Fields United Methodist Church

Jesus Along the Way: Words of Hope and Grace.                      Pastor Tom Joyce

October 12, 2020

“Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.”  Mark 5:19

Jesus Touches, a person is cleansed, and a life is renewed; “amazing grace, how sweet the sound!”  As the story goes, Jesus healed a man nobody cared about, much less understood. To the towns people he was a nobody, a bother, and maybe a little scary. Jesus saw through an exterior of the person and saw a soul worthy to be saved. Jesus is not about jumping to conclusions about anybody; Jesus does not discard people just because they are a little different. When Jesus heals, lives are changed, and engaged, regardless of the perception of others.  Imagine how it would feel if all of a sudden you were given a gift that turned your life around forever, not a gift that could break or wear-out, but a gift that is everlasting; just what would you do? The initial reaction of the man Jesus just healed was to hang out with Jesus, after all, he felt like a new man and wanted to keep that feeling alive. But Jesus had other plans; Jesus called him to go tell everybody what life healed by Jesus is all about. Jesus wanted him to get the word out about what Jesus did for him.  God’s gifts are like that; they are given to be shared. A life that is inward focused is no life at all.  The newness of life that Jesus offers is a calling to live out the commandment of God to “love your neighbor as yourself.”  God, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has shared an incredible gift with you, a gift of hope, grace, and peace along the way. Imagine a world that shares a gift like that one person at time, all the time. God not only imagines such a world, God calls us through our witness to create such a world and that can only be accomplished by your faithful witness along the way. Thank you Jesus for the gift of new life and the opportunity to witness to the world your love and mercy that is available to all people.

Rev. Tom Joyce