Author Archives: Andy Stoddard

You can look at some of the big picture issues of location and context and fear within Mark 5:1-19.  Today I want to look at little bit a the people involved in this story:

Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac
They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; and he shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; and the unclean spirits begged him, “Send us into the swine; let us enter them.” So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea.

The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. But Jesus refused, and said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.”

First, we see the man.  Look at the torment he had been through.  One of the things that we see Jesus do over and over again in the text is to bring healing.  This man needed physical healing: he was cutting himself, harming himself, and in great pain, but his physical needs came from a spiritual place.

Jesus cast out the demons and in doing this brought spiritual and physical healing to this man.  Healing always starts with the spiritual.  In this life, the physical may, or may not, be healed.  But, through Jesus, the heart and the soul can be healed.  Jesus wants to bring healing.  He wants to bring grace.  He wants to bring forgiveness: forgiveness for us, and the ability for us to forgive others.  He longs to restore our soul and restore our lives.

Jesus saw this man in pain, and he brought healing.

And look what the man wanted to do.  He said – let me follow you.  And Jesus said, no.  Do something even harder.  Tell your friends what God has done for you.  Why?  Why didn’t Jesus let him go with them?

Look at the reaction of the people in verse 17.  The people begged Jesus to leave. Why did they want Jesus to leave?  Well, we see that their swine had been destroyed (by the way, sidebar – why did the demons want to go into the pigs?  There are lots of opinions on this, but I’ll give you mine.  They were destructive.  They wanted to destroy as much as they could. When they could no longer destroy this man, they wanted to destroy something else).  The people also saw Jesus’ power.  And they were scared of it.  It was bigger than them.

Jesus was other.  And the didn’t know what to do with him.  So they asked him to leave.

We would never do that, would we?

Well, how many of us have felt God calling us to something? We know, we know, we know that there is something that God is calling us to.  And we run.  We run from it, we run from God.

Why?  A thousand different reasons, different reasons for all of us. But for me, and probably for many of us, it’s control.  We like being in control and to let God lead and to follow him with abandon means losing control, giving him full control. And that’s terrifying.  Even though we know he is good and only wants the best for us.  It’s still scary.

And that’s why we’ve got to trust him and follow. And sometimes we follow, not to far away places, but to our own town.

Today, no matter where he calls, may we faithfully follow.

As we start our journey through Mark together, today we are going to look at Chapter 1:1-8:  In the NRSV this section is entitled The Proclamation of John the Baptist:

1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’”4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

A few things that jump out to me in this passage.  First, in verse 1, the “good news.” That’s what the word Gospel means.  It is good news.  Jesus is Good News.  The grace of God is good news. When we tell folks about God, we are telling them about good news!  God loves you!  Do we communicate that “good news” like it is actual good news?

In verses 2-3, we see a quotation from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah.  Mark’s Gospel doesn’t have as many Old Testament quotations as Matthew does, but he does quote from the Old Testament a good bit.  Why? Well, a couple of reasons.  First, this shows the Jewish believers that this “new” Christian faith is really the same faith that their ancestors were pointing to.  It is actually what Abraham and Moses and others were hoping and longing for.

And second, it shows us non-Jewish (i.e. Gentile) believers that God was at work for a long time.  We aren’t the first believers in God ever.  God was working all of history towards the coming of Jesus Christ.  And we as Christians, we should not forsake the Old Testament. We should treasure it and read it as well.  It is our story as well. We believe that all the Bible is inspired.  The Old Testament matters to us as well!

In verses 4-8, we see the entrance of John the Baptist.  Can’t you just picture him with this description. And you know what?  He looks different, doesn’t he?  Mark makes it clear to us that he is not like the other religious leaders.  Not in his dress, not in his actions (baptism of repentance) and not in his message – the savior is coming.

John was different. But what was his purpose?  To prepare the way for Jesus.  To get folks ready for Jesus.  To make sure that people knew Jesus and were ready to follow him.

In fact, you and I have the same purpose.  To make Jesus known.  So, we too have a different message and a different purpose.  Just like John, we are called to be different. And we are called to point folks to Jesus.

Today, we share that same mission as John.  To point folks to Jesus.

How do you live a happy life?  For you, what would result in happiness?

We may have a list.  If I have this.  Or if I have that.  If I’m able to accomplish this.  Or if this happens at work, or at home, or in my own life, then I’ll be happy.  We’ve probably all got our list of what we want, or want to happen, in our lives, that will make us happy.

I was thinking about that today when I read what Paul had to say in Philippians 2: 1-4.  Listen to what he shares with us:

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

He actually gives us the secret to happiness.  As tempting as it would be to think that our happiness will come from getting what we want, or doing what we want, our having our needs or wants met, Paul turns that on its head.

If there anything good, be of the same mind with each other.  Don’t be selfish, don’t act selfishly.  Regard others as better than you, and look to their interests first.

That sounds good, until you actually think about it.  Regard others as better than you.  I don’t (and don’t want to) do that.  I want to do what I want when I want it.  We all do, don’t we, to some extent.

And that’s what our culture tells us.  Our culture tells us that happiness comes from our stuff, from us being in charge, from us being number one.  Live your life the way that you want, doing what you want, achieving what you want because it’s all about you, your life, your contentment.

Today, though, we see the secret.  We see the secret to true happiness and life.  It’s not about us.

The Gospel is so countercultural. The Gospel says – it’s not really about you.  In fact, to find life, give it away.  To find happiness, stop worrying about it.  To really live, live for others.

And I guarantee, if we try that Gospel-life we will find happiness a lot faster than any other way. We think in living for what we think we want, we will find that happiness we desire.  We won’t.

But when we live that Gospel-life, living for Jesus, loving others, serving, giving, we find abundant, eternal life.

Today, you were made for that abundant, Gospel-centered life. Today, live thinking of others first.  Give it a test drive.  Try it and see.  And see if you aren’t, in the end, happy.

I mentioned in my sermon here at St. Matthew’s that I really love the book of Psalms. They are honest, they are beautiful and they speak to the heart, and come from the heart.  They really are some of the most powerful words on all the scripture.

So, often when I am reading the texts for each day, my eyes are drawn to whatever the Psalms for the day may be.  Today was Psalm 37. Something about verses 7-9 caught me today:

Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him;
do not fret over those who prosper in their way,
over those who carry out evil devices.
Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath.
Do not fret—it leads only to evil.
For the wicked shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

Two times it mentions, “do not fret.” Do not get anxious.  Do not get all roiled up.  Just breath.  Relax. Just take a moment and breathe in and breathe out.

Why?  Why shouldn’t we get all kinds of anxious?  Don’t you know what’s happening in the world?  Don’t you know what’s happening in my life?

Sure, lots of things are going on.  But here’s why we shouldn’t fret.

First, we don’t need to get anxious because of what that produces.  “Do not fret – it leads only to evil.”  Think about how much evil, how much done wrong, how much that causes pain to others comes out of worry and fear.

Fear is a dangerous thing.  Fear leads us to do things we normally wouldn’t do.

As Christians, as the church, we can’t and we shouldn’t be fearful.  First, because it can cause us to act in ways that just aren’t Christian.  Fear affects our tongue.  It affects our actions.  It affects so many things.  Don’t fret – it leads only to evil.

And second, we shouldn’t fret because we know Who is in control.  God is not surprised by anything that happens in our lives; God is not surprised by anything that happens in the world.  He has it.  Seriously.  Don’t fret.  Don’t be afraid.  Don’t worry.

Live a life guided by confidence in God, not shaken by the fear of the unknown, or even the known.

Don’t fret.

Trust.

Obey.

It’s ok.

God has it.

Be faithful.

He’ll take care of the rest.

Grace is not a one-time thing.  God doesn’t just see our sins, forgive us one time, and then choose to be done with us forever. No, God constantly gives us grace.

God gives us grace to forgive us, He gives us grace to empower us, He gives us grace to lead us.  For us, and for the world, grace is not a one-time thing.  It’s over and over and over again.  I am thankful that God is always lavishing us with grace and mercy.

That’s how it works between us and God.

But how should it work between us?  God always forgives us when we ask Him, but what about you and me? What are we to do when we keep messing up and falling short?  I mean, really, can’t they get it right?  How much grace do they get?  Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 18: 21-22: “Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.'”

Now, notice what Peter asks.  He says, what if another member of the church sins against me?  Two things pop out.  One is, “sins against me.”  That means does something to harm that relationship.  Something that’s not good, something harmful and destructive.

Something that may leave a mark.  Something that really may just hurt.

That’s tough to deal with.  Tough to work through.  Tough to process.  It’s not easy.

What else jumped out at me?  “Another member of the church.”  Someone that’s family.  As Christians, we are called to love. That’s one of our main commands and duties as believers, to love. We are called to love, because God is love. That’s our purpose and our mission.

Love the world.  Love each other. But especially love each other, because we are family.

Church, we’ve got to love each other.  If in your congregation you are always fussing among yourselves, then why would the world want to be part of you?  Sometimes the fights are over worship, or leadership, or a million different things.

Jesus tells us what to do: Love.  Forgive.  Show mercy. Be graceful.

Even when “they” don’t deserve it.  Because we don’t deserve it either.  That’s why it’s grace.  It’s never earned or deserved.  It’s always, always, always given and received.

Today, you and I have received grace from our loving God.  Today, may we show that grace to the world, and especially to those we do life with. Because loving each other may be one of our biggest witnesses to the world.

In a world that is angry and bitter and hurting, folks want to know that they are loved.  When we as the church live that out in our day to day lives, I truly believe that we can change the world.

Today, may we show grace!

One of the things that I know most about faith is that we are going somewhere.  We are on the move.  We have a direction and a purpose.

Now that somewhere, in time, is heaven. One day, for those of us that believe, we will cross over into eternity and we will forever be with the Lord.  That’s something to hope in, believe in, and rejoice in.

But that’s not just what I’m talking about it.  Listen to what we read today in Hebrews 6: 1-3:

Therefore let us go on toward perfection, leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ, and not laying again the foundation: repentance from dead works and faith toward God, instruction about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And we will do this, if God permits.

We are going on to perfection.  That’s scary.  We don’t like the sound of that.  Perfection?  None of us are anywhere near that!

And you know what?  That’s exactly true.  None of us are anywhere near perfection. But just because we aren’t anywhere near it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be moving towards it.  We aren’t perfect.  That’s right.

But you know what?  We are working to be faithful.  And that’s always the first step, the first key.

And second, we have to understand what it means to be perfect.

Let me ask you this: what is the aim or goal of our faith?  What are we after?  What are we doing?  We are seeking, by his grace, to be more like God.

And what is God?  Holy and Love.  That’s his character.  So how does Jesus tell us to be like him? He says the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all that we are, and love our neighbor as ourselves.

That’s what true obedience looks like.

That’s what true holiness looks like.

That’s what perfection looks like.  John Wesley didn’t talk about perfection in action.  He talked about perfection in love.

That’s what we are chasing. That’s our aim.  Perfect in love.

Today, let’s keep moving.  Let’s keep being faithful.  Let’s keep working.  Let’s keep growing.  Let’s move toward being perfect in love. And let’s see what God does with it!

One of the great blessings in life is to celebrate the ways that God works and moves.  Sometimes, in our bid to stay humble, we can forget to give testimony to what God has done.  Now, we do want to be careful, making sure that God gets the glory for whatever good happens in life, but we need to stop and realize what God has done.

It says in Revelation 12:11 that the devil is defeated by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony.

In our lives, we should, as often as we can, stop and testify and thank God for what he has done and is doing.

So today in our text, something surprising happens.  Listen to what we see in Luke 10: 17-20:

The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

But don’t rejoice because of that.  Rejoice because your name is written in heaven.

We don’t rejoice today because of what we’ve done.  Or what God has done through us.  We don’t rejoice because of any of these things.

We rejoice because we are his. 

We rejoice because he has given us life, life now, and life for all eternity.

We rejoice because we know the source of our life and our hope.

We rejoice because God has made us his very own.

Our identity is not found in what we do.  Our identity is found in who we are.  We are his.  That’s where our joy comes from.

May we never forget that!

One of the best things in the world that we can do is know ourselves.  Know our strengths.  Know our weaknesses.  There’s an old saying – know thyself. That’s a good thing. Because when we know ourselves, we know what to be on the lookout for.  What are things that could cause us trouble.

What are the things in our lives, in our past, in our present, that could trip us up?  Tempt us?  Cause to get ourselves in trouble? Do we know ourselves?

One of the things I really believe is that the Bible is the revelation of God’s truth for us, it points us to Jesus who is the author and perfecter of our faith. But it also points us to how to live, and for us it is just true.  The Bible points us over and over again to truth.  In fact, that old saying really be better understood in the light of James 1: 12-15:

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

James tells us, when you are lead into tempted, don’t say – God is tempting me.  Know where your temptations come from.  Within us.  Our flesh.  Our desires.  Our stuff.

That’s why we have to know ourselves.

What tempts you?  Where are you weak?  Where are you easily knocked off course?  Where does trouble come for you?

When you know where your weak spots are, you’ll know where to be on the watch.  You’ll know what to avoid. Where to be careful.

We aren’t all tested by the same thing. We have different weak spots.  Different temptations.  Different struggles.  Different histories. Different everythings.

What tempts me may not tempt you, and vice versa.  But I need to be aware of what tempts me.

That way I can (1) avoid it and (2) guard my heart against it when it can’t be avoided.  When I know myself, and you know yourself, we can (through God’s grace) better stand.

Today, what tempts you?  What is it that gets you?  Know that, and be aware.  And, when we know our weakness, we have a better shot of being faithful.  We have a better chance of being salt and light!