Jesus Offering Himself to His Creation

Epiphany 5
Jesus offering Himself to His creation
Mark 1:29-39

This morning’s text from the Gospel of Mark begins where it left off last week. As you recall Jesus was in the synagogue, Jesus was serving people with the word when His sermon was interrupted by man with an evil demonic spirit. Jesus with a word silenced the demon that identified Jesus as “the Holy One of God” and was cast out revealing to us that Jesus has the power to defeat Satan and his minions. In today’s text Jesus and His called disciples leave the synagogue in Capernaum after the service to go to the house of Simon and Andrew. Perhaps like many of you they were looking for some refreshment after the service. However when they arrive at the house to find Simon’s mother-in-law lying in bed sick with a fever. Simon and Andrew immediately spoke to Jesus about her and Jesus went to her, and offered himself too her. He took her by the hand. The fever left (aphayken) her and He raised (aygeiren) her up. In response she began to serve (diaykonei) them.

There is a lot more to this text then first meets the ear. The epiphany moment in our text is that Jesus reveals his divinity by curing illness. Jesus in His life is offering himself to His sin ridden creation. The psalmist writes, “The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:2‐3) Jesus our Lord is showing mercy and compassion. He does not complain. He hears the need and He meets it. Here we have in a few short the relation of Christ and his church. The Greek word used “left” as in the fever left her also has the meaning of forgiveness. Jesus was also forgiving her sins and this is why the fever left. Why the effect of the curse was reversed. Later Jesus would not only heal a paralytic but more importantly He would forgive the His sins (Mark 2:5). Our gospel writer Mark is
already preparing us with the double entendre vocabulary for that story.

Likewise the Greek word used to lift her up (aygiren) is the word for raise. This word would also occur in Mark 16:6 where the young man dressed in white presumably an angel in the tomb said to the amazed women. “…do not be amazed. Jesus the one you seek who has been crucified. He is risen (aygerthay) He is not here; Behold the place where they laid him.” (Mark 16:6) Once again Mark uses a word which will have a much richer meaning by the end of his gospel. It is not simply a raising but a resurrection. The grave could not hold Jesus due to His sinlessness. Jesus forgives the sin of Simon’s mother-in-law and she rises from her potentially near death experience. Jesus raises her. Just as he will raise you and I on the last day, forgiven of our sin you will not remain dead.

This is foretaste of the resurrection on the last day. It is also a reflection to what happens to us in our baptism, where we are crucified, buried, and raised with Christ. Where the old Adam is drowned and the new man comes forth, a new man that serves Christ in His kingdom. We see this in response of Simon’s mother‐in‐law. As soon as she is forgiven and raised she begins to serve, she begins to minister, she (diaykonei’s) them. Listen to Luther’s explanation of the 2nd Article of the creed in the small catechism after Jesus has purchased with His holy and precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death. These things He does so that we may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteous innocence and blessedness. Our justification, our forgiveness results in service (deaconia) to our Lord and to our neighbor. And this service is done within the vocations we are given.

In an essay entitled, “The congregations role of mercy in the community” our current synodical president Matthew Harrison poses the question of the role of mercy in the congregation. We know for instance that the primary purpose of the church is to proclaim the Gospel to witness which includes the administration of the sacraments. We also know that when we gather together that we respond in prayer or liturgy. But does the church have a corporate responsibility to perform acts of mercy and compassion for its community.

Is this relegated to the individual Christian in his or her vocation or do we relegate this work to social agencies or one of the 120 LCMS Recognized Service Organizations that work beside the church? Based on texts in Acts Rev. Pres. Harrison does make the case that congregations should directly come to the aid of the widows, orphans and others who had need in their midst. The offerings collected would be distributed by called deacons for this purpose so that no one would go wanting. Later St. Paul would receive collections from the Greek congregations to assist the suffering mother church in Jerusalem.

James the bishop of Jerusalem writes in His epistle. What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? (James. 2:14ff.) The idea that congregations are directly responsible to work together to show mercy and compassion seems to have gotten lost through the years and delegated to para‐church organizations. If we as a congregation are working to provide mercy directly then we can focus it on local needs and we can be make sure of where it is going.

This week many learned for the first time that Komen’s “Race for the Cure” a fundraising organization that raises money for the worthy cause of breast cancer, grants money to “Planned Parenthood” an organization that performs legalized infant murder. Supposedly “Planned Parenthood” writes prescriptions for mammograms and this is how they got the grant. We need to be careful as to how we show mercy so that it is not at the expense of the innocents. Rev. Pres. Harrison paints a scriptural vision of what our church is to be about. We writes, “Does the church have a role of mercy in the community? I believe it does. Is diakonia a fundamental part of the church’s mission in this world? I believe it is. In fact, I’m convinced, on the basis of the New Testament, that there is a threefold reality in the life of the church as church. All three hang inseparably together.

The church must be about proclamation of the Gospel of Christ (martyria). In fact, to the extent that any mission of the church ceases this proclamation of the vicarious atonement of Christ and salvation by grace through faith, or alters this definition of the Gospel, it ceases to be Christian. Second, the church must be on about worship (leitourgia). Proclamation produces faith in Christ, and draws the faithful into the full sacramental life of the church. Wherever the church would have a “mission” or endeavor that is not clearly flowing from, to and connected with altar, font and pulpit, that mission is sectarian at best, and non‐Christian at its worst. Third, wherever the church breathes in the blessed Gospel and sacraments, it cannot but exhale mercy and love toward the neighbor (diakonia). Diakonia is as much a part of the church’s iife as good works are a part of the life of faith. This applies to Christians both individually and collectively. Wherever these three realities of the church’s life are not functioning in balance, there is a truncation of the church’s life, and a diminution of its mission.”

President Harrison goes on to say that the neglect of congregations showing mercy and compassion within the congregation and without has stifled our mission of proclamation. I had a conversation with President Harrison one day in September when I was in the Hospital. I spoke to him about some of the troubles we were having as a congregation. One of the programs he suggested is a program called “Gospel Seeds.” One of the facilitators of this program is Rev. Carlos Hernandez. Carlos is a native of Monte Bello so he is familiar with this community. Gospel Seeds is a program that equips congregations to reach out into its communities by assessing unmet needs and then either through grants from the synod or working with local agencies try to meet those needs. It involves doing a neighborhood survey ask people what this community may be lacking.
In the process our neighbors see Trinity as a congregation that is interested in her community. The goal at this point is not to share the gospel although they may bring up a spiritual need in which you can leave information and offer to pray for them. It is really low key from a witnessing stand point but I believe it can help our congregation learn about its community and it is an opportunity to practice mercy and compassion.

Rev. Hernandez is willing to come on Tuesday February 21st at 6:30p.m. to present this program to our council and to members interested in outreach and practicing mercy as a church. I just need to give him the word. Our Lord followed the pattern of proclamation, prayer and service in offering himself to you and all creation. He proclaimed the good news of the coming kingdom in the synagogue and prayed and then he served Simon’s mother‐in‐law on a Sabbath. At evening the start of the new day people brought their sick and their demon possessed family members to Jesus and He had compassion on them, forgiving them and healing them. Early in the morning he went out into a desolate place for prayer and then back to the business of proclaiming the good news in other places. Following our Lord this is our cycle too, to hear the proclamation, to pray the liturgy in response and to then go out and serve our neighbor. You who has forgiven and raised to new life. Oh Lord may adorn the grace and mercy that you give us to show mercy and grace to others. Amen.