Jesus - Where Need and Opportunity Meet

Who Stole My Church? What to Do When the Church You Love Tries to Enter the 21st Century 8: From my pastoral notes:

all human relationships or organizations have a similar beginning that is based on the discovery of a need or opportunity.”

I’m reading a book by Gordon MacDonald called Who Stole My Church? What to do when the church you love tries to enter the 21st Century. in it, an old congregation tries to address the issues of purpose, direction, and transition. The older congregants feel like they are being pushed aside by the younger congregants who must be engaged in a meaningful way lest they be drawn away by other congregations who appear to value their interests. Now, that situation might not apply to [Congregation], but it does apply in many I think that today’s Gospel text may give us some direction - Let us pray:

Lord God, bless Your Word wherever it is proclaimed. Make it a Word of power and peace to convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving faith. May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip, and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve the purpose for which You send it, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Luke 8:26–27 ESV

Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs.

I have not thought much about this until now, but have you noticed that Jesus does not seek out these situations of healing/deliverance? Instead, those who are in need of His ministry come to Him. In each of the four Gospels, this is the pattern. Jesus comes into a community, and those who need Jesus find themselves in His presence. In some cases, they seek Him out, in others, it seems to be mere happenstance, but in no cases is Jesus looking for those specific individuals in the way that He sought out the 12.

The ministry to which we are called, the ministry of the Gospel, is not one that requires you to create situations or “put God to the test.” Even the “Great Commission” is best translated, not as “Jesus commands us to ‘go’” - sorry Keith Green - but as “while you are going, make disciples of all people-groups, baptizing them...”. The Gospel does not call us to “create a need;” the need already exists. That need does not get met by obeying the Law, it does not get met by following man-made superstitions, and it has not been met by rebelling against the Law. Nothing that humans devise meets the needs that Jesus answers by His divine power.

At the same time, Jesus does go to places where those needs can be found. He goes into places where the sick are, places where the demon-possessed are, places where sinners are. He doesn’t huddle up inside the Temple or demand that they hunt Him down. He meets them where they are, at the point of their need. That’s where He finds you, where you are.

Luke 8:28–29 ESV

When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.)

Luke 8:28–31 ESV

When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss.

Not everyone is glad to see Jesus. In this case the demon -or is it the man - asks a painful question: “What do You have to do with me, Jesus?” Not all sinners are ignorant of Who Jesus is, They may just be surprised that Jesus has shown up in their world. They have not been led to believe that God would come to see them, to engage with them. According to those who are certain that God only likes those who like Him first, why would the Son of God want to be in unclean territory, around people who are clearly in the enemy camp?

Nor can it be said that Jesus excuses the man’s behavior on the basis of His condition. In no encounter does Jesus simply leave bound people in the same condition in which He met them. Sin does not get a pass from Jesus, no matter how convenient it would be to do so.

Is that the reason why ministry seems to difficult? ARE we not caught between a rock and a hard place? On the one hand, we want to help everyone who seems to need help, while on the other hand, we seek to avoid the possibility of failure, disappointment, of having to admit that our resources are insufficient to meet all the needs that we know are out there, and we lack certainty that God will support our efforts to reach out to those around us. What if, the Lord’s promise that He “will never leave you nor forsake you,” you find yourself, like the disciples trying to cast out a demon while Jesus was up on the Mount of Transfiguration, dealing with something that does not go the way you thought it would?

But we don’t succeed by avoiding failure when it comes to the work of the Kingdom. With a faith that comes by hearing, a silent witness will not bring forth faith. When a tree is known by its fruit, a fruitless tree refreshes no one. Witness - Mercy - Life Together must be experienced for it to mean anything, and if it only works for a couple hours of one day, no one will take it seriously, not even those who need it the most.

Luke 8:30–31 ESV

Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss.

Confessing the Gospel: A Lutheran Approach to Systematic Theology, Volumes One & Two Jesus, the Son of God

Jesus the Son of God possesses power as creator over nature and also over historical happenings (Matt 4:3, 6; 14:33; 27:40). He is the absolute ruler over the demons who, immediately upon their encounter with him, know and fear him (Matt 8:29; Mark 3:11; 5:7; Luke 8:28). Jesus is no ancient miracle worker; He is the Son of God, who possesses the power of the Father.

His power is expressed in His Word. When He speaks, the Truth calls forth the truth. His declaration calls forth our confession. Even His enemies were unable to respond to the Truth with falsehood to His Word.

Psalm 91:1–2 ESV

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

It was the pure Gospel that birthed this and every other ministry of the Gospel. As Paul wrote in For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” In our Confession of the Apostle’s Creed, we echo those words in the 3rd Article:

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

What does this mean?

Answer: I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise up me and all the dead and will give eternal life to me and to all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.

Paul Timothy McCain, ed., Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2005), 330.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

What does this mean?

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Answer: I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise up me and all the dead and will give eternal life to me and to all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.

Paul Timothy McCain, ed., Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2005), 330.

Luke 8:32–39 ESV

Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

Someone once said to me that we aren’t witnesses, we are confessors, because we don[t bear witness to Christ’s death and resurrection, we confess, or agree with what those who actually saw it testified. But that limits the work of Christ to Good Friday and Sunday Morning. Yes, we do confess that Christ died for you, and that He is risen - He is risen indeed, Hallelujah.

But like that man whom the Lord saved from a Legion of Demons, we announce to others what Jesus did to us. We “go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere” that we serve a risen Savior, the True and Living God, the One who still works through the Church, Who pours out the Holy Spirit in order that we would bear much fruit - the fruit of the Spirit. We bear witness that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (). HE still saves, heals, and delivers, and He still offers the forgiveness of sins and promises “the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting, Amen.”

So let the peace of God, that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds, through Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .