Epiphany 5 B: Jesus’ Ministry and Ours
Dear Partner in Preaching,
True confessions: I have no idea whether this will help with your Sunday sermon this week, but… this is what I found most interesting, and I do think it bears on our common calling as pastors and preachers.
First off… who knew Peter was married? Well, maybe you and I did, but I’m guessing that just about nobody in the congregation you’ll preach for this Sunday knew that Peter has a mother-in-law which, by implication, means he was married. J Why does this matter? I kind of think most of our folks – and, truth be told, most of us – tend to think of the disciples as, well, not like the rest of us. Like they were cut from different cloth, led very different lives, were destined to be Jesus’ disciples from the beginning, and generally are just plain different. Yes, we know they fell short and weren’t perfect, and yet I still have a hunch that we have a hard time relating to them. (They do go on, after all, to start the Church!) But Peter has a mother-in-law… who is sick… and he’s worried about her… and he asks Jesus for help. He is, in other words, kind of ordinary. Like us.
Second, Jesus’ ministry is comprised of proclaiming the good news of God’s coming kingdom, healing the sick, and resisting the forces of evil by casting out demons. How might that rather focused mission statement – proclaim, heal, resist – inform our congregation’s sense of its mission?
Third, Jesus also prays. He actually takes time to pray, to withdrawal and tend to his own spiritual life. Way, way too easy to forget; for our folks, for sure, but also for us. And I don’t mean to add to your “to do” list – “make time to pray!” – but rather that to remind us that breathing, resting, renewing, connecting are good things, however you may do that.
Fourth and finally, I find it fascinating that Mark says that “they brought all who were sick” and that Jesus “cured manywho were sick.” I don’t know if this contrast is intentional, but it strikes me that even Jesus didn’t seem to cure them all. Which may be instructive. We so often can focus on who we’ve missed, what we’re not doing, where we’ve fallen short, when it might help tremendously instead to focus on, and draw strength from, who we’ve reached, what we’ve accomplished, and where we have moved more fully into the calling we’ve received from God. This is important for you to hear, Dear Partner, as I know how easy it is to become discouraged in ministry, but it’s also so important for our congregations to hear, as the needs of our communities, especially now, can seem overwhelming, and yet to look and see who has been positively affected by our ministries can encourage us in our faith, life, and work.
Well… that’s all I’ve got this week, Dear Partner. I’ve written on this passage two other times on this forum and, if you’re interested, you can find those here and here. Otherwise, know of my gratitude for your ministry and my prayers that you have a moment this week to withdrawal, pray, see your ministry as a blessing to your folks, remember that God delights in working through ordinary folks, and in all these ways be renewed in faith. What you do matters and I’m so grateful for your partnership in the Gospel.
Blessings in Christ,
David
In re: “many” and “all.” If my memory serves me correctly, these words mean the same thing in NT Greek.
In re: healing mother-in-law: No wonder Peter betrayed Jesus.
Hi David.
I found your site through textweek.com and I read it every week. I really appreciate you taking the time you take to write every week on the gospel reading for the coming Sunday.
Thank you and Blessings to you! Rev. Holly
I’m wrestling with the “mother-in-law” title, and I wonder if it meant the same thing in the first century as it does to us today. Charles Dickens, who admittedly wrote a bit later, uses the phrase to describe a person whom we would now call a stepmother. The same holds true for “father-in-law” and stepfather. Then, it also must be said that she is Peter’s mother-in-law, but doesn’t mention any relationship with Andrew, whose home it is, too. But since we hear nothing of Peter’s wife, or any children, the meaning of the phrase “mother-in-law” seems to be up for grabs until we do a deep reading of first-century Greek literature for the word penthera. Perhaps that’s been done, and I haven’t found it yet.
I’ll reply to myself here. I found other references stating that the term “penthera” did mean mother-in-law as we use it. Also, Paul refers to Peter being married in 1 Cor. 9:5.
Thank you David. You close each of your messages with words of encouragement. I really needed to hear them this week and to be reminded that what I focus on will grow; if it is positive, I am encouraged, if it negative, I can easily become discouraged. I needed your prompting to change what I see.
Offering a homily via Zoom means a bit of pruning for time. One way I pruned was to use the 1983 CL selection of Job 7:1-4, 6-7 in place of Isaiah. Both passages offer the assurance, the hope, the trust that always with God there is something more than what we can see on the surface. Although chosen more for time, I found myself looking at the broader picture of the connection betwixt Job and Mark – Job at a turning point in Ch. 7 reaches out toward God, which in turn without his knowing it, thwarts the desire of the Satan to turn from God and die. Job is part of a battle he never wanted nor signed up for. Job searches and wrestles with his understanding and connection with God and in the end comes back to God, rests in God.
Those in Mark who were apart from the community, from carrying out a purpose and connection, due to sickness and demons that they never wanted or signed up for – were brought to Jesus, God incarnate, who touched, consoled, and hopefully, in the spirit of Job, initiated their turn back toward God, resting in God – maybe even those that he was not able to physically cure. I’m finding in this time of the pandemic some people are asking an underlying question about struggling with God, wrestling with God, whilst they are caught up in the pandemic and the ongoing polarization in the world, in society, and in even in the Church Universal, if God is there for them. Especially difficult for those who out of an abundance of care and concern are not gathering for in-person worship nor receiving the body and blood of our Lord weekly or daily. Just my thoughts.
David, are you alright? I’m missing your Dear Partner messages. They’re a big help. I look back at your posts from other years but I appreciate your comments that connect to current events.
Have there been any new posts since Feb. 1st? I must have missed one or two?
G G