Advent Devotional for Dec. 3
Wednesday, December 3 Mark 5:1-20
Healing often costs the community something.
The possessed man lived by himself, in the hills. There he lived alone with his demons (literally) who made him howl and bruise himself with stones. Such a man could not be permitted to live in the city, with the decent people; for one thing, he would be a constant reminder of brokenness. A modern youth-obsessed culture that regularly insulates itself from the elderly should understand this: we often don’t like to look at broken or frail people, because it reminds us of our own frailty.
So the community had an arrangement. This man would live by himself, away from others, out of sight; and the arrangement worked until Jesus boldly strode up to the outcast and cast out his demons. The demons begged to be sent into a nearby herd of pigs, and the minute the demons entered the pigs the pigs ran off a cliff and plunged into the sea below. The swineherds who were charged with taking care of the pigs ran to tell the pigs’ owners, anxious to show that the death of two thousand pigs was not their fault, and word quickly spread that the man was healed.
We might expect the townsfolk to be thrilled, but something quite different happens. Verse 17 says, “Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood.” You see, there was a lot of money tied up in those pigs; good Jews wouldn’t pay for them, but the Jews weren’t the ones with the money anyway. It was the Romans who made the money and the Romans who loved pork. Now their pork had tumbled into the Sea of Galilee and with it an awful lot of money. And people beg Jesus to leave before he causes another economic downturn. They would rather have their money than the man’s healing.
Let me suggest something radical to you: while the uncertain economic situation in our nation is scary, there is healing in it. Already there are signs that people are consuming less, that necessity is freeing them from addictions to stuff. Already there are signs that people are enjoying simpler things and treasuring relationships instead of consumer products. Already there are signs that God can use this economic disaster to heal our broken, addicted spirits.
Would we rather have money than this healing?
Healing often costs the community something.
The possessed man lived by himself, in the hills. There he lived alone with his demons (literally) who made him howl and bruise himself with stones. Such a man could not be permitted to live in the city, with the decent people; for one thing, he would be a constant reminder of brokenness. A modern youth-obsessed culture that regularly insulates itself from the elderly should understand this: we often don’t like to look at broken or frail people, because it reminds us of our own frailty.
So the community had an arrangement. This man would live by himself, away from others, out of sight; and the arrangement worked until Jesus boldly strode up to the outcast and cast out his demons. The demons begged to be sent into a nearby herd of pigs, and the minute the demons entered the pigs the pigs ran off a cliff and plunged into the sea below. The swineherds who were charged with taking care of the pigs ran to tell the pigs’ owners, anxious to show that the death of two thousand pigs was not their fault, and word quickly spread that the man was healed.
We might expect the townsfolk to be thrilled, but something quite different happens. Verse 17 says, “Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood.” You see, there was a lot of money tied up in those pigs; good Jews wouldn’t pay for them, but the Jews weren’t the ones with the money anyway. It was the Romans who made the money and the Romans who loved pork. Now their pork had tumbled into the Sea of Galilee and with it an awful lot of money. And people beg Jesus to leave before he causes another economic downturn. They would rather have their money than the man’s healing.
Let me suggest something radical to you: while the uncertain economic situation in our nation is scary, there is healing in it. Already there are signs that people are consuming less, that necessity is freeing them from addictions to stuff. Already there are signs that people are enjoying simpler things and treasuring relationships instead of consumer products. Already there are signs that God can use this economic disaster to heal our broken, addicted spirits.
Would we rather have money than this healing?
posted by Michael Jordan at 6:00 AM
2 Comments:
Good call Mike! I'm seeing the same thing. I would like to add that healing often entails, if not requires, pain. The greater the brokeness, the greater will be the pain in recovery.
This is not to be pessimistic, rather the opposite. We will come through this economic downturn stronger, wiser, and more mature. Would the "Greatest Generation" have been so if not for the tempering of the Great Depression? All Europe would speak German if not for a generation of Americans, tempered by the Depression had not gone and "kicked the tires and lit the fires."
We have the ability to become the "Greatest Generation II" if we learn the lessons of values and value which are poised to be imparted by the current downturn.
Thanks, Luke! That's a really good point. I'm amazed when I visit folks in nursing homes and hear them talk about the Depression and WWII. There is such a sense of it being a painful time but also the time when they felt the most "really alive" and involved in something meaningful. Maybe we will look back at these painful times (or ones soon to come) and say the same things.
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