PROCLAIMING JESUS

Sermon Summary (6/23/19) “Proclaiming Jesus” (Luke 8:28-38)

In 1988, I attended a retreat, several impactful moments, one in which the leader read the story from Mark about Blind Bartimaeus, Jesus asking, “What do you want me to do for you?”  We then retired to our rooms, writing the question at the top of a paper, rested 30 minutes, answered the question and then immediately turned over the paper, writing down Jesus’ reply.  I was amazed, amazed at what Jesus had already done for me or would do simply for the asking!

We don’t spend enough time reflecting on what Jesus has done for us.  And, we certainly don’t make the effort to tell others what he has done for us.  In our Scripture from Luke, Jesus casts the legion of demons from the Gerasene, then tells him ³⁹ “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

That’s the way the word was spread in the first century, one on one, or to a small group, “this is what Jesus has done for me.”  If you recall the story of the woman at the well in John 4, she says, “Come and see and man that knows everything about me.”  Jesus had restored her self-worth.  “Come and see.” 

The circumstances today, in this post Christian world are not much difference.  The word, if it is ever going to be told, will be by us telling others what Jesus has done for us.  What is your story?  What has Jesus done for you?  Who needs to hear it?  Rosemary would have told you that God gave her hope.  She could not understand how a person could go on without Jesus.  We all have a story and others need to hear our story.

We live in a broken world and Jesus is the answer.  Jesus is the answer to the deepest longings of the human heart.  Who needs to hear it?  Maybe you know someone down and out, who has lost hope or lost a job or lost a crop.  Maybe you simply need to say, “I go to church.  Church is important to me.  Church makes a difference in my life.  Jesus makes a difference in my life.  Won’t you join me this Sunday?” 

We are called to tell the nations.  It is not the bishops who will tell, or the preachers that will get them to church.  It is the people whose lives have been changed by Jesus.  Who needs to hear you say, “Come and see”?  Amen.