Sermons for the Month
The Fear-Shattering Power of Sacrificial Love
DATE: June 24th, 2007
SERVICE: Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
TEXT: Luke 8:26-39To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
The story of the Gerasene man who is healed of a legion of demons is on the list of "favorites" in the front of my green Bible. We are told of a naked man who is so out of control that he is kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles, and yet his agony is so great that he is able to break these bonds and flee into the wilderness. He wants to escape all that torments him, which is described in the story as a Legion of demons. In other words, this is an occupying force that is overwhelming. Then this wild man encounters Jesus, and the next thing you know he is calmly sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. He is transformed. Jesus makes a profound difference in his life. But, instead of rejoicing at his healing, the local people are afraid and ask Jesus to leave. Some scholars say it's because Jesus has bankrupted their neighbor by using his pigs as the avenue of the demons' destruction, and they wonder if their livestock will be next. Others write that now that the man is healed, they will be compelled to make room for him in the community, and this raises many questions including, "Will he become dangerous again?" Others say that they were just plain afraid of the power of God in their midst, and worried about what else Jesus might do. In all three cases these fears highlight an inability to trust the love of God; their fear clouds their vision and they are unable to see the astounding thing that Jesus did, or believe that he could make a positive difference in their lives too. The fact is that fear has a limiting effect on the power of God, but when fear is managed, amazing things can happen. This is one of the lessons we learned in Guatemala. Most of you know that a group of 12 from Faith recently traveled to Guatemala on a Mission Trip. We were joined by four people from Texas who had a connection to our group, making a Mission Team of 16, eight of whom were age 20 and younger. We did a number of projects, but primarily worked in the poorest area of Guatemala City building a house, and at Hannah's Hope Orphanage leading VBS in the morning and afternoon for two groups of children. Please note that we will be holding presentations on the trip in July. I hope you'll attend because I cannot begin to describe the experience. You need to see the photos, and hear the story from those who participated. But, what I do want to share with you today is that the fear which so often limits God's power was confronted by this group, and particularly by the men (both younger and older) who worked on the building project in an area known as the Limonada. People who live outside of this setting are afraid of it; the poverty there is profound, dwellings are made of laminate and tin, many with dirt floors, built into the sides of hills so that it appears that one home is on top of the other. Surprisingly, there is electricity available, and primitive plumbing, but pipes empty into the river, which also is the dump. People who live there would take one look at those who we call poor and rename them as well off. There are gangs who are violent enemies. And, the level of crime committed by those who live there is high. We would have never gotten near that area were it not for a faith-filled young woman named Ashley - originally from Tennessee - who works at Hannah's Hope as the Outreach Coordinator. She has been trying to make inroads into the Limonada so that people there see Hannah's Hope as an option for babies and children who need care. Somehow she had managed to ingratiate herself with a gang, and make friends with a young woman named Jamie. On our first day at Hannah's Hope we met Jamie; she and her brothers were to be our "hosts" when we went there to provide a party for the children and do a distribution among the people. What Jamie did not know was that the plan also was to rebuild her home. During our first meeting Jamie apologized profusely for her living conditions, explaining that she and her brothers had been abandoned by their father; their mother is ill and evidently is in a care center. Jamie had been working to help support the family since age nine. So, in spite of all we had heard about the danger of the Limonada- but with assurances that as long as we were with people from there we would safe - the nine men from our group set out on Wednesday morning to literally face the unknown. What they did that day, and the four days that followed, was fear-shattering. During that time they hauled 800 cement blocks, 35 75 pound bags of cement, rebar, 5 yards of sand, 2 yards of gravel and various other supplies at least one-half mile from the street, down crumbling stairs, along a gravel path and then up a dirt path to the site of the house. On the first day these trips were made in pouring rain, and during an earthquake, that caused a wide crack that filled with water to develop on the path. They tore the existing house down and removed the cement floor. They dug 3-foot trenches for footers, bent rebar and poured cement. I cannot even begin to describe all that this project required, but it was exhausting work in primitive conditions. (Come to the presentation to hear the details and see the photos!) The end result was much more than getting a good start on the building of a house, which by the way, was paid for by the contributions from all of you. The people there watched these "gringos" working hard, and their fear of outsiders faded, while their respect and wonder about what would cause such an all-out effort grew. Jamie's father, who she said initially showed up to see what he could get, joined the workers and became the construction director, along with David Johnson (who, by the way, has a great story or two to tell about their interaction.) Others from that community joined in the effort, working side-by-side with the men from our group. And, in the end, the fear that could have kept us apart was destroyed by the power of living out Jesus' sacrificial love. By the time the rest of the group came on Friday to provide the party and distribution, we felt welcomed, and never threatened. Had we done that only, we might have been viewed as rich Americans giving a handout. But because the men had taken the risks they did, and worked with such commitment, we were seen in a different light. And, the way was opened up for future work among the people there by Hannah's Hope. But that's not the end of the story. Jamie's father was reconciled with his children, grateful to be able to assist in providing for them by joining in the work. And, Ashley's teenage brother, who came to Guatemala after being in trouble at home, saw people his own age from our group giving of themselves for, as far as he could tell, no apparent reason and was impacted by them. All that and I haven't even touched on our other efforts! In the Gospel lesson the man who was healed begged to go with Jesus, but our Lord told him, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." I feel like that's what's happening both here AND in Guatemala because of the power of Jesus at work among us. All of us - the Mission Team, Jamie and her family, Ashley and the people at Hannah's Hope, those who joined in the work at the Limonada - can declare how much God has done among us. As was the case in today's Gospel lesson, there has been a transformation. We know that each one of us can make an impact in the name of Jesus for the purpose of bringing hope and that hope does no disappoint all who are touched by it.
AMEN