Preaching in Galilee

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Jesus went out by himself to pray in a deserted place. Not long after, the crowds found him and begged him to stay in their town. He told them that he couldn’t stay because he had to preach the good news about the kingdom of God to the other towns. This is the whole reason he was sent.

He then went all over Galilee in the power of the Spirit. Because he was glorified and praised, he was invited to speak in the synagogues there. He spent his time preaching, healing, and casting out demons. His message was “It is now time! The kingdom of God is near! Return to following God and believe in the good news!”

News that he was there spread and more and more people were brought to him who were sick – those with intense pain, epilepsy, paralysis, or possessed by demons. He healed them all. Large crowds followed him from town to town all over the area.

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MK 1:35-39, LK 4:42-44, MT 4:23-25, MK 1:14-15, LK 4:14-15

Poem – kneeling

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Perhaps you are open
to other things
that are not.

Yesterday we are going
through a lot
of people
who don’t know
what to say.

Your knees hurt.
They are a sign of strength.

In being able to fill their lives
with a way that the
same officials said they weren’t possible
they get stronger.

How many times have you
seen the world
better than nothing?
How many times have
changed your life
with a word
or a sword?

Sometimes it hurts more to stay
standing
than kneel.

The hot air balloon.

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Say you have a hot air balloon but it has some holes in it. You have two choices if you want to keep it aloft. Patch the holes or put more hot air into it. If you don’t, you’ll crash into trees, or even the ground.

It is hard to patch the holes while you are in motion. It is easier to do that on the ground. You can’t fly it and do it yourself. A professional might have to be hired. That is dangerous work.

So this is your life. The holes are the places where your energy leaks out. Frustrations, hurts, old injuries to your psyche. You can’t patch them on your own unless you are safely on the ground. You can’t keep on doing your daily routine like work and family. You need a safe place without any distractions. If you are going to keep on going you have to hire professional, like a counselor or a therapist. You want someone who is done this before.

Adding hot air is doing all the stuff that builds you up. It includes resting, spending time with friends, eating healthy food, getting exercise, being creative. All these things and plenty more make your spirit stronger. You have to make sure to do them regularly – not just when you feel your balloon going low. They are preventive medicine.

Even if you don’t have a hole in your balloon, the balloon starts to sink over time because the air gets cooler. You can’t wait until you notice that the balloon is sinking to add air. You have to do it before that because it takes a while for the air to start to do its job.

Healing a paralyzed man

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One day, Jesus was teaching people at his family’s home. Four men wanted to get a man who was paralyzed to him for healing. The crowd that was there to listen to Jesus was impossible to get through. They decided to cut through the roof tiles to get the man in. Then they lowered him down on a stretcher.

Seeing the faith of the four men, Jesus said to the man “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

The scribes and the Pharisees thought to themselves “He’s blaspheming! Only God can forgive sins!”

Jesus knew what they were thinking. He asked them why they were thinking this way, saying “Isn’t it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven’ than to say ‘Get up and walk’? But so you know that the Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins, watch this.” He then told the paralytic “Get up, pick up your stretcher and go home.”

Immediately the man did what Jesus said – he was healed! The crowds were amazed and gave glory to God saying “We have never seen anything like this!”

————-
MT 9:1-8, MK 2:1-12, LK 5:17-26

Healing the Centurion’s servant

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There was a centurion in Capernaum who had heard about Jesus. His favorite servant was paralyzed and near death. The centurion sent some of the Jewish elders to Jesus asking him to save his servant’s life. The elders argued his case to Jesus, pointing out that he had built a synagogue for them.

While on the way to the centurion’s house, Jesus was met by other messengers who told him that the centurion felt he wasn’t worthy to have Jesus at his home – that’s why he didn’t come on his own to talk with him. Through his messengers, he asked Jesus just to say the word and his servant would be healed. He said that as an officer he could say “Go!” or “Come!” to a soldier or a servant and he would do what he said. He knew that Jesus had the same kind of authority.

Jesus was astonished. Turning to the crowd he said “I haven’t seen such faith like this anywhere in Israel!” The servant was healed right then.

—–
MT 8:5-10,13, LK 7:1-10

The fig tree and faith

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Jesus was hungry one morning on the road back from Bethany. He saw a solitary fig tree in the distance, but found only leaves on it and no fruit when he went up to it. It was not the season for figs.

Angrily he said “May you never bear fruit again!” Quickly the fig tree withered and the disciples were amazed. They asked him how it was possible for it to wither so quickly.

He said “Nothing is impossible with faith. If you have faith the size of a mustard seed you can tell a mulberry tree or a mountain to uproot itself and move, even into the sea, and it will. You have to believe that what you ask for will happen and it will. Pray as if you have already received everything you ask for. Also, while you are praying, be sure to forgive anyone that you have a grudge against so that your Father in heaven will forgive you as well. If you don’t forgive them then God won’t forgive you.”

——-
MT 21:18-22, MK 11:12-14, MK 11:20-26, LK 17:6, MT 17:20-21 HCSB

The miracle(s) of Hanukkah

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When the Maccabees went to rededicate the Temple they discovered there was only enough oil for one day. This was a problem, because the Temple menorah had to be lit all the time. Making the oil was very difficult and would take at least a week to prepare more. It has been said that it was a miracle that the one bottle of oil that they found was enough to keep the flame burning until more was made.

I think it is a miracle that they went ahead and lit the lamp anyway.

They knew that they didn’t have enough oil and yet they still did what they had to do. They didn’t wait until they had a backup supply in order to get started. They knew how important it was to have that lamp going to honor God.

How many of us hold back, waiting until we have enough to get started? The Maccabees trusted God. They didn’t expect a miracle to occur. They lit the lamp anyway.

Certainly someone was at the task of making more oil. God kept things going until humans could take over. It isn’t that God made that oil last for years. It lasted just long enough until the new supply was ready. It isn’t as if they stopped making the oil when they noticed that it was still going after a few days. They kept on, fulfilling their part of the task. Each did their part – God with a miracle of making the original oil last, and people with their work of making more oil.

This reminds me of the story of the prodigal son. He started back towards his father, and his father ran the rest of the way to him. This is how God treats us. If we make an effort to go towards God, God will more than make up the difference. But we have to do our part too. We have to get started.

We can’t sit around and wait for God to take care of all of our needs. We have to put in the effort. But we also have to use the gifts that God has given us and not hoard them up. We have to trust God and do our part as well.

Poem – Blue pencil

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I wake up thinking
about all I have to do
and all I’ve done
never resting
or just there in the moment
but full of thoughts and regrets

and God comes to me
with a blue correction pencil
you know the one
that English teachers use
to point out
all the mistakes

and God draws flowers instead.

Making a fire

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Have you ever made a fire? Starting any new good habit is a lot like starting a fire. I don’t mean starting a fire with a fire log and a lighter. I mean starting a fire from scratch.

You have to gather together all the wood, kindling, and your matches. If you are really roughing it, you’ll use a flint. You have to have all the ingredients ready and nearby. Then you have to spend a lot of time getting it started. You’ll have a lot of failures, and maybe a lot of blisters. With a lot of hard work, you’ll have a fire too.

Then you have to keep it going. You have to pay attention to it – feeding it just enough wood at the right time. You can’t put in too much – that will smother the flame. If you put in too little, it will go out.

Starting a new habit or project that is meaningful is exactly the same way. You have to prepare before you even start. You have to work on it every day to get it going. You’ll have a lot of failures along the way, and it may not seem like it will ever get going. If you try to do too much at once, you’ll stall your project just the same as if you put too much wood on the fire. If you get too excited about how you’ve started, you’ll forget that you need to keep feeding the fire to keep it going.

If you are willing…

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A man with a serious skin disease all over his body approached Jesus. On his knees he begged him, saying “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the leper saying “I am willing. Be healed.” Immediately the disease left him.

Jesus ordered him not to tell anyone and sent him to go to the priest and take the offering required by Moses’ law as a testimony for his healing. Instead, he told everyone that Jesus healed him, which meant that large crowds would show up wherever Jesus was. He could no longer publically enter a town. Because of that, he spent a lot of time praying in deserted places.

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MT 8:1-4, MK 1:40-45, LK 5:12-16 (HCSB, LB)