November 29, 2016 – 25 Days Until My Head Explodes, Or Devotions to Prepare Us For Christ’s Coming

“And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” When he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way. Suddenly they shouted, “What have you to do with us, Son of God?” Matthew 8:23-29

Hey, ET is trying to phone home, but all he has are those flowers he brought back to life, and brought along to the Christmas party. Can ET just put the flowers down and buy a cell phone? Oh wait, there were no cell phones in the 80’s when this movie came out. Sure, he can make a universal device that will contact the cosmos using the MacGyver-esque contraption of a record player and other bits of tube, tape, and bubblegum — but he can’t mock up a cell phone to get a response from “home”? Really? I thought life from the cosmos was supposed to be “intelligent”?

This text gives us two interesting types of responses to Jesus’ teaching, miracles, and calling to follow him. In verse 27, after experiencing Jesus calming the storm, the disciples say to one another, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” Their question just highlights how little the disciples know about the true essence of Jesus. And then the demoniacs, meeting Jesus, say to him, “What have you to do with us, Son of God?” At least the demons understand who Jesus is – and call him Son of God. What does this mean for us today? There are many of us who still try to make sense of Jesus being both fully human and fully divine. There are people today who are not convinced that Jesus was G-d – or that there is any G-d at all. I am here to tell you that if Jesus cared for and continued to love and teach his own disciples, people who, even in the very presence of Jesus, did not always understand all that they witnessed and experienced, do you not understand that Jesus will continue to teach and care for us. In the midst of our doubts, and lack of faith, he promises to be with us to the end of the age – and is depending on us to be the hands, feet and mouth for G-d.

Pastor Dave