Extreme Makeover

A Reflection on Luke 8:35

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Pastor Dale Stiles

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Have you ever seen or heard of the television show called, "Extreme Makeover."

"Extreme Makeover" is a show about people who are not happy with the way they look.

They might think their nose is too big, or that their teeth are not straight enough, or that they don't like the way their hair looks.

The TV show promises that after the people have an extreme makeover, they will look better and will feel better about themselves. They think their extreme makeover will improve their self-image and that their life will be better because of it.  Now I don't watch that show and I'm not recommending that you do either, but my family and I do watch the television show, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition".

In a similar way it provides an extreme makeover, but for families whose homes have been destroyed by fire or natural disaster or are not fit to live in safely.  In some cases a loved one has tragically passed away leaving a large family behind and unable to make ends meet.  That's where the ABC television network steps in and builds these families a brand new home in just one week! 

These people's homes literally go from too small, run down, and unfit, to brand new, spacious, and luxurious!  The transformation in the homes is amazing, but sometimes, and actually most often, the transformation in the lives of the family members is even more amazing.  The family members find hope in the midst of their despair.  Some find a purpose for living again and an overwhelming assurance of love and support from the community in which they live.  It's a very heart-warming and feel-good hour of television.

There's something about shows like that that draws us in isn't there?  It draws the viewer in to see what happens in the lives of these needy individuals and families.  Many times we find that we can relate to the individuals or families and sometimes we might even get a bit envious of their good fortune. 

Well, as our gospel text points out this morning, there is nothing new about extreme makeovers. They've been happening for years.

In fact, there are many examples in the Bible of Jesus performing extreme makeovers.

The important difference though, is that Jesus wasn't concerned about a how big a person's nose was or how straight their teeth were.  He probably wasn't even concerned about their living arrangements and size or shape  or condition of their house.  What Jesus was concerned about was what was on the inside of the people he met along his journeys. That place in which no one can ever see.  When Jesus did an extreme makeover, it was always from the inside out. Our gospel lesson today is about one of the people who received an extreme makeover, inside out, from Jesus.

Jesus and his disciples sailed across the lake fromGalilee.

When they reached the shore and stepped out of the boat, they were met by a man who was possessed by demons. For many years he had been homeless and naked and lived in a cemetery outside of town. As soon as he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and cried, "I beg you, don't torture me!" He said that because Jesus had already commanded the demons to come out of him and he was completely under the control of the demons within him.

There were a herd of pigs nearby.

The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. When the demons went out of the man and into the pigs, the entire herd of pigs ran off down the side of the hill into the lake and drowned. Those who were tending the herd of pigs saw what happened and went into town and told everyone what they had seen. (It's been said that this is the first reported case of "deviled ham.")  The people of the town went out to see for themselves and they found the man who had been possessed by the demons sitting at the feet of Jesus. He was fully dressed and no longer possessed by the evil spirits.  This man's extreme makeover was complete.  That's one example.

Jesus is still performing extreme makeovers today.

There are a lot of so-called "flaws" in our life aren't there?  We've made decisions we may wish we wouldn't have made.  We've said things we may have wished we hadn't said.  We've done things we may wish we wouldn't have done.  We need an extreme makeover - from the inside out!

There are things happening in our life today that we seemingly have no control of.  In fact, they're controlling us!  Alcohol and drug addictions, illnesses, loss, and grief.  We want nothing more than to let go of some of those "demons" in our lives, but we just can't seem to.  We need an extreme makeover - from the inside out.

The hail storm this past week affected many of you and many in our community very directly.

Your homes and property, as well as your lives, may have been, all of a sudden, turned upside down dramatically.  In a very real, physical way, you, your home, and your property may be in need of an extreme makeover.

Well, the good news today is that, in Christ Jesus, we have already been given that extreme makeover!

And especially, in our baptisms, and as we'll witness in a moment, in little Peyton Jack's baptism, he will receive an extreme makeover as water washes him clean of sin to be forever forgiven and daily made new in his Lord and in his Maker.

Paul couldn't have said it any more clearer in the fifth chapter of his second letter to the Corinthians when he said, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

Talk about an extreme makeover!

So today, I tell you - don't worry. 

Whatever the demons are in your life that have you gotten you down, that seem to have control over you, or that tend to hold you back, don't be afraid, because Jesus has power over them, and because of your faithfulness to God, and because of Jesus' death and resurrection, and because of the waters that poured over us in our baptisms and will again on Peyton this morning, the old has gone, and the new has come!

Thanks be to God! 

Amen.