which of the requests in this storygot the best answer?a. The demons got what they asked for — and they were destroyed in the seab. The townspeople got what they asked for — and as far as we know, they neverever got to see Jesus againc. The man didn’t get what he asked for … but I’d have to say, he got the bestanswer2. What does it mean when God says “No”?a. It doesn’t necessarily mean that we have asked for the wrong thingb. It doesn’t necessarily mean that we are unworthyc. It doesn’t necessarily mean that we don’t have enough faith3. It may mean that God loves us so much that He is willing to give us the best answer4. It may mean that sometimes the best answer we can get from God is “No.”