But Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you."

     These are Jesus' words, to the man who has been called through the ages, the Gerasene Demoniac--after Jesus has cast out his legion of demons, and restored him to life, to health, to civility. Everybody who lived in the land of the Gerasenes seemed to know of this man, who been possessed by these demons for a long, long time--running around the countryside, naked, living not in a house, but in tombs...living a kind of living death, shouting out, breaking chains and shackles meant to restrain him. It was the very fact that the local folk new this possessed man so well, that shocked them so, and frightened them, when they heard, and saw what had happened to him--that Jesus had commanded the demons to come out, and they came out, to their own destruction, leaving the man, sitting, clothed and in his right mind, at the feet of Jesus. Luke tells us, "those who had seen it were afraid...and all the people of the surrounding country asked Jesus to leave them, for they were seized with great fear." But the man--the man who had been the Gerasene Demoniac, the man who had been released, set free, restored by Jesus, begged Jesus that he might be with him--begged that he might stay beside Jesus. But this man, Jesus would not let come, follow--this man, Jesus sent away, saying, "your job is to return to your home, and to declare how much God has done for you." So, the man went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

     When we hear Jesus' call to "Come, follow me", as we hear often in this Season of the Sundays after Pentecost--many of us chafe, and struggle, and yes, maybe even resist Jesus. We hear Jesus challenging, saying, "Come, follow me...", and we wonder, "Does he really mean me? Is Jesus calling me to something, someplace new--something, someplace, other than where I am now?" When we hear Jesus' radical call to the disciples in Scripture, calling fishermen to leave their nets and come follow; calling tax collectors to leave their counting tables and come along after, we can't help but question, our own call, and how radical a departure Jesus expects of us, and whether Jesus, in fact, wants US to get up from our desk, pack up our cubicle, take an overnight bag, and go--we know not where, to follow Him, to deepest darkest Africa, to the streets of Calcutta, to preach the Gospel in Baghdad or Kabul. It is a hard thing, sometimes, for us Christians to wrestle with, and discern God's call to us--and whether or not His call to us, is for us to get up and go--as did Peter, James and John--and all the rest. Some of us receive that call, without a doubt. I grew up, for example, in a family and household that was extremely close. Even after I felt the call to ordained ministry, I thought I would go to seminary in Chicago, just hours from home, and then return to the Indiana-Kentucky Synod to serve in a parish close enough to drive home regularly, for a family gathering, my grandparents birthdays, my parent's anniversaries. I had already been accepted to our Chicago Seminary! I'd been assigned to an advisor--strangely enough, the same advisor, Morry Neidenthal, that I was assigned again 20 years later, when I did my doctoral program in Chicago! But that summer before seminary, I knew I was being called, and led, and maybe pushed a little, to leave home, and comfort, and family connection behind, and go someplace new--to Gettysburg Seminary, sight unseen; to Gettysburg Seminary, which, as it turned out, had an internship in Los Alamos, New Mexico--in this synod, where it was God's will that I serve for, at least the first 23 years of ministry--I haven't hear yet, from God, about the next 23 years! But the point is, God takes some of us out of our comfort zone, away from our homes and families, and sends us someplace new and different to serve as disciples. Jesus calls some of us, as we'll hear next Sunday, to come follow him, immediately, not looking back, not with a moment to tie up loose ends and pack some baggage. Some of us here, this morning, have been, are being, will be, called, at some point in life, to respond to a radical call to follow Jesus, leaving it all behind, for his sake, and the sake of the Gospel. Many of us think of Jesus' call, as just that--radical, immediate, a complete change of life, and direction. And it's just that kind of call, that leaves many of us nervous and uncertain, wondering if we could leave it all behind, to follow Jesus.

     The Gerasene demoniac, oddly enough, was ready to do just that. He wanted to do it--having been set free from his demons and given a new life, the man wanted to stay by Jesus' side the rest of his life! The man begged Jesus, saying, "I have nothing here, master! You are my everything! People here will only remember who and what I was-but with you, Jesus, I'll have a new start, a clean start, a different life!" You would think this man would be the perfect follower of Jesus--no home to return to, no family, apparently, he'd lived naked for years, how much luggage could the man have to pack? And yet, Jesus says no to the man--rather, Jesus says, "Yes, you will serve me; yes, you will be my follower--but you, I want to return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you!" It kind of makes you wonder, how and why Jesus chooses some to go, and serve, and some to return home and serve. And while none of us really understand--we could say with some certainty, it must have something to do with how and where we will be most effective--with how and where God will be most able to use us. Which, ultimately, should help us to accept God's will for us, whatever it is. For those of us called to leave home and go serve on the other side of the world, once called, we ought to be ready to go, and not look back. For those of us who are told to return home and declare how much God has done for us--we ought to be prepared, and accepting of our calling to, as the saying goes, "bloom where we're planted". We ought to be ready to return home, yes, but we ought also be ready, to declare how much God has done for us! The danger will always be that we will simply, "return home". The danger will be that we will go home, sit on the couch, turn on the TV or computer, and "veg"--which comes from the word, I suppose, "vegetate", which suggests entering into a kind of vegetative state--not alive, but not really dead. That would be to live, pretty much like the Gerasene Demoniac--to exist in a kind of nether world, of no earthly use to God, or anyone. Jesus doesn't send the man home, to vegetate. Jesus doesn't send the man home to sit in the den and play video games for hours on end. Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you!" And that, is Jesus' command, for many of us, too. I would venture to guess that's Jesus command for many of us, here, this morning--that once church is over, once we have been set free, once again, from our demon-possession, from our bondage to sin, and evil; once we have been released from our burden of guilt and shame; once we have been liberated from our addiction to alcohol, weed, prescription painkillers, pornography, we are to return home, and declare how much God has done for us!" When you return home, today, YOU are, today, this week, the rest of your life, to declare how much God has done for you! Declare to others, how God has saved you! Declare to your family, how God has forgiven you! Declare to your neighbors how deeply God has loved, and loves you, in Jesus Christ! Declare how God has turned your life around! Declare how God, every week, feeds you with his very presence, for life and salvation! I believe--I know, every one of us, have received manifold grace and blessings, from God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God has done much for you, and for me, and is doing more and more, day by day. And until we hear otherwise, we are to return to home, job, daily life, and declare how much God has done and is doing for us. That was the calling of the Gerasene Demoniac, and that's the calling of the Colorado Springs demoniacs, as well--to return home--to declare how much Jesus has done for us.

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.