Rector's Sermon - Sunday, 5 February 2006

First Reading	Psalm	Epistle	Gospel
Isaiah 40:21–31	Psalm 147: 1–10	1 Corinthians 9:16–23	Mark 1:29–39

       Jesus in quick succession, gathered his first disciples, began teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum, and calmed and healed someone profoundly deranged. No wonder Jesus was tired and looked forward to relaxing and sharing a meal with friends. However, Peter’s mother-in-law needed attention paid to her and, of course, Jesus responded. By that time there was no opportunity to rest, as it seemed as if the whole town had heard about Jesus’ arresting teaching and the healing of the madman. They all crowded around the house where Jesus had sought some rest, and Jesus could not send them away. After a long day and evening when the last of the people had left, Jesus appeared totally drained. Under the cover of darkness he left the house and went up into the hills overlooking the Lake of Galilee to pray and refresh his spirit.

      In the morning when Peter woke, Jesus was nowhere to be found. Peter began to panic. What was he supposed to do if crowds came and demanded to talk with Jesus?  Peter and some of the other disciples began searching and inevitably they found Jesus in solitude. We can imagine that they exclaimed with a touch of exasperation, “Jesus!  If you think the crowds were large yesterday, you can imagine what is likely stirring now? The news of your amazing healings and miracles are spreading everywhere.” Perhaps Jesus smiled weakly, “Yes the crowds, the crowds. But I had hoped that you and some of the crowd would have see signs of God’s presence working among us.” Peter didn’t hear. He was rousing Jesus to his feet, saying, “There is no time to lose. All the people will be expecting more when we get down to the house.”

      Then Jesus said something the disciples did not expect. “No, it is now time for us to go on to other towns and to teach in other synagogues.” In one sense this became an early turning point in disclosing what Jesus meant by discipleship.

      We have to be very careful how we understand the healing miracle stories of Jesus. It is so easy to ask how did Jesus do it, what magic words did he use, what prayer did he say, but that is not really the point at all. The objective of a magician is to secretly use hidden power that no one else has. A good magician never reveals how the tricks are done, for once the source of the power of the trick is uncovered, the trick loses its potency. Jesus was quite the opposite of a magician. Jesus wanted to openly disclose God’s power of grace working among us and to reveal how the power of God’s love may be shared. Jesus wanted people to begin perceiving how the gift of God’s presence can heal. When Jesus realized that everyone was talking about him and how he did it and speculating what more would he do to confound them all, Jesus backed away from doing more miracles among them and moved on.

      Jesus wants people to realize there are no magic words, no secret potions, no genies in silver lamps which will give us increasing control of God’s love. Rather, we don’t need to possess magic or special formulas. God enters open hearts and open minds to invigorate our spirits. Most of the time we already have all we need to be kind to one another, and to be conduits of God’s grace and healing. Jesus’ healings were signs of the great potential and deep resources God offers us.

      Jesus never wanted us to think that when he visited Peter’s mother-in-law he had done something unique and beyond human capability. Jesus implied no tricks or secret promises of power. Instead, I suspect Jesus was trying to say there is no magic about the Good News at all. When we take flowers to someone in the hospital or visit shut-ins or offer to pick up some groceries for a neighbor or help a child to read, our touch is very like the touch of Jesus.

      That is why Jesus never wanted to be seen as a magician or super-worker of greater and greater wonders. Rather Jesus wanted us to see God’s abiding presence in everyday ordinary occurrences, in frustration as well as exhilaration, and even in our spiritual exhaustion, when we have to get away and recharge our batteries.  Jesus wanted us to remember the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted: 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.” (Is. 40:30-37)

     And I offer this to you in the name of the Living God, Amen.