"reaching Across Boundaries"

“Reaching Across Boundaries”

Luke 8:26-39

After studying passages like this one, author Mark Scandrette and his friend Joseph became convicted that God was calling them to reach out, not just to folks who showed up at their church or were already a part of their circles but to outsiders, people on the margins like Jesus did.

So, they went outside.

They picked up trash off the side of roads.

They talked to people.

And eventually, they met a homeless man who referred to himself as The Emperor.

The Emperor lived in a rusty old abandoned school bus which was parked in a vacant lot.

His hands were brown with filth, dirt was caught in the creases of his skin.

And his mouth, was, according to Scandrette “grotesque, toothless and rotting.”

The Emperor had been living all alone and homeless for over 30 years.

He had no friends, and when speaking he would say all kinds of “of the wall things” that would probably scare most people away from him.

He appeared to be out of his mind.

When Mark and Joseph told The Emperor that they were followers of Jesus Christ, he flew into a rage, cursed at them wildly, and told them to get out of his bus.

This scared them and they stayed away for several months, but they kept feeling God calling them to continue to try and befriend this man.

Eventually, they went back to his bus and ask him if there was anything they could do for him.

He replied, “Well, I’m hungry and I haven’t eaten for days.

My legs aren’t working too good so I can’t get to the store.”

So, along with other friends from their church, Mark and Joseph began visiting The Emperor several times a week, bringing him groceries, helping to cut his hair or clip his toenails and cleaning up around his camp.

Gradually he started to trust their friendship and revealed more about his life, how he had gotten where he was, and so forth.

One day he told Mark and Joseph, “I’m going to kill myself on New Year’s Eve.”

They told him how sad they would be if he chose to do that, and he replied, “Why should you care if I live or die? Nobody has ever cared about me.”

At Christmas they decided to throw a party for The Emperor, including his favorite foods and a birthday cake.

Mark told him that he was going to bring his family along, so he would need to be on his best behavior.

Mark writes the following in his book, Soul Graffiti: “There was a full moon on that December evening when I knocked on the door to The Emperor’s bus.

We ate by candlelight serenaded by music from a transistor radio.

The Emperor declared that the food—a collection of his favorites dishes he requested—was delicious.

After dinner,” Mark continues, “my wife Lisa put candles on a cake.

‘Let’s sing Happy Birthday to someone who hasn’t celebrated their birthday in a while,’ Mark suggested, ‘Who could we sing Happy Birthday to?’

Just then, beaming, our three-year-old son Noah blurted, ‘It’s Christmas, let’s sing Happy Birthday to Jesus!’”

Mark writes, “I panicked.

The name ‘Jesus’ was the worst thing I could imagine mentioning in front of The Emperor, and I waited to see how he would react.

Slowly, with a big toothless grin, he said, ‘Yes, let’s sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.’”

And so, under a clear and starry night, they sang together, Mark, Joseph, The Emperor, and Mark and Lisa’s three small blond children with red cheeks.

Mark writes, “As I helped The Emperor back into his bus, he turned and said, ‘This was the best night of my life. Thank you!”

(Pause)

In our Scripture passage for this morning, when Jesus steps out of the boat, “across the lake from Galilee” in the region of the Garasenes He is met by a homeless man.

Driven by a legion of demons, the man hardly seems human anymore.

He lives in tombs among the dead.

He is naked, unpredictable, violent and alone.

He is not asking for help.

He is not asking for healing.

He is asking Jesus to leave him alone.

And yet, here Jesus is.

He has intentionally gone into this dangerous territory, searching for outsiders, the marginalized, the hurting--people who were outside of His circle.

And Jesus is still doing this today.

As United Methodist Christians, we believe in something called Prevenient Grace.

This is the grace of God that goes before us, and surrounds us, from the time we are born.

It’s God’s Spirit, nudging us along the way, seeking us out long before we even have a thought of looking for God.

It is God seeking to embrace us with God’s love and goodness long before we realize it and it continues throughout our entire lives.