Day 11 of Lent Healed, Whole, Ready to Serve Scripture Lesson Mark 5: 1-20 Centering Words “Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he had mercy on you.” If any story from the Gospels comes close to being easily translated into a Hollywood horror movie, or very scary television drama, this one is it. This scripture tells the story of an unnamed man, whom we sometimes know from the name of his many demons, Legion. Mark tells us this poor man was so tormented, his community and his neighbors were scared of him. They went so far to bind him in fetters and chains, and this man was so strong, he would break them. Alienated from this family and friends, he lived out among the dead, with the dead in the tombs. What Stephen King or, in an earlier era, Alfred Hitchcock could do with this narrative! This man, or his legion of demons, recognized Jesus. When Jesus was still a long way off, he called out to him, and he called him the Son of God. In Mark’s Gospel, the brokenhearted, the demon possessed, recognized Jesus’ true identity before anyone else did. Such is the case in this story. This man—possessed, pitiful, alienated, alone—recognized Jesus as the Son of God, and called out to him. Jesus immediately commanded the demons to leave the man, so the man could be restored to sanity and wholeness. The demons begged Jesus to be cast into nearby swine. Jesus complied, and these swine drowned themselves. While the rest of the people around wanted Jesus to leave their neighborhood, the man Jesus had saved from the Legion wanted to follow him, as a disciple. Jesus told the man to stay there, Jesus commanded the man to stay home, and tell all his friends and neighbors about he love and mercy God had shown him. In refusing to let the man follow him to his next destination of ministry, Jesus was not rejecting the man’s potential witness, and ministry. Instead, Jesus was telling the man what he needed to do, and where he needed to stay, to maximize his witness and ministry for Jesus. Anywhere else, this man would have been just another disciple, just another person who had left their all, and given their all to follow Jesus. Now that is a powerful witness in and of itself to be sure, but it is nothing compared to the witness this man would have among his own community, among all of those people who had known him, who had been absolutely scared to death of him, when he was possessed by Legion, busting out of his chains, lurking among those tombs. Jesus left this man, alive and well, sane and renewed, and he left him to do his own work of reconciliation with his community, witnessing to the love and mercy of God. Sometimes God may call us to go on mission trips abroad. Sometimes God may call us to go down the road to the homeless shelter, or to the tutoring center for unwed mothers. Sometimes God may call us to go half-way around the world to do ministry to absolute strangers, who may be a different nationality, speakers of a different language than us. Sometimes God may call us to reconcile to our own family, or to old coworkers and friends we have been alienated from. Sometimes the ministry of Jesus’ love calls us to go far from home. Sometimes the best ministry for Jesus’ love calls us to make home our mission field. Either way, Jesus calls. Either way, Jesus makes us whole, and wholly loved. Let us pray: Into your mission field we want to go, sweet Jesus. Call us to the particular field you have for us to serve in. Help us to quiet our hearts, still our souls and hush our egos long enough to hear the whispers of the Holy Spirit. With love, with wisdom, with deep compassion and humility may we go forth into every mission field, be it half-way around the world, or just down the street from our front yard. May we go with the shadow of the cross, in the hope of the resurrection, with all the love of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, emanating from our being. Amen. Discussion Questions As you reflect right now in silence, where do you discern God calling you into the mission field? Where can you serve God in mission just down the road from your house? What global mission might God be calling you to help, in some way?
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 18:15:08 +0000
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