Ascension Thursday

Luke 24:44-53

Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you--that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled."Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.You are witnesses of these things.And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them.  While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.  And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

When I was a young child there were really only two stores in my village where my mother could go to buy clothes.  My mother wasn't a shopper, which was good because I dreaded going to those stores.  One was owned by a family friend and I enjoyed visiting when she was around.  She would let me play in her office in the back - with all of her paperwork.  The other store owner wasn't so kid-friendly.  She had a few toys in a corner closet to entertain children while mothers shopped for clothes.  The toys were from a by-gone era, and they look much like the Soviet era toys that Petro Pyatichki plays with at his kindergarten.  When we would go to this store my mother would plop me down in the "toy room" and go shopping.  One time, after I picked up each toy and assessed which toy was the least broken, I picked a toy-car on a string that was only missing two tires and began running around the store with it.  I was afraid of getting caught, so when I saw one of the shopkeepers, I darted into the center of a round rack of clothes.  I was completely hidden by the circle of long dresses.  As I hid there, I apparently became quite tired and fell asleep.  I woke up to the sounds of my mother's panicked voice screaming my name as she ran out of the store to see which busy street I had run into.  At this point I became very scared and very alone.  My mother had left me alone in the scary store with the broken toys and the mean old women who worked there.  I was leaving my hiding space for fear of being caught by the old women who worked there.  The fact that my mother was also scared and panicking never entered my brain.  As my mother came back into the store to tell them that I wasn't on the street, I came running out from behind the clothes and hugged her knees.  It was so good to have my mother back, and I'm pretty sure she felt the same way about having me back as well.

Some of us have some attachment issues.  Some people don't like saying goodbye.  Every time I say goodbye to my elderly grandmother to return to Ukraine it gets harder and harder to see her fade in the distance as my mind entertains the very real possibility that it might be my last time to say goodbye.  Goodbyes are hard, and maybe the loss of a loved one or the reality of emigration makes this story a little bit unpleasant for us.            

As we finish out the semester, some of us are finishing out our educational careers.  A few of you are finishing up your fourth or fifth year as students.  You are looking forward to what is next in your life.  It's an exciting time - you've worked hard for many years for this accomplishment and you should be proud of yourself.  But this time is also confusing.  Many graduates don't know what they will do next.  Will they return home to live with their folks?  Will they be able to find a meaningful job in their field?  Is Chicken Hut hiring?

I love that the day of Ascension falls right around this time.  That's a nice little addition to our calendar.  Because the disciples had undergone so much stress and duress.  They had faced the execution of their leader.  They had rejoiced at his resurrection.  They had walked, talked, and once again shared meals with their teacher who had died and rose again as promised three days later.  And then, on this day - Jesus blesses them and returns back to heaven.  And the twelve, fully filled with all of God's goodness, are left to wonder the eternal question, "What's next?  Where do I go from here?  Is Chicken Hut hiring?"

Because these men could have returned to their ordinary.  They could have stepped back into the boats they had once stepped out of to walk on water.  Their hands which had counted out baskets full of leftovers after feeding thousands could go back to counting out the taxes owed.  They certainly could have returned to their 9-5 jobs and moved on with their lives.

But these men realized something on this Ascension Sunday.  They realized that Jesus was just as real and present with them after his return to heaven as he had been when he was eating fish with them on the beach.

And on this day, thousands of years later -  we must remember that Jesus is just as real and present with us as he was with the disciples.  Jesus is here.  He lives in our hearts.  He calms the storms of our lives and calls us to great things.

The ascension of Jesus is not a story of goodbye.  It's a story of trust and independence.

When I was young I was in speech therapy for years.  I couldn't say my S, Sh, Th, Ch, P, R, or L sounds.  My mom was the only person who could understand what I was trying to say. At first, I really hated being in speech therapy.  I fought every step of the way.  My teacher worked with me, letter by letter, sound by sound as she taught me how to form my mouth and where to place my tongue for every word.  I can remember repeating sounds after my teacher, just mimicking what she was saying - but as soon as I would leaver her classroom I would return to the easy way of doing things.  As long as she wasn't around to correct me or cheer me on I didn't need to put the extra effort into trying to say things correctly.  But my teacher was a very wise woman and one day she told me that our lessons would be ending.  If I wasn't willing to put in the extra effort outside of her class, then she shouldn't bother anymore.  But by this time I liked having class with her - I liked that I could be understood by adults if I needed to be.  I begged her to let me keep having classes - and she promised that if I put in some effort and she overheard me speaking correctly three times outside of the classroom that we could keep having classes.  For the next few weeks I used all of my energy to speak correctly and she spied on me from time to time.  She finally called me to her room to tell me that she had heard me speaking correctly and we could continue working on the last few mistakes I was making.

For years when I read the story of the ascension I didn't like the story.  I counted it as a sad story in the Bible.  I would read it and it would remind me of painful stories of goodbyes.  Finally, I understood that in this moment Jesus released the disciples into joyful obedience.  Up to this point Jesus had taught, healed, prayed, and performed the miracles.  The twelve had been passive observers or casual participants.  They relied on Jesus to do all the work and they enjoyed the great joy of being present for everything.

But no more - as Jesus clears up all the confusion in their minds, he blesses them and he sends them off on their way.  Now they are the ones who will teach, preach, heal, feed, and perform miracles.  They have grown in their faith - they are no longer just students but they must now be teachers as well.

The fear and anguish that the disciples felt when they lost Jesus to death on a cross is replaced by a great and powerful sense of purpose as he ascends to heaven.  This is not a story of loss - this is a story of bold empowerment.

My mother's great agony so many years ago as she ran out of the clothing store to search for her little boy who she thought was playing in the streets is replaced by her pride and joy as she sends me overseas for years at a time.

As Jesus ascends into heaven the images that form in our heads are images of long, sad goodbyes.  But this is a joyous moment.  This is commencement ceremony after long years of study, this is the trust and joy of a great mentor as he places real responsibilites in your hand.

You are witnesses of these things.

You see the ways that God is present with us.  You see people's lives being changed for the better.  You see people believing in God for the first time.  You see all the ministries that happen here at the Molod' do Isusa student center.

If you come here to Pilgrims on Thursday nights you see the efforts of a great group of people.  Our leadership team works to keep this ministry going.  They work behind the scenes to make sure that our music is great, that our English Club opens the doors for new people to enter and feel comfortable in this space, that our social events bring us together and help make us a community - they keep the student center clean and they make sure that things work together to make this place better.  Our leadership team does a wonderful job of welcoming young people from all different Christian backgrounds and even students who don't believe anything.  Our leadership team works to make a difference in their lives.

Our leadership team is open to new people stepping up to serve.   We are actively searching for the next group of students who will work to make this student center all that God dreams it to be.  We are looking for who will help keep this place open and welcoming to all.    

Would you be willing to step up?  Would you be willing to work behind the scenes or so step up infront of students and model what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ?

When Jesus sends his disciples out into the world he calls them to do great things -  But he promises that he will be with them until the very end of time.  This scripture passage ends "they were continually in the temple praising God."  But that's not how this story ends.  After they were clothed with power from on high, these men left the temple.  They went out into the world and they changed it.  Two thousand years later we are the result of men who fearlessly left the temple and went to all corners of the world to teach and preach about Jesus.

This story doesn't end with them and it doesn't end with us.  The people who learn of the goodness of God from us will go on to share God's goodness with others.  As Jesus moves back to his place in heaven, his triumphant call resounds across the whole earth - That all the world may know, will you follow Christ wherever he calls?        

"For me, the Social Principles of the Methodist Church have been as much a description of our history, as a prod for my future actions. We can find direction, if we look to the church's call to strengthen families and renew our schools and encourage policies that enable each child to have a chance to fulfill his or her God-given potential.
Now, it is not easy to do that. I don't think it ever has been. I believe if one looks back, not only into the Bible, but certainly since then, and reads the stories of John and Charles Wesley and looks to other church leaders in the last century, we know that acting on our faith is never easy. And it is often a test of our own resolve as much as anything else. I think of the stories that I heard even as a child of John Wesley preaching to people who did not want to hear him. There was that one memorable story of where they were throwing whiskey bottles at him. And I think to myself, how many of us, myself included, would even go into places now where we were likely to be the object of thrown whiskey bottles? Not many of us. And in part what we have to confront is our own willingness to take the blessings we have and take them into a world that is complex, often turns away, and may even be hostile.
But just look at the tradition we come from. We continue in this church to answer John Wesley's call to provide for the educational health and spiritual needs of children. We can be proud that our church has been a leader in the fight to improve the quality of education, promote parental responsibility, curb smoking among young people, expand comprehensive health care, strengthen marriages, and help people of all kinds of backgrounds. I'm heartened by the work I see being done in the communities of Shalom Initiative, where individual churches and churches in union are looking to transform just four city blocks in some instance.
But taking that responsibility on, being there one-on-one with people unlike ourselves, often. Letting people hear the message of the gospel as well as the example of our works. We'll do more to change lives than any program that could passed by any legislative body." 

- Hillary Rodham Clinton, addressing the 1996 General Conference of the United Methodist Church. 

I think you should read Bishop Will Willimon's recent article on General Conference.  It's a good read.  It's honest and it's something that informed people should read.

Will Willimon (as well as most of the bishop's elected in the Southeast Jurisdiction!) is an example of a bishop who took a substantial pay cut to assume the office of bishop.  This fact would surprise you if you knew how much money bishops make.  I think that the takeaway fact should simply be the fact that men and women are willing to take a pay-cut to be bishop.  It's a little thing, certainly, but perhaps if we lowered the annual salary of bishops significantly we would save substantial amounts of money and perhaps lose the interest of a few people who aren't really called to the office.  We could fund travel, living arrangements, pension, and health insurance and then simply provide a cost-of-living stipend for our bishops and we would probably attract the right people for the job.  We could even give bishops a ceiling and allow them to set their own individual salary based on the needs of their family.  

But this is not a post against our bishops.  I love most of the bishops I know personally.  I think that God calls some people to be bishops - and I support when those people actively "run for" or seek out the office of bishop.  I have much stronger support for people who actively work to get someone else elected bishop.

I think our bishops should be chosen in a variety of ways.  Elections are good and democratic, but they fail us terribly in some significant ways.  Do we really think that God is only calling beautiful, tall, likeable people to the office of bishop?  Do we really believe that the only people God wishes to lead the church are politicians who can answer questions without answering questions?

The biggest problem with our bishops is that they are all basically the same.  The are cut from the same piece of cloth.  I think that my former boss, Sharon Schwab, would make a fantastic bishop.  She gets things done, she likes people, she cares about small churches, she genuinely works to keep churches and clergy happy, she is a phenomenal preacher, and she is unelectable.  Sharon's just not going to win any popularity contest anytime soon.  She tells people the truth, she is honest and gives an honest answer, she cares about making disciples more than members.  She doesn't really give a whoop about institutions or institutional security.  These are all things that make her an incredible district superintendent and are all things that would make her an incredible bishop as well.

Perhaps if we reduced the salaries for bishops we would have the means to hire more of them - and perhaps the additional ones could be chosen in a different fashion.  Perhaps a group of laity could choose a group of candidates and we could just pull straws - the short straws becomes a bishop.

What if when electing bishops we didn't get to see them.  What if we just had the statistical reports from each church they served.  What if episcopal candidates had to spend a year preaching revival sermons every week around the jurisdiction before the election.  What if it was written into the contract that following your time as a bishop you were required to serve a small, rural congregation at part time pay?

The motion for a set-aside bishop would have certainly passed if it had been a volunteer position without a salary.

I guess what I'm getting at is that we are so focused on WHO will be bishop that we never stop to think about HOW we choose those people.  We all agree that our system is broken - but few are willing to consider out-of-the box solutions.                

Sunday School

Bill Beatty blogged a question about Sunday School and it's long term sustainability - and here's my answer.

When we address aspects of our church that were once effective but no longer pack a punch; I find that it is best to try to identify the felt need that created a vacuum which the effective aspect filled.  Sunday Schools started popping up to address the social injustice of uneducated children working long hours in the mills in England.  Children were not receiving a proper education and were forced to work in factories under terrible conditions. Christians worked to improve their lives by providing educational opportunities.

In America today, education is a mandatory, well-oiled machine.  When children come to Sunday School, they only learn about the Bible.  The other subjects are covered by "regular" school.  While many of our schools are failing our children, the majority are excellent institutions.  Churches are even stepping up to work alongside schools in mentoring and after-school programs.

Sunday School originally filled two purposes.  It was outreach and it was social justice.  Sadly, our children's Sunday Schools generally fall under the category of "nurture or education."  They are for "our" kids.  I know of churches that have fired talented children's directors for bringing in too many undesirable children - of course the reason given was that their children "weren't learning anything new."

Perhaps the questions should not be "will Sunday School survive?" but, rather, "Can we find something that will function as outreach and social justice for the children in our communities?"    

The after-school and mentoring programs are an answer to this call.  But, many churches have a difficult time finding people who care about children and have the time and resources to commit to afternoon sessions.  But, what about a focus on music?  I don't just mean a kid's choir - but what if we picked up the slack as school districts slash spending on art and music education.  What if we created Sunday programs that taught music theory to children.  We could teach them to read music, to sing parts, to play instruments, to learn to conduct choirs and orchestras.  In many churches, a comprehensive music program could improve the quality of life for kids in the neighborhood as well as improve Sunday morning worship for everyone involved.

When I attended New Day Church in the Bronx, it was a joy to watch a young lady (younger than I!) coordinate the worship under the direction of her mentor, Jorge Lockward.  She was giving voice lessons, helping with chords, writing innovative liturgy for worship, and giving hope to an even younger generation of kids in the church.  She gave a voice to the voiceless in her urban neighborhood.  It was pretty awesome to watch - it would revolutionize our church if we could bring it to scale.

I think that if our leaders were free to give the resources, time, and energy to a new venture that we already spend on Sunday School that we could find any number of felt needs for our churches to address.

Any ideas?      

I have walked up or down 50 flights of stairs today.  I am exhausted.

I am working on registration, and it seems that no one is ever in the office they are supposed to be in.  The paperwork just feels overwhelming.

While we have notaries in the states - they are a rarely used oddity.  Here they are a way of life.

Have you ever seen a TV show or a movie that showed a foreigner from Africa experiencing moving cars for the first time?  The way they show the savage reacting largely at the sight of one car after another?

That's the way I feel here with paperwork.  It's just not something that is part of our culture and it mystifies and amazes me.  Every time I have to get something notarized, stamped, signed, and sealed (literally dozens of times some months - in triplicate) my eyes get wide as I see the papers zooming past me.  

Six months after.

In October of 2011 I was one of 700 protesters arrested as part of the Occupy protest movement. It was the first mass arrest and would be followed by almost 6000 more arrests across the country. I spent six hours in a small holding cell with 150 other protesters while the patient police officers performed their half of the civic duty.

In November I had my court date. The court agreed to drop the charges after a six month period in which I did not get re-arrested in New York state. Today the charges will be dropped and my official record will be cleared.

I wanted to spend a few moments reflecting on the movement and on the experience of being arrested while protesting.



I don't believe that I was arrested before most of my High School classmates. I still don't believe that I was arrested.

I was in missionary training camp, just a few days away from being commissioned as a missionary for the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries when I marched. I grew up in a conservative family in a small town in rural Western Pennsylvania. I come from the mountains. Good people don't protest - and they certainly don't get arrested.

I am thankful to come from a religious tradition with a long history of social action and engagement. Methodists fought for the rights of women and children. We ended child labor in Europe and fought against slavery. Our opposition to alcohol brought about prohibition (hey, some causes are winners - and some not so much so!). We believe in a more just society - and we are willing to take to the streets to accomplish that.

Historically, we have marched long before the causes became popular in the public opinion. Some of our southern United Methodist clergy lost all credibility with their all-white congregations by marching with their African American brothers and sisters. Dr. Dorothy Height sat beside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr when he shared his dream for America. We are a people who stand up to be counted long before it is politically profitable.

I don't agree with everything that the Occupy movement stands for. We are misunderstood, misrepresented, and missing the crucial voices of age, wisdom, and racial diversity.

But make no mistake: the central rallying cry for a more fair economy and for the hyper-rich to have less control of the government will not go away. When our encampment at Zuccotti Park was dismantled, the ideas and the people behind them did not die.

Our current economy is no longer sustainable.

As Christians, we are called to think about the economy in a different way than our secular friends. The housing bubble bust should have had little to no effect on the American Christian community. We are taught to neither borrow nor lend for profit. We are called to live simple, sparse lives and to give the rest away. If our houses are large; they should be filled with people in need of a place to stay. If American Christians chose to live in the economy Jesus painted for us it would be our strongest witness to a changed and different life.

It breaks my heart to see brothers and sisters in Christ believing the lies of the news cycle. When I see friends going into tremendous debt because a guest bedroom and office are "needs" I literally cry. We work for things that we don't need instead of working in the name of Christ. It's terribly sad.

We envy the rich. We want to be them. We genuinely don't care how immoral they are or what actions they had to do to get to the top - we still keep them as role models.

A hooker who sells sex for enough money to feed and house her children is disgusting - but a bank executive who cheats, lies, and tricks his way to the top is a role model. This makes me think that Christians need to spend some time studying sin and the way that some sins are worse and require more condemnation than others (hint: they aren't and they don't!). Why do we revile the woman who sins to earn enough to live and exemplify the one who sins to earn enough for another Porsche?

We learn to step over and ignore the homeless and to stop and allow Mercedes to have the right of way. The world would be a lot better if we learned to do the opposite.

The Occupy movement changed the national conversation for a few weeks. Hopefully those of us involved in the movement will continue to challenge people to think about the concepts of wealth, poverty, salary, education, globalization, etc. These issues will shape the world we live in - and we owe it to the world to be aware and educated in these subjects.

I believe in a better future. That is the reason that I had no qualms about being arrested and the reason that there is only joy in my heart regarding the incident. But, perhaps more importantly than that, I believe that God calls us to live into and create a better future.

Mark 5:1-20 

They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!” Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

I keep coming back to this story for reasons that I can't quite explain.  This is a strange story.  We love heartwarming stories - we love hearing pleasant stories.  We like the image of Jesus teaching on a hillside as the children and baby lambs gather around.

We aren't quite so comfortable with Jesus negotiating with demons and crazy people.  But, maybe we need to be.


Our scripture today finds us getting out of the boat with Jesus. Jesus had just finished up giving some difficult teachings to a large crowd and decides that they should cross to the other side of the lake. In the boat, while Jesus sleeps, a tremendous storm appears and terrifies the disciples. Jesus calls out to the wind and the sea is calmed. And now, safely on the other side, we happily step out of the boat - we are just glad that it's over.

This is where things get interesting. Jesus doesn't say why they should cross the lake. He doesn't give any specifics to his disciples. There had been a large crowd, it had been a stressful day and on other occasions Jesus and the twelve had slipped away to the other side of the lake to find some peace, quite, and rest. This is probably the conclusion that the disciples had made. They were going to rest and relax.

As they step out of the boat - ready for some restful quite time - a crazy man appears from the cemetery.

My family went to the big city a few times when I was a child. It was my first time encountering homeless people. I saw their unwashed, dirty hands and their swollen faces. My mother took my hand and began to drag me forward as I stopped to look at the rags they were wearing and to try and read their hand-written cardboard signs. My mother dragged me forward and scolded me saying, "It's not polite to stare."

It didn't seem very polite to just keep walking either. I couldn't believe that my mom and dad would walk past them without doing anything to help them. We were good people. We helped people. Why weren't we helping these people.

I apologized and kept walking. Soon, I learned to step over the homeless - and to ignore them completely. As I got older and traveled internationally I eventually learned to ignore even the children who were homeless. I learned the responses that my culture demanded. [They shouldn't be so lazy. They are just drunks. There are social programs - they choose to be homeless. They probably make a good living with all of the money people give them.]

We don't know much about this man. I love stories that leave us with more questions than answers. It says, "  They could no longer bind him."  So we know there was a "they" - there were people who cared about him enough to try and protect him from himself. He lived in the tombs. He was one of the dead - although he could walk and talk, he counted himself as one of the dead.  Night and day he would cry out and cut himself with rocks - his life couldn't get any worse.

As Jesus gets out of the boat, this man sees him and runs and bows before him.  Now - this next part - the whole "Jesus casts out demons" thing is where we get a little uncomfortable.  Trust me - I'm super uncomfortable preaching about it.  But, noticeably, Jesus doesn't seem uncomfortable in this situation.  Jesus confronts the demons directly.  He casts them out - and chooses to cast them into a herd of pigs.  Two-thousand pigs, now filled with a legion of demons, run into the lake to die.

This story is crazy and unimaginable - and we haven't even come to the interesting part.

At this point the man - the man who had been known by all of his community as "the demon possessed man" - is in his right mind.  He returns to the way he had been before the evil spirits had entered him.  He dressed himself in proper clothes and sits down.

Jesus and this man sit down and begin to speak.  I wish that every single conversation Jesus had was written down.  We don't know what they talked about - but it probably wasn't the weather.  Jesus had freed this man.  He had given this man his life back.  He had been all but dead - nothing could be worse in his life and suddenly Jesus shows up and his life is back to normal.  Everything is the way it was.

When the 2000 pigs killed themselves the people who were responsible for watching over the pigs went running into town to tell everyone what happened.  Now, in a small town - this is the kind of thing that, for whatever reason, tends to interest people.  So the town returns with these men and they find the crazy demon possessed man sitting next to Jesus having a normal conversation.

And of course - seeing this great miracle they welcome Jesus into their town with open arms and celebrate that this man has been made well.

Wait ... is that right?  Let's read this scripture one more time to make sure we've understood everything.

They were afraid.  They had learned to ignore this man and his screaming.  It became normal for them to send men to try and tie him down with chains - and to pay not attention when he broke the irons and chains and began to cut himself.  Everyone knew where he was and what was wrong and no one cared anymore.

And now, this man sits before them made well - and they are afraid.  They are afraid in ways that the demons never made them afraid.  They fear for themselves.  They fear for all that they consider normal.

They don't ask questions.  They don't try and piece everything together.  They ask Jesus to get back in the boat and to leave their town.

The demons - the legion of demons inside of this man - they have no option but to listen and do exactly as Jesus commands.  The people on the other hand - they have the choice of listening and responding to the words of Jesus or asking him to get back in the boat and leave their town immediately. 

This is a sermon about peace and rest.  This man whose life had been nothing but torture and torment had been made well - he was given peace and was able to rest for the first time.  But this is also an invitation.

And Jesus comes to this place - to our very room - and offers that all may be made well.  Everything could be different - the demons of poverty, racism, hatred, alcoholism, and sin could be cast out.  We could be made well.  And yet we find ourselves too often saying to Jesus, "Why don't you go ahead and get back in that boat and leave this place. 

I used to be angry all the time.  I don't mean that I would get angry sometimes.  I was always angry.  I hated everyone around me and wished they were dead.  I wished I was dead.  Sometimes I would get so angry that I would just start shaking from anger.  There are still holes in the room I grew up in where I punched or kicked through the wall when I was angry.  I would cuss and scream at people I was angry with.

Now, to those here who don't know me well ... I'm not an angry person anymore.  It is a rare occasion when I get angry enough to raise my voice a little bit.  After I decided to welcome Jesus' invitation for a new life - the whole idea of being angry just seemed silly to me.

Jesus comes this day offering the peace that passes all understanding - and it is choice to accept that great peace or to ask him to leave us alone.