This is the sermon manuscript from 4/5 February, the 5th Sunday after Epiphany. The accompanying Gospel lesson is Mark 1:29-39.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “there are two kinds of people in the world…”? There are two kinds of people of in the world, those who give and those who take. Those who _______, and those who________. I am sure that we could come up with a number of ways to fill in those blanks today.
In a way, this is what Mark is doing in our Gospel this morning. Mark is showing us through his story of the many healings of Jesus that there are indeed two kinds of people in our world; those who need to be served, and those who have the opportunity to serve. There are those among us who need help, those who are hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or lonely, or sick; those who need to be fed, and welcomed, and comforted. It’s all about relationships. There are those among us who are in need of a relationship.
And there are also those among us who have the opportunity to reach out and serve others, those who have the opportunity to lend a helping hand; to feed, to water, to welcome, to comfort. Again it’s about relationships; there are those among us who have the opportunity to enter into a relationship with others.
And so it happens, Mark tells us, that on the heels of their trip to the synagogue and Jesus’ heeling of a man with an unclean spirit, the disciples and Jesus return to Simon’s house. They wipe off their sandals from the brief stroll over from the synagogue, walk through that door, and are immediately met with bad news. Simon’s mother-in-law is in bed with a fever! Now you and I may scoff at the talk of a fever, just grab some Tylenol and get some rest and all will be well, but in those days, without modern medicine, a fever was serious business. Fevers often led to death. And this was only half of the problem.
To have a fever meant that you couldn’t get up and go to work, you were cut off from your role in the family or in the social workings of the community. A fever or any illness meant loss of daily wages for those who worked; they were not able to provide for their family. A fever for Simon’s mother-in-law meant that she could not demonstrate hospitality, she could not take up her calling as hostess and serve her guests. She did not have the opportunity to serve others and meet their needs. It was Simon’s mother-in-law who needed help in that moment, she was a person who needed to be served. An opportunity was present. Someone could step in and serve her. There was room for a relationship. And so Jesus stepped in and took her by the hand.
Jesus saw the opportunity he had to help her, to serve her, and he acted upon that opportunity. Jesus raised her up and the fever was gone. Jesus chose to lean into her need, to enter into a relationship with her, to meet her where right where she was in life. The healing act of Jesus taking the opportunity to serve transformed this woman’s life.
Mark uses a very particular word to describe how Jesus responds to her need. Jesus “raises her up,” a phrase that comes from a Greek verb, (hegero) that Mark uses in a few healing stories. But most importantly, he puts into mouth of the young man at the empty tomb on the first Easter morning, “Do not be afraid (he tells the women who came to the tomb); you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He has been raised, he is not here.” The word, (hegero) to be raised, is a word of resurrection, it’s a word of new life in Jesus Christ.
This word, he raised her, tells us that Simon’s mother-in-law does not just sit up on the couch when Jesus reaches out to her. No, she is literally raised up to new life by Jesus. She is brought from the clutches of death, where she is held back from her calling, and given new life through Jesus who raises her. Something remarkable happens when Jesus raises her up, the kingdom of God breaks into the world through her new life in Jesus. When Simon’s mother-in-law is raised from her fever she is able to take up her role as host and she immediately begins to serve them. She uses her new life to take on the role of one who has the opportunity to serve. She is now someone who can lean into the needs of others, she can enter into relationships with others. Her new life of service becomes part of God’s kingdom in our world.
And what happens to Jesus? Well, he very quickly has a line out the door of those who need to be served. The word has gotten out about the event in the synagogue, maybe even about Simon’s mother-in-law, and those in need are quick to find the one who can help. Perhaps long into the evening Jesus, the one with the opportunity to serve, meets the needs of others by healing and casting out demons. Jesus brings new life to people from all over; the whole city Mark tells us is at the door waiting to be seen and healed by Jesus. It is no surprise then that Jesus is nowhere to be found the next morning. Now you would think he might sleep in, get some rest, but no. Jesus makes his way to a deserted place and finds himself some quiet space and turns to God in prayer. Jesus is now the one in need of help, Jesus is now the one who needs to be served. There is room for a relationship, and God is there to meet Jesus as he prays.
A couple of weeks ago I went with the confirmation kids up to Luther Springs for a weekend retreat and all weekend long we talked about the Lord’s Prayer. On the way home I asked the kids, “What did you learn this weekend?” The van was quiet at first and then the talked turned to the “r” world we had learned about all weekend. The speaker had grounded our retreat in the idea that the Lord’s Prayer is all about relationship. At the heart of the Lord’s Prayer is our relationship with God; a relationship that shows us that we are a people who greatly need God in our lives, and that we are also a people who have been blessed with the opportunity to serve others.
When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, when we ask for God’s kingdom to come and for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, we are praying for a relationship that has already been established through Jesus Christ. We need this relationship in our lives. God wants to be in a relationship with us and has already done so through Jesus. Through the Word proclaimed, the good news shared, and through our faith, God comes to us in our lives here and now. When we pray for our daily bread, we are praying for what we need in this world; for the basics of life. We have nothing on our own; all we have is a gift from God and God wants to give us what we need. The Lord’s Prayer reminds us that we are in need of God’s help and that God has already graciously provided all the help we need. And it is because God provides us with what we need, because God is already in relationship with us, that we can then turn from ourselves and live in relationship with others. We have the opportunity lean into the needs of those we meet. We can enter into a relationship with those we encounter as we walk through this world.
Today Mark paints for us a vivid picture of the idea that there are two types of people in our world; those who need to be served, and those who have the opportunity to serve. Often times we can find ourselves in either one of these groups, sometimes we can find ourselves in both. But each one points to our need to be in relationship with God and with one another. Jesus reminds us through his quiet time of prayer, that it is through prayer that we discover both our need and our opportunity. When we pray, we realize that we are in need of God’s help, we can see very clearly that we need God as we walk through this world. When we pray, our eyes are opened to the needs of others and we know there is room for a relationship and that God has provided us with the means and opportunity to serve. Through our baptism into Jesus Christ, we too have been raised to new life. Through daily prayer, through our relationship with God, we are reminded of our need and of our opportunity to meet the needs of others. I encourage you, dear people of God, to take time daily to pray and renew this amazing relationship.
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