Daily Scripture: Mark 5:1 Yeshua and his talmidim arrived at the other side of the lake, in the Gerasenes’ territory. 2 As soon as he disembarked, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the burial caves to meet him. 3 He lived in the burial caves; and no one could keep him tied up, not even with a chain. 4 He had often been chained hand and foot, but he would snap the chains and break the irons off his feet, and no one was strong enough to control him. 5 Night and day he wandered among the graves and through the hills, howling and gashing himself with stones.
Reflection Questions:
The central figure (besides Jesus) in this week’s central story lived like an animal. He was terrifyingly strong, unstable, living isolated “among the tombs,” where “he would howl and cut himself with stones.” He was not just “unemployable”—he was, for the people of his area, completely uncontrollable, except to drive him out of their environs. It’s hard to imagine a person who more urgently needed a second chance!
- This man was frightening, a violent, disturbed outcast. Yet even meeting him in a weird, scary setting (“among the tombs”), Jesus maintained his calm self-possession. What enabled Jesus to resist fear in situations that trigger it in most people? Do you believe his quiet confidence created a more supportive, safe environment for others, including this raving madman, to change their lives for the better?
- In his book Why Do Christians Shoot Their Wounded?,1 Christian psychologist and physician Dwight Carlson showed the tragic way some Christians use a story like this to suggest that anyone experiencing a severe mental/emotional illness is out of harmony with God. Mark gave us no back story on the man, and Jesus did not condemn him—he simply healed him. How can activities like Resurrection’s Care Night make church a safer place for people experiencing mental and emotional struggles, as well as physical ailments?
Lord Jesus, when you met a man from whom everyone else wanted to run away, you cared, and you healed. Thank you for being willing to care about and heal the parts of me that frighten even me, too. Amen.
1 For a more in-depth study, see Dwight L. Carlson, Why Do Christians Shoot Their Wounded?Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994.Insights from Courtney Felzke
Courtney Felzke is Pastor of Silver Link. Resurrection’s Silver Link Ministry serves senior adults who become unable to fully engage in the life of the church, including those who are physically frail or suffering from dementia. Courtney seeks to maintain a connection with all such Resurrection participants through pastoral care and worship.
As I read today’s GPS, after listening to Adam’s sermon on Sunday, the lyrics to a Christian worship song came into my head. The song is called “Broken Together,” by the group Casting Crowns: “Maybe you and I were never meant to be complete. Could we just be broken together? If you can bring your shattered dreams and I’ll bring mine, could healing still be spoken and save us? The only way we’ll last forever is broken together.”
When I first heard this song I didn’t like it. My first reaction was, “Why would we want to settle for broken? Why wouldn’t we find healing from our broken places?” However, I don’t think that’s what the song is saying. I think it’s saying we all have issues–a physical ailment, a mental illness, a past we regret. What ever it might be, there is something about each and every one of us that isn’t or wasn’t perfect. In one way or another, a piece of all of us is or has been broken. I think this song encourages us to come together, as we are, and find healing despite the brokenness in each of our lives.
I struggle with general anxiety. I didn’t ask for this anxiety, and I would never wish it on anyone. But, it’s who I am, and I’ve learned that I need to find ways to cope with and handle my anxiety. I have a wonderful therapist who helps me with the ruminating thoughts that arise which tell me I’m not good enough. I’ve learned techniques to help me when I feeling like I’m having an anxiety attack. I have friends I talk to who also have anxiety. I exercise and I’ve learned how to have good self care so I can manage my anxiety. Although I’m well treated for my anxiety, it will always be a small part of who I am (until, of course, that day when I meet God face to face and am made completely new). Until then, I will continue to be broken with those around me, knowing that the only way we’ll find peace in our brokenness is by coming together as broken people, lending support and help to one another, and loving each other the best way we know how. All of this done with God’s help. As we see in this week’s Scripture, God loves of all of us regardless of our broken pieces. We know God works in and through those broken pieces to bring about new life and hope. For our brokenness doesn’t define who we are. I’m hoping our brokenness can cause us to reach out to others who have similar broken pieces so that together we can help one another. Together we can find hope, and together we can bring beauty out of brokenness.
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The Daily Guide. grow. pray. study. The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection of Leawood, Kansas, United States for Wednesday, 20 Aprili 2016 - "Thirsty for a second chance"
Daily Scripture: Mark 5:6 Seeing Yeshua from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him 7 and screamed at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Yeshua, Son of God Ha‘Elyon? I implore you in God’s name! Don’t torture me!” 8 For Yeshua had already begun saying to him, “Unclean spirit, come out of this man!” 9 Yeshua asked him, “What’s your name?” “My name is Legion,” he answered, “there are so many of us”; 10 and he kept begging Yeshua not to send them out of that region.
Some world religions picture good and evil as equally strong, fighting eternally for supremacy. Even some Christians become obsessed with trying to identify demonic forces, which they may portray as terribly strong. Yet when the gospels pictured demons, they always said the spirits feared Jesus and cowered before his power. The gospel writers were convinced the battle between good and evil was hopelessly one-sided for the forces of evil, that God’s power was far, far greater.
Lord Jesus, in the end, you healed the evil in our world by allowing the legions to do their worst to you. Send your healing, and your sacrificial spirit, into my heart. Amen.
1 William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Mark, (Revised Edition). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1976, p. 119.Insights from Jennifer Creagar
As I read today’s GPS, after listening to Adam’s sermon on Sunday, the lyrics to a Christian worship song came into my head. The song is called “Broken Together,” by the group Casting Crowns: “Maybe you and I were never meant to be complete. Could we just be broken together? If you can bring your shattered dreams and I’ll bring mine, could healing still be spoken and save us? The only way we’ll last forever is broken together.”
When I first heard this song I didn’t like it. My first reaction was, “Why would we want to settle for broken? Why wouldn’t we find healing from our broken places?” However, I don’t think that’s what the song is saying. I think it’s saying we all have issues–a physical ailment, a mental illness, a past we regret. What ever it might be, there is something about each and every one of us that isn’t or wasn’t perfect. In one way or another, a piece of all of us is or has been broken. I think this song encourages us to come together, as we are, and find healing despite the brokenness in each of our lives.
I struggle with general anxiety. I didn’t ask for this anxiety, and I would never wish it on anyone. But, it’s who I am, and I’ve learned that I need to find ways to cope with and handle my anxiety. I have a wonderful therapist who helps me with the ruminating thoughts that arise which tell me I’m not good enough. I’ve learned techniques to help me when I feeling like I’m having an anxiety attack. I have friends I talk to who also have anxiety. I exercise and I’ve learned how to have good self care so I can manage my anxiety. Although I’m well treated for my anxiety, it will always be a small part of who I am (until, of course, that day when I meet God face to face and am made completely new). Until then, I will continue to be broken with those around me, knowing that the only way we’ll find peace in our brokenness is by coming together as broken people, lending support and help to one another, and loving each other the best way we know how. All of this done with God’s help. As we see in this week’s Scripture, God loves of all of us regardless of our broken pieces. We know God works in and through those broken pieces to bring about new life and hope. For our brokenness doesn’t define who we are. I’m hoping our brokenness can cause us to reach out to others who have similar broken pieces so that together we can help one another. Together we can find hope, and together we can bring beauty out of brokenness.
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The Daily Guide. grow. pray. study. The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection of Leawood, Kansas, United States for Wednesday, 20 Aprili 2016 - "Thirsty for a second chance"
Daily Scripture: Mark 5:6 Seeing Yeshua from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him 7 and screamed at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Yeshua, Son of God Ha‘Elyon? I implore you in God’s name! Don’t torture me!” 8 For Yeshua had already begun saying to him, “Unclean spirit, come out of this man!” 9 Yeshua asked him, “What’s your name?” “My name is Legion,” he answered, “there are so many of us”; 10 and he kept begging Yeshua not to send them out of that region.
11 Now there was a large herd of pigs feeding near the hill, 12 and the unclean spirits begged him, “Send us to the pigs, so we can go into them.” 13 Yeshua gave them permission. They came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering around two thousand, rushed down the hillside into the lake and were drowned.
Reflection Questions:Some world religions picture good and evil as equally strong, fighting eternally for supremacy. Even some Christians become obsessed with trying to identify demonic forces, which they may portray as terribly strong. Yet when the gospels pictured demons, they always said the spirits feared Jesus and cowered before his power. The gospel writers were convinced the battle between good and evil was hopelessly one-sided for the forces of evil, that God’s power was far, far greater.
- One clear message from this story was that evil is ultimately self-destructive. The forces haunting the man, whatever their exact nature, brought him no good, but triggered self-injurious behavior. Then, when Jesus granted the request to go into the pigs (a clear sign that he was in Gentile territory), the demons promptly destroyed their new “abode.” In what ways have you seen evil’s destructive nature, in yourself or in others you know?
- The word “Legion” was not a neutral word just meaning “a lot.” Scholar William Barclay wrote, “A legion was a Roman regiment of 6,000 troops….The legions, at their wildest and most irresponsible, could sometimes be guilty of atrocities that would make the blood run cold.”1 So Mark’s writing identified Roman troops with evil. What are some prominent, obvious names of evil forces today? In what ways can evil cause pain or illness, even through less obvious forces in our world?
Lord Jesus, in the end, you healed the evil in our world by allowing the legions to do their worst to you. Send your healing, and your sacrificial spirit, into my heart. Amen.
1 William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Mark, (Revised Edition). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1976, p. 119.Insights from Jennifer Creagar
Jennifer Creagar facilitates the Prayer Ministry and coordinates the Financial Care and Assistance ministries. She is married, has three great kids and three perfect grandchildren whom she loves spending time with, and she enjoys writing and photography.
I once took part in a retreat where one breakout session included the task of rewriting the Lord’s Prayer, expanding it and making it more personal. One of the expanded prayers included a phrase that stuck with me. I include it in my own expanded personal version of the prayer Jesus taught. In the part of the prayer where we say, “…and deliver us from evil…” the expanded version adds the phrase “the evil of the world, and the evil of my own making…” and I try to name the evils I am asking be removed from my path. Naming them helps me see them for what they are. It’s the evils of my own making that most often trip me up – actions that come from selfishness, anger, fear or just plain forgetting the powerful name at the beginning and end of my prayer.
There is so much power in the name of Jesus. The evil spirits that had hold of the poor man in Mark 5:1-13 knew that and shouted out to “Jesus the Son of the Most High God.” (Mark 5:6-7). When Jesus asked the demon for its name, it proudly proclaimed “My name is Legion, for we are many.” The spirit seemed to believe there was power in that name, too, or in the numbers it represented. The evil spirit was wrong about that power. When it asked to be dealt with according to its own plan, that plan led to its destruction.
Naming the evil we struggle with can be a healthy way to face it but only if we also rely upon the name that destroys evil and promises us life, love, joy and peace, Jesus – the Son of the Most High God.
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
913.897.0120
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I once took part in a retreat where one breakout session included the task of rewriting the Lord’s Prayer, expanding it and making it more personal. One of the expanded prayers included a phrase that stuck with me. I include it in my own expanded personal version of the prayer Jesus taught. In the part of the prayer where we say, “…and deliver us from evil…” the expanded version adds the phrase “the evil of the world, and the evil of my own making…” and I try to name the evils I am asking be removed from my path. Naming them helps me see them for what they are. It’s the evils of my own making that most often trip me up – actions that come from selfishness, anger, fear or just plain forgetting the powerful name at the beginning and end of my prayer.
There is so much power in the name of Jesus. The evil spirits that had hold of the poor man in Mark 5:1-13 knew that and shouted out to “Jesus the Son of the Most High God.” (Mark 5:6-7). When Jesus asked the demon for its name, it proudly proclaimed “My name is Legion, for we are many.” The spirit seemed to believe there was power in that name, too, or in the numbers it represented. The evil spirit was wrong about that power. When it asked to be dealt with according to its own plan, that plan led to its destruction.
Naming the evil we struggle with can be a healthy way to face it but only if we also rely upon the name that destroys evil and promises us life, love, joy and peace, Jesus – the Son of the Most High God.
Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
913.897.0120
---------------------
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