WHO IS THIS PERSON?

 

      Luke is a wonderful storyteller, and how I love to hear the stories of Jesus, over and over again. We learn who Jesus is and who God is by hearing and reading these stories. The Jesus story for today is found in a series of miracle stories. These stories reflect who Jesus is and how he can work in our lives.

      In one of these stories, Luke tells how Jesus was asleep in the boat when a storm came up. The terrified disciples woke Jesus up, who immediately calmed the storm. The disciples asked an eternal question, “Who is this man that the wind and waves obey?”

      In the very next story, the boat lands on the opposite shore, and Jesus begins to answer that question of who he is. Who Jesus is begins to unfold; he is the one who heals both body and spirit, who gives new physical and spiritual life, the one who takes an out-of-control sinner and changes him/her into a disciple who is on a mission to tell others the story.

      In Luke 8:26-39, we find this strange story with many odd twists and turns. Jesus casts many demons out of a man. The demons go into a herd of hogs, and the hogs drown themselves in the sea. The townspeople hear about all this, come and find the formerly wild man sitting calmly at Jesus’ feet—a student learning from Jesus. They are afraid and ask Jesus to leave.

      But then the story takes another interesting turn. As Jesus was getting into the boat to go back across the lake, the healed man wanted to go with Jesus. However, instead of saying “Follow Me,” as he usually does, Jesus said to the man, “Go home, and tell what God has done for you. Go home to those who so long ago turned you out. Go home to those from whom your sickness has separated you. Go home and tell your story. Go home and witness what God has done for you in your healing.” In other words, stay here and follow me at the same time. And the man does just that. He does not just witness to his family and relatives, but “proclaims throughout the whole city” what Jesus has done for him.

      Bishop Wilimon tells of his recent visit to the area across the Sea of Galilee where this story took place. This region is now in the country of Jordan. They visited a little church, which they were told had been there for many, many centuries. The people in the surrounding area had gathered all those centuries to worship Jesus. The bishop wondered, “Is this the church that was created because of the healing of the wild man in the story? Were disciples made and a church begun because of the willingness of the man to follow by staying and telling his story?” I think it was.

      What happens to the man in this story is not just about a remarkable healing, it is about salvation. It is about attitude and behavior changes. It is about God’s love being placed into a person’s way of thinking and acting. And that person becomes so different from who he/she was before, that it attracts attention. So different that some people are afraid of the change in his/her life, some cannot understand it, some are skeptical, and some want to know more about it.

      So who is this man Jesus? He touches, forgives, heals, and sends us out on a mission, his mission. However, we cannot serve and tell a story that we do not have. We must experience his healing hand. Jesus has shown up, he is here. Jesus can send us out with a story. Let us claim this story as our own.

Rev Tim McConnell Long’s Chapel UMC, October 27, 2013