Tell what God has done for you

The man who sat at Jesus' feet and who was healed (or if you wish saved) by Jesus wants to go with him and his other disciples. After all there is room in the baot and just look at his options! He is standing on the beach with Jesus, with the disciples in the boat in front of him and the townsfolk who chained, shackeled and jailed him at his back. He wants to go with the one who freed him, the one who wasn't afraid to come near him, who wouldn’t tolerate a life to be consumed by evil. He wants to go with his Master and learn more about the kingdom of God. He's ready to follow Jesus. There's room in the boat, and he'll leave without looking back -- there's no one to say good-bye to. Seemingly there is no one and nothing left behind. But Jesus To others along the way to the cross, Jesus issues the invitation, "Come, follow me," but to this one he says, "Go home and declare how much God has done for you." At the very end, we see isn't simply a story of one man's healing, but a story of one man's calling. It is more than about one man being set free, it is about the world hearing what God is doing in terms saving the world.


Therefore, Jesus doesn’t bid this particular man to follow; he can proclaim God’s wonder and greatness from where he is. In this case the call is to ministry and to proclaiming the good news to the poor, recovery of sight to the blind release of the captives and the year of celebration of God where it has not been heard before. And it is a sign that the proclamation of the kingdom is not just for a chosen few or even a particular nation. It is for the whole world. And this ministry involves staying rather than leaving. Jesus does not reject the man's application for discipleship, but accepts it fully. “I even have a first appointment all lined up for you,” Jesus says from the boat.”Your congregation is standing right behind you. You need to stay here and you must go and tell...

No doubt there is going to be a struggle. This man is going to have to turn around and face all those people who were much more comfortable when he was chained and under control so to speak. We aren’t told how this man faired in the days after Jesus left that beach and when back to the other side of the lake. There were no plans, no schedules, no money and no rules except that this man now had to declare to those same people what God had done for him. The people had seen what Jesus could do and they were genuinely afraid of what he could do. They had two thousand pigs to feed the occupying force of the Roman Army. He had cost them their livestock and their economy. And now there is that possibility that as they listen to what God has done for this man that their lives are going to be transformed too.

So let us turn around see our congregation and our community and go and tell what God has done for us this week and let us do so for Christ’s sake and the building up of his kingdom.