What Is Your Name? And How Much Has God Done For You?

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Good morning.

My name is Joan Benton.

I participate in a community group for Kensington and El Cerrito, go to Women, Reading Women,

and help once a month with CC Kids.

We're reading today from Luke chapter 8, verses 22 through 38, as printed in your liturgy.

Luke 8:22–38

One day, Jesus said to his disciples, let's go over to the other side of the lake.

So they got into a boat and set out.

As they sailed, he fell asleep.

A squall came down on the lake so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.

The disciples went and woke him, saying, Master, Master, we're going to drown.

He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters.

The storm subsided, and all was calm.

Where is your faith?

He asked.

His disciples, and in fear and amazement, they asked one another,

Who is this?

He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.

They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee.

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.

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.

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 the chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.

Jesus asked him, What is your name?

Legion, he replied, because many demons had gone into him.

And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the abyss.

The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission.

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.

When those tending the pigs saw what had happened,

they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside,

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.

Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured.

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.

The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him,

but Jesus sent him away, saying,

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.

And this is the gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Good morning, Christ Church.

It's Super Bowl Sunday, so we're going to talk about demons, right?

That's what you were expecting, right?

You know, most secular people in the Western world

don't believe that demons exist.

And that, I think, is a luxury.

It's a very privileged thing to be able to believe.

This man in Luke 8 doesn't have that luxury and that privilege, though,

because he can't deny the darkness that's come into his life, right?

He's oppressed by some pretty dark powers.

He's in pretty deep distress and misery.

And what's amazing about the story is that Jesus puts him back in his right mind.

And he sends him out on this new mission.

In fact, we read in verse 39, Jesus says,

Return home and tell how much God has done for you.

Go home to your people.

Go home to your city.

He tells us that this man had an extended family, right?

He had an old community of friends.

He had a workplace.

He had a city.

He had this place where he used to be rooted and he used to be grounded.

He used to belong.

He used to be known and loved by people.

And somehow, we don't know how, but he subtly and slowly came under the power of the darkness.

And I admit that it's hard for me to see myself in this man.

And maybe you feel that way when you read it as well.

But it's not hard for me to see myself in earlier stages of this man, in the earlier stages of his decline.

For example, you know, when I look at the hurts and the habits and hang-ups in my own life,

and I think about the way that those hurts can easily turn into compulsions,

when I think about the way those habits can so easily turn into addictions,

when I think about the way that my hang-ups can so easily become obsessions,

when I think about the heavy burden it is to walk around with the fear and the guilt and the shame

that those things can produce in life,

when I think about all the feelings that I've had in my life of emotional instability

and mental confusion and spiritual agitation that just sort of accumulates over time,

it's actually not that hard for me to relate to this man in some earlier stages of his life.

We don't know what kind of trauma he experienced.

We don't know what kind of abuse he endured or maybe some violent act from another person or group of people.

But hell has somehow been unleashed in his life.

And in him, I think we get a picture of how the dark powers oppress us

and how they oppress our society,

how they try to strip us of our identity,

strip us of our sense of belonging, our sense of meaning and purpose in this life,

and slowly but surely dehumanize us.

Now, how does Luke describe this man's condition?

He says in verse 27,

And then down in verse 29, it says,

Many times the demon 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.

Driven by the demon into solitary places.

You're probably aware that the U.S. Surgeon General has declared an epidemic of loneliness,

an epidemic of alienation and isolation in our society right now.

This guy's been driven out.

He's living in the tombs,

which means he identifies more as a dead person than as a living person.

And he's become such a menace to himself.

He's become such a danger to himself and to other people

that he's been chained like an animal.

And these are the human solutions.

These are the material solutions to his spiritual problems,

and it's not helping him at all.

It's not helping the problems that he has in his soul at all.

The Gospel of Mark, when it tells this story in Mark chapter 5,

Mark 5 · chapter mention

it says,

And, you know, we look at the dramatic rise of anxiety and depression

over the last 10 to 15 years among Gen Z.

And that anxiety and depression is so often expressed in forms of cutting,

forms of self-harm and suicidal ideation.

And this man, that's what he's doing.

He's cutting himself and he's crying out,

probably saying,

Somebody help me.

Somebody come and fill this unbearable void.

Somebody stop the pain.

Somebody, please come deliver me from my distress and from my misery.

I hope we don't write this man off,

because I think more people are living and feeling like this man than we realize.

And maybe even that's some of us here today,

that our humanity feels like it's being beaten out of us from the inside.

We barely even know our name anymore.

We're not sure who we are.

We feel oppressed.

We feel enslaved.

We sense a lack of hope.

Maybe that's you.

Maybe it's somebody that you love very deeply.

But I want us to know that Jesus very deliberately seeks and saves the lost.

And he seeks and saves this lost man.

Right?

The same Jesus we talked about a few weeks ago in Luke 4,

who in his first sermon, he said,

You know what I've come to do?

I've come to preach good news for the poor.

I've come to release the captives.

I've come to bring liberation to those who are oppressed.

That same Jesus has just rebuked the wind and the waves

and taken this chaotic storm and subdued it and made it calm.

And now Jesus brings that same power, that same authority to this man

to subdue and to calm the chaos of his soul.

Right?

The chaotic storm of his life.

And so I want to take a look at this story in a deeper way,

thinking about a few things together.

First of all, what we see in this story is kingdoms and conflict.

We also see a transformed mind,

and we see a new mission and message.

So we're going to look at this kingdoms and conflict,

a transformed mind,

and a new mission and message.

First of all, kingdoms and conflict.

Jesus is intentionally crossing a boundary in the story.

He's crossing a boundary into Gentile territory,

and he goes to basically the most unclean place

that a Jew could think to go.

Right?

He enters into these Gentile pagan cities

that are full of idols and decadence.

Jesus is, you know, walking through these pig farms

that are the furthest cry from being kosher,

you could imagine.

That pork is being raised to feed

the occupying Roman legions, their armies.

This man is hanging out in tombs

with dead bodies and skeletons.

He's filled with evil spirits and demons.

Why, Jesus, of all the places you could be,

why would you want to be here?

Jesus, of course, often shows up

in places where he's not supposed to be.

Right?

Jesus deliberately crosses boundaries

into places that are considered inappropriate.

And what happens when Jesus does that?

What happens when Jesus shows up in dark places?

Well, what we see in this story

is that there's a power encounter

of enormous proportions.

There's a confrontation

between these two opposing powers,

these two opposing kingdoms.

And I want you to know

that it's not like Star Wars.

It's not like Star Wars

where there's this unending conflict

between the dark side

and the true force.

Right?

These two equal and opposite powers

that really depend on each other.

They depend on being balanced

with each other.

Right?

The hate and fear of the dark side,

the love and hope

of the true force.

Both of them are essential.

Both of them need to be there in tension

and balance, push and pull,

and yin and yang.

That's not the New Testament.

If you pay very close attention

to this story,

this demon is attempting

to gain ascendancy over Jesus.

And then Jesus is very intentionally

triumphing over the demons.

Right?

Jesus is not content

for the kingdom of God

to be in balance

with the kingdom of darkness.

Jesus wants to conquer

the kingdom of darkness.

Jesus wants to win a victory,

a decisive victory

over the kingdom of darkness.

And so what does Jesus' presence

and His power provoke here?

It says in verse 28

that 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.

See, I think there's a conflict

within this man

between the desire of His true self

to be in the irresistible presence

of Jesus

and to fall at the feet of Jesus,

which is what we were made to do.

And there's a conflict

with this other part of Himself,

this darkness inside of Himself

that is resisting Jesus,

that's fearing Jesus,

that's assaulting Jesus with questions,

is saying to Jesus,

What do you want with me?

And why won't you leave me alone?

You know, what's interesting to me

is that these demons know Jesus, right?

That they, in fact,

identify Jesus in the exact opposite way

that most secular people do today, right?

Most secular people say,

Well, Jesus is merely human.

Jesus is an extraordinary teacher.

He's a liberation theologian.

Jesus is a social reformer.

He's a peasant revolutionary.

Jesus is the exemplar

of heroic progressivism, right?

Any group of people,

any person can remake Jesus

in their own image.

But the demons know

who Jesus actually is.

And what do they say?

They say,

Jesus, you are the Son

of the Most High God.

And when they're saying that,

they're not trying to honor Jesus.

They're trying to subdue Jesus, right?

Because that's how magic works.

That's how witchcraft works.

If you manipulate the name of the person,

then you get power over the person.

You bind the person.

You control the person.

And Jesus says,

Hey, I know what you're trying to do.

And he says,

Two can actually play at that game.

And so what does Jesus do?

He says in verse 30,

Well, what is your name?

And he says,

Legion,

he replied,

Because many demons

had gone into him.

Of course,

a legion is a regiment

of about 6,000 soldiers.

And if a legion of the Roman army,

you know,

showed up into town,

it was this big,

powerful,

overwhelming force.

It's just absolutely impossible

to defeat.

And when this man says,

My name is Legion,

what he's saying is,

I'm an army.

I'm a kingdom of dark forces,

and it's resisting Jesus.

It's intimidating Jesus.

And all the while,

this man is just raging.

He's this chaotic storm

in front of Jesus.

And Jesus,

this whole time,

is just completely calm.

Completely calm.

And Jesus is like,

Okay,

you're a legion.

You're 6,000 soldiers.

That's all you brought?

Is that going to be,

is that going to be enough?

And see,

verse 31,

it says,

They begged Jesus repeatedly

not to order them

to go into the abyss.

You see,

on the one hand,

this kingdom of darkness,

it postures itself

as strong and tough

and intimidating,

this legion.

And then on the other hand,

it's begging Jesus,

Please don't torture us.

Please don't send us

into the abyss

where we deserve to go

and where you have

the power to send us.

And you see,

at the most basic level,

the reason we see

this kingdom of darkness

so aggressively coming out

into the open

in the three years

of Jesus' public ministry

is that they know

their time of ruling

God's good creation

is coming to an end.

They know that

the judgment day

is just around the corner

where God is going

to judge them

and send them

and all their dehumanizing

forces into the abyss,

into this unfathomable depth

from which they can

never return.

And you notice that

it's not Jesus

that's theologizing about this,

it's actually the demons

that are the ones

who are talking about

the final destiny

of all those

who resist God

and oppose God.

And why are they doing this?

Why are they freaking out

in the presence of Jesus?

Because they know

they're in the presence

of the Son

of the Most High God.

they're trembling

before the one

whom God has appointed

to be the judge

of all the world

with justice.

And how does Jesus

respond to their begging?

How does Jesus respond

to their repeated requests?

Well, this speaks,

I think,

to one of the three

biggest theological questions

that pastors get.

Number one,

we get asked the question,

what happens when I die?

Number two,

we get asked the question,

how can I be saved?

And number three,

we get asked the question,

what is up with these pigs?

Right?

It's like one of the biggest things

that I'm sure

was on your mind

when you woke up this morning.

What's up with the pigs?

And some of you

read this story

and you're like,

I love animals so much

and this poor herd

of 2,000 pigs

drowning in the sea

really makes me sad.

And some of us,

you're like,

I love business so much

and when I see

all this money

and all this opportunity

and all this potential

just go down the drain,

that makes me sad.

And others of us,

we love food so much,

we're like,

all the meat,

all the bacon

and all the ribs,

what a waste.

But the pigs

are not Jesus' suggestion,

the pigs are the demon's idea

and the demons know

that they're so powerless

before Jesus

that without his permission

they can't even touch

one single little piglet.

And so Jesus gives them permission

to do to the pigs

what they want to do

to this man

and what they want to do

to all of us

and that is to drive them

into death and destruction,

to drive them away

from the abundant life

that God intends.

That's what the kingdom

of dark powers

wants to do to human beings.

But Jesus won't let it happen

to this man.

Jesus liberates this man

from all of the oppression

and all the bondage

of the darkness

and Jesus causes

the kingdom of God

to come erupting

into his life.

And notice that

when Jesus brings salvation

and it's just a messy business

with all the pigs

and everything,

when Jesus exercises his power

he doesn't even roll up his sleeves.

Jesus is not breaking a sweat.

Jesus is not trying hard

in this moment.

Jesus is not calling on

a higher power

because Jesus is the higher power.

Jesus is an infinitely greater power.

This isn't even a fair fight.

It's no contest.

This whole army,

this whole kingdom,

this whole legion of darkness

just self-destructs

in the presence of Jesus

and it's no contest whatsoever.

This man who had been woefully oppressed

by demonic powers

is somehow now wonderfully released

by the power of Jesus.

So my question for you today is

what is that big

and overwhelming thing

in your life

that you're bringing to Jesus today?

what's that thing

that's completely controlling you

and dominating your life?

When you think about your friends

and your neighbors

and your coworkers

and your family members,

what are the big issues?

What are the big problems

that they're struggling with?

And the question for us today is

do you believe that Jesus has the power

and the authority

to handle that?

Is His kingdom stronger

than the kingdom of darkness

that seeks to dominate

and control

and rule over us

and our world?

You see what's interesting

is these people

in this region of the Gerasenes,

they saw the power of Jesus

but it says they were afraid of it.

They were uncomfortable

with Jesus' power

and so in verse 37,

and then all the people

of the region of the Gerasenes

asked Jesus to leave them

because they were overcome

with fear.

They were afraid

that inviting more

of the kingdom of God

into their lives,

inviting more of the power

of Jesus into their lives

would kind of mess things up

and so they'd said,

Jesus,

would you please go away from us?

And tragically,

they don't realize

how poor and powerless

they're gonna be

if Jesus actually does leave them.

They don't realize

that they're rejecting

the greatest opportunity

of their lives

to welcome Jesus,

the liberator,

Jesus,

the deliverer,

Jesus,

the savior.

I guess my question

for us today is,

do we see,

when we look at our lives,

when we look at our world,

do we see these two kingdoms

in conflict?

There's no third alternative

between these two kingdoms.

You either are wanting

to live in that one kingdom

that's familiar

and comfortable

yet dehumanizing,

or you're wanting

to live in this kingdom

that comes with power

and healing

and freedom

and salvation

that Jesus brings.

Those are your options.

Kingdoms in conflict,

that's where we're living

our lives.

But secondly,

I want us to see

not just kingdoms

in conflict,

but I want to see

this guy with a transformed mind.

A transformed mind.

Now,

where does Jesus get

his authority

to reclaim

and to save this man?

What's interesting is

at the end of the gospel,

we see Jesus and this man

actually changing places,

right?

When we come to Holy Week,

when we come to Good Friday,

we'll see the Son

of the Most High God

being stripped of his clothes

and being naked

like this man.

We'll see Jesus

being bound with chains

like this man.

We'll see Jesus

being cut and bleeding.

We'll see Jesus

crying out on the cross

in agony.

We'll see Jesus

being driven

into the tombs.

And why does Jesus do that?

Because he came

to bear the darkness.

He came to bear away

this man's misery

on the cross.

He came to absorb it all

into himself.

And the resurrection

of Jesus

will be a signal to us,

it is a signal to us

that somehow,

some way,

Jesus managed

to destroy evil

and to destroy death

without destroying

any of us.

See,

the crucified

yet risen Jesus

came to conquer

over sin and death

and hell and the devil

in order that he might

give us eternal life,

in order that he might

give us abundant life.

And that's what we see

in this man

in verse 34.

It says,

when those tending the pigs

saw what had happened,

they ran off

and reported this

in the town

and the countryside.

And the people went out

to see what had happened.

And 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.

Here's a man

who had been

a chaotic storm,

raging,

wild,

untamable.

Neither men

nor chains

could constrain him.

No one was strong enough

to subdue him.

And everybody was asking,

who can save this man?

Who can save us?

But what does the Son

of the Most High God do?

It says that when Jesus

comes in his presence

and his power,

there's a total reversal

in this man's life.

First of all,

he's liberated

from the occupying power

and the demons

are completely gone.

Secondly,

it says that he's sitting

at Jesus' feet,

which is the place

where a disciple sits.

It's the place

where a disciple

learns the word of God

and the way of God

and the will of God.

Thirdly,

it says that he's clothed,

which means that he has

a new dignity.

He has a new identity.

He has a new name.

He has a new sense

of belonging.

He has a new life.

And thirdly,

it says that he's

in his right mind.

He's been given

a sober mind.

He's been given

a self-controlled mind.

He has the mind

of Christ himself

being formed in him.

And so it says

in verse 38,

the man from whom

the demons had gone out

begged to go

with Jesus.

You see,

earlier when he had been

under the influence

of these dark powers,

what did the man say

to Jesus?

He said,

what do you want with me,

son of the most high God?

Please go away from me.

Please leave me alone.

But now that he's been

set free,

now that he's a disciple

at the feet of Jesus,

now that he's in his right mind,

what does he beg Jesus

for in his prayers now?

He says,

Jesus,

please let me go with you

wherever you're going.

And that, I think,

is the mark

of a transformed mind.

It's the mark

of a true disciple

that you talk to Jesus,

that you want to go

with Jesus,

that you have

a personal relationship

with Jesus,

that you have a new bond

and a new union

and a new attachment

to Jesus.

So you say,

I want to follow you.

I want to learn from you.

I want to obey you.

I cannot get close enough

to you.

And I think that's

an acid test

of our own discipleship,

that when we wake up

in the morning,

are we saying to Jesus,

Jesus,

I want to go with you today.

I want to be with you today.

Whatever that means,

I'm in with you.

And of course,

one of the first lessons

we have to learn

as disciples of Jesus

is that Jesus doesn't always

give us what we want.

Right?

He doesn't give us

what we ask for.

He doesn't answer our prayers

the way that we want Him to.

He very often redirects

our requests

because He has something

better in mind,

which is what happens here.

The man from whom

the demons had gone out

begged to go with Jesus,

but Jesus sent him away

saying,

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.

And that's the relational

dynamic of discipleship.

It's not that we

issue commands to Jesus

and He submits to us.

It's that He issues

the commands

and we submit to Him.

Right?

He tells us what to do

and we obey.

That's what it,

when we say Jesus is Lord,

that's what that means.

But it's not an oppressive lordship.

It's a very liberating lordship.

It's a freeing lordship

because it means

I no longer have to carry

the burden

of being the Lord

of my life anymore.

I no longer have to figure out

what I'm doing

and where I'm going.

What a relief.

Where does Jesus send this man?

Jesus sends this man home.

And what that tells us

is that Jesus not only heals us

mentally and physically,

He not only forgives us

spiritually and morally,

but Jesus restores us

socially and vocationally.

This man had been alienated

from his home.

This man had been driven

away from his home.

This man is now sent back

to his home as an agent

of reconciliation.

That's what Jesus wants to do.

He wants to put us back

in family life.

He wants to put us back

in friendships.

He wants to put us back

in a community

where we were made

to have a new identity

and a new belonging

and a new meaning

and a new purpose.

That's what discipleship is.

And because this man

has a transformed mind,

when Jesus says,

no, I have a better plan

for your life

than your plan for your life,

how does he respond?

He says, great.

Awesome.

And I guess that's my question

for us is,

do you have this transformed mind?

Are you in your right mind

where what you want to do

is sit at the feet of Jesus,

go with Jesus,

talk to Jesus,

let Jesus redefine

your plans for your life

and say, awesome.

What I want us to think about today

is that we live

in the midst of these kingdoms

and conflict

and that what it means

to follow Jesus

and become a disciple of Jesus

is that you have a new mind,

a transformed mind

and mindset.

But then finally,

that you have a new mission

and a new message.

That as a disciple,

you've been given

a new mission

with a new message.

And we saw this

when in Luke chapter 5,

Luke 5 · chapter mention

when Peter encountered

the power of Jesus.

And Jesus immediately

gave Peter this new mission

and he said,

from now on, Peter,

you are going to fish

for people.

From now on, Peter,

you're going to share

my mission

to catch people

for the kingdom of God.

And this is the task

of every Christian disciple.

This is the task

of every Christian church

is to become a vehicle

through which God's

redemptive power

can go pouring

into the lives

of other people.

And what Jesus did

for Peter,

Jesus also does

for this guy.

This most unlikely guy

is turned into

an ambassador for Jesus.

Having been reconciled

to God through Jesus,

he's now sent out

with a new message

and a new mission

of reconciliation.

And it says this again

in verse 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.

Isn't this amazing?

The first person

that Jesus sends

to share his mission

in Gentile territory

is this guy.

Super broken

and yet incredibly

delivered.

And he's told by Jesus

just go and share

the gospel

and make disciples.

And Jesus

thinks it's a wise idea.

He just sends him out

without a class

on evangelism.

He doesn't have

a master's in theology.

He doesn't know

anything about apologetics.

All he has

is a transformed mind.

All he has

is his own story

of God's grace

and healing.

All he has

is two ears

with which he can listen

to people

as they pour out

their pain to him

and their loneliness

and their longings

and their questions

and their concerns.

All he has

is a heart

to pray for people

and just engage them

in conversation

and Jesus says

that's enough.

That's enough.

I want you to return home

and tell your people

how much God

has done for you.

Go tell them

that the power of God

and the grace of God

is on the move.

Go tell them

that the kingdom of God

is coming

from heaven to earth

right now.

And what does the man do?

He tells all over town

not how much God

had done for him.

He tells how much

Jesus had done for him.

Did you notice that?

Does he misunderstand

the mission?

Is he misunderstanding

the message?

No, he understands

it perfectly well

that Jesus

he's got the lesson.

Jesus is not merely human

he's the son

of the most high God.

So when God

the Father acts

he acts through his son.

And when God

the Son acts

God the Father

is working.

What Jesus does

God does.

And if we are going

to tell people

about the wonderful

works of God

we have to be talking

about Jesus.

We have to say

the name Jesus.

Because Jesus

is the one

through whom

the only true God

is working out

his saving purposes

in this world.

And this is how

disciples on mission

speak

the message

that Jesus

has given.

And so he goes home

he goes home

knowing that God

is already at work

in the lives

of the people

back there

where Jesus

has sent him.

He goes home

knowing that

it's Jesus' power

and not his own

that's the basis

of his missionary

activity.

He goes home

knowing that God's

work through Jesus

is the heart

of the message.

And does everyone

accept his message

when he gets home?

No.

All the people

in this region

have already told

Jesus to his face

please go home.

Please leave us.

I'm sure this guy

was just as rejected

just as ignored

just as neglected

as Jesus was.

But I also imagine

that there were

a handful of people

some people of peace

that God had prepared

because why would

Jesus have sent him

if there weren't

people there

to receive the message?

People that were open

people that were ready

people that were ripe

people that were low

hanging fruit

people that were primed

to say

man this thing

you're telling me

about Jesus

sounds pretty amazing.

You know back

in November

we invited you

to begin praying

for three people

that you would like

to see begin

to explore the faith

and just to pray

on a daily basis

that God's kingdom

would come breaking

through into their lives.

and I want to

just remind us

of that.

I want to encourage us

that you don't need

a story as extreme

and dramatic

as intense

as this guy.

All you need

to engage

in the mission

and message of Jesus

is just a heart

to pray.

All you need

is just a willingness

to invite somebody

to coffee

or to your table

for a meal.

All you need

is just ears

to listen to their story.

All you need

is just a willingness

to share what Jesus

has done in your life

and just to sit back

and watch God work.

Some of us

have people

who are ready

to be invited

to Alpha

over the coming weeks

where we're just

asking them

to come share

a meal with us,

come and engage

in some video-based

discussions with us,

come and explore

their questions

about life

and meaning

and God

and faith.

Some of us

have people

who are saying,

you know,

thank you but not yet

and what they really need

is just more

Christ-like hospitality.

They just need someone

to lovingly listen

to their doubts

and to their questions.

Someone who can

compassionately engage

in their loneliness

and their pain.

Someone who can

just patiently walk

with them

as God is working

to soften them

and open up

their hearts to Him.

And we actually

don't have any idea

what God wants to do

in the lives

of any of the people

around us.

We don't know

when He wants to work

or how He wants to work

or where God wants

to work in their lives

but here's what we do know

and this is from

the Apostle Paul

1 Timothy chapter 2.

1 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

God our Savior

wants all people

to be saved

and come to a knowledge

of the truth.

For there is one God

and one mediator

between God

and mankind,

the man Christ Jesus

who gave Himself

as a ransom

for all people.

And that's why

Jesus says,

go 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.

Friends,

Jesus is sending

us just like

He sent that man.

Jesus is saying to us,

go tell how much

I've done for you.

Go tell how great

is the grace,

how great is the mercy,

how great is the power,

how great is the healing,

how great is the love

that's come pouring

into your life

through me.

Are we up for that mission?

Are we down

with that message?

I hope so.

In the name of God,

the Father,

the Son,

and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Amen.