What Happened in the Country of the Garasenes

Luke 8:26-39

In today’s worship we launch a new sermon series: “Summer Travels With Jesus.”  When Jesus began his public ministry, it was localized in the northern region known as Galilee. As word spread about the remarkable son of Joseph and Mary—now an itinerant teacher—crowds of the curious and suspicious alike flocked to him. Before long, it was time to take his message of repentance and belief in the gospel out to the rest of the world…starting in Jerusalem.  This summer we will hear stories and teaching from Jesus’ remarkable journey south to Jerusalem and the temple.  

But first there is a kind of “warm up” trip across across the Sea of Galilee. Coming to the region of the Gerasenes—a mostly gentile area—Jesus encounters a wild man who is possessed by demons. The townsfolk have left the man alone, and will have nothing to do with him, but Jesus brings him healing and a new hope. The man’s fellow citizens are upset and frightened, and no one can find fault with the man when he wants to get in the boat with Jesus and his disciples and leave his fellow citizens far behind.

But Jesus tells the man he must stay and proclaim the goodness of God. Jesus has done more than remove the man’s negative traits; he has empowered him for an important mission. From that day onward, every day the man walked about among his countrymen was a testimony and witness to the saving power of God, and a reminder that the Kingdom of God had come near.

Help Has Arrived

John 14:8-17, 25-27

From the dawn of time God was being revealed through creation (Psalm 19:1), through the scriptures (Psalm 1), through covenants (Genesis 9 and 17) and through generations of seers, sages, and prophets.

Such is the love of God that ultimately Jesus was sent to show the way to knowing God more fully—by offering forgiveness of sins and restoring our souls to righteousness.  So completely did Jesus reveal the heart of God that he was able to tell his disciples “if you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”

Even so, there was a greater gift to be given to Jesus’ followers than knowing Jesus personally and glimpsing God through him.  Jesus promised that his followers would be clothed with “power from on high” through the Holy Spirit…so that his church can have oneness with God as Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit are one.

The Holy Spirit remains a mystery for many, in that we only know its presence spiritually.  The Holy Spirit is called by many names: counselor, advocate, helper, power. The Holy Spirit is likewise pictured in many symbols: fire, wind, water…even a dove.

All of these words and symbols are the ways in which God’s people try to describe the indescribable, and give meaning to a mystery to wonderful for words. God’s Spirit may be know by many names—but the point for his faithful is that God is known.

Luke 24:44-53

There was a brief moment in time, between the earthly ministry of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, when every angel in heaven must have held its breath.  Jesus suddenly stood among his disciples, in yet another Easter appearance, to give them instruction, and a commission, and a promise.  And then he led them out to Bethany, were he blessed them and withdrew from them, being “carried up to heaven.”

How would the disciples respond? Jesus’ promise to them came with an instruction: “stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Would they be able to bide the time? Would they long for their former lives in Galilee? Would they spend so much time looking for signs that they neglected their more basic needs, and the needs of others?

Luke tells us they believed—as Simeon and Anna did in Jerusalem long before—that God was on the move, and something marvelous was about to happen.  And so they went to the city in great joy, worshipped God, and waited for the promised gift with anticipation.  The angels can exhale, for disciples are on board, and the newborn church will be filled with power forevermore.

Still to Come: The Fullness of God's Plan

In today’s scripture lesson we have the start of John’s ultimate depiction of what is still to come. First there was a great and cataclysmic battle engaging rulers of this world and the spiritual powers. This was followed closely by the fall of the Great City, Babylon. And now, in the final scene of John’s vision comes the appearance of a new heaven and new earth, and a Heavenly City—the new Jerusalem—coming down out of heaven from God.  Of course no human imagination can truly perceive these things, nor can any human language adequately express them. Nonetheless, the author uses his vivid imagery as metaphors to point our hearts in the direction of God.

For in the end, God is what remains. God’s own self becomes our tabernacle or dwelling place. God is not depicted as a furnishing of heaven, or as a separate entity who brings about an end.  For John of Patmos, God is the end and completion of all. We are tempted at times to ask “when the world in which we live has been been fully, rightly judged by God, what will be left? What can withstand? What shall remain? What will be different and what will we recognize?” John’s clear and dramatic response is to say, simply, “in the end…God.”


This week we continue our Eastertide sermon series, “Still to Come.”  Drawing on images from the Book of Revelation, this series invites the church to rise above its present day challenges and circumstances, and live as citizens of heaven, embracing God’s final vision of justice and righteousness.

Still to Come: The Triumphant Church

Revelation 7:9-17

The author of Revelation gives us another picture of worship in Chapter 7, and while the setting is the heavenly throne-room of God, the context for this worship entails all that the church on earth has to endure. For we see standing before the throne a vast multitude—far more than can be counted—from every tribe and nation on earth. They have come through a severe ordeal, and now the ordeal is over and they are singing the song of their salvation.

“Salvation,” they cry, “belongs to God and to the Lamb!” They understand that while they walked in the midst of struggles, persecution, trials, temptations, and daily challenges to the Christian way, their very faith and salvation hung in the balance. None could have made it through, except that God’s grace brought them strength to endure. To their robust praise of the God who saves them, the angels themselves can respond, “Amen!” And so all of heaven and earth join at last to sing the song of salvation.

The picture we see is not of a church whose courage and determination won them the right to share in the victory of Christ.  What we see instead is a church who, because they already share communion in Christ, became determined and brave. By grace alone the church on earth has become the church triumphant.


This week we continue our Eastertide sermon series, “Still to Come.”  Drawing on images from the Book of Revelation, this series invites the church to rise above its present day challenges and circumstances, and live as citizens of heaven, embracing God’s final vision of justice and righteousness.

The Song of Shalom

Psalm 126

Life is filled with moments of hardship, struggle, setback, illness, frustration, sin and shame. The songs of enduring faith reflect these realities in expressions of lament, of trust, of assurance and reassurance, of confession, and of pleading for grace. When these moments are complete, however, a new song emerges: the song of shalom.

“Shalom” derives from a Hebrew word which means, “to be safe in mind, body, or estate.” It speaks of completeness, fullness, or a type of wholeness that encourages one to give back. True biblical shalom refers to an inward sense of completeness or wholeness.

We often lose sight of the fact that “shalom” was the condition in which—and for which—all things were created, even our own self. We were made for shalom, and shalom is our default setting. Though it can be hard to fathom in times of testing, the trials and struggles and battles with sin are not “God’s normal” for us. Shalom is that state of being for which we are created, and when it touches our lives we become “like those who dream…our mouths filled with laughter and our tongues with shouts of joy.”


The “Songs of Enduring Faith” series is based on lectionary readings from The Book of Psalms. This series explores the breadth of experience and depth of resilience found in God’s people, as revealed through their most central worship materials. Before the psalms were written and saved as scripture, they are first of all part of the soundtrack of God’s people. You’re invited to lean in, listen closely, learn the heart of God’s people, and receive the gift of these songs, for they are Songs of Enduring Faith.

The Song of Confession

Psalm 32

Sin is a word that has fallen out of use lately. It’s a topic that no one seems to want to address in depth, even in churches. Especially in churches. The effects of it are everywhere and easily discerned in the world around us, but few are calling it by name. To make matters worse, sin bears its consequences terribly within individual persons, causing our bodies to waste away and our strength to dry up. This is not a new phenomenon. It is as old as Adam and Eve, and every generation has struggled to come to grips with sin and its effects.

The Psalmist shows us a pathway to healing in Psalm 32, first by pointing out that the real issue is not the psalmist’s sin but rather the psalmist’s failure to acknowledge and confess sin. Unrecognized and unacknowledged sin is one of the most destructive forces we can know, and the only way to break its power is to break our silence before God. In the breaking of our silence comes the greatest grace, so that in our fear and weakness God’s power and love are revealed. The God who can trusted in every other way can be most trusted with our sin. But we must first join the ancients in singing the song of confession.


The “Songs of Enduring Faith” series is based on lectionary readings from The Book of Psalms. This series explores the breadth of experience and depth of resilience found in God’s people, as revealed through their most central worship materials. Before the psalms were written and saved as scripture, they are first of all part of the soundtrack of God’s people. You’re invited to lean in, listen closely, learn the heart of God’s people, and receive the gift of these songs, for they are Songs of Enduring Faith.