Jesus at prayer

Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (February 4, 2024) at St. James’ Episcopal Church in Hyde Park, NY. View the scripture readings and the Collect of the Day.

Kramskoĭ, Ivan Nikolaevich, 1837-1887. Christ in the Wildernesss.

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“After Jesus and his disciples left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.” from Mark 1:29-39

Edited Transcript

May only truth be spoken here and only truth be heard. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Please be seated.

So in this gospel today, Jesus goes into the house of Simon and Andrew and Simon's mother-in-law is sick with a fever, which in those days—and in most days until fairly recently, until ibuprofen, right, Deirdre Mae?—a fever is a frightening and life-threatening state.

And Jesus takes her by the hand and lifts her up and the fever leaves her and she gets up and begins to serve them. Maybe she makes them a nice dinner or tidies up the house. Now, I have never, not in my whole life, ever done a Bible study on this gospel where there wasn't a woman—it's always a woman—who says, Oh, for heaven's sake, the second the fever leaves her, she has to get up and serve them?

It makes a good point, and it can be a gendered reality. And I think most of us in church know what it's like to feel like we work and we work and we serve and we serve... And we might be sidetracked by illness, but when we fall ill, when our body changes, when we can't do what we used to do, it's like the whole world—and ourselves—are just waiting for us to get back up and do what we used to do. We need you. We need you to cook that meal. We need you to wash those dishes. We need you to vacuum this church. And it can be exhausting!

That's why someone always has this reaction to this Gospel. Someone, somewhere, is always going to be asking: Oh, for heaven's sake, she just got better. Can't she just sit around and watch some TV or whatever Ancient Near East equivalent is?

And so today I want to look at this Gospel and see what lessons there are to teach us about the relationship between healing and service. Because it turns out that a lot of us struggle with the relationship between prayer and service, healing and service. And I want us to look at that reading from Isaiah that Riley read for us. Thank you, Riley.

Even before Jesus, God's people knew. Isaiah wrote, "God, who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name, because God is great in strength, mighty in power. Not one is missing."

In other words, God calls everybody that God needs to God's service. So the starting premise we have to have is that if you're here, you're here because God calls you! If you're here, it's because you have a ministry to do. If you're here, there's a reason for it. Not one is missing!

"They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Even youths will faint and be weary and young will fall exhausted. But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength." "Not one is missing."

So what is the relationship between our healing, our need for renewal and strength and our service, the ministry to which we are called? And if we're here, what are we called to do?

There's two things I want us to notice. The first is the order. Jesus takes her by the hand, lifts her up, the fever leaves her, and she is healed. Then when she's ready, when she's healed, when she has been transformed by the presence of Christ, she begins to serve.

So for those of us who read this and think how exhausting it can be to be called to serve, to be one of the ones that God has called here to minister, I want to invite us to pay attention to the order! Because it's being taken by the hand—by Jesus' hand—and healed, that fills us with what we need to be of service.

Some of us—I'm as guilty as anybody else—find ourselves slogging through when we're tired. The healing. The healing has to come first. And it might not be a physical healing, but there is always a healing of the soul, of the spirit, a renewing of the mind, a transformation in Christ.

If we ever find ourselves grumbling about our service... we need Jesus to take us by the hand and renew us. And I think we need to consider at least taking a pause and asking for that healing and renewal before we can continue to serve. Because it begins with healing. And then we serve.

Second thing: we need to watch Jesus. What does Jesus show us about what it means to be a minister?

I've heard people say this story about Simon's mother-in-law, this is an example of how Jesus' healing ministry happened, not only in the public sphere, but in the private sphere. But I think that this wasn't probably a very private healing, even though this happened in a home. This is not Hyde Park, this is not the suburbs. These houses are right on top of each other. You can hear what's going on with your neighbors. If somebody is sick and has a fever and is dying, you know. And if you hear shouts of joy and wonder and amazement in the sudden bustle of a feast being prepared you know about that too.

And so what happens? She serves them. And then people start showing up at the house. The whole city shows up. People are like, did you hear? The whole city shows up at the house! Christ is present! And the world is being transformed and everyone wants a part of it! So they bring all the sick, the people who are possessed by demons. And Jesus is here. He is laying his hands on this one to heal them. And he is speaking a word to this one's demon, setting them free. And he's speaking a word of love to this one. And it must go on all night. The whole city is there.

But in the very earliest hours of the morning, when it's dark, Jesus gets up and goes by himself to pray. And of course he gets about 20 seconds before the disciples are like, running after him: "Everyone is searching for you!" But he did pray.

Everyone is searching for Jesus, and Jesus is at prayer.

Sometimes it might feel like everyone is looking for us. What if when they came looking for us, we were at prayer?

Jesus shows us, and this happens again and again as we read these stories from Mark's Gospel, you'll see that Jesus goes away to pray. He heals and teaches and casts out demons, and then he goes to pray. Then he comes back. If Jesus needed to pray, I think maybe we do too.

Jesus invites the disciples to come away with him. "Come away with me for a while to a quiet place to pray."

Jesus needs to pray. Jesus is at prayer. We too are at prayer.

This has been a wonderful flourishing and full season of life at St. James' since Christmas. There has been one thing after another. It's been so wonderful and delightful, and so many people have stepped up to serve. And! I find myself hearing this Gospel and saying, in all of our service, our delight in one another and all that we do, let's not forget that the healing and the transformation come from our encounter with Christ. And that we are called to be people at prayer. We can pray while we serve too!

But. If we find ourselves asking why it is that Simon's mother-in-law "had" to get up and serve, then it might be an opportunity or an invitation for us to ask ourselves, well, did she "have" to? Or did she want to, and was she ready to, because she was filled with the presence and the power of God? And each of us can only answer that question for ourselves.

But I invite us to ask that question this week.

In our service, in our ministry, each of us, not one is missing. And those who wait on God shall renew their strength. They shall mount up on wings like eagles.

Amen.