Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
February 4, 2018
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Decorah, Iowa
Rev. Amy Zalk Larson

Click here to read scripture passages for the day.

Beloved of God, grace to you and peace in the name of Jesus who heals us.

This story about Simon’s mother-in-law got me thinking about my own mother-in-law, Judy, and a time when she needed healing. Some years ago, my in-laws, Judy and John, were in a car accident while they were traveling to be with us all at Christmas.

Judy’s injuries weren’t life threatening but they were serious enough to land her in a hospital in Kansas City for quite a while. She endured lots of physical pain but what was even harder for Judy was being separated from her family, especially at Christmas. Family means everything to her, so not being with all of us was really devastating. The rest of us missed Judy and John terribly and felt powerless to help from so far away.

Illnesses and injuries are challenging enough as they plague our minds, bodies and spirits. Yet, what often makes such ailments even harder is the way they can disrupt our connections to community and diminish our sense of purpose in life.

Good Shepherd members who are homebound or living in nursing homes know this experience on a deep level. But they aren’t alone in this. Physical and mental illnesses of all kinds can lead us to feel like we’re cut off from others and unable to contribute to the world around us. This can lead to us feeling cut off from God as well.

That was probably a big part of what was happening for Simon’s mother-in-law the day that Simon brought Jesus to her house. (I so wish she’d been called by her name in this story but that’s another whole issue). She had a fever, which to us may not sound like a big deal – just take a little Tylenol, maybe get some antibiotics. Yet in the ancient world fevers often ended with death. So, as she lay there in bed she was probably pretty fearful. The isolation she faced may have been even worse. Back then there was a very heavy social cost to illness.

People who were sick and unable to carry out their roles in the community weren’t able to be honored as valuable members of their households, towns or villages. This was a big deal in ancient societies that emphasized honor and shame. It would have been both the role and the honor of this woman to show hospitality to Jesus when he entered her home. Yet, illness kept her from doing this valued work that integrated her into her world. It also prevented her from gathering with her faith community at the synagogue. So, this dear woman was laid very low that day.

But then Jesus came into her bedroom, took her by her hand and raised her up. In the Gospel reading earlier we heard that “Jesus lifted her up” but that’s a bad translation! The Greek word used here actually means raised up – it’s the same as the word used to describe Jesus’ resurrection. This word conveys the sense that new strength is imparted to those laid low by illness, unclean spirits, or even death, so that they may rise up to take their place in the world again.

This same word is used throughout the healing stories in the book of Mark – the people who are healed are raised up. This work of raising people seems to be the main goal of Jesus’ healing work. His main focus isn’t the elimination of illness but the renewal of life as God’s kingdom comes among us. Jesus works to raise and renew people for lives of service in community.

Speaking of service, I know it sounds strange that right after the fever left this woman, she began to serve the men. It sounds like a major gender stereotype – like some bad TV sitcom with a guy in a recliner yelling at his wife, “I don’t care if you’ve been sick, I want supper now.”

But the Greek here is important too. The word to describe the way she serves is diakoneo – the word we translate as deacon. Jesus used the word about himself when he said he came to serve rather than be served. He calls all of his disciples to this type of service. And, the church uses this word for those who lead others in the ministry of service. Simon’s mother-in-law isn’t some sitcom caricature. She’s the first person in Mark’s gospel who exemplifies true Christ-like discipleship and service. When she is raised up, her life of service is renewed and reframed. She serves not only because it’s her role, she serves in response to what Jesus has done for her.

The risen Jesus is still in the business of raising people up. He comes to us even today to raise us to new life. Yet it can be hard for us to know this when Jesus doesn’t walk into our bedrooms, take our hands and raise us up. That’s why we need the gift of baptism and reminders of baptism so that we can experience this renewal. In baptism, we are assured that just as Jesus was raised from the dead, we too are raised to new life in Christ. This does not mean that illness and suffering are eliminated from our lives. It does mean that those things don’t have the power to cut us off from God, from community or from the renewal of our lives.

We are not defined by the things that ail us. Instead, our lives are defined by what God does for us – by the way God names, forgives, and renews us each new day. Baptism draws us into the broken and blessed community of the church, the community where we can experience hands reaching out to raise us up and can offer our hands to others. Even when we face illness and can’t do the things we once did, we can still serve others in new ways. Sometimes the most important service is to bear witness to the ways God renews our lives even in the midst of suffering.

The healing and new life Jesus gives doesn’t mean the eradication of all illness. It didn’t mean that even for Simon’s mother-in-law. The fever went away that day, but she died eventually, as did everyone Jesus healed and raised up. Sickness, suffering and death still persist but because of Jesus, they do not have ultimate power over us. We are raised new each day now and forever. We are renewed for lives of service in community.

Thanks be to God.

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
January 28, 2018
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Decorah, Iowa
Rev. Amy Zalk Larson

Click here to read scripture passages for the day.

Beloved of God, grace to you and peace in the name of Jesus.

This is a strange story that feels so removed from our world now. An unclean spirit cries out in the middle of a sermon, nonetheless! I hope that’s something we never experience here!

We don’t really know what to make of talk of demons and unclean spirits, but that’s not the only part of this story that can leave us squirming. There’s the whole notion of Jesus’ authority. The people in the synagogue that day were startled by Jesus’ authority, and we often don’t know what to make of it either.

Jesus’ power may be good news for someone who’s possessed by an unclean spirit, but what does it mean for us?

We’re generally pretty distrustful of authority, pretty reluctant to think that anyone else should have much power over our lives. We like to think of ourselves as free, rational and in control.

Except, in reality, there are no end of things, people and forces that have authority in our lives. For instance: I bet most adults here started the day with a psychoactive drug. I always do. I take mine straight, but sometimes I’ll stir in some cream or sugar. We’ve only been drinking coffee for the last few hundred years, but our dependence on it wields considerable authority over us. If you’ve ever tried to give up sugar, quit smoking or stop drinking, you know first-hand that our appetites have some pretty major authority in our lives.

We may have nothing to fear but fear itself. Yet, fear of violence, fear of change, fear of being different, fear of disease, fear of missing out, fear of loss, fear of so many things, drive us. Politicians and marketers capitalize on that fear to control us much more than we care to admit. When people promise to keep us safe, we often end up obeying their authority without even batting an eye, usually without even being aware it’s happening.

The consumeristic mentality in our world today also has tremendous power over us. We justify all manner of unhelpful actions by telling ourselves that we deserve to feel good or that we just weren’t getting our needs met.

I could argue that these things, and all the other things that control us, are demonic – that we, just like that man in the synagogue, need to have the demons cast out.

Except I’m not sure we’re that guy. I’m not sure that’s what we most need. I think we’re more like those people in the synagogue who are startled to realize that there’s somebody new, somebody with authority, who has shown up. I think we’re just as surprised as they were to hear that Jesus is THE authority for us, and as slow to believe it.

Some of us have experienced the sudden exit of an evil and destructive presence from our lives, and thanks be to God for that kind of power displayed. Most of us have a long, slow slog through life – seeing and hearing the good news of Jesus and then stepping back, scratching our heads, unsure what to make of it all, what it means for us.

I don’t think it means we need to decide to give Jesus more authority over our lives. We wish we could be in control like that – that we could look at Jesus and his ways of humility, service and love and just choose to act like that. But that’s not how it works. If we can’t make a decision about managing our appetites, if we can be controlled by politicians and slick ad campaigns, if our selfish desires wield too much authority in our lives, then, as much as we hate to admit it, our own decisions and willpower don’t mean much.

What matters, rather, is that God has made a decision about us, about you. You are loved. You are forgiven, and set free, and made new because God has made a decision about you; and that’s the authoritative word of the sovereign God. What we need more than a flashy exorcism is to hear God loves us and sets us free and to hear that often enough that we believe it.

God’s decision to love and free us means that things don’t have to stay the way they are. If there’s some- thing that needs changing, change becomes possible. It’s possible because it doesn’t depend on us.

It depends upon Jesus who has authority over all the powers that defy God – all the other forces that drive us away from God’s intent that we be well. It depends upon Jesus whose life-giving authority sets us free.

When we’re set free, then change happens. When we’re set free, we can be part of bringing meaningful change to our world.

It doesn’t depend on us. We need to show up and pay attention, of course; we need to put ourselves in places where we’ll hear God’s freeing word. But, we can do this knowing that it’s not all up to us, that somebody with real authority – Jesus – has come into the world and into our lives.

Jesus is probably not going to boot out whatever needs booting from our lives the way he booted the demon out of that guy in the synagogue. Magical thinking like that is bound to leave us frustrated and confused.

But it does mean that the authoritative word from God regarding you is love. Jesus has come, Jesus is for you. Jesus has authority over all the forces that can lead you away from God’s intents for you. Those forces do not have ultimate authority.

Let’s take a moment for prayer to reflect on God’s authoritative word of love for each of us.