Mark's account of Jesus dealing with the man who was possessed can cause flashbacks for anyone who has dealt with an individual who has seemed less than sane at one time or another. For pastors or church people, stories of the congregational "crazies", like the people to whom they refer, are legion. My first parish consisted of two churches, and both had at least one person who made my life, well, more interesting. A woman in church #1 called me often for help with the latest crisis at home. Sometimes it was a need for food, another time I accompanied her to a hearing for her son who was being sent to jail for attempted robbery. I visited him while he was in prison, only to sense that he was already planning to misbehave when he was freed, and that is what happened. Often, my wife and I returned home to find a message from her on our answering machine. She always ended her pleas by saying "Amen." In church #2, there was a woman who sometimes filled in as pianist. She had a look in her eyes that was troubling, as if one could see into the torment that she dealt with in her mind. One woman warned me to not ever be alone with her, because she had thrown a can of cling peaches at said woman's husband. Of course, the very next time I went to the church for a meeting, I arrived early and she was the only other person there! She once called my home, screaming because someone had kicked her goat and she also suspected that someone was stealing gas from her car. She felt that the world was out to get her. I remember so well the day she told me that she felt called into ministry, and that she would need the recommendation of the church to get past the district committee. In my mind I panicked, because I knew that I could never recommend her as a candidate for ministry, and I feared that such a declaration would impel a can of fruit to come speeding my way.
Yes, we have all dealt with the less than sane folks, so we can relate to Mark's account. But we often miss a salient point that is stated in the story: the demon within the poor fellow is the only being in that gathering who recognized Jesus as the Son of God. What are we to do with that bit of information? Perhaps we should pause and think about those times in our own lives, and we have all had them, when we have been one of the "crazies," even if just for a moment. Sometimes it is during such times that we most keenly feel the need for God's presence to reassure us that all will be well. Might it also be true that at such times we are most able to recognize when God's representatives are in our midst?
There was nothing noble about the demon's recognition of Jesus, because there was a tradition at that time that taught that speaking one's adversary's name first granted one power over that person. So, the recognition may have been a scheme to gain the upper hand, not to pay tribute to the Son of God. Jesus cast out the demon, which had become violent within its host's body. Jesus was not fooled by the power play, nor was Jesus insensitive to the pain of that poor man. So, what are good Christian people to do? The story seems to offer no alternative but to deal with such folks honestly and compassionately, but not to be manipulated by them.
I made a difference in the life of the family of the lady in church #1, even though her constant calls for assistance exhausted me. Her life's situation made escape from her poverty impossible, but a compassionate presence helped her to endure. I performed the wedding for one of her sons, and he and his wife were baptized and joined the church a few years later. The lady in church #2 eventually left the congregation and I never heard from her again. But I cannot clear her image from my mind to this day. That look in her eyes was almost a plea for someone to free her from the prison of her torment. I was not able to do that, but I hope that, eventually, with God's love and compassion and professional intervention, someone did.
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