Encountering Christ!

How often have each of us wished that God would communicate with us directly, to have a burning bush experience like Moses.  To experience God directly, we want to take off our shoes and approach God.  We want to hear from God personally and understand what God has planned for us.  We want to understand the unfathomable.  But this can feel out of reach, beyond our grasp.  Isn’t it hard for us to quiet ourselves, and allow ourselves to hear God’s voice in our life?  This is made even more difficult with all the “noise and busyness” in our life.  To ignore all the voices telling us what we need to do – what we need to own, that we need to be constantly connected to this materialistic world – a world filled with hidden and not so hidden demons.
 
Despite all this somehow, deep within ourselves we know that something is missing, we can feel ourselves yearning for God.  We want to encounter and hear God’s voice!  We want Christ to drive away our demons and heal our lives.  One certainty is that Christ surrounds us and embraces us, we need only to take time to recognize the voice and to recognize the presence of Christ in those around us.  Christ is surely in the people and relationships we often take for granted.  From the Gospel we find that God is often hiding in plain sight.  God is always found in the most unlikely places and the most unlikely people.
 
 
In the gospel reading we hear of a man released from demon possession.  Jesus’ Word alone is enough to drive out the demon.  Yet then demon alone can identify the true nature of Jesus – something those in the synagogue and disciples couldn’t yet do. Regardless of our history, Jesus will free us from the demons that possess us if we allow it.  Perhaps the most surprising part of this gospel story is that Jesus did not reject the unclean man, which is what those in the synagogue would have expected him to do.  Rather than reject the man he expels the demon within him.    Like this man Jesus never rejects us, through His saving actions we are freed from the various evils in our lives.  It is through hearing and responding to God’s voice – the Word of God - that we are liberated.  Regardless of our title or position in life, male or female, married or single we are set free to love and serve God – we are equal in God’s view. We are possessed by Christ – a Christ who is calling us to be liberated.  To respond to the voice of God calling us to worship and service, calling us to reach out to those at the margins, and work to bring the kingdom of God to earth.