Journey to Healing - The Path to Peace: Healing our Minds in His Presence

Sermon Quick Summary
God is faithful to help us take back our joy, our peace, even our clarity of mind that was stolen. Last week we began a new series called “Journey to Healing” by experiencing Jesus’ presence with Imaginative Prayer spiritual practice. Experiencing Jesus in Imaginative Prayer that heals our minds is beautifully captured in hymns of prayer, praise and worship. In this message, we see a man who wasn’t just hurting, but his mind was in turmoil. Jesus then stepped into the scene. Let’s read Luke 8:26-36 and witness how healing of the mind is found in Jesus’ presence. Imagine you are there witnessing it all. In Luke 8:26-36, a demon possessed man with a tormented mind met Jesus. In verses 35b and 36 we get to a beautiful highlight in this passage, “He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid. 36Then those who had seen what happened told the others how the demon-possessed man had been healed.” Jesus still heals our minds. We feel tormented today in our minds when:  Anxiety hijacks our thoughts. Depression dulls our joy and drains our energy. Obsessive rumination has us on a dizzying loop of worry, fear, or guilt. Mental fatigue clouds focus and motivation. Inner narratives lie to us about who we are and what we’re worth. We need to debunk lies and tell the truth: (1) there is no shame in mental struggle; (2) there is no shame in getting help; (3) therapy is not a lack of faith; (4) medication is not weakness; (5) naming your pain does not mean you are a failure. Mental strain is everywhere. Jesus cares about our minds and offers healing peace. Scripture shows us about how God tends to and heals the minds of those who walk with Jesus. God cares about our minds. Throughout Scripture, we see God’s heart to bring peace and healing to our minds. You are invited to an Imaginative Prayer healing journey. That same Jesus who met you in your Imaginative Prayer, calm, close, full of care is the same Jesus who invites followers of Christ to His Communion Table. When Jesus appeared to His disciples after the resurrection, His first words and gift to them was peace for their and our minds.
 
God is faithful to help us take back our joy, our peace, even our clarity of mind that was stolen. Last week we began a new series called “Journey to Healing” by experiencing Jesus’ presence with Imaginative Prayer spiritual practice. 
              God is faithful in every season including when we need healing. The presence of Jesus is experiencing His presence, not just thinking about Him or by learning Bible facts. One way to experience Jesus’ presence is through a spiritual practice called Imaginative Prayer. Imaginative Prayer is a sacred way of connecting with Jesus through our holy imagination with intentionality. It is about placing ourselves in a biblical story or envisioning in a special space, and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide our senses into an encounter with Jesus. Imaginative prayer is not “pretending.” It is prayerfully entering a moment of God’s divine presence using our minds and the gift of imagination God has given us for God’s glory.
              Imaginative prayer is spiritually powerful and corroborated by science. Neuroscience tells us that when we imagine something vividly, when we picture or visualize a scene, or recall a memory, our brains can respond as if it's happening in real time. That is why athletes visualize the race. Trauma survivors can be triggered by a thought. Similarly, meeting Jesus through imaginative prayer is a real encounter with the living Christ and can bring real peace, real calm, and healing to our minds and hearts. It is not make-believe. The Holy Spirit can meet us in our imaginations experiencing God’s faithful presence Spirit to spirit.

Experiencing Jesus in Imaginative Prayer that heals our minds is beautifully captured in hymns of prayer, praise, and worship. 
              Imaginative Prayer is an encounter that is captured so beautifully in this hymn: “I come to the garden alone. While the dew is still on the roses, and the voice I hear falling on my ear The Son of God discloses. And He walks with me; and He talks with me; and He tells me I am His own; and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known. He speaks, and the sound of His voice is so sweet the birds hush their singing. And the melody that He gave to me within my heart is ringing. And He walks with me; and He talks with me; and He tells me I am His own; and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.” This hymn describes an imaginative prayer experience. It’s not just a sweet song. It is the multi-sensory practice of drawing near to Jesus, feeling Jesus’ presence, hearing Jesus’ voice, and experiencing the incredible joy of being close to Jesus in a visceral way.
              When we encounter Jesus like that, Jesus restores our souls and fills us with His love. Also, Jesus’ peace settles in, calms us, and centers us. Our minds are pulled in every direction. We are racing with to-do lists, weighed down by worry, and flooded with fear. We need a healing touch in our minds and peace that flows from the inside out. Jesus heals our minds; that is exactly what so many of us need today.

In this message, we see a man who wasn’t just hurting, but his mind was in turmoil. Jesus then stepped into the scene. Let’s read Luke 8:26-36 and witness how healing of the mind is found in Jesus’ presence. Imagine you are there witnessing it all.
              “26 So they arrived in the region of the Gerasenes across the lake from Galilee. 27 As Jesus was climbing out of the boat, a man who was possessed by demons came out to meet him. For a long time he had been homeless and naked, living in the tombs outside the town.28 As soon as he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell down in front of him. Then he screamed, ‘Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please, I beg you, don’t torture me! 29 For Jesus had already commanded the evil spirit to come out of him. This spirit had often taken control of the man. Even when he was placed under guard and put in chains and shackles, he simply broke them and rushed out into the wilderness, completely under the demon’s power. 30 Jesus demanded, ‘What is your name?’ ‘Legion,’ he replied, for he was filled with many demons. 31 The demons kept begging Jesus not to send them into the bottomless pit. 32 There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby, and the demons begged him to let them enter into the pigs. So Jesus gave them permission. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned. 34 When the herdsmen saw it, they fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran. 35 People rushed out to see what had happened. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been freed from the demons. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid. 36 Then those who had seen what happened told the others how the demon-possessed man had been healed."

In Luke 8:26-36, a demon possessed man with a tormented mind met Jesus.
              Let’s be honest. This biblical account might feel strange or even a little uncomfortable. We don’t talk much about demons today. The entire scene (screaming in the tombs, pigs rushing off a cliff) feels more like something out of a horror movie than a Sunday morning message. However, even if the details are foreign to our day to day, the heart of the story is deeply human. We all, to one degree or another, can relate to a troubled mind.
              This story takes place in the region of the Gerasenes, a Gentile area across the Sea of Galilee. Jesus has entered an unfamiliar, unclean, and even spiritually dark territory. Here is what’s remarkable: Jesus crossed the sea apparently for this one man. There’s no mention of crowds, no large teaching moment, no miracles for the masses. There is just this one man, who is tormented, isolated, and cast aside.
              Jesus got in a boat, sailed through a storm (See Luke 8:22-25), and landed in the foreign region of Gerasenes for this man. Jesus went out of His way for this man because he mattered to Jesus.  This is a beautiful picture for us. It tells us that Jesus sees your worth, even when no one else does. Your worth is everything to Jesus, even at the cost of Jesus’ life.
              Let’s think about this man. He lives among the tombs. He is naked and alone. He is filled with tormenting spirits. He is kept under guard, often chained, and unable to be restrained because of the evil forces in him are so strong. It appears he’s been like this for a long time: suffering, isolated, unwell, unwanted, and essentially thrown away by his community. When we look at the unhoused population today, we see our society is still doing the same thing.
              However, Jesus comes with a different way of seeing and engaging with this man. The passage tells us in verse 30 that Jesus asks, “What is your name?” It is not entirely clear who Jesus is addressing. Is He speaking directly to the man reaching beneath the pain to the person still in there? Or is He confronting the spirits that have overtaken this man? We don’t know for certain. However, it is clear that Jesus sees him. He enters the storm of this man’s story. Perhaps that question in verse 30, “What is your name?” is Jesus’ way of saying: “I see you. There’s more to you than this anguish. This isn’t your full story.”
              Whether the man could answer Jesus for himself is not certain, because the answer came from the darkness inside of him. The reply is, “Legion, because there are many of us inside this man.” “Legion” is a military term. A Roman legion consisted of 5,000 to 6,000 soldiers, so this isn’t just “a lot of demons.” The word “legion” suggests organization, power, and occupation. This man isn’t just spiritually afflicted. He’s been completely overtaken. His inner self is overrun by forces he cannot name and cannot fight. He cannot, but Jesus can (now that’s a word for someone). Jesus can, and Jesus doesn’t flinch.
              Luke tells us in verse 29:“Jesus had already commanded the evil spirit to come out of him.” In Mark’s account, we hear Jesus say: “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!” (Mark 5:8). In this one sentence is God’s divine authority. There is no elaborate exorcism ritual, no power struggle, and no spectacle. When Jesus speaks, chaos flees, darkness has no ground left to stand on, and freedom comes rushing in. The demons know they are no match for Jesus, and the demons beg to enter a herd of pigs nearby. Jesus allows it. Two-thousand pigs run down a steep bank and drown in the lake. The scene is unsettling and remarkable. It is over. The man is now free, and the torment is gone.
              Word spread, and the community came running to see for themselves. A crowd gathered around Jesus, and saw the man who had been freed from the demons.

In verses 35b and 36 we get to a beautiful highlight in this passage, “He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid. 36Then those who had seen what happened told the others how the demon-possessed man had been healed.”
              This man is no longer isolated; he is sitting in Jesus’ presence. This man is no longer exposed; he is fully clothed. This man is no longer tormented; he is in his right mind.
              This man has been healed. In the presence of Jesus, his mind has been restored. His dignity has been restored. His place in the world has been restored. Jesus didn’t just cast out the demons. Jesus made this man whole. Healing in Jesus’ presence brings:  Restoration, Clarity, and Peace. With the power of Jesus’ presence even when struggling, Jesus crosses boundaries; Jesus steps into chaos; Jesus speaks to the person beneath the pain; Jesus heals the mind; Jesus brings peace with one word.

Jesus still heals our minds.
              Even in the ups and downs of life today, Jesus heals our minds. Perhaps we haven’t lived among tombs like the man in this story. Perhaps we haven’t been overtaken by a legion of demons or suffered to this degree. However, many of us know what it’s like to feel tormented in our minds. We might not use that language of feeling tormented, but we feel it.

We feel tormented today in our minds when:  Anxiety hijacks our thoughts. Depression dulls our joy and drains our energy. Obsessive rumination has us on a dizzying loop of worry, fear, or guilt. Mental fatigue clouds focus and motivation. Inner narratives lie to us about who we are and what we’re worth.
              Some of us have been struggling in silence. Others have been diagnosed and are going through treatment, therapy, or managing with medication. Some are just taking each day as it comes, dealing with the ups and downs of our minds as best we can.

We need to debunk lies and tell the truth: (1) there is no shame in mental struggle; (2) there is no shame in getting help; (3) therapy is not a lack of faith; (4) medication is not weakness; (5) naming your pain does not mean you are a failure.

Mental strain is everywhere. Jesus cares about our minds and offers healing peace.
              The statistics back this up, for all ages, especially the next generation. Mental strain is still misunderstood or hidden in the church. Jesus cares about our minds. Jesus doesn’t just want to save your soul. Jesus wants to heal your mind. Jesus comes into the chaos. Jesus walks into the mess. Jesus sees beyond what others see. Even if your thoughts feel heavy or disordered, Jesus is not afraid of them.
   Jesus sees you. Jesus knows your name. Jesus says, “Come. Sit with Me. Be still. Let Me heal your mind.” Often, healing takes time. Healing may involve prayer, scripture, rest, therapy, or medicine. When you walk with Jesus, every step on this healing journey is holy.
When you enter Jesus’ presence, gently or desperately, you open yourselves to the healing peace Jesus still offers.

Scripture shows us how God tends to and heals the minds of those who walk with Jesus.
              This is not just about managing thoughts. It’s about receiving the peace, renewal, and clarity that flow from being with Jesus. Let’s start with the risen Christ. Listen to John’s account of what happened that same day Jesus rose from the dead. “That Sunday evening, the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among the disciples. ‘Peace be with you,’ he said” (John 20:19). The disciples were grieving, confused, afraid of being arrested, or worse. Then suddenly, Jesus appears. Jesus is present with no knock and no warning. Imagine their minds that are spinning, racing, disoriented by trauma and grief, and then the shocking presence of Jesus Himself in person. That was a lot for the disciples to be carrying!
              Let’s notice the first words of Jesus, “Peace be with you.” In the middle of fear, confusion, and locked doors, Jesus offers peace. Jesus offer of peace is not just a greeting, but a gift of calm and wholeness. Jesus knows their minds are flooded, but healing from peace is found in Jesus’ presence, because Jesus is the Prince of Peace.
             
God cares about our minds. Throughout Scripture, we see God’s heart to bring peace and healing to our minds.
              Isaiah talking about God wrote - “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” (Isaiah 26:3).
              Paul challenges “God transforms you into a new person by changing the way you think” (Romans 12:2b).
              To the Corinthians Paul teaches, “We take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5b).
              To the Philippians, Paul teaches, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).
              Each of these verses reminds us that God cares about our minds. Scripture doesn’t just describe peace. Scripture reveals a Savior who brings peace and offers healing as a gift. Healing indeed is found in Jesus’ presence. How do we access that peace?
              A woman shared an Imaginative Prayer experience how she was struggling with overwhelming anxious thoughts. Her anxiety came like waves, racing ahead to the worst-case scenario, leaving her panicked and exhausted. For relief, she tried lists, breathing, and distractions. Since it was temporary, nothing helped for long. Then one day, she tried something different. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and pictured Jesus sitting next to her on the front porch of her childhood home. Her childhood home was where she used to feel safe and loved; it was her happy place. She pictured Jesus beside her on the porch. Jesus was calm, close, caring and gentle. She felt loved and safe in Jesus’ presence. She wasn’t alone; she experienced being with Jesus. Her breathing slowed. Her thoughts quieted. Peace began to rise. That moment didn’t fix everything. However, it was the beginning of a healing journey. This healing journey is a rhythm of life returning her to that space, whenever anxiety occurred. The healing journey is imagining Jesus not far away but near. Jesus is near enough to experience Jesus’ calming presence.
             
You are invited to an Imaginative Prayer healing journey.
              For few moments, meet Jesus in a place that is safe and full of grace to experience Jesus’ healing presence. In this guided Imaginative Prayer: (1) Begin by taking a deep breath. (2) Let your shoulders drop. (3) Let your body soften. (4)Let your mind begin to slow. (5) If you’re comfortable, close your eyes. (6) Now imagine yourself in a place of peace, comfort, and safety that is meaningful to you. For example, it could be a porch, a garden, a cozy room, a quiet trail, or simply a peaceful space that comes to mind. Let yourself settle there. (7) Now, become aware that Jesus is with you in this space. Feel Jesus’ calming nature settle over you, the warmth of His love surrounding you, His nearness reminding you that you are not alone. He is here just for you and to give you peace. Let yourself rest in that. (8) Now, consider anything that has been burdening your mind like an anxious thought, a racing loop, or a fear that won’t let go. Don’t focus on it. Just let Jesus see it, name it, and then give it to Jesus. (9) Now, just quietly listen and notice what Jesus wants to give you in return. It could be a word of peace, an image, a gesture, a reminder of who you are, or simply the quiet reassurance that Jesus is here, and you are not alone. Be with Jesus quietly; don’t force any thoughts. Receive what comes to you and if nothing comes, just enjoy Jesus’ presence and love for you as you simply say thank you, Lord. (10) Now gently open your eyes.

That same Jesus who met you in your Imaginative Prayer, calm, close, full of care is the same Jesus who invites followers of Christ to His Communion Table.
              The invitation to Communion is not a new invitation. It is a continuation of the healing rhythm that Jesus is with us. Just as Jesus brought peace to the man in the tombs and peace to the disciples behind locked doors, Jesus brings peace to you now. At the Communion Table, we remember Jesus who gave His body so that we could be whole. We remember Jesus who shed His blood to heal us and bring us peace; we remember Jesus who said, “Do this in remembrance of me” not as a ritual, but in relationship with Jesus and by His stripes, we are healed.

When Jesus appeared to His disciples after the resurrection, His first words and gift to them was peace for their and our minds.
              Jesus offers that same peace to us now. When anxiety returns, when your thoughts feel tangled, or when your mind feels heavy, remember that you are not alone. Jesus is near. You can always meet Jesus again and again in that quiet space of imaginative prayer, because healing is found in Jesus’ presence.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS INCLUDING FAMILY GROUPS

-What does it mean to you for your mental health that Jesus entered a boat going through a storm for a homeless unclothed man living alone in tombs ostracized by society?

-Under what circumstances are you in danger of feeling torment in your mind? How can you experience Jesus in Imaginative Prayer exercises to help you when tormented?  How does Jesus help you with mental healing and healing of the heart and spirit from the inside out?

-What are some untruths about healing that need to be debunked, as it relates to shame, therapy, use of medications, and acknowledging your pain?

-What are the key lessons of scriptures that teach about God’s will to bring peace and healing to our minds? Consider the key lessons from Luke 8:26-36, John 20:19, Isaiah 26:3, Romans 12:2b, 2 Corinthians 10:5b, and Philippians 4:6-7.
 
-In a guided Imaginative Prayer, what steps in the process most resonate with you in helping you to experience Jesus’ presence in your healing journey?

-How is the invitation for Imaginative Prayer to experience Jesus for your healing journey similar to the invitation to the Communion Table for followers of Jesus?