Clothed and in his right mind Mark 5

They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had the “legion”; and they became frightened. Mark 5:15

This is a fascinating passage of scripture for so many reasons. Here is a naked man, insane from demon-possession, strong and fierce, and self-destructive (this is the only passage where cutting is used that I know of). Jesus comes, heals him, and when the people hear of it, they come to find the man totally transformed. It mentions 3 changes, though I am sure they were many more. He is sitting down. He is at rest. His life had been one of wandering in caves and running around the tombs. Nice life. Not. But the healing touch of Jesus calmed his wandering, troubled heart. He could sit. He could learn. He could enjoy life for the first time in who knows how long.

Then it says he was clothed. Someone, out of the goodness of their heart, or just out of plain fear, donated clothing to the poor naked soul who no longer wanted to be that way. His shame was covered. He was warmed. He was able to go among people without scorn or rejection. Clothing represented something...we do not accept people without it (unless you are a lecherous person) in public places. He was free to do as Jesus would next instruct him because he was clothed- to return home and tell people all the good God had done for him. The Bible talks about the shame of nakedness. The only place for it is in the home with one's spouse. Even Noah's son was ashamed when they walked into his tent when he was passed out drunk and naked. Two were blessed for not looking on him, but covering him walking backwards to do it, and Ham was condemned for looking and then tattling. Nakedness is a sign either of lewdness or extreme poverty. In this case, it was both. The man was now accepting clothing, not shredding them off his body like the Hulk. He was willing and able to cover himself. Try keeping clothes on a 2 year old some days. You have to accept wearing them, be trained what is acceptable, and actually stayed covered. This was a major deal for this guy.

And he was in his right mind. Without the demons, the voices in his head telling him to do what he should have never done, to live like he would never otherwise choose to live, he could think straight. He could accept Jesus who saved him from his awful fate, could reason his good fortune, could be grateful instead of destructive, and could tell others of what Jesus had done for him.

And it scared the bejeezus out of the townspeople! They saw floating pigs (which shouldn't have been in any part of Israel anyway, you understand) and a tamed mad-man, and they made Jesus leave town! They begged him to go away! Really??? Why not bring other suffering people to be healed? Why not have him drive out the demons in their own lives? Just why is it that when Jesus comes into our presence we send him away instead of bowing the knee, or at least taking advantage of His presence and abilities? Today the Oswald Chambers piece on Facebook answered that question for me...when we are truly in the presence of God, we see our sin...not just generic sin, but specific sin. We see ourselves as unworthy, filthy, and unacceptable. And we don't like it. We don't want to be bothered with guilt and shame and uncomfortable feelings about ourselves. We figure if we are better than the next guy that we are just fine, thank you. But our spirit senses something different about this man Jesus. He's no ordinary guy, prophet, or rabbi. He is different in an uncomfortable way. Even when most of his disciples left Him and He asked if the rest were going to go away, too, they answered only that they had nowhere else to go. They knew His words were life, even if they didn't understand them. This difference is huge. And He healed the man not because he asked to be healed, because he didn't. He healed him out of compassion. The man didn't choose to be healed. He was healed in spite of himself, and he was grateful. And instead of wanting to be a part of this marvelous transformation, those around him said NO THANKS. When given the option to be transformed in every good way, they rejected it. They rejected the one who could give them a life worth living.

It is no different today. I work with people and interact with people who cringe at the mention of the word GOD, let alone Jesus. They know that it means something has to change. They are not comfortable in the presence of the words, let alone the people and spirit they represent. So we pray. We pray for Jesus to heal out of compassion for they would be the people who send Jesus away otherwise. How silly we humans are! And how sad! I would take sitting, clothed, and sane over restless, naked, and constantly worried, angry, and destructive any day. Would you? Jesus is the only cure for the common human condition. Let Him stay when He visits your town. You won't regret it.

Cords of Falsehood

Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, and sin as if with cart ropes...Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight! Isaiah 5:18, 20-21

Cords...I have been working with them since I took a class on Monday. We were learning to make rugs from strips of fabric. Learned a great technique for tearing fabric strips that I will share with you. Nip the fabric on the cut edge every ___ inches. For me, it was 2” apart. Tear these down to about 6” so you can get a hold of them with your hands. You take 1,3,5...and your friend takes 2,4,6...and then play tug of war! They tear soooo easily, and you can do 6 or 8 at a time with little effort and time! We then used the strips with a needle to work a rug.

It is hard to take a perfectly good piece of fabric and just rip it to shreds! But at that point, you are committed! You have these long, rough-edged pieces that seem worthless, but all that cutting, pulling, and straining will be used for good. God can do that in our lives. Laying that piece of fabric on the floor and walking over it provides a hazard – you will slip and slide and get tangled up in what seems to be a thing of beauty, but when our lives are seemingly torn apart, destroyed from life's abuse, God takes 2 of those strings and begins to weave them together – under 2, form a loop, come back through, pull back- repeat- and it produces a piece that NO ONE will be able to unravel and is useful to all who approach it. Strength comes from being torn. Endurance comes from taking those parts and letting God reassemble them into something that will wear like iron instead of laying their uselessly on the floor. That same piece of cotton fabric becomes something that it would not have been without the tearing.

But these cords in Isaiah are cords holding on to sin...we don't let it go, but drag it with us wherever we go. “Let It Go!” is THE number one song people seem to be singing these days...from the Disney movie Frozen. I personally haven't seen the movie or heard the song all the way through, but I can guess...we tell ourselves to let it go all the time when we are weighed down by the thoughts and opinions of others. That seems to be a Disney theme...do your own thing regardless of what others think. There is some truth to that, but the dangerous real truth is that they have no standard for that...they encourage children to throw off all adult restraints put on them, even loving, wise counsel. Take a risk...do the wrong thing and it will all work out in the end. EEEEKKKKKK! What Isaiah is telling us to let go of here is the sin that so easily entangles (Hebrews 12). Instead of looking at our sin as a burdensome weight, we drag it along behind us. The pioneers had their covered wagons, and sometimes another cart was roped to it. Imagine the poor horse if he had to pull the wagon of stuff they did need, and then a cart full of rocks that served no good purpose. All it did was exhaust him. They would remember, maybe where they got the rocks and would keep adding them as they went along, but they just slowed them down even more. Get to a river, and the rocks would make the passage to the other side impossible. They would drown in their sorrows. The wheels would sink in the river bed. The sin would not be forsaken and they would pay dearly. This verses the ship at see tossed about. They would throw even precious cargo overboard to lighten the ship and keep it afloat. That seemingly valuable stuff became deadly when the test came, and a wise sailor knew it had to go or they would die. That is how sin is! It seems valuable at the time. Precious even! That money we can make being dishonest, the things we can have if we sneek them, the relationships we can have if we violate our bodies to secure them...all of these become sinking weights when it comes to our relationship with God. See how this is played out in the next verses in Isaiah...we call good evil and evil good. We think that affair is going to make us happier than our marriage, we think cheating on our taxes is smart, and we think that “lifestyle choices” are harmless and should be protected instead of discouraged and banned. Those who hold to scripture and have standards are called evil, while those who accept sin are called good. Lets not hold our lives together with cords of falsehood. Let's not lie to ourselves and others about what is holy and acceptable to God. Let's not substitute sweet for bitter, or the end will be more bitter than you could ever swallow. Let's loose the cords of sin and break free from that weight. The feeling of TRUE FREEDOM will be amazing! You don't realize sometimes how heavy your burdens are until you put them down and then try to pick them up again! Who would want to carry sin around like a ball and chain? Not me...not now that I have put it down at the feet of Jesus. Thank you, Lord!