Skip to main content

Legion and call

I was really taken the other day with the story of Legion in Mk 5:1-20; especially with the conclusion of the story. Here is the man, delivered from his terrible affliction (perhaps 2000 demons!) and in his right mind. He says to Jesus, 'can I come with you?' In other words, can I join the 12, the team; and join the mission? Jesus' answer is no! You can join the team, but I have another task for you to do. Rather than come with me and my apostolic team, I want you to go back to your home and community and tell them what I have done for you.

This illustrates a lot about call for me. First, we don't call ourselves to a particular role or ministry; rather, Jesus assigns us our task. Second, some of us will be told not to go to another mission field, but told to go home and testify to the salvation we have experienced in Christ. Third, this tells us that essential to mission is the power of testimony; sharing what God has done for us. For this guy, it was an amazing deliverance from terrible suffering and bondage.

It is not clear whether the guy obeyed Jesus or not. We are not told where he is from. He goes to the Decapolis, a region including ten cities and he tells what Jesus has done. Perhaps this is his home, perhaps not; either way, I love this guy. He takes on 10 cities for Jesus! So it is a great story of obedience to Christ.

So we can take from this that we are all called to tell others about what the Lord has done for us. The question for us all is, where do you want us to do it Lord? There is only one way to find this out; sitting silently in the presence of the Lord and seeking his direction and then going for it.

Shalom

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi there, all the time i used to check web site posts here in the early hours in the morning, as i love to
find out more and more.
My site ; free sexy porn

Popular posts from this blog

Ten Reasons Why A.J. Miller is NOT Jesus!

Note: Forgive me for the long blog, but this one really got me going! Last Sunday night on TV One's Sunday aired the report A.J. The Messiah. The program was the story of A.J. Miller in Queensland in Australia, who, unlike most of us, genuinely believes that he is Jesus. Miller appears at one level to be a normal Aussie bloke, in his early thirties, longish brown hair, unshaven, good looking, articulate and charismatic. Yet, unlike anyone I know but in the manner of other Messiah-claimants, he says without inhibition, "I am actually Jesus." He claims to remember vividly his former life and death including his experience of crucifixion. The memories supposedly began when he was 2 years old and realised later that he was Jesus around 33. In the program he writes on a white-board, "I am Jesus. Deal with it"—to applause from his congregation. He has disciples, some of whom claim to have been with him 2000 years ago including Mary Magdalene who is his "soul-ma

Tribute to Stuart Lange

For anyone who is interested, I have attached my tribute to Rev Stuart Lange here. He is a legend! It was fun to roast him.... A Tribute to Stuart Lange, No Longer Vice Principal Community of Laidlaw… But still church history lecturer… so not a good bye, but my way of Saying Thanks to you for your years as VP Community… Stuart Lange, not Langey; or Longey; or not langgggg.. but Lange! Or, as I like to put it, S.lang… Slang… for good reason. Stuart Lange, history prof, a man who truly embodies his subject; the quintessential historical prof… Slightly eccentric, crooked smile, hooked and bent nose… you know he has a crook elbow too, took the dog for a walk, hit the chain, smashed the elbow… Of course the dog was unharmed… No Surprise, a lover of animals, each year looking after the animals at the Massey Christmas drive through, donkeys, lamas… etc… Then there is his Einsteinlich hair… kind of a wild man of Southland look… in fact… Stuart Lange A face a cartoonist would die for! The ne

The First Unlikely Evangelists!

I realised something the other day that I think is rather cool that got me thinking about the first evangelists. The first evangelists were Moses and the prophets, who prophesied the coming of Messiah, the Spirit giving them prophetic insight into a coming Messiah, Son of Man, Servant and Son of God. Then, immediately before Jesus Messiah appeared on the scene, there is John, the locust and honey eating, camel wearing, wilderness wandering preacher and baptiser, sent by God to prepare the way for the Messiah, fulfilling Isaiah 40 and Malachi 3, 4. Then there is the Great Evangelist, Jesus himself, who came preaching the “gospel of the Kingdom” calling people to repent and believe the good news. Then there were those he selected, a motley crew of fishermen, tax-collectors, zealots and more, and the 72, sent to preach the King and Kingdom.  We see the first followers at work in John’s Gospel. First, in John 1 John the Baptist who effectively instructed Andrew and another disciple