Beg

"And they began to beg him to leave their area," Mark 5:17.

Who begged his departure? The people who had witnessed a phenomenal healing. Who had been healed? A crazed, fearsome, demon possessed strongman howling among the tombs. Who's being begged to leave? Jesus - the one who healed the scary man. Why do they beg him to leave? Because they're scared. So what did Jesus do? He left. With such power available at his mere word, Jesus humbly got back in the boat that brought him there and left. But he didn't leave himself without witness. No. He also left the healed man, now quieted in spirit, clothed, in his right mind, to tell God's story of mercy among fearful people. It's a different kind of rule. Really. Sky kingdom.

Today, when we meet with a brother or sister, we share Jesus' healing power in our own lives. And, together, inviting him to stay and dwell among us, we give thanks for God's mercy and unimagined grace.