A Sidewalk Obscured

“They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee.  When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs.  When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, ‘What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!’  

For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.  Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’

‘Legion,’ he replied, because many demons had gone into him.  And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.  A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission.  When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they 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 found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.” (Luke 8:26-35 NIV)

We were at a homeless shelter in Atlanta tasked that morning with sprucing up the large back yard of the facility which was where the kids played, but had been neglected for many years.  I focused on cleaning up the meandering sidewalk that wound through the property.  Leaves and dirt covered it.  At one particular section, half of it was obscured by weeds, which had found the layers of silt an inviting place to take root. So I began taking my shovel and exploring to find the edge of the sidewalk.  Once I found it, I began to clear away the weeds and dirt. After an hour or so, the sidewalk was restored to its original width. What was for so long hidden was now revealed.

As I was doing this restorative work, I was reminded the Lord desires to do a similar thing in the lives of the homeless with whom we were working.  People don’t just suddenly find themselves on the street. Layers of poor decisions, abuse, violence, hurt, and despair were building for months and years prior to their being homeless.  And after they get there, more layers of the same continue to cover over whom they once were.  Like the demon-possessed man, the real person is obscured and practically unrecognizable.  It takes divine eyes to see what lies beneath.  

What the village saw was a crazy, violent man; what Jesus saw, however, was a man held captive by forces beyond his control.  He saw what lay beneath the outward toll of his suffering.  He saw the sidewalk rather than just what had accumulated on top of it.  Thus, He restored the man to what he was created to be.

Isn’t this the purpose of ministry?  Isn’t this the mission of Jesus, to restore lives to what they were intended to be?  While perhaps it is easy to see this in ministry to the homeless, but it is really the same for all of us.  We each have, to some degree, had our true selves obscured by the effects of life in this fallen world.  The remnants of sin have left their mark on us, obscuring who we truly are. Like the soil gathered over a sidewalk, they provide an inviting place for the noxious weeds to take root and thrive in our lives.  This is what Jesus desperately wants to clear away.

Today, if the hurt and despair of sin has obscured who you really are, then know Jesus wants to restore you.  He sees who you really are and were meant to be.  If you allow Him, He will clear all of it away to reveal the man or woman He created you to be.  

© Jim Musser 2016