Monday, February 9, 2015

Is Cleanliness Really Next to Godliness?

Mark 1: 29-38

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            In the gospels there are sixteen separate stories of Jesus healing people.  Ten of those stories are found in the Gospel of Mark. Why did Mark focus more on them more than the gospel writers?  I believe he saw them a signs that God was so present in Jesus they were one and the same. That’s how he initially knew who Jesus was.  In the early days of Jesus ministry it was those miracles more than his words that drew the crowds because they and we all want to be healthy and to feel good.
Stop by any bookstore and see how many volumes sit on the shelves labeled health   Why all the interest?  We know that old cliché is true.  If you have your health you have everything.  No one believes that more firmly than someone whose health has been in jeopardy.  If you are sick, you’re illness supersedes the importance of most other things in your life.  Presidential elections, the big football game, and even your job become secondary to the desire to just feel better again.  You’ll do anything, try anything to make that happen.

Our scripture today focuses on the first two of Jesus’ healing stories and we will find, I think, that he lifts us up in more ways than one.  First let us pray:

God of compassion, you have given us Jesus Christ, the great physician, who made the broken whole and healed the sick.  Touch our wounds, we pray, relieve our hurts, and restore us to wholeness of life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            I’ve been in the first chapter of Mark for three weeks now, so maybe you’ve noticed things move along pretty fast. Everything seems to happen right away.  Mark uses the word immediately again and again.  He wastes no time with flowery adjectives or poetic metaphors.  He is a just-the-facts, meat and potatoes writer. So, in only 28 verses he takes Jesus from the baptismal waters of the Jordan River to his 40 day temptation in the wilderness to the fishing docks of Galilee where he recruits his first disciples to the synagogue in Capernaum where he preaches his fist sermon and performs his first exorcism.
            So, it’s time to take a breather and let Jesus go to the home of Peter and Andrew so that he can sit back on the recliner in front of the T.V. and have a glass of wine while waiting for dinner. No sooner does Jesus take off his sandals when Peter sheepishly comes into the living room to tell him that his mother-in-law is feeling pretty poorly.  It doesn’t sound like it is life or death, but when you’re sick you just want to feel better.  
            The Bible doesn’t tell us that Peter asked Jesus to heal her. He may have just meant that dinner would be a little late because she wasn’t in the kitchen or Peter who had just seen Jesus cast a demon out of a man in the synagogue may have thought Jesus might be able to something for his mother-in-law.
            Jesus did.  “He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up.  Then the fever left her.”[1]
            I want you to notice a couple of things here.  First, Jesus did not ask Peter or his mother-in-law what she had done to deserve this illness.  He didn’t ask what sins she had committed that God should make or allow her to be sick. He didn’t ask her if she had been smoking or eating greasy food or drinking too much or not getting enough exercise or not using enough hand sanitizer?  He didn’t ask her if she had been vaccinated for measles or not. He didn’t ask her what she had done to get sick. Why?  He didn’t think there was always a connection between affliction and sin and judgment. But, we do.

            I can’t tell you how many times over the years someone who is having real problems has asked me why God is doing this to them or at least why God was allowing it to happen.  This question for some prompts a crisis in faith because they began believing that if they followed all the rules and did the right things and went to Church and put money in the offering plate then God would watch over them and make sure they never had any really big problems.  When problems arise their faith falters, “I did my part, why didn’t God do his?”

            When asked this question Jesus famously said, “God makes the sun rise on the evil and the good and it rains on the righteous and the unrighteous.”[2]  In other words it flat out rains on everyone.  This side of heaven we will never understand all the whys and wherefores and all the reasons why.  There is a reason we call faith – faith.

The next thing I’d like you to notice about this story is that the healing was the last thing to happen. The first thing was that Jesus came and lifted her up. It is almost as if the emphasis is more on taking the hand and lifting her than it is on the fever leaving her. When Jesus lifts you up, you feel better regardless of your circumstance.

         There is no shortage of “down” from which people need to be lifted up. Down are jobs, wages, the economy, church membership, our hopes, and our children’s futures. Take your pick, add your own. What brings you down? What stoops your shoulders and bends your knees?  The Bible says, Jesus will come to you if you ask him and will lift you up if you let him.

            Now, after Peter’s mother-in-law is feeling better the Bible says, “she began to serve them.”  In recent years this snippet of scripture has come under some scrutiny because it sounds a bit sexist, like the only place for a woman is in the kitchen.  I mean give her a break, she just got better.  Let her sit back and enjoy some nice chicken soup for a change.  Instead she heads right back into the kitchen.

            I’m not so sure that she was ordered back to work, because it has been my experience that when someone has been ill and lying around for a while and they finally feel better, the last thing they want to do is lie around some more.  They want to get up and get back to work and feel useful once more.  I could name people in this congregation who are like that, who once they feel even a little  better are eager to get back to work and in the swing of things because they are tired of lying around. They get pretty annoyed when you tell them to sit back some more.  I think that’s what Peter’s mother-in-law was feeling.  She wanted to make a contribution and think she wanted to say thank you by making the best chicken soup ever.

            Before desert was served the word got around that Jesus could heal and when people heard that the whole town turned out.  Everyone had a story to tell and an ache and pain to share. It was kind of like the retirement community where my parents live.  Go to the dining hall there and all you’ll hear are laments about skin cancer and high blood pressure and aching knees.  Everybody over the age of 30 has something to complain about. Jesus spent the rest of that night helping those who were feeling bad feel better.   

            It was a great start to his ministry, and that’s what makes what happened next so confusing. Everyone wanted to shake his hand and pat him on the back. He went from 0 to 60 in seven seconds flat.  If he continued that strategy, if he gave the people want they wanted he’d be a superstar in no time.  He could become rich and famous.  But, he does not.

            The next morning he disappears and goes to what the Bible calls a “lonely place” and there he prayed.   Jesus did that a lot, because he knew what many pastors sometimes forget and that is if you are not grounded in prayer, grounded in the Word, grounded in the Lord, you can fall into the temptation to be liked and loved by your congregation above all else.  If that happens, if you just give people what they want, tell them what they want to hear; you may stop telling them what they need to hear.  The gospel provides both comfort and challenge, grace and commitment.  The Apostle Paul addressed that when writing to the church in Corinth, “I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as babes in Christ.  I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food.”[3]  In other words, children do prefer milk and cookies, but it is not responsible to skip the broccoli and rice.  Everyone needs a balanced diet physically and spiritually.

            When Peter found Jesus and that must have taken some effort because the Bible says he hunted for him, Peter said, “Everyone is searching for you.”  By that I think Peter meant, “Why don’t you go back and heal some more people”?  Jesus said instead, “Let us go to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message, for that is what I came to do.”[4]

            Why did Jesus think proclaiming the good news of the gospel was more important than healing some more people?  Why did not let himself be used and a miracle factory bending the laws of physics and nature at every turn?

            He knew what we sometimes forget and that is where our home truly lies.  Everyone who gets sick and then gets better will one day get sick again and not get better.  Everyone who breaks a leg and sees it heal and so walk again will one day not be able to walk.  Jesus knew this life in this world is not all there is and not our final destination.  He knew first hand there is more beyond this life and this world and he wanted to prepare us for that day.
            That’s why he said, “Let not your hearts be troubled and neither let them be afraid, believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many mansions.  If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you…that where I am you may be also.”[5]

            That is an important promise to hold onto when your are sick in body or soul, when you are down and need to be lifted up. 

            This past week Steve Hayner passed away at the age of 66.  In all likelihood you have never heard of him.  He was the president of the Columbia Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian school down by Atlanta. About a year ago he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. After tests had revealed that the chemotherapy wasn't working, Hayner wrote, "The cancer continues to have the upper hand. What now seems clear from a purely physical perspective is that in all probability the remainder of my life on this earth is now to be counted in weeks and months.

Many are praying for one of God's "big" miracles. We are as well. But it is not how God answers prayer that determines our response to God. God is committed to my ultimate healing. But being cured of my cancer may or may not be a part of that healing work … One person told me how disturbing it is to her to watch so many thousands of prayers on my behalf and yet to see a minimal of physical evidence of healing. Does God really heal? … Does the amount of prayer have any special impact? Honestly, while I understand the importance and logic of questions like this … most of these questions are not ones that are important to me.
I truly don't know what God has planned … I could receive "healing" through whatever means, or I could continue to deteriorate. But life is about a lot more than physical health. It is measured by a lot more than medical tests and vital signs. More important than the more particular aspects of God's work with us … is God's overall presence with us, nourishing, equipping, transforming, empowering, and sustaining us for whatever might be God's call to my life today.
TODAY, my call might be to learn something new about rest.
TODAY, my call might be to encourage another person in some very tangible way.
TODAY, my call might be to learn something new about patience, endurance, and the identification with those who suffer.
TODAY, my call might be to mull through a new insight about God's truth or character.
He closed by quoting the poet E. E. Cummings: "I thank you God for most this amazing day …
            May that be your prayer as well, to thank God for a most amazing day, for a most amazing life, for the most amazing promise of life rich and full and forever in God’s kingdom.
            Let us pray:
Almighty and everlasting God, You are strength to those who suffer and comfort to those who grieve.  Let the prayers of your children who are in trouble rise to you.  We claim your promises of wholeness as we pray for those who are ill or are suffering loss and long for your healing touch.  Make the weak strong, the sick healthy, the broken whole, and confirm those who serve them as agents of your love.  To everyone in distress, grant mercy, grant relief, and grant refreshment.   Amen





[1] Mark 1:31
[2] Matthew 5:45
[3] 1 Corinthians 3:1-2
[4] Mark 1 38
[5] John 14:1-2

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Gravitas

Mark 1:21-28

Anyone who watches the T.V. game show Jeopardy knows that all the answers come in the form of a question.  For example if Alex says, the capitol of Pennsylvania, you hit your button and ask, “What is Harrisburg?”  If he says, “world’s greatest musician” you click your button and ask, “Who is Randy Yoder?” If he says, “best preacher ever”, well you get the idea.
Alex seems to know that all the important answers are found in questions. Ask the right questions and you’ll get the right answers. So it is in today’s scripture. When Jesus encounters a demoniac in Capernaum he is asked, “What have you to do with us Jesus of Nazareth?” Demons are not the only ones who ask that question.  Many today wonder the same thing. What does Jesus have to today with a world fraught with conflict?  What does he have to do with contemporary America?  What does he have to do with me and the way I live my life?  Those are the questions.  Before we look for answers let us pray:
O God, light of the minds that know you, life of the souls that love you, strength of the thoughts that seek you:  Help us so to know you that we may truly love you, so to love you that we may fully serve you, whose service is perfect freedom; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.
Right after Jesus calls together a few disciples down at the fishing docks he goes to the synagogue in Capernaum on the Sabbath and he begins to teach and to preach.  That is a natural place to start because God for a thousand years had prepared this particular people to recognize and receive his messiah. They had been chosen by God so they knew the stories of Adam and Eve, Abraham and Moses, David and Goliath. They had read the prophecy of Isaiah and Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel so Jesus could assume some knowledge here.  He wouldn’t have to start at the very beginning. God had prepared beachhead for this messianic invasion.
Jesus was no sooner finished with his first sermon when the Bible says, “the people were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes”.[1]
Now that’s an interesting observation and a bit of a dig because the scribes were all about authority.  They were the ones who had the diplomas tacked on their walls.  They were the ones who sat up front on the dais at the Rotary meetings.  They were the ones who said they had all the answers to all the important questions about God. 
Yet, after listening to Jesus for about five minutes the people concluded that maybe the scribes didn’t know as much as they let on.  They realized there is a difference between someone who has authority because of a title or degree or position and someone who has authority because they really seem to know what they are talking about.
Over the years I’ve heard many a veteran say the same thing. When the bullets start to fly they have told me they listen more to the battle-tested seasoned gunnery sergeant than to some green-as-grace shave-tail second lieutenant fresh out of officer training school.  The difference between the two is that the first knows war first hand from experience and the second just read about it in a book. If your life depends upon it you go with experience.
That was the difference between Jesus and the scribes.  Jesus seemed to really know about God from personal experience and the scribes just read about him in a book. So, it is the same thing, if your life depends upon it you go with experience.
The problem today is that many do not recognize authority in any way.  It started in the late 60’s when my generation began to question the authority of the government, of the schools, of the church, and of our parents. We didn’t want anyone to tell us what to do. We never grew past the childhood complaint, “you’re not the boss of me.” This underlies every protest we make when in anger we say to someone who is trying to correct us, “Who do you think you are to tell me what to do?” 
 This characteristic of human pride has a long history.  We find it first described in the third chapter of Genesis. There the satanic serpent questioned the authority of God and asked Eve, “Did God really say you should not eat of this particular tree?  Did God really set the law, this restriction?  Did God really say this will be the death of you?”  “Surely not, because if you eat of this particular tree your eyes will be opened and you will be like God and what could be wrong with that?”
Eve bought the serpent’s line because she didn’t want anyone, God included to tell her what to do and it became the death of her and us.
That demonic temptation followed Jesus into the synagogue.  The Bible says, “Just then a man with an unclean spirit cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?  I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”[2]
            Recognition of demonic influence runs throughout the New Testament. Jesus faced his own 40 day temptation in the wilderness only days before his first sermon in this synagogue.  He believed there is a willful darkness that can capture the soul and destroy a life.  As Jesus saw and experienced and understood the love and grace of God so did he know the heart of humanity and see the evil that men do.  He believed there is something demonic that goes beyond economic, or psychological or sociological explanation.  Sometimes we just don’t know what has gotten into people to make them do the things they do.  Sometimes we just don’t know what comes over us.
            Keith Sadler, the police chief of Lancaster city made the same observation last week when he described the brutal beating and death of a one year old child by her own mother.  He said, “It is true evil.  I don’t know how anyone could do anything like that.”
            I feel the same way when I read another story about a mother in Harrisburg who was caught in the process of dumping her  baby in one of those clothing collection boxes in the middle of January.  I feel the same way when I hear that I.S.I.S. had beheaded another innocent victim or that Boco Haram has slaughtered two thousand defenseless villager in Nigeria. The list of atrocities grows longer every day.  So I have no problem believing Jesus when he speaks of these demonic powers.
            They are part of life today and they asked the same questions many ask today, “What have you to do with us Jesus of Nazareth?”  Clearly there are many today who feel the same way. They don’t believe Jesus has anything to do with the way they live, the decisions they make, or the words they speak.  They have decided they want nothing to do with Jesus and he has nothing to do with them.  More than that they sometimes become angry if you even bring up his name.  That’s how Christmas concerts became holiday concerts or winter festivals.  Many people are just not comfortable talking about Jesus at all and try to write his influence out of our history books and out of the stories of our nation’s founding fathers.
            I’ve experienced this first hand at, of all places, the golf course.  Sometimes when I come to the course by myself or with one other person I’ll be paired up with other golfers who I do not know to fill out a foursome.  We usually begin with a handshake and exchange of names and then tee up.  By the third or fourth hole we fall into conversation that usually begins with the question, “What do you do?”  When I tell them I am a pastor this fledging relationship will often change.  They will act different and sometimes apologize for using the name of Jesus irreverently when they missed the three foot putt on the last hole. 
            Now, I have done nothing to merit this kind of response. I have not preached a single sermon between the second and third holes. I have not quoted chapter and verse the “wages of sin is death.” I have not asked them if they were in church last Sunday, and if not why not…because I already know.  I have done none of that, but still they become defensive.  If they pray at all it is to ask God how come they got stuck with the preacher.  
They think, or at least act like they think that Jesus and by extension his servants are out to get them for every little mistake they make. They wonder, I think, like the demons did, “Have you come to destroy us?” 
Where did they get that idea? I’m convinced that people think God is out to judge them because they so often judge themselves when they look in the mirror.  They learn to do that because along the way they have heard others say to them, “you’re not good enough to get this job, not smart enough to be promoted, not strong enough to make the team, not skinny enough to fit in that dress.”   Every commercial we will see tonight when we watch the Super Bowl will tell us we’re drinking the wrong kind of beer, eating the wrong snack, or driving the wrong car.  There is no shortage of voices to tell us we don’t measure up, so we assume that God will be at the head of that line.
After a while this “you better try harder” kind of theology wears you out.  It erodes the soul and weakens the spirit.  It’s kind of like the problem our congregation is facing right now. The roof of our sanctuary is held up by eight beams that are in varying degrees of decay.  Water and weather have eaten away the strength of the wood.  This has not happened all at once.  It has happened over time.  Now, don’t worry they are still strong enough all on the own to hold up the roof right now, or else we wouldn’t be here.  We could ignore the problem until that day when a heavy snowstorm piles up enough weight on the roof to bring it crashing down, but just so you know at the first crack in the timbers I will be the first one out the door and I am already standing up so I will have a head start.  The wiser and more responsible course is to address the problem right now, to fix it so we won’t have to wonder and worry about the next snowstorm and in fact that is the recommendation from Session.  But, this will only be possible if we work together and contribute together to save our roof.
When Jesus encountered this man torn apart by demonic doubts and fears, he could have passed him by and said, maybe tomorrow.  He could have ignored the problem, but he did not.  He cast those demons out of the heart and soul of their victim. In doing so he freed this man to become of the kind of person God intended and not the person the demons had twisted.  He gave him an opportunity to listen to his voice and not the others.
He does the same for you, but that can only happen when you also see him as the “Holy One of God”.
So, how do you answer the question, “What have you to do with me Jesus of Nazareth?”  Will you acknowledge him as Lord with the authority to direct your steps, shape your thoughts, open your heart, and guide your hands?  When considering the deep questions about God will you turn to him as one who knows more deeply and profoundly than anyone else the length and breadth, height and depth of God’s love for you?
The answer to that question can make all the difference in your life.  It can provide the strong foundation that helps you stand tall and straight. So, if someone asks what has Jesus to do with your life – say and pray “everything”.
Let us pray:http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/sfs_box_white5x5.gif
O blessed Lord Jesus, you ministered to all who came to you. Look with compassion upon all who are possessed or who have lost their health and freedom. Restore to us the assurance of your unfailing mercy. Remove from us the fears that beset us. Strengthen us in the work of our recovery, and give us all patient understanding and persevering love. In your name we pray. Amen.












[1] Mark 1:22
[2] Mark 1:24