This week’s sermon runs the risk of railing at some in the wider church and not addressing the needs of our congregation. As desperately as I wanted to return to the OT, though, I became more certain as the week went on that I needed to remain in Mark’s Gospel. Just to remind us of where we are in Mark’s story, we are covering only verses 29-39 of the first chapter today. We have literally been mining the details of Mark’s first chapter, except for our quick sojourn into John, this season of Epiphany. Last week, we looked at the question of authority. More specifically, I reminded each of us that only One Person in all human history should be authoritative in our lives: Jesus of Nazareth.
As I predicted last week, I had some fun discussions last week as people argued with what I said and with what I did not say. Though I warned us all that my voice might not be the voice some of us would hear, some heard specific names mentioned. While it is true that I reminded us that politicians, friends, bosses, parents, and who knows who else do not use authority for our well-being or benefit, I was not naming names. Those who thought I named names were listening to another voice, in some cases the Holy Spirit’s I think, trying to get their attention and draw them back to the truth of the Gospel. I have been here long enough that all y’all should know I have very little trust in politicians as a class. Most seem to care little for good governing and for our well being and too much for their own self-aggrandizing. Only Jesus proves Himself worthy of authority! Only Jesus does what is best for those under His authority! Only Jesus has the power to redeem our mistakes and sins! Everyone clear on my positions about authority and politicians? Good.
Visitors are wondering what they missed last week, right? It’s ok. You are all caught up on our consideration of Mark this season.
As soon as Jesus casts out the demon from the man in the synagogue, He leaves for the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. When they arrive, Mark tells us that Peter’s mother-in-law was abed with a fever. Mark relates that Jesus came to her, took her hand, lifted her up, and cured her. We are told this story by Mark, in part, to demonstrate Jesus authority over nature. These claims are coming quickly, immediately for those of you who pay close attention to Mark and like bad father jokes. In last week’s verses, Mark told us that Jesus had authority over Scripture and over the supernatural. In Mark’s hurry to get us to the events of Holy Week, he will instruct us that Jesus has authority over everything.
We tend to downplay the idea of fevers in our modern world. In the age before the pandemic, many of us would go to work with fevers. We did that in part because our bosses expected us to attend, but unless our fevers are high, we tend to think of them as nuisances more than dangers to life, right? In the ANE, though, fevers were dangerous, or at least respected as potentially dangerous, particularly to the lives of the elderly. We know now that fevers are a sign of infection and that our doctors look for the cause. Fortunately, our doctors are pretty good at diagnosing and treating the causes. But even today, with all our knowledge and expertise and medicines, if the cause of fevers remain undiagnosed, they can become dangerous to life. Medicines can treat symptoms but allow the underlying infection to ravage our bodies.
That ravaging was present in Antiquity. Could Peter’s m-i-l have had a low grade fever because of a minor infection? Sure. She could also just as easily had a higher fever signifying something far more dangerous. In the end, it does not matter. She is sick and abed. But her illness is costing her more than health. As we learn in the reading of the pericope, Peter’s m-i-l is unable to fulfill her expected role as the matriarch of the family. Worse, she is isolated from both her family and her support group of friends. We like to think we are so much smarter than those who came before us, but those in Antiquity were much like us. When people got sick, isolation was often practiced to prevent the spread of disease. We have learned, thanks to science, that not all infections are contagious. But for those of us who have contracted COVID in 21st Century Nashville, what is the first thing we do. We isolate ourselves from those who are especially at risk of contracting the virus, right? Both times I contracted it, I did not come down here and celebrate the Eucharist because I did not want to cause y’all to catch it, especially those who are more likely to be severely affected by the virus. Y’all did the same for those in your lives, too, I hope.
Isolation, of course, is one of the great evils of the pandemic. As we continue to put some distance between the outbreak and today, social scientists are telling us more and more about the cost of isolation experienced by those around us. Peter’s m-i-l could give us a similar observation, but with shame.
Many ANE cultures were honor/shame cultures, meaning they took claims of honor and dishonor very seriously. You and I live in a culture that has no shame, where many around revel in behaviors and attitudes that would likely make their forebears grimace, but make them money or fame. Peter’s m-i-l, as the senior woman in the family, would have had the responsibility of hospitality. Those of you who have known Jewish matriarchs know what I mean. If you do not know any, maybe think of Helen of the Armenian congregation that meets here.
The Armenian men would claim all kinds of authority both in private and public, but especially in worship, but were it not for Helen, would their celebrations on Sunday afternoon be as glorious as they are?
Make no mistake, being in charge of hospitality does not mean one does everything. Just as Helen drafts volunteers and assigns them tasks, Peter’s m-i-l would also direct family traffic. Susan, make the beds. Johnny, set the table. Peter, get the jug of red wine out. She would be directing traffic in the family to make sure that guests’ needs were met. How do we know that this was what she wanted to do?
One of the dangers I faced preaching this passage this week were some of the uninformed sermons being preached in our wider church this week. Each of you would be shocked by the number of clergy who are preaching that Jesus sinned because He only valued her ability to serve Him and the other Apostles. Some of you might be surprised at the number of clergy who shamed Jesus in their sermons today for not letting the poor old woman rest. In some sense, I get the perspective. Many of us are trying to be more attuned to misogyny in our lives and in the world around us. But as we reminded ourselves last week, Jesus is the only Person who uses His authority for our benefit. Just as you and I were created in His image, so too was Peter’s m-i-l and every human being we encounter. Heck, is there a woman at Advent who is unsure whether she was created in the image of God? I sure hope not. I also hope we men understand that about the ladies in our lives.
One challenge we have in this story is the nature of the healing. If you or I go to the doctor, and they prescribe medicines accurately, how long does it take us to be restored to health? It takes time, right? And even when our doctors are certain they have prescribed the right pills or shots, what do they still tell us to do? That’s right, take it easy for a week or two. For all our wonderful medical advancement, it takes time for the medicine to work and for the afflicted bodies to recover.
Look at Jesus’ healing of Peter’s m-i-l. He takes her hand, and she is completely healed. Not only has the disease or infection and fever left her body, but her body is completely restored. She is herself, again. Completely. Totally. Restored. And how does she respond? She gets back to her role as the matriarch of the household by serving them! For his part, Mark uses the word from which we get the word deacon to describe what she is doing for the men. We do not want to get too far ahead in our story and of how the word will come to be used to describe the ordained work of Funmi and Suzie in our midst, but we must also acknowledge that Mark could have chosen other words to describe her work. Yet Mark intentionally chose a word in the church that is used by Jesus to describe the reason for His Incarnation and to describe all servant ministry done in joyful gratitude for what He has done for us and to His glory. Understanding that, most of us would describe Peter’s m-i-l’s service as a thank offering to God for what Jesus has done for her. Jesus has completely healed her, restored her, and enabled her to do those things about which she is passionate.
Mark goes on to tell us that, as word spreads from what happened at the synagogue earlier in the day, the whole city gathered around the door of Peter’s house, bringing those who were sick and possessed. Just to remind you again, Mark is mostly counter-cultural describing people as possessed by demons. Jews were very accepting of the idea that demons and supernatural forces could attack them in ways to cause them to turn from their faith in Yahweh (think Job as THE example of this), but possession was not something generally accepted or possible. Mark reminds us again that Jesus has power over the demons to force them to come out of those possessed and to remain silent, such is His absolute authority over the supernatural, just as He is able to cure many diseases because of His authority over nature.
At some point, the crowd thins and everyone retires for sleep. Jesus, though, awakes before dawn and heads to a deserted place to pray to God, to attune Himself to the Father’s Will. Once Peter and the others awoke and discovered Jesus had left, they searched for Him. In response to Peter’s statement that everyone is searching for Him, Jesus tells the Apostles it is time to go to the neighboring towns to proclaim the message to them. Mark sums up all the subsequent work with the simple statement that Jesus proclaimed the message in their synagogues and cast out demons in their midst.
One question which came up in pastoral conversations this week was the difference in how Jesus uses authority and how other human beings use authority. Part of the challenge for us reading and hearing Mark is accepting what we are being taught and told, particularly when our own experience is so different. Adventers during the week complained that bosses misused their authority, that politicians from the “other” misused their authority, that clergy misused their authority, that commanding officers misused their authority, that pretty much anyone in authority misused or abused their authority. Mark and we should all say, “duh.” What do we expect? It is precisely for that reason that we all know the importance and example of Jesus. Jesus used and uses His authority for our benefit, for our own sakes.
The Gospel, of course, would not be the Gospel were the news not even better than we first hope. What is the benefit to us? Salvation? Sure. Saving us from Satan or judgement? Ok. The real benefit of His authority, though, is His power and will to free us to be the human being He created each one of us to be, His desire for us to reflect His heart and His grace to those in this world who desperately need it, even if they do not yet know of their need. We rightly speak of Jesus as freeing us from the oppression of our sins, but that is only part of the work that He does for us, that is only part of the authority He wields on our behalf. The wonderful news of the Gospel is that in the act of freeing us He also empowers us to be and do those things for which we were initially created by Him. When you and I focus on the freedom of sin or the going to heaven or whatever language we like to use in discussing what Jesus did for us, we sell His work on our behalf short, we forget the authority He has for our lives!
When we enter into His family through baptism, He swears an oath with us that He will glorify Himself in our lives. Christians use different language to express this. Some may say “Jesus or the Holy Spirit dwells in there hearts.” Others may He empowers them for Kingdom living. I think many are striving to explain that Jesus not only frees us from evil but empowers to do His Will in the world around them. He promises to use the individual gifts with which He created us for His purpose of salvation in the lives of those around us. It is both a heady and humbling to consider our role, if we are obedient. Artists are freed to be creative, problem solvers tackle the issues that seem chaotic or unsolvable, exhorters encourage us, intercessors pray, those like Peter’s m-i-l host and serve, and the list goes on and on and on and are as numerous as there are individuals. Somewhere along that path we call sanctification or attunement to God in our lives, we begin to realize the possibilities, the freedom, and the sheer excitement of being used by the Creator of all that is, seen and unseen, to manifest His grace and love in the world around us. And because He seems to take pleasure in exercising His redemptive power in our lives and in the world, we can tackle any evil to which He directs us confident our labor is not in vain, that if we screw something up with the best of intentions, He will gladly and joyfully redeem our mistakes!
Some of you listening today are skeptical. I get it. We have all had bad examples of authority in our lives. And many of us are fearful of the freedom exemplified in Peter’s m-i-l today. Too many of us worry we lack the right words or the right training or the right perspective to be of significant use to our Father in Heaven. Jesus’ Will to stay on the Cross in spite of our fears and failures testifies to His certain love of each one of us and to His longing desire to use each and every one of us to His glory. Certain of His Will for us and Redemptive power, we are truly free to do the work He has given us to do. How we are used depends on our discernment, our attunement to Him. But I was reminded in my sermon prep this week of a theologian’s discussion of this I had not heard since my days in seminary. A great place to start is in those places your passion and the world’s great need meet, where you have eyes to see and ears to hear the need of His Light and His Truth for the benefit of the world. Where is that place for you? What evil has He given you passion to work against, speak against, pray against faithfully in His Name? What He has demonstrated to us as a body confronting hunger in His Name, He is willing to demonstrate to you and to me individually. Best of all, He has promised to exercise that authority given to Him that we might become those heralds of the Gospel He created us to be, long before we ever knew Him or the authority He wields for all our sakes!
In His Peace,
Brian†
No comments:
Post a Comment