Reflection on Luke 8:26-39

She was the only one who wanted to go on the trip, but that was not out of the ordinary.  She was used to being the “freak” and the “loner.” 

She was different and she could not help it.  Her lip had not formed right at birth, causing it to look more like half a lip.  She despised lipstick ads and their full, fleshly lips of beauty. 

Why couldn’t she be beautiful? 

Her parents could not figure out how to keep their lives straight and they lost custody of her years before.  Now, she had no home or parents…well except for a long list of houses and foster parents, but that was not the same. 

She watched as other girls left the school, jumping into SUVs with smiling mothers who had their soccer or dance gear all ready to go. 

Why couldn’t she have a family? 

Most girls in her class went down the halls of the school in groups of laughter, but she had never really figured out how to do the whole friend thing.  She was not exactly skilled at being normal or funny. 

Why couldn’t she have a friend? 

And, now as she filled out the glossy form for a special weekend at Bible camp, she did it alone on the other side of the room from the other kids.  The group was not interested in going, but she was.  So, she was going to do it like she did everything else…alone.

She felt like that guy in the Bible who was so messed up in his life and in his head that the people of his town chained him up and threw him out to live alone, naked, in the graveyard. 

You know what is ironic, she had always liked graveyards.  They were so peaceful to her.  And, also ironically, they were filled with so many people.  There were so many people laid to rest there.  In a graveyard, no one goes into the next life alone.

Maybe, the guy felt comfort in the tombs?  Or, maybe, it was just the only place that he could call home because he was so rejected and despised?

Well, in any case, that guy had Jesus.  Jesus came along, entered into the guy’s graveyard home, cast out the whole legion of demons (all 5,000 of them), put the demons into a herd of pigs, and drowned every last one of those who tormented him. 

“Does Jesus still do that?” she wondered.  “Does he still come and heal like that?  Or, is that just something that he did a long time ago?” 

She did not know.  What she did know is that she wanted what that guy got.  She wanted Jesus to come, make her beautiful, give her a family, and give her some friends to whom she could rejoice and say, “Hey, look, I’m all better now, I’m beautiful now, I’m finally like all you now!”  That guy got to go home and have a life.  She wanted that more than anything.

Maybe, that was what the camp thing was all about.  She was searching for Jesus.  She was searching for his healing.  She was searching for friendship.

When she handed the completed camp form to the youth advisor, he looked it over and asked if she had a ride to take her the 100 mile trip.  Of course, she did not. 

“I’m sorry, this is a really large church and we kind of have to do what the majority of the group wants to do,” the youth advisor explained. 

He was right.  It was a large church with a couple thousand people.  She was just…you know…her.  She was the one living amongst the tombs.  She was the one living far off in the gentile regions.  She could not expect the group to care about her.

But, the next day as she laid on her bed, which was stuffed by the hot water heater in her new foster home…it was OK, it was a warm spot…she got a phone and a female voice spoke.  It was the senior pastor of her church. 

The senior pastor said, “Get your things together, I’m taking you to camp this weekend.” 

“Don’t you have to preach?  Don’t you have a large number of people to care about?” she protested.

“I do, and it includes a beautiful girl who wants to go be with Jesus” she told the girl in return.

And, like the shepherd who left the 99 sheep in order to find the one, the girl’s senior pastor left the church that weekend in order to spend time with her and take her to Bible camp.  The church had a fit.  How could the pastor of a church of thousands just give up such a huge responsibility for the sake of one strange girl who had hardly been a part of the church? 

“It wasn’t a smart use of her time,” they thought.

Maybe it was not a smart use of her time but, Jesus never seemed too concerned about good time management.  He randomly left the Jewish region and walked into a predominantly gentile region one day to heal a crazy guy living out in the graveyard.  Yes, Jesus fed thousands, but he also went out of his way to find the one.  Jesus seemed to care more about those who needed healing and community than he did sticking around the safety of his own people. 

So, the senior pastor went with the girl.  She gave her, for one weekend at least, a family.  And, she went out of her way so that the girl might possibly find the healing of Jesus. 

What the senior pastor did not realize was that the healing had already happened.  Jesus had done his work the minute that the pastor made that phone call to the girl.

There are so many people who have been pushed out to the tombs to live and struggle alone. 

For those who suffer from mental illness. 

Jesus, bring your healing.

For those who are different and have few friends.

Jesus, bring your healing.

For those who have fled the dangers of their homes, but have not found a place that will welcome them.

Jesus, bring your healing.

For those children who have lost their families.

Jesus, bring your healing.

For those who have governments who are cold to their needs.

Jesus, bring your healing.

For those who are the only ones left among their family and friends.

Jesus, bring your healing.

For those who face death alone.

Jesus, bring your healing.

For all who desire deeply to feel your healing touch.

Jesus, bring your healing.

Bring your healing to all who find themselves living among the tombs of death.  Give them wholeness, give them joy, and give them a community of love.  Amen.