The Fifth Sunday after The Epiphany
The Rev. George Pejakovich, Assistant to the Dean
Grace Cathedral
02/08/09

Mark 1:29-39

THE SABBATH WORSHIP IN THE SYNAGOGE AT CAPERNAUM HAD JUST ENDED, AND WHAT A WORSHIP SERVICE IT WAS. JESUS HAD STOOD UP TO READ THE SCRIPTURES, AND THEN PREACHED WITH AN AUTHORITY THE LIKES OF WHICH NONE HAD EVER HEARD. THEN, WHEN CHALLENGED BY A MAN WITH AN UNCLEAN SPIRIT, HAD CAST OUT THE DEMON AND HEALED THE MAN IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. AS JESUS, AND THOSE FEW DISCIPLES HE HAD JUST CALLED AS HIS FOLLOWERS, WAS LEAVING THE SYNAGOGUE, SIMON INVITED JESUS, AND THE REST OF THEM, TO COME TO HIS HOUSE FOR SABBATH DINNER. SIMON WAS A SUCCESSFUL FISHERMAN, AND HAD A NICE SIZED HOME WHICH HE SHARED WITH ANDREW AND HIS FAMILY RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE SYNAGOGUE; A PRIME LOCATION IN A JEWISH TOWN. HE COULD EASILY AFFORD TO HOST HIS NEW RABBI AND FRIENDS, SO IT WAS NATURAL FOR HIM TO EXTEND THE INVITATION. UPON ENTERING THE HOME, SIMON, OF COURSE, INTRODUCED HIS FAMILY TO JESUS, AND TOLD HIM THAT HIS MOTHER IN LAW WAS IN BED WITH A FEVER. AS THE SENIOR WOMAN OF THE HOUSEHOLD, IT WAS HER RESPONSIBILTY TO LIGHT THE SABBATH CANDLES, SO SIMON HAD TO EXPLAIN THAT SHE WAS ILL.

SIMON, AND HIS BROTHER ANDREW, HAD ASKED NOTHING OF JESUS, BUT HAD BROUGHT HIM INTO THEIR HOME TO BE A PART OF THEIR FAMILY IN THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD FOR THE SABBATH. JESUS HAD CALLED THEM TO BE HIS FOLLOWERS, SO PETER, AND ANDREW, JUST WANTED TO DEEPEN THE RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM BY SHARING WHAT THEY HAD, AND BRINGING HIM INTO THE CIRCLE OF THEIR FAMILY. JESUS IMMEDIATELY WENT TO SIMON’S MOTHER IN LAW WHERE SHE LAY SICK WITH FEVER, TOOK HER BY THE HAND AND RAISED HER UP FROM HER BED. THE FEVER LEFT HER, AND SHE, RESTORED TO HER ROLE IN THE FAMILY, LIT THE SABBATH CANDLES AND BEGAN TO SERVE THEM.

WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THIS NAMELESS WOMAN, OTHER THAN THAT SHE WAS SIMON’S MOTHER IN LAW, AND THAT SHE WAS A PASSIVE RECEIVER OF THE ACTION OF GOD IN JESUS. WHAT WE LEARN FROM THIS VERY BRIEF ENCOUNTER, IS WHAT SIMON, ANDREW, JAMES AND JOHN, AND ALL WHO WERE THERE LEARNED IN THAT MOMENT; WHEN YOU INVITE JESUS INTO YOUR LIFE AND THE LIFE OF YOUR FAMILY, THE GRACE OF GOD WILL COME TO YOU. IN HIS PRESENCE GOD’S GRACE AND MERCY FLOW INTO OUR LIVES, AND WE ARE HEALED AND RESTORED TO OUR RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND WITH EACH OTHER.

RUMOR TRAVELS FAST IN SMALL TOWNS, AND YOU CAN BE SURE THAT THE WORD GOT OUT QUICKLY ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN THE SYNOGOGUE, AND WITH SIMON’S MOTHER IN LAW, SO WHEN THE SUN WENT DOWN AND THE SABBATH WAS ENDED, THE WHOLE TOWN GATHERED AT SIMON’S DOOR, BRINGING ALL THE SICK AND INFIRM TO BE HEALED BY JESUS.  LONG INTO THE NIGHT, JESUS HEALED THE SICK AND CAST OUT DEMONS. IN THE MORNING, WHILE IT WAS STILL DARK, JESUS WAS GONE. THE NEW FOLLOWERS OF JESUS SEARCHED FOR HIM, AND FOUND HIM IN DESERTED PLACE AT PRAYER. WHEN THEY TOLD HIM THAT EVERYONE WAS LOOKING FOR HIM, JESUS SAID, “LET US GO ON TO THE NEIGHBORING TOWNS, SO I MAY PROCLAIM THE MESSGE THERE ALSO, FOR THAT IS WHAT I CAME OUT TO DO.” SIMON, ANDREW, JAMES AND JOHN FOLLOWED HIM AS HE PROCLIMED THE MESSAGE IN THE SYNOGOGUES THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS COME NEAR AND CASTING OUT DEMONS WHERE EVER THEY WENT.

IN THE ANCIENT KOINE GREEK, THE WORD “TO HEAL” AND “TO SAVE” ARE THE SAME, AND MARK, IN HIS ACCOUNT OF THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT JESUS, CONTANTLY AFFIRMS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PROCLAMATION OF THE COMING OF THE KINGDOM AND THE PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL HEALING OF THOSE WHO ENTER INTO A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS. MARK WANTS US TO KNOW, RIGHT FROM THE START OF HIS ACCOUNT, THAT THE LOVE AND MERCY OF GOD IS TO BE FOUND IN THE PERSON OF JESUS, AND THAT HIS WORDS AND HIS ACTIONS ARE ONE, BECAUSE HE AND THE FATHER IN HEAVEN ARE ONE. TO MARK, AND THOUGHOUT HIS GOSPEL, “TO SAVE” IS “TO HEAL,” AND SALVATION AND HEALING CAN BE FOUND ONLY IN FOLLOWING JESUS.  TO BE HEALED, TO BE SAVED, IS TO BE RESTORED TO WHAT WE WERE CREATED TO BE; SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD LIVING IN AN INTIMATELY LOVING RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM, AND THIS RELATIONSHIP CAN BE FOUND ONLY BY BEING IN AN INTIMATELY LOVING RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS, THE SON OF GOD, AND, THROUGH HIM, WITH ALL OF GOD’S CHILDREN.

I AM OFTEN PUT OFF BY SOME OF THE MORE RADICAL “EVANGELICAL” EMPHASIS ON A “PERSONAL” SALVATION; WHICH, TO ME, SEEMS TO MAKE GETTING INTO HEAVEN AS THE GOAL OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. I FIND THIS EMPHASIS TO BE RATHER SELF – CENTERED AND NOT THE WAY ON WHICH JESUS CALLS US TO FOLLOW. IF THIS WERE THE CASE, THEN WHY, ONCE WE HAVE BEEN CALLED TO JESUS, ARE WE STILL LEFT IN THIS WORLD AND NOT IMMEDIATELY TAKEN UP INTO HEAVEN? IT IS BECAUSE THE LIFE OF “WHOLENESS” TO WHICH HE CALLS US IS A LIFE TO BE LIVED FOR THE SAKE OF ALL THOSE WHO ARE STILL SUFFERING FROM BROKEN BODIES AND SPIRITS, AND WHO LONG TO BE WHOLE, EVEN IF THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY SEEK. JESUS CALLS US TO A LIFE OF RELATIONSHIP, PRAYER AND ACTION AS THE PEOPLE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD WHO LIVE IN THE MIDST OF THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD.

WHEN HE CALLS US, AND HE HAS CALLED EVERYONE WHO SEES IN HIM THE GLORY AND THE GRACE OF GOD MADE FLESH, HE CALLS US TO GET TO KNOW HIM BETTER AND TO INVITE HIM INTO THE MOST INTIMATE ASPECTS OF OUR LIVES. HE CALLS US TO FOLLOW HIS EXAMPLE IN PRAYER, IN TAKING TIME OUT TO TALK TO THE FATHER IN HEAVEN THROUGH HIM, AND TO FOLLOW HIS EXAMPLE IN ACTION BY SEEKING OUT THE LOST, THE HURT, THE LONELY, THE BROKEN TO BRING TO THEM THE HEALING GRACE OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS. BECAUSE OF THE “WHOLENESS” RESTORED TO US THROUGH JESUS, WE ARE FREE TO FOLLOW WHERE HE LEADS, AND TO CONTINUE HIS MISSION OF PROCLAIMING THE MESSAGE OF SALVATION AND OF RELEAVING THE SUFFERING OF THOSE WHO ARE STILL BOUND BY THE CHAINS OF THEIR BROKEN AND INCOMPLETE LIVES. AS ST. PAUL SAID, “FOR THOUGH I AM FREE WITH RESPECT TO ALL, I HAVE MADE MYSELF A SLAVE TO ALL, SO THAT I MIGHT WIN MORE OF THEM” TO THE GOOD NEWS IN CHRIST JESUS. THE FREEDOM OF WHICH PAUL SPEAKS IS THE FREEDOM OF THE LIFE MADE WHOLE BY THE GRACE OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS. THE WORLD HAS NO LONGER ANY CLAIM ON US, AND, WHETHER WE LIVE OR DIE, WE ARE IN CHRIST, AND HE IS IN US, AND THROUGH HIM WE ARE IN THE LOVE OF GOD THE FATHER IN HEAVEN. WHILE WE YET LIVE, WE ARE CALLED TO FOLLOW THE WAY OF THE CHRIST OF GOD, PROCLAIMING THE GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM AND HEALING THE BROKEN RIGHT HERE AND IN ALL THE NEIGHBORING TOWNS.

THE LIFE OF “WHOLENESS” IS THE LIFE HEALED BY THE TOUCH OF THE HAND OF JESUS, SO INVITE HE WHO CALLED YOU OUT OF THE DARKNESS EVER MORE DEEPER AND MORE INTIMATELY INTO YOUR LIFE. INVITE HIM TO BE WITH YOU AT YOUR LYING DOWN AND YOUR RISING UP, AT YOUR WORK AND IN YOUR DREAMS, AT YOUR TABLE AND AT YOUR FAMILY TIME, SO THAT IN ALL THINGS HE MIGHT BE IN YOU AND YOU IN HIM. GO TO THE FATHER IN PRAYER, THROUGH THE ONLY SON, SO THAT THOUGH HIM YOU MIGHT KNOW THE HEART AND THE WILL OF OUR MOST GRACIOUS GOD. PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS OF THE SALVATION OF GOD, THE HEALING FROM GOD THAT COMES TO US IN THE PERSON OF JESUS IN THE WAY THAT THE ONE TO WHOM YOU GO CAN BEST EXPERIENCE IT. AS ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISSI SAID, “PREACH THE GOSPEL WHERE EVER YOU GO. SOMETIMES YOU MIGHT EVEN HAVE TO SPEAK.” THE LIFE OF WHOLENESS IS THE LIVE THAT IS LIVED IN JESUS, THROUGH JESUS, AND FOR JESUS, AND THIS IS THE LIFE YOU FOR WHICH HE HAS CALLED YOU AND HEALED YOU THAT YOU MIGHT LIVE; A LIFE LIVED FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS.
AMEN.