Sermon for Epiphany 5 Year B 2012 Have You Not Known? Have You Not Heard? Good morning fellow grasshoppers (ref. Isaiah 40:22b)! I ll never forget how those words struck me and brought tears to my eyes during my first semester at Princeton Seminary, because they were being spoken to a very exhausted second career woman who was definitely burning the candle at both ends. When I began my seminary studies back in 2004, I expected that juggling my part-time job with full-time school, my family and my friends would be challenging, even difficult, but I was also fairly certain I could make it all work. After all, I thought, I m a woman and women are good at multi-tasking. You know, cooking dinner while talking on the phone and putting a load of laundry in washing machine. I can do it all and all by myself too! At Princeton in those days, there were only a small group of us second career students (in other words, over 40 ). In fact, those of us over 40 types made up less than 5% of the student population, so during my first semester, Several of us over-40 students banded together to create a study/support group (you know, so we could keep up with all the younger-than-40 grasshoppers who were jumping faster and further than we were). I thought it was a terrific idea. The trouble was, I never had the time to make even one of the group s meetings! In the midst of worrying about the difficulties of juggling my job and school and finding time to study for the upcoming finals, members of the over 40 study group began emailing all their outlines and study notes to me. I felt so guilty! When I wrote to one of the founding mothers of the group expressing my discomfort in accepting their work and their help when I had not been able to contribute to the effort, she responded that they had all decided not to let me go 1
My fellow over-40 students decided that they wanted to gift their work to me because they recognized the demands and limitations I had on my time. You think I d be elated, right? But I remember that along with my amazement and gratitude at their gift to me, I also felt like the charity case of my seminary class and I really didn t like thinking of myself that way. It made me feel too needy, too vulnerable. But I also remember that as I was lamenting all this to a colleague, I suddenly had a memory of a woman and her daughter who I used to see back in my first career days working at NYU. I would see this woman all over the campus and very often her daughter, who was probably about 10 at the time, would also be with her. It was fairly obvious that this woman was very poor. Actually, I eventually discovered that she was homeless. But she was also a matriculating student who would take any job available at the university in order to continue her studies. She struggled in this hand-to-mouth way in order to some day provide her daughter with more permanent shelter, food and clothing the hope of a better life for herself and her daughter. I admit, I suddenly realized that if I was my group s charity case, I was in very good company. The Lord did, indeed, renew my strength in, with, and through the graciousness of my fellow students but also through the example of that unknown woman and her daughter. What a powerful lesson for me in such a teachable moment about giving and taking care. You might say that one of the message s of today s texts is that there are two kinds of people in the world (Grasshoppers and eagles no, not really, or perhaps yes! [Isaiah 40]) People who need help and people who need to help. Or, you could say that another way there are two kinds of people in the world: 2
people who need care, and people who need a calling. No matter how we say it, it is certainly true that we can all be either one of those people at any given time, and, indeed, we very likely have been. The question is where are you today? Do you need help or do you need to help? Do you need care or do you need a calling? Before we answer these questions, let s take a closer look at today s gospel reading from Mark. All in all, it's been a pretty busy day for Jesus. He's been preaching and teaching to great acclaim at the Capernaum Synagogue, then he heals a man possessed by an unclean spirit, and after that he retires to the home of Simon Peter and Andrew for a little relaxation only to find that Simon's mother-in-law is sick. So he heals her and then, when word got out her healing, Jesus heals just about everyone else in Capernaum. Yes, it's been a busy day for Jesus! No wonder he sneaks away for a time of seclusion, prayer, and renewal (and, trust me, if Jesus needs to do that from time to time, you and I probably do, too). While there's a lot going on in this passage and chapter, I really want to focus on just one little verse: "He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them." But what s so special about this verse? Well, first there is the great tenderness of Jesus in his caring for this unknown woman (a woman we only know as Simon Peter s mother-in-law). Jesus takes her by the hand. But along with that tenderness, he raises her up Now Mark uses a Greek verb here that he uses not only in other healing stories but most significantly when he describes what happens to Jesus at Easter. NT scholar Sarah Henrich puts it so well when she says The word suggests that new strength is imparted to those laid low by illness, unclean spirits, or even death, so that they may again rise up to take their place in the world. (@workingpreacher.org) And we see this when Simon s mother-in-law immediately begins to serve following her healing. This is not about the usual gender stereotypes (You know, a woman s place is in the kitchen... ) 3
This is about a poignant and significant restoration, not just to health, but to a calling. While we might focus on the miraculous dissipation of her fever, the more important thing happening here is the result of her recovery. She began to serve them. Remember that Jesus will later say, as the disciples argue among each other about which of them is the greatest, that the greatest is the one who becomes a servant (Mark 10:44). Peter may be the most famous of the disciples, but his mother-in-law, by her service is already the greatest. Taken as a whole, Mark implies that the ministry of restoration among those who are already within the community is to generate a community of those who serve. The whole point of Jesus restoration is to strengthen people for service with and for others. In the broadest possible interpretation of this story, this one verse You could say it is a metaphor for what baptism is all about. We are restored and healed and raised up through the waters of baptism and receive our calling to serve God and others. Healing and serving are deeply interconnected physically, emotionally, and spiritually. So there it is: There are two kind of people in the world people in need of care, and people who need a commission, a calling, an invitation to live into the kingdom of God in the world. At any given moment we can be either of these two people, and sometimes, no most of the time, we are both. Remember, too, that individually we are members of a community that responds to those currently in need of care and also helps to clarify our sense of call. And, now we can go back to where each of us is today. Take a moment to think about one need for care you may have today; think about something for which you need healing or restoration or lifting up from. 4
Now take a moment to think about something you want to help others with, or how you might serve with and for others, lifting them up and helping them to find their calling. If you are like me, you know how hard it can be to accept help even when it is most needed. But unless we acknowledge our need and learn to trust despite our vulnerability, we may never be able to receive the most important gift of all the hand that lifts us up, that is the love of God in Christ that will not let us go. Those who wait on the Lord renew their strength! 5