Of Service To Each Other

^“Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?  ²² It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in;  ²³ who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.  ²⁴ Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows upon them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.  ²⁵ To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One.  ²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing.  ²⁷ Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God”?  ²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.  ²⁹ He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.  ³⁰ Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted;  ³¹ but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” – Isaiah 40:21-31

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Praise the LORD! How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.  ² The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel.  ³ He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.  ⁴ He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.  ⁵ Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.  ⁶ The LORD lifts up the downtrodden; he casts the wicked to the ground.  ⁷ Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre.  ⁸ He covers the heavens with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, makes grass grow on the hills.  ⁹ He gives to the animals their food, and to the young ravens when they cry.  ¹⁰ His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;  ¹¹ but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.”  – Psalm 147:1-11

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

^“As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.  ³⁰ Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once.  ³¹ He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

³² That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons.  ³³ And the whole city was gathered around the door.  ³⁴ And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

³⁵ In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.  ³⁶ And Simon and his companions hunted for him.  ³⁷ When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.”  ³⁸ He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.”  ³⁹ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.” – Mark 1:29-39

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This week, as our bulletin cover shows, we are entering into Black History Month; and today happens to be the birthday of Rosa Parks, who was born on this day in Tuskegee AL in 1913. When she refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, she was arrested, launching a case that eventually went all the way to the Supreme Court – who ruled that “separate is not equal” and segregation had to end.

Asked about it later, Mrs. Parks said that her decision to not get up was largely motivated by the acquittal of the murderers of Emmett Till. In the words of poet Nikki Giovanni, “it was Mrs. Rosa Parks who could not stand that death. And in not being able to stand it. She sat back down.”

Her ability to think clearly and act decisively under immense pressure changed the world we live in. May God bless her memory.

Today we are also still working our way through Epiphany: that time of year when God and our scriptures “show forth” and “make known” the Messiah, Jesus. Last week – to recap Mark’s gospel – we saw Jesus in a battle between good and evil when a man with an unclean spirit interrupted Jesus as he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. And all the people in Capernaum remarked how Jesus taught with authority and not like the scribes.

In his teaching, and in his dismissal of the demon, Jesus demonstrated the reality and the power of spiritual gifts. A couple weeks ago in our Wednesday Bible study, we were talking about spiritual gifts – things like healing and speaking in tongues and prophecy. And we mentioned how it seems like in some churches these things happen all the time but in other churches (like the one I grew up in) the spiritual gifts were rarely if ever seen, and seemed a bit of a mystery. I wanted first off to assure you that the spiritual gifts are real, and in this passage we see Jesus using some of them. That is why the people sensed Jesus had ‘authority not like the scribes’ – which is a very accurate perception!

The spiritual gifts Jesus used on that day included teaching, word of knowledge, and healing. We don’t often think of teaching as a spiritual gift, because a lot of people teach… but teaching in the Spirit is very powerful and it goes deep into the listeners – that’s why the people felt that “he teaches with authority”. And word of knowledge, which is sometimes called prophecy, is being able to speak a truth that a person could not know unless God revealed it to them. When Jesus identified the man as having an evil spirit (as opposed to maybe being drunk or having a really bad day) this was a prophetic understanding – this was knowledge given by God. And then Jesus used the spiritual gift of healing to tell the evil spirit to leave. And the spirit left, and the man was healed.

The spiritual gifts all have the same goals: to give glory to God; to teach God’s people about God’s love and power; and to heal the things that are wrong in this world. And this is how we can tell real spiritual gifts from people who are trying to fake them: God’s Spirit accomplishes God’s will.

So that’s a quick summary of last week – which gives us our launching point for this week.

This week Jesus continues to minister in God’s power, making God known to God’s people.

Psalm 147 says: “Great is our Lord and abundant in power.”

And the psalm says God uses this power to “lift up the downtrodden, and cast the wicked to the ground.” The psalmist says God also uses God’s power to make clouds and rain and grass and animals and ravens (although I’m not quite so sure about Baltimore…). Above all, God does good for the people God loves.

Isaiah then talks about this in more detail.  Isaiah reminds us that rich and poor alike share the same end; that life is very short… but God gives power. Isaiah says:

“²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.  ²⁹ He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.”

Some of us might remember the movie Chariots of Fire from a few years back – the story of Scottish missionary Eric Liddell who was also a champion runner in the Olympics. In that movie, Eric Liddell preached a sermon on this passage in Isaiah, and I can almost hear his Scottish accent:

“[The Lord] does not faint or grow weary… ²⁹ He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.  ³⁰ Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted;  ³¹ but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

(Here’s a link to the video clip:)

Just in those few short sentences the words “faint”, “weary”, “exhausted”, “powerless” appear nine times! And how often do we find ourselves feeling that way? How often we find ourselves running in a thousand different directions, barely keeping up with everything that has to be done? But in these same verses the words “power”, “strength”, and “run” and “walk” are repeated as well. God is never tired; God is never weary – and those who wait for God “will renew their strength” – if we wait with expectation, looking in God’s direction, and trusting that God’s word is true.

Then we come to our gospel reading from Mark. This passage takes place immediately after last week’s reading. In last week’s reading, Jesus was teaching in synagogue in the morning. In this week’s reading, it’s later the same day. The worship service is now over, and Jesus – along with James and John – goes to the home of Simon Peter and Andrew, which is a short walk from the synagogue – just a few blocks away. It’s kind of like what people used to do after church back in the day: they’d say, “hey, let’s grab a bite to eat!” and then go to somebody’s house. It feels natural to do this; and rightfully so, because the Sabbath day is a day made for rest, and fellowship, and enjoying friends and family.

But as they arrive at Peter’s house, they find that Peter’s mother-in-law is in bed with a fever.  So Jesus goes to her, and “raises her up” – and heals her – not just in the sense that ‘the fever’s gone’ (which it was) but in the sense of she feels GREAT! She feels reunited with her family, and she feels healthy and strong, and she can’t wait to start serving lunch!

As the Sabbath day progresses, the mother-in-law and the disciples all eat and relax and enjoy each other’s company. And the rest of the village of Capernaum is pretty much doing the same thing – because it’s the Sabbath, and people relax on the Sabbath.

BUT! All over town, people are still talking about what Jesus did that morning. And as soon as the sun goes down – as soon as the Sabbath is over – the entire town shows up outside the front door!  (And these houses are packed really close together – I don’t know how they got that many people in that street!)  And they’ve brought with them the sick and the demon-possessed for Jesus to heal.

Side note on demon-possession: We here in the 21^st century don’t usually put much stock in devils or demons. We look at the movie The Exorcist more like entertainment than fact.

But many of our Christian brothers and sisters over in Africa see things differently. And the more I think about it, the more I think it’s because they have witnessed far more in the way of in-your-face evil than we have. They have seen, with their own eyes, the violence in Darfur, the burning of villages in South Sudan, the genocide in Rwanda, the decades-long civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They know that pure evil exists; and they know that sometimes people give in to it.

Whatever we may believe about the powers of darkness, I think the important thing to know is to stay away from them, as much as it’s within our power.

James 4:7 says, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” The opposite is true as well: anyone who goes looking for trouble will most likely find it.

And let’s face it – even if we don’t believe in evil spirits, there are death-dealing forces in our world: addiction, racism, xenophobia, uncontrollable anger, envy, pollution of our air and water, and so many more. One scholar writes that these things “move through the world as though by a kind of cunning. They resist, sidestep, or co-opt our best attempts to overcome them. [Trying to solve these problems is] (he says, is) less like figuring out a puzzle and more like wrestling with a beast.”^[1]

But getting back to Capernaum: the whole neighborhood, it seems, has come to Jesus looking for healing, looking for deliverance from the powers of evil. And Jesus heals them all.

 The apostle Paul writes:

“In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons . . . will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39)

Jesus has both the love and the power to take away all sickness, and to remove the forces of evil. That night, every person who came to Jesus was healed!

After everyone had been cared for, Mark tells us, Jesus slipped away. It was in the wee hours of the morning. I imagine many of the people were still sort of hanging around, kind of having an impromptu block party, but Jesus disappeared. Mark says he “went to a deserted place” – which would not have been nearby, as the area around Capernaum was fairly populated.

Why would Jesus do this? Mark doesn’t say, other than to say Jesus went away to pray. Was Jesus recharging his batteries, so to speak? Probably. Was he sharing joy with God his father – the joy of seeing people healed and set free and made whole? I’m certain of it. And Jesus was also listening to God – asking: what do we do next? Where do we go next? And Jesus was setting an example for us – because we also need to be with God in prayer, on a regular basis, to recharge and regroup and reconnect.

Some time later, Peter and the disciples realized Jesus was gone, and went looking for him. And after a good long search they found him, and they said, “Jesus, everybody’s looking for you!” – hinting that he should still be with the crowd. Their message is: “Let’s go back!” Jesus, OTOH, says, “Let’s go on!” It’s almost like a foretaste of the Mount of Transfiguration: on that day Peter said “let’s stay here and put up tents” but Jesus said, “Let’s go on!”

It’s a very human moment; because there is something in all of us that wants to put down roots, that likes to find a place to call home. And there’s nothing wrong with that – I think that’s how we’re designed. But Jesus leads in another direction. He says:

“Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” (Matt 8:20)

As God’s people, much as we try, we will never have permanent roots in this world. For the time being we may have a sense of rootedness in our families and in our church and in our communities… but it’s only for a time. And knowing this sheds doubt on the line of reasoning that says “well this is how things have always been.” Because they actually haven’t… always been… and even if they have ‘always been’ they’re not meant to stay that way. As the old hymn says, “This world is not our home, we’re just a-passin’ through.”

Jesus says, “Let’s go on!” And we need to be ready to move on with Jesus. We need to know that staying put is not an option. In order to share God’s good news and God’s gifts with others, we need to not stay where we are.

So what can we pull together out of these passages?

First, the call to service is very clear. Jesus serves first: he teaches in the synagogue, he heals a demon-possessed man, he heals Peter’s mother-in-law. But there’s also a call to mutual service: Jesus serves the mother-in-law and then the mother-in-law serves Jesus. Serving goes back and forth, and we are all, each one of us, called to do our part.

Second, Jesus focused his teaching ministry, at least at first, in the synagogues. Mark says, “he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.” The word ‘synagogue’ is a word that means “to bring together”. Just like the word ‘symphony’ means ‘to sound together’, synagogue is ‘to bring together’.

Our culture, in our world today, is badly in need of places for people to come together. A sense of community has been all but lost in our younger generations. When I ask my husband’s kids “where do you turn in times of trouble?” they can’t answer; they don’t know. Historically, the church has been the place to turn; it’s been the center of the community. Rosa Parks herself, when she had her experience on the bus, immediately turned to her church for support and fellowship; and she found it there.

We need to find ways to reawaken a sense of community. We need to find ways to be community for our world today. The fact that we have seniors meeting here in this building, and community meetings being held here – these are good things – these are a good start. How else might we be a ‘gathering place’ for our community? How else might we follow in Jesus’ footsteps to confront things that harm our people – and to bind up wounds, and to lead to faith and freedom?

May God lead us to discover answers to these questions – for the good of God’s people and to the glory of God. AMEN.

(photo of Synagogue at Capernaum)

[1] SALT

Read Full Post »

Prayers in a Caring Community

“Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.  ¹⁴ Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.  ¹⁵ The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.  ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.  ¹⁷ Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.  ¹⁸ Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.

¹⁹ My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another,  ²⁰ you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. – James 5:13-20

~~~~~~~~~~~~

One of the things I love about our Partnership churches is that we truly do make up a caring community (1).  We share prayer requests; we maintain prayer lists; we pray for each other on a regular basis. Hardly a week goes by that we don’t see prayer requests in our inboxes.

It’s good that we do this. In Philippians 4:6 the apostle Paul says:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Let me ask a question though: when we pray, are we watching for God’s answers? I know we do sometimes. But when we put someone on the prayer list, do we follow up with that person to see how they’re doing? When God brings something good into someone’s life, do we share that by email – sharing our joys as well as our concerns?

Where it comes to prayer, it’s important to remember that we are God’s children and God loves us no matter what. We may not always get what we ask for in prayer, but we can be assured when we pray, God hears us and will answer.

This is a lot of what James is talking about in his letter. To give some background to our reading: the book of James was most likely written by the literal brother of Jesus whose name was James. This in itself is a miracle, because in Jesus’ lifetime, his brothers didn’t believe in him. In John chapter 7 they accused Jesus of ‘wanting to be famous’ and told him to go to Jerusalem (because that’s where people go who want to be famous). They weren’t aware that Jerusalem was where Jesus was going to die.

But now, as James is writing this book, the crucifixion and the resurrection are behind them; Jesus has accomplished what he came to earth to do, and has returned to God; and James is now a believer. So he writes to the churches to encourage them (and us) and to share some of the things he learned from his older brother Jesus.

Just before the passage we read today, James advises his fellow believers to be patient until the Lord returns –– patient like a farmer waiting for the harvest. (How appropriate for this time of year!)

And then as we start into today’s reading, James encourages us to pray with confidence because prayer is a powerful thing (2).  James begins by asking if any members of the church are going through hard times. Being a Christian does not mean our lives will be trouble-free – in fact it can make things worse sometimes. What we are promised is that God will walk with us through this life, no matter what happens.  So if anyone is experiencing hard times, James says, pray. Not just once, but again and again. Be persistent in prayer.

And for those of us who worry a lot – you know how thoughts can get stuck in the mind sometimes, and turn over and over and over? James says we should bring all that tangle of thoughts and feelings to God – just as they are. Even if it’s a mess, God will help us untangle. Whenever I think “I just can’t make sense of this” – I know someone who can.

James doesn’t tell us how to pray: he doesn’t offer us a prayer like Jesus did in the Lord’s Prayer. But James says that it’s good to pray physical healing, emotional well-being, and spiritual discernment, as well as for day-to-day practical needs. Nothing is too big or too small for God.

On the flip side, when things are going well… when our hearts are joyful… when the sun is shining… when God’s blessings overflow – James says “sing!” Sing God’s praises. The Greek word here is psallo, spelled almost like psalm. So grab a hymn-book and sing! I think this is one of those times when the old familiar songs really do mean the most, because if we sing a song we learned in childhood or when we were younger, the happiness of that time spills into the joy of today – and then the joy just multiplies.

So no matter how life is going – whether great or not so great – the point is, share it with God. Share it with Jesus.

Then James asks if anyone is sick, and he says if a person is sick they should call for the elders to pray and anoint them with oil.

Let me break that down just a little bit. First off, where it comes to healing, not everyone has the gift of healing. Jesus had it. Paul had it. Some of the other apostles had it. When they prayed, people were healed, just like that. We have no reason to believe that the gift of healing does not still exist today; but I personally don’t have the gift, and I don’t currently know anyone who does. I do believe it still exists. But for the most part, when we pray for the sick, we are asking for God’s help: both for the person and for whatever is wrong.

The first thing James says is the person who is sick should call for the elders. It’s interesting that James doesn’t say somebody else should call for the elders. The sick person should be the one to choose whether or not to have visitors. There are times when sick people want to be left alone, in which case that should be respected. But if a sick person wants to be prayed for, this request should be brought to the elders right away.

Second, James says the person who is sick should call for the elders.  The word elder does not have the same meaning in the New Testament that it does in the United Methodist Church: that is, someone who is ordained. The Greek word here is presbuteros, which is the word we get Presbyterian from (and that does not mean we need to call the Presbyterians!) Basically it just means anyone who has been walking with God for a long time. In the UMC, pretty much anyone who’s on Council would count as an elder, as would other lay leaders, in addition to the ordained clergy.

Third, James says to “anoint [the sick person] with oil”.  Back in Jesus’ day, olive oil was often used because it was inexpensive and it was known to have healing qualities. Today, when oil is used, any kind will do. Pass the Del Monte!

I should mention some churches today anoint the sick with oil and some don’t. In the United Methodist Church, anointing with oil usually symbolizes the presence of the Holy Spirit, and it’s considered a blessing, which can be given whether or not the person is ill. In my Anglican background, oil is used mostly for baptism or anointing the sick. Either way – however we understand it – I always have a small bottle of oil with me, and I offer anointing to people when I visit them in the hospital. So if any member of the congregation ever feels the need to be prayed for, just grab a couple of the elders and come see me! I have the goods!

[It takes a village (3)[1]] 
The last thing I wanted to point out about James’ instructions is that they are meant to be carried out in community. We don’t see anyone in this passage in James acting alone! God calls all believers into community, and that’s no accident.

I believe this is hugely important in our time. In contemporary America, especially among the unchurched, an experience of community has been all but lost. Think about it: people come together to go to school or to play sports, or occasionally for family events; but other than that, people don’t do things together much. Porch-sitting is pretty much a thing of the past. So are scouting, 4-H, the Lions, the Rotary Club, the Variety club, even neighborhood block parties. When was the last time you saw any of these things? The sense of community in our society is almost gone – especially among the younger generations.

I believe – from a standpoint of both scripture and faith – that this is one of the greatest needs of our time, and one of the greatest potentials for outreach and ministry. A lack of community leads to loneliness and alienation, and it’s become worse since the pandemic.

Sharing a sense of community is a ministry our churches are well-equipped to do. It doesn’t take a lot of people and it doesn’t take a lot of money. For example, look at the $1 Clothing Sale Stormie and her mother organized a little bit ago. Or the Baby Shower for Jesus. Or whenever we have a church dinner, and invite the public. These are things our churches do for the community – and when we do, we demonstrate why community is important, and we offer people the opportunity to become part of a community: to know what it feels like to not be so alone.

Then in verses 15-16, James says something that is a little troubling. He says, “The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.”

At first glance, James seems to be saying that sickness is the result of unconfessed sin. This would be the wrong conclusion to draw. The translation should read more like, “if a person is sick they’ll be raised up, if a person has sinned they’ll be forgiven.” The word heal in verse 15, in Greek, is sozo – which can be translated either healed or saved.

So I think James’ point is that sin can be handled in much the same way as illness: if anyone has said or done something that has hurt someone, they should confess it to that person (and if necessary, to the elders) and then pray for one another.

James then gives us an illustration of the power of prayer from the life of Elijah – which reminds us and encourages us that God does answer prayer, and that God is more than powerful enough to do what is asked.

We serve a God who, in Genesis chapter one, said “light, be made!” and light was made. God’s word created everything that we see. Therefore our prayer of faith might simply be: “speak, Lord, for your creation hears.”

James then encourages us to watch over our brothers and sisters in the faith. Not being nebby; but if someone falls into temptation, pray and restore them to the community of faith. If someone wanders off like a lost sheep (and any shepherd can tell you, sheep can be really stubborn) – anyone who brings them back to the Lord will not only save that person but wipe out a multitude of their own sins.

BTW the word in Greek for ‘brought back’ is epistrepho, which we get the word apostrophe from.

Just like the apostrophe turns back on itself, if someone strays from the faith, they need to be guided back. That is our duty as Christian brothers and sisters, to help people make that turn. One theologian put it this way:

“The promise is that, when people stray from the faith and we help them to find their way back to faith, we will have helped to save their souls from death.  While this could refer to physical death (because some sins put a person’s… life in jeopardy), the more significant salvation is spiritual and eternal.”[2]

We are ultimately our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. (…as our Wednesday night Bible Study just read recently in Genesis, where Cain asks “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The answer is yes – yes we are.)  We are called to watch out for each other, care for each other, and pray for each other.

James ends his letter here. I think letting these be his final words, is his way of telling us how important they are.

So we start out as a caring community. We have confidence in the power of prayer (because we know the God we’re talking to). And it takes a village to care for all of us and for our communities around us.

This really is the heart and pulse of the church. So keep on praying: for the sick, for the recovered, for our communities, for our pastors, for our elders, and for each one of us as we walk with God. And then watch how God will answer. AMEN.

Preached at Fairhaven United Methodist Church and Spencer United Methodist Church, 9/26/21

[1] The three sub-topics are not part of the sermon but are suggested by this article by James Boice: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-26-2/commentary-on-james-513-20-4

[2] Sermon Writer:  https://sermonwriter.com/biblical-commentary-old/james-513-20/

Read Full Post »