Randy Welsand
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Psalm 111
1 Corinthians 8:1b-13
Mark 1:21-28
"Time to get ready for Church." Every Sunday my mother would tell us the same thing. Get up, you're going to Church. We knew that there was no use in arguing or dragging our feet, we were going to Church. And if we didn't waste too much time, we even got breakfast. This isn't a restaurant, she would say, if you want breakfast, get up before 8:00, or else you can fix your own. I at least, didn't miss many breakfasts or services. I got used to the routine. Mom taught us that it was important to be in Church, to listen to the words, to learn. She started us down the path to God.
On Saturday, which is the Sabbath for Jewish believers, they would also gather in the Synagogue to listen to the words of the Law. The Scribes would read verses aloud from the Torah and then give interpretations from well-known Rabbis to give it more authority. Since the Synagogues did not have set "teachers", the freedom to preach was open.
Today would be different. Today this Jesus, this Nazarene, came to teach. And he taught with authority. Not the authority which came from other Rabbis, but with the authority which came form God. It's not known just what He taught, but is written that he amazed the people with the authority of His teaching. Not only did He teach, he also "did". He demonstrated the power of His teaching. When a demon- possessed man raged at Him, He simple ordered the unclean spirit out of the man. And it was done. This was authority. This was true power, the power of God Almighty. The people were amazed. The demons were afraid. Through the power of his teaching and his actions, Jesus led many towards the path of salvation. He was a true leader.
Jesus's world was filled with demons. Is ours any different? Ours is filled with the demons of war, hate, revenge, lust for power, greed and indifference to name a few. Joseph Conrad has said that "the belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary. Men alone are capable of every wickedness" My old high school Physics teacher used to say that nature abhors a vacuum. It will do everything possible to fill it. An empty heart is like a vacuum. It can be filled in one of two ways; with love or with evil, demons or Jesus If we fill our hearts with the love which He freely gives us, there will be no room for these demons to worm their ways into our hearts.
E. Stanley Jones tells a story of a missionary lost in the jungle. He finally finds a village and asks one of the natives if he could lead him out of the jungle. They walked for hours through dense brush and the missionary began to get nervous. "Are you sure this is the way out"? "Where is the path"? The native said "Bwana, in this place there is no path, I am the path."
We, all of us, are at times like that missionary, lost in this modern day jungle. Unsure of which way to go. Oblivious to the fact that the path is right there in front of us. During this time of formation for us on the Spirit of the Heartland Team, we are learning to be your guides. Each time we meet, we learn a little more. We get a little stronger as a team. Combining our God-given gifts and using the authority of Christ already in each one of us, we will find our way through all the "stuff" that clouds our vision of the true Path and together, we will lead others to God. Come with us. .