Show Notes
In this second week of “Ordinary” (or “Normal”) time, we are cautioned not to be afraid of God’s miraculous hand, but to proclaim His good works boldly.
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Episode Transcript
The day of Pentecost may be behind us, but its impact continues to ripple out like a stone in the water down through the centuries to this week, this day. We are reminded that before the early church proclaimed the Good News, it received power that upset the natural order, a sign that God’s kingdom was at hand.
A reading from Luke chapter 8 verses 26 through 39.
26 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” 29 For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.
30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31 And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.
32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. 33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
34 When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35 and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.
38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
While Christians are called to live at peace with everyone as far as they are able, as Paul writes in Romans 12, that doesn’t mean our job is to keep everyone happy. In fact, one sign of the coming kingdom of God can be that some people have their apple carts upset. Take the falling of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The account in Acts 2 tells how people in Jerusalem came together in quote, bewilderment over what was going on, with decidedly mixed reactions. Some were intrigued, while others dismissed it all as too much early morning drinking. Either way, the status quo was upended, and more than 3,000 responded to Peter’s resulting call to salvation. This sort of discomforted response to God’s moving was seen earlier in Jesus’ ministry when he freed the garrisoned demoniac from crippling bondage. He brought peace to the local community. The man had terrorized and restored one of their own to them. You’d think this would be a source of great rejoicing, but the people weren’t thrilled after Jesus allowed the evil spirits to go into the pigs, which charged into the lake and drowned. Luke’s account notes how the people were seized with great fear and asked Jesus to leave. Some scholars believe the people’s concern was their financial loss, while others suggest it had more to do with being awakened to the reality of the spiritual world and all that meant for them. Either way, their world was turned upside down. This is a stark reminder that ultimately we live in a world where God’s kingdom comes to deliver people from the kingdom of darkness into God’s glorious light; so we should not be surprised that sometimes people might be offended or off-put by the change that may ensue. So while we don’t look too upset when it comes through God’s miraculous hand, our opportunity is to speak boldly about the how and the why, pointing people to Jesus, either like Peter or the restored Gerasene who went away proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.
God’s word from 1 Kings chapter 19, starting in verse 1.
1 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”
3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.
All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
7 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.
And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
15 The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus.
Let us pray. Father God, your desire is that none should perish, but that all should come to a saving knowledge of your son Jesus. We know that cannot happen without a disordering of the fallen ways things are. Through the light of your gospel, breaking into the darkness that blinds and binds people. Such transformation cannot occur without provoking reaction. While we want to be people who live at peace with others as one expression of the gospel, let us not be afraid of the holy disruption you may choose to bring. May we have courage and boldness to speak boldly of your sovereign power and your call to repentance and new life through and in your Son. In His name we pray. Amen.
In closing, Psalm 43 verses one through five.
Vindicate me, my God,
and plead my cause
against an unfaithful nation.
Rescue me from those who are
deceitful and wicked.
You are God my stronghold.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?
Send me your light and your faithful care,
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.
Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
