Ordinary Time

Pause

deliver:
verb / de•liv•er

: “to set free”
: “to take and hand over”
: “to give birth to”
: “to speak, sing, utter”
: “to send to an intended target or destination”
: “to come through with”

From Merriam-Webster, “Deliver.”

Listen

Jesus and his disciples sailed to the Gerasenes’ land, which is across the lake from Galilee. As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, a certain man met him. The man was from the city and was possessed by demons. For a long time, he had lived among the tombs, naked and homeless.

Luke 8:26-27

Think

When Jesus crosses over the Sea of Galilee and travels into the land of the Gerasenes, he’s entering into uncharted territory. The land of the Gerasenes is the land of the Gentiles, and no Jewish rabbi would ever take his disciples there. But in a risky and courageous move, Jesus crosses the boundaries of the Jewish territory and takes his mission to a different place and to a different people.

Jesus’ actions here cause me to pause and ask myself what boundaries Jesus might be calling me to cross today…

To a different corner of the cafeteria?

To a different side of town?

To a different part of the country or world?

To people who might seem drastically different than I am?

To a different kind of thinking about the world?

To a different kind of living in the world?

Consider the various comfort zones in which you live each day. What boundaries do you feel God inviting you to cross? How is God challenging you to get out of the boat?

Mary Alice Birdwhistell

Pray

Deliver me, oh God, from my comfort zones, from simplistic thinking, and from easy answers. Open my mind, heart, and soul to different kinds of thinking, loving, and being in your world. Amen.

Go

May our good God fully deliver you
from whatever it is that is
holding you back,
dragging you down,
locking you in,
or drowning you out,
so that you might be free
to do what God is calling you to do
and to become who God is creating you to be.
Amen.