Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

We now come to the strangest story in Mark’s gospel. It started when Jesus and his disciples crossed a lake, to an area where Jews and Gentiles lived (Mark 5:1). 

A man with demonic superpowers met them. He lived in a graveyard, shouting,  screaming and cutting himself. The locals tried restraining him, but he broke chains and ankle-irons, and resumed his cemetery existence. 

Jesus said to the demon, “Get out of this man!” The demon replied, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Don’t torture me” (Mark 5:7).

Surprisingly, Jesus negotiated with this spiritual terrorist. “What’s your name?” he asked. 

The demon replied, “My name is Multitude, because there are many of us here. Don’t send us far away. Why don’t we go into the pigs on that hillside?” (Mark 5:9). 

“Ok,” Jesus said. “Leave the man and go into the pigs” (Mark 5:11-13). 

So the multitude of demons made the move, and 2,000 pigs raced down the hill into the lake and drowned. 
– That can’t be good for the pigs
– And it can’t be good for the lake 
– And it can’t be good for the local farming economy 
– And we can’t tell if it was good for the demons, but apparently that was what they wanted.
– We do, however, know it was good for the man Jesus delivered. 

The newly unemployed pig herders became journalists, reporting the disturbing story everywhere. People came from all over to see the man Jesus healed, now sitting quietly and acting sane. Then they asked Jesus to go away (Mark 5:14-17). 

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, we don’t have your experience with demons. But we see pictures of demonic devastation–war-torn cities where cement buildings are reduced to rubble graveyards of rubble, marked by shattered metal and broken glass, where desperate searchers listen for desperate cries, where ambulances rescue the wounded and retrieve the dead. O Jesus, the demons you confronted still torment our modern graveyards. 

O Jesus, free us from demons that attack our minds and sanity. Free us from demons that drive our society. Free us from demons of war and destruction. 

Allow us, as you did the man you saved, to sit quietly at your feet, clothed and in our right minds. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

In Mark 4, after a busy day of teaching, Jesus and his disciples rowed across a lake. A furious squall nearly swamped the boat, but Jesus? He wasn’t worried. He was snoozing on a cushion in the back of the boat (Mark 4:35-38). 

The disciples woke him and said, “Teacher! Don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38).

Listen again to that question, full of panic and accusation. “Don’t you care if we down?” Always a good idea to ask your friends if they care. Perhaps they quit caring since yesterday. Do you think Jesus’ cared?  

The gospel writers Matthew and Luke don’t like the disciple’s tone, asking Jesus if he cares. So they quote the disciples as saying, “Master, save us. We’re going to drown” (Mat 8:25, Luke 8:24).

Responding to their panic, Jesus woke up and stilled the storm. 

Then he asked, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40). 

What a great back and forth. The disciples ask, “Don’t you care?” and Jesus responds, “Don’t you have any faith?” 

This exchange is too prickly for Matthew’s gospel. He softens Jesus’ response to, “O you of little faith, why are you afraid?” And Luke changes Jesus’ reply to the more neutral, “Where is your faith?” (Luke 8:25).

I enjoy the wordplay between the disciples and Jesus. Clearly, the gospel writers struggled to put the right tone and inflection into the disciples’ panic and Jesus’ response. 

And here’s a question for you, if you care. How do you think the story would read if the disciples did have the faith Jesus was looking for? Would faith have kept them rowing helplessly while Jesus slept? Should they have stilled the storm themselves by faith?  

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, like the disciples, we row through a stormy life, feeling swamped. 

We ask, “Do you notice? Do you care? Are you sleeping?” And you reply, “O you of little faith, why are you so afraid?” 

O Jesus here is our little faith. In faith we bring our troubles to you. In faith we say that however abandoned we feel, we believe that you are with us and that you care.  

O Jesus, prince of peace, send us your peace. Still our fears, fix our creaking boat, calm our storms, and guide us to your city of light. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

In the kingdom of America, Donald Trump, the king-in-waiting, is choosing staff and announcing policies. In Mark 4, Jesus, when he was the king-in-waiting of the kingdom of God,  gave hints about his policy and practices.  

Jesus asks a question:  “If you want light in your house, do you hide your lamp under a basket?” (Mark 4:21). The answer is obvious, but Jesus applied this image in a surprising way when he said, “What’s hidden will be disclosed, and what’s concealed will be seen by everyone” (Mark 4:22). Hmmm. Do you think I want my hidden stuff displayed in public? 

Then Jesus told how things are measured in the kingdom of God. He said, “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Mark 4:24). I’ve seen that: stinginess begets stinginess, generosity begets generosity. But Jesus continued, “Whoever has, will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them” (Mark 4:24). Sounds like the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Isn’t that a bad thing? 

The next story says the kingdom of God is like wheat seeds scattered on the ground. The farmer ignores the field while day and night the grain grows into a harvest (Mark 4:26-29). I wish my investments grew with that little worry or attention.

Jesus also compared the kingdom of heaven to a tiny mustard seed that grows into a plant large enough to welcome birds (Mark 4:30-32). 

Four stories and four hints about the kingdom of God. I make four observations. 

First, the kingdom of God is like a lamp. If you hide stuff, watch out. Whatever is hidden will be out in the open for all to see. 

Second, with the measure you use it will be measured to you. The kingdom of God rewards generosity. If you give Christ full access to your life, his kingdom will come in full measure. If you’re stingy about giving God access, you will lose out. 

Third, the grain grows while the farmer sleeps. You’re not in control of how God’s kingdom grows in your life. You must receive God’s word, his seed, and wait while he waters and cultivates. 

Fourth, like the tiny mustard seed, the kingdom of God in your life has way more potential than you could ever imagine. 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, though we find Jesus’ stories obscure, we thank you for the hints he gives us about how your kingdom will come in our lives, in our church, and in the world. 

Help us receive the kingdom you offer.  
– We invite your light to shine, even in the dark where we hide. 
– We invite your kingdom to come in full measure.
– We invite your seed to grow without our help and supervision. 
– Though your seed is vanishingly small, we invite it to grow until it dominates our lives. 

We pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

God created the world in six days. Day 1 he said, “Let there be light.” And things lit up! Day 2 he said, “Let there be sky”, and the sky appeared. Grand new things appeared whenever he spoke.   

In Mark 4, Jesus told a different story about God’s word. 

As a farmer scattered seed, some fell on the path and birds ate it. Some fell on rocky ground where it grew quickly, then quickly withered in the sun. Some fell in a weedy patch, where thorns choked it to death. Some did what seed is supposed to do–it fell on good ground and produced a harvest (Mark 4:1-20). 

This story confused the disciples. What was Jesus getting on about? Jesus explained that the seed is the word of God. Sometimes it falls on poor soil and doesn’t grow properly. Sometimes it falls on good ground and grows into a harvest. Not like God’s word at creation, where every word God spoke produced amazing creative results.

In a class I attended, a student asked, “When we preach the word, why don’t people’s lives change more?” He felt that the good seed he spread should produce a great harvest. 

What is the problem? Would you say, “There’s no problem with the word you preach. Blame the listeners. They are the rocky soil.” 

I think when Jesus was on earth speaking God’s word to the disciples and crowds, he was planting seeds. Small, hidden truths scattered everywhere. Small beginnings, easily lost, easily choked out, easily withered. But for people then and now who receive and live by Jesus’ words, they grow into a wonderful, life-changing harvest.  

Paul tells us that in Christ we are a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). He said, “God who commanded light to shine out of darkness has shone in our hearts” (2 Cor 4:6). 

Jesus’ stories, his words, shine in our hearts and grow in our lives, drawing us into a new creation. 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, in our struggle against sin, we wish you would speak a powerful word to   cleanse our thoughts and heal our diseases and make us saints in one day. 

But your word is a seed in our lives, not a bulldozer. A grain of wheat for us to water and cultivate and protect from weeds.

The psalmist said, “Your word I have hid in my heart” (Ps 119:11). Help us cherish and cultivate what you have sown. Help us to be good soil, where your word grows and produces a harvest. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

We’ve been looking at Mark’s account of Jesus’ life. In chapter 3, people are trying to guess who Jesus is and where he gets his power. 

It started when he healed a shriveled hand on the Sabbath. The Bible scholars and religious leaders were offended. “You’re working on the Sabbath? You should be resting!” Jesus got angry with them. “Is all you see in scripture an obsession with rules? Don’t you see God’s heart for healing?” (Mar 3:1-5). 

But there was no way to heal Jesus’ rift with those religious leaders. They began plotting to kill him (Mar 3:6). 

Meanwhile, large crowds followed Jesus, asking for healings and exorcisms. The demons that possessed people were afraid of Jesus. “You are the Son of God,” they said. But Jesus told them to quit talking (Mar 3:7-12). 

Bible scholars all the way from Jerusalem trekked north to Galilee to assess this new teacher. Their conclusion? “This Jesus person is possessed by the chief devil, Beelzebub! That’s where he gets his power over demons” (Mar 3:20-22). 

Jesus’ family investigated. This radical Jesus wasn’t the carpenter they knew! Their conclusion? He’s insane! Let’s plan an intervention to save him from himself (Mar 3:31). 

What was Jesus’ problem? Insane? Possessed? Or was he the Son of God like the demons said? 

Jesus responded to the Bible scholars. “I’m not in league with the prince of demons. I’m busy driving out his servants and taking over his territory. If you think my power is demonic, you don’t understand anything at all about God! If you can’t tell the difference between what God does and what Satan does, that’s an unforgivable sin” (Mar 3:23-27). 

Jesus declined the family-organized insanity intervention and said to those he was teaching, “My mother and brothers are those who do God’s will” (Mar 3:31-35).  

So who is this man Jesus, and where is his story going, and is he really sane? 

Stay tuned. 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, we so easily forget that Jesus was a human among humans. He was the biggest influencer on Galilee’s social network. His family thought he was insane and the religious leaders couldn’t figure him out. 

We are amazed at what he did–healing shriveled hands, paralytic bodies, deaf ears, and blind eyes. We are amazed at his disdain for religious leaders. Couldn’t he have reasoned with them? Or were they beyond reason? 

O father, look on us in our modern world. Send Jesus to sweep away our religious traditions, to overturn our narrow views, to do his work in our sick civilization, to bring your kingdom in our time. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube