The LCA provides this sermon edited for lay-reading, with thanks to the original author.
Epiphany 5, Year B
Mark 1:29-39
Have you ever heard a good father-in-law joke? I never have. Why is it that we hear so many mother-in-law jokes but rarely a father-in-law one? Surely not all fathers-in-law are saints. In the Bible, we learn of the marvellous relationship between Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi. Isn’t it wonderful when harmonious relationships exist in an extended family, where nephews and nieces, aunts and uncles all get on well? What’s even more wonderful is when they pray for each other and bring family needs to Jesus in prayer. Rich blessings for the whole family flow from this wonderful privilege we have.
Prayer was central to Jesus’ ministry. The busier He was, the more time He set aside for prayer. Through regular prayer, our Lord gained strength to meet the overwhelming demands placed on Him by all the needy who flocked to Him in such large numbers. We often read about Jesus going away to a place of solitude to spend all the night in prayer. Jesus knew the importance of taking time off from work to replenish His resources and seek guidance for the day ahead. After His victory in the desert over the Devil, the desert now becomes a place of spiritual replenishment, refreshment and renewal. The first reference to prayer in St. Mark’s Gospel concerns our Lord going away on His own to pray.
We never pray alone. Jesus prays with us and for us. When you’re too exhausted to pray to Jesus as you’d like, simply say to Him: “Jesus, remember me” or “Lord, help me!” He will come to your aid in ways that may astonish you. Some of His most precious prayers, prayers we treasure so much, were prayed on the cross, for others. Jesus prayed both before and during the great crises of His life. He prayed in such a way that His disciples wanted to pray also. We read in Luke 11:1, “He was praying in a certain place, and after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples’.” Jesus prayed for the children who were brought to Him. “Then little children were being brought to Him in order that He might lay His hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs’ (Matthew 19:13-14).” If you have children or grandchildren who are no longer attending worship, bring them to the Lord in prayer here in His House and ask Jesus to use all that happens to them to draw them back to Him. Prayer is the way we express our longing to be like Jesus. Most of the miracles of healing in our four Gospels are really stories of prayer and intercession.
These miracles show us the important connection between what happens in worship and later on in the day and further into the week. Today’s Gospel begins as Jesus left God’s House and went to the home of Peter and his brother, Andrew. Since Peter’s mother-in-law eventually assumes the responsibility of being the hostess, we can assume it was really her home and that Peter’s family, together with his brother, lived with her there. It was common in those days to invite someone home for lunch after worship. When Jesus arrives there, Peter and Andrew tell Jesus of Peter’s mother-in-law’s severe fever, in order to explain why she’s unable to offer Him hospitality. Jesus wastes no time in taking her by the hand and healing her. She in return immediately does all she can to serve both our Lord and all those who are with Him.
There’s nothing insignificant about her eagerness to serve. It’s the same Greek word used of the angels ministering to Jesus after His temptation in the desert. Her service of others depicts the Christian life as one of lifelong service to others, an issue which Jesus addresses later on in Mark’s Gospel, concerning Himself “as One who came not to be served, but to serve [others] (Mark 10:45).” Our Lord’s whole life was other-centred, devoted to the needs of others before His own needs. Peter’s mother’s service of our Saviour also foreshadows that group of women who cared for Jesus throughout His ministry, and faithfully stood by Him in the hour of His death on the cross. “There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. These used to follow Him and provided for Him when He was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with Him to Jerusalem (Mark 15:40-41).” Jesus extols service as the hallmark of discipleship. We’re servants of our Servant-King.
First of all, He wants to serve us through His Means of Grace, His Word and Sacraments, before He invites us to imitate His life of service. He reminds us of this when, after instituting Holy Communion, He says to us: “I am among you as One who serves (Luke 22:27).” He gives Himself to us in Holy Communion so we can serve Him in new and unexpected ways in the week ahead. In this Feast of Love, our dear Lord serves us with His unsurpassed gifts of forgiveness, grace, comfort and encouragement. About this, Luther says, “By means of this sacrament, all self-seeking love is rooted out and gives place to that which seeks the common good of all; and through the change wrought by love there is one bread, one drink, one body, one community.”
“Here your heart must go out in love and learn that this is a sacrament of love. As love and support are given you, you in turn must render love and support to Christ in His needy ones.”
No one’s life has been given to them for their own private use alone. We’ve been created to “help each other walk the mile and bear the load.” And when we do, we experience the sheer joy of forgetting ourselves in the service of others. The New Testament focuses on what serving does for the server. Those we serve are our benefactors, who make Christ real to us as Someone we can care for in a real, concrete and personal manner. Our serving of Jesus doesn’t depend on visible results, but on His promise to bless all we do for Him.
We serve, willingly and eagerly, not for what we might get out of it, but rather, for what we can give, according to the gifts and talents our Lord has given us. In his famous prayer, St. Francis of Assisi puts it so well: “for it is in giving that we receive”. We receive the joy of passing on to others what we have ourselves received from Jesus. God has so wonderfully arranged it that we can often care for others better than we can for ourselves. We can do this because in His Church, God has provided us with fellow Church members, friends and family who, in turn, care for us. The more we devote ourselves to building up others, to supporting them with positive words of encouragement, the less time we will want to ever spend criticizing or complaining about anyone else.
Instead, we engage in the service of common courtesy. It’s one of the few ways left in our society today of acknowledging the unique value of one another. As Paul counselled Titus, we are “to be gentle and to show perfect courtesy to everyone (Titus 3:2).” The service of everyday courtesy, consideration and kindness is sorely needed in our increasingly depersonalised society. Our society today more than ever needs the service of listening. Just as love for our Lord begins with listening to His Word, so the beginning of love for each other involves listening to them. It’s been often said that a better symbol for love is an ear rather than a heart. To listen to others makes it easier to listen to what God is seeking to say to us. When we listen, we learn. No child of God is an insignificant member of God’s family. We can all make a difference where God has placed us, just as St. Stephen did.
One of the New Testament’s great heroes is Stephen. He ministered to others by waiting on tables. The apostles needed help with the work of the Lord, so they chose seven believers, including Stephen, who they knew would make an impact on the lives of those around them. Christ’s cause grew in leaps and bounds, because of Christians like Stephen who were “full of God’s grace.” And Stephen was just a table-server! Because of Christians like him and his six helpers, the ordinary became the extraordinary, the mundane became exciting, all because Stephen was willing to serve, like Peter’s mother-in-law had, and to give all he could to glorify our Lord.
In our Lord’s service, there’s no distinction between big tasks and small duties, between visible service, and service behind the scenes. We cannot do everything, but if we all do something, especially some acts of service we’ve never done before, we will make a difference beyond our wildest expectations, especially if we do more than the bare minimum, more than is expected of us.
In this new year, Jesus may be leading you to learn new truths, to take on new challenges, and do things for others you never thought you’d be doing. God grant that, “whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).” What a thrilling adventure living as a Christian becomes when that happens.
Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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