It is very good to be back with you. Again I want to
thank you all for your prayers and leadership while I was out sick. I also want
to thank you all for this time that I was able to take our youth to Road Trip
2015. It was my first time there. It was amazing to see all these young people
about 400 together, singing, and dancing to God’s Word. We even got to be a
witness to the entire Gospel of Mark told by a religious storyteller.
Her name was Tracy Redosevic. She is a biblical
storyteller; and she told the entire story of the Gospel of Mark. Before I go
on, you need to know that there were teens checking for accuracy and she did
the Gospel of Mark justice. What was different was in the way that she told it.
She did not embellish, but in certain spots she did make the sounds of crying,
weeping, and the sounds of demons coming out of the people that Jesus healed.
As I read this passage, I could again hear the sounds that she made. The
question and statements that follow this releasing of the demon are what got my
focus for this sermon.
After this dramatic event, the demons knowing that Jesus
is the Son of God, the convulsions, and screams the people who witness this ask
what it is. Is this a new teaching? Or is it a new authority? Those are pretty
big questions. They are big and serious because they have been taught the ways
of God’s law. The people witnessing this have spent all their lives, up till
now, living in a certain way…to live clean, as best as possible, in a specific
way that would put them in God’s good graces (so to speak). They made the right
sacrifices that needed to be made, they tried to live within the purity laws,
and they sought the priests out for guidance on how to come back into the fold
when they had erred.
Now they see all this! Jesus just walks into the temple,
sees this man with an unclean Spirit. The Spirit calls out to him “what have
you to do with us?!” The Spirit that is unclean, that is inside this man, and
tortures this man knows Jesus! I can hear the voice of our storyteller
screaming those words. Jesus does not seek out this person but the spirit,
which is not the Spirit of God, seeks out a response from Jesus.
Friends in Christ this is a new thing! It is a new thing because.
For the most part Jesus goes where people ask him to come. Come to the house my
child is sick, come my daughter is dead, the roof of a house is raised because
God went to the people because they needed healing. But now, Jesus comes to his
Father’s house and the demon seeks him out. That is a big deal!
It’s a big deal because I hear this message about all who
seek out God. We don’t know if this man went to the temple thinking Jesus would
be there, but there Jesus was; in the place of his Father’s house and ready to
speak to God, Listen, and teach. For whatever reason this man was in the temple
and SO WAS THE SON OF GOD!
This past week when we were travelling to Road Trip, I
kept telling myself that I had not been there before, I wondered what it would
be like, what will I see and what will we do, I had Corey with me hoping that
he would have a good time, and I was excited to hear Darcie’s adventures. Even
though she has been there numerous times as a leader, I still wasn’t sure what
I would experience.
We got there and immediately went into worship. I don’t
know what Corey was expecting, but I will let him tell you what he found. I
asked him three questions: Where did you see God in this weekend? What did your
small group mean to you? What was your overall experience (making friends)?
Corey’s Repsonse:
Darcie's Response:
Finally, I told you what I was thinking when I got there.
I was nervous, anxious, and not sure if I it would be for me. What I found
there was God. I found God reaching out the young people of our church; calling
them into a relationship in their language and in music and in laughter and
prayer. I found a group of people seeking and rejoicing in the love of God AND
IT WAS GOOD! I found a group of people that welcomed Corey without question as
one of their new friends.
I found a small group leader in Darcie that could reach
out to the young people, rejoiced in reconnecting with friends and showing that
our relationship with God does not stop but continues on. I also found songs
that touched my heart, I heard stories of high school seniors that struggled,
some to the point of breaking, but they all reached out to GOD through their
church. They went seeking that Jesus who heals in the Synagogue. They sought
that Jesus who teaches with God’s authority, who loves unconditionally, and
wants us to hear the words “do not be afraid!”
This past weekend I guess
I was seeking God in a place that I was afraid might be too much of a struggle
for me. What I found was the God I know…the God of love, forgiveness and grace
reaching out to all the adults and embracing our young Disciples of Christ in
so many ways.
What
the three of us encountered this weekend was a new teaching. It was new in how
God’s Word was proclaimed; through music, sharing of stories, and through new
and old friendships. Through this weekend we saw God’s authority of creation,
love, and mercy. It was truly a blessed time and my hope is that we all
continue to seek God and find God in ways that we may have never thought: AMEN!
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