Day 100: Proclaiming the Great Things

"Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him.  But Jesus sent him away, saying, 'Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.'  And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him."  Luke 8:38-39

This is a message that might seem a little harsh at first.

Jesus has told so many to drop everything and follow him, but this man whom he had just healed he sent away.  The man even asked to follow.  However, that's where we need to look at our own ideas.

The man had been through a struggle, hosting demons and living in the cemetery.  He was suffering some of the craziest things we could think of.  So, now that he's back to his senses, it would make sense for him to follow Jesus as a disciple.  But Jesus calls us to follow him in so many different ways.  The important fact here is that Jesus is showing that following will be difficult.  Just because one thing has passed doesn't mean that everything else is going to be very light and easy.  Look at Paul's or Peter's life if you want a better example.

The other thing is a question of understanding.  The man wanted to be near Jesus because Jesus saved him from evil.  Jesus, in turn, explains how he can always be with him: proclaiming the Gospel.  We seem to forget the many ways Jesus is walking right next to us.  We deceive ourselves into thinking that Jesus is only with us when we're at church or in the middle of prayer.  The truth is that Jesus is with us everywhere.  It's only our choice whether we feel his presence or not.  When we proclaim the Gospel and live it, we will feel all the good things that are Jesus.  Therefore, Jesus sends us out every day so that we can proclaim the Gospel and acknowledge that he is with us, every step of the way.

Day 064: A Spiritual Gift

Then Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake?  Would that all the Lord's people might be prophets, when the Lord would put His Spirit upon them."  Numbers 11:29

I found this to be a pretty interesting remark in the midst of the otherwise mundane Book of Numbers.  I feel like it's a strong wish from God for each one of us.

A prophet can seem quite foreign at a first glance.  Sometimes, when you read the bible, you might think that prophets were just like oracles in Ancient Greek culture: they could see into the future and talked about it in mysterious ways.  However, prophets did more than just that.  Prophets proclaimed.  They proclaimed their sadness for the calamities that might befall their community.  They proclaimed the grace and mercy of God when it was to arrive.  They prepared the way for Jesus.  When I think of prophesying in that way, I say to myself, would that I might be a prophet, when the Lord would put His Spirit upon me.

When Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit, he gave us a great encouragement to preach.  He sent us out into the world in order to bring more people to God.  What can we do to become better prophets?  First, we can do what all the prophets did, which was become completely familiar with the Word.  When we become so familiar with the word of God in its entirety, it starts to grow within us.  It takes over us in such a way that it begins to drive our every action.  The next step is to make sure to be in constant communication with God.  A prophet brings words from heaven to earth, and the only way we can be sure we have words to bring down is by making sure we are keeping the avenue to receive words open.  Then, we need to be sure, on top of these two traits, to live the Word.  We need to make sure that every deed we do is what we pray for.

This Lent, think more about how you can let the Holy Spirit guide you to proclaim the Gospel to everybody around you.  Allow for the Word to live in you and you to live in it.

Day 046: Proclaiming the Good News

"And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." 1 Corinthians 2:4-5

This message is one of substantial courage for me, because I am not a theology student.  I love the Lord.  I enjoy my growing spirituality, but sometimes I feel silenced in front of others who spent their time studying in seminary.  I feel afraid to speak what I believe in front of the educated.

But this message here is what I need.  Paul shows that the Gospel doesn't always need fancy words or discourse.  The Gospel is amazing just because it is amazing: God loves us, and Jesus, God's incarnation, lived a life of purity, suffered death, and rose again, so that we can have eternal life.  That's a message of amazing love.

I hear many of my Christian friends say that they can't preach or can't write about their faith because they aren't educated or because they don't know how to say things like a preacher would.  Just remember, the Gospel has been transmitted by whatever means necessary: the evangelists did not have the most refined Greek, but they still wrote; the early apostles weren't the richest people in the world, but they traveled around with what they had; the Jews were oppressed in the times of Jesus, but they still proclaimed their faith in the face of death.

Make Lent be a time to celebrate your faith and to share your story.  All of us need more of these stories, for that's how our faith grows.  We read the bible to encounter more stories of faith, and a community that shares its stories of faith will only continue to grow.  God has been revealed to so many different people, so let's listen and share.