Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Junaluska Jumble

Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Jesus and his companions went to the town of Capernaum.  When the Sabbath day came, he went into the synagogue and began to teach.  The people were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike the teachers of religious law.  Suddenly, a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, “Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”  But Jesus reprimanded him.  “Be quiet!  Come out of the man,” he ordered.  At that, the evil spirit screamed, threw the man into a convulsion, and then came out of him.  Amazement gripped the audience, and they began to discuss what had happened.  “What sort of new teaching is this?” they asked excitedly.  “It has such authority!  Even evil spirits obey his orders!”  The news about Jesus spread quickly throughout the entire region of Galilee.  Mark 1:21-28(NLT)
Teaching the teachers and disturbing the demons; this seems to characterize most everything that happened whenever the carpenter-turned-rabbi came to town. 
A friend who preached at our church this past Sunday, Rev. Belton Joyner, preached from this text and shared a story from his youth that illustrates the point of Jesus turning everything on its ear. 
When he was about 10 Belton went to youth camp at Lake Junaluska one summer.  It was a typical youth camp, complete with lots of Bible studies, activities to get the energy out, mosquitoes, and long cafeteria lines.
Jimmy Best was the slowest of the campers.  Out of 117 hungry pre-teens headed for the chow line Jimmy never got there any faster than the 116th in line.  One afternoon that fried chicken smell wafted from the cafeteria promising just the best dinner ever.  All the boys, including Belton, scrambled to get to the head of the line.  You don’t want to miss fried chicken!  If you were Jimmy Best you never got the first hot, juicy pieces; you had to settle for what had been picked-over and left behind.  The line-scrambling was fierce.
In a moment the camp director opened the door and said:  Boys, we’re going to do something a little different tonight.  We’re going through the back door, starting at the back of the line.  If you’re first in line, you’ll be last through…if you’re last in line, you lead the way.  All the scrambling to beat everyone else to the head of the line went gurgling down the drain as Jimmy Best got the best fried chicken of his camping life.
Belton recounted for us that when Jesus comes near, everything changes; it can’t be business as usual when the life-giver shows up.  Death, darkness, and even the unfairness of being too slow in the scramble are not what you find in Jesus’ Kingdom!

For You Today

Ever been 117th in line?  Jesus knows you’re back there, and sometimes He will turn the line on its ear; He does that kind of stuff.
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image Russell Brownworth photo

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