and my first blog is an interesting one.
This blog will be about Theology, music, movie, and the Muppets; likely in that order. so let's begin:
Today at church we discussed Luke 8:26 and following, mostly on the topic of healing. I've been to charismatic churches, I've seen some crazy healings. So I'm pretty much going to skip that part. At the least I'll repeat an idea given this morning: Have faith that God will work, and trust that His will is good.
Moving on, let's talk about some pigs, shall we? In Luke 8:26-39, Jesus heals a man possessed by thousands of demons. That's a big deal. Thousands of demons cast out of a man. So when the townsfolk find him healed and clear of the demons, they freak out. That makes sense. What doesn't make sense is why they would ask Jesus to leave. Only twice in the gospels is Jesus unable to perform miracles and healings: when He's in his hometown of Nazareth ("only in his hometown is a prophet without honour), and in the Gerasenes. So why is that?
In Nazareth, the hometown folks didn't have enough faith to permit miracles. They asked amongst themselves, "Isn't this Joseph and Mary's son? Who does he think he is, promising miracles? Why, I babysat that boy!" So you see why a lack of faith may be excused, yes?
But in the Gerasenes, He's stopped not because of a lack of faith, but because He's ruined someone's living in order to heal a man. Let's think for a moment: when Jesus exorcises the Legion, they inhabited a herd of pigs. The pigs then went running into the sea, killing themselves.
Pigs don't grow naturally. They aren't like wildflowers, popping up here and there, resistant to pesticides. So those pigs belonged to someone, and they commited suicide. Most folks in those days didn't have a lot of money, so they didn't have a "diversified portfolio". They were either keepers of livestock, or farmers, or carpenters, or one of many other occupations, but rarely ever of more than one.
So someone owns these pigs, and chances are these pigs are his sole livelihood. So think as he: You're out walking your herd of pigs, having a nice time, when you come upon Jesus and his disciples, and they're chatting with a crazy person, shunned in all the nearby communities. That's enough to freak anyone out, but to make matters worse, Jesus heals this man and sends the demon into your pigs. Nobody wants to buy demon possessed pigs, or meat harvested from said pigs, so you're hosed. Then, to make matters worse, those pigs decide to go swimming without knowing how. Crap. Your father's gonna be pissed! You lost his entire herd of pigs?! What's he gonna do? It's not like money or jobs grow on trees!!
So when your father and the rest of the townsfolk confront Jesus, not only has He sent their minds reeling by the simple act of healing a demon-possessed man, but He's also literally ruined another man's livelihood.
What would you do? Welcome this home-wrecker with open arms, or send Him packing, thanking God that He didn't meddle in your profession yet?
I bring this up for a couple reasons: 1. because the cultural context of some gospel stories is no longer taught, and it should be, as they have such meaning and resonance.
2. because Jesus ruins lives, and careers, and whatever else you hold dear.
After Legion was healed, he had to go back and face the town he had terrorized for so long. That couldn't have been easy. He may well have been married before he was demon-possessed; think about having to reconcile things with your wife after having been completely nuts. That could not have been easy.
But looking at this from the perspective of a ministry of reconciliation, this makes a great deal of sense. So many things of this world must die in order to bring us back to the ideal, to God's perfect plan. And rarely does this ministry look like what we, imperfect beings in an imperfect world, think it should be. There's no promise of prosperity and wealth, nor of health and wellbeing. There is only the promise that God knows what is best for us, a life of reconciliation, healing, and servitude. The promise that God is making all things new, which doesn't mean "in factory condition", "mint, in box", or "like new, only 20,000 miles on it!". It means, "new; as it was in the first creation." It means "God's ideal, without blemish or tarnish or perversion."
So next time someone tells you a lie of a prosperity gospel, tell them that Jesus ruins lives and wrecks homes, and that you love Him all the more for it.
