Sermon for February 4, 2024: Lifted, Known, and Proclaiming based upon Mark 1:29-39

Mark 1:29-39

Jesus Heals Many at Simon’s House

As soon as they 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.
That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. 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.
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A Preaching Tour in Galilee

In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ 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.’ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

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.     Does anyone here know who Elmo the monster is? Yes, he is a small, fuzzy monster on Sesame Street. He is 3 and half years old. Did you know that Elmo has social media accounts? He does! One of the grown-ups who takes care of him must help him manage it. If you’ve ever watched Sesame Street, you know that Elmo tries to be a good friend. This week, on January 29th, Elmo and whomever help run his account on the site that used to be called Twitter, decided to ask a question that a friend might ask. He made a post that said, “Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?” Well, lots of people responded. Probably more than Elmo and his grown-ups imagined. And lots of people are having a hard time.

     Someone who goes by the name Marsroseo replied: “Elmo we are tired.” The account for the video game called Among Us replied with one word: “suffering.” The actor Rainn Wilson said: “I’m kind of a crossroads and frankly could use a little support.” People replied talking about arguments in their family, problems at work, and about football games where their favorite teams lost. While not everyone said they were having a bad time, and some of the people were obviously making jokes, it was clear that many people needed someone to talk to, even if the someone was a muppet on a TV show they watched when they were little kids.

     Whoever helps with Elmo’s social media didn’t try to answer everyone, which is good. There were tens of thousands of replies. But, the next day, Elmo posted: “Wow! Elmo is glad he asked! Elmo learned that it is important to ask a friend how they are doing. Elmo will check in again soon, friends! Elmo loves you. Heart emoji #emotionalwellbeing.” Also, because monsters who are only three and half years old shouldn’t have to try to take care of other people on their own, the adults who run the main Sesame Street account shared Elmo’s post about being glad he asked, and added, “Thank you, Elmo, for checking in with a reminder for us to pause and take a mindful moment to focus on how we’re feeling.” They also shared resources to help adults and kids take care of their mental health. It was a good example of people knowing that they have resources to share to help someone and then making the choice to help.

     The Bible stories we’re reading together right now come from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. We’ve seen him prepare for his ministry by asking to be baptized. We’ve seen him make it through the harrowing time of temptation in the wilderness and call his first co-workers. And, then, last week, we heard about the first time he did two of the things that will be the hallmarks of his ministry: teaching and healing. He would continue those two activities in today’s reading. The first thing he does is help someone when he finds out that she is not doing ok.

     The first part of the scripture is a story that is in Matthew and Luke, as well as Mark, but is told slightly differently in each Gospel. The people who compiled stories about Jesus into the books of the Gospel each tell a story shaped by what they think is important for the listener to learn about Jesus. Dr. Wil Gafney notes that while Matthew has Jesus seeing the Peter’s mother-in-law sick and choosing to help her and Luke has the disciples ask about what might be wrong with her and Jesus healing her with only his words, in Mark, the disciples tell Jesus about her fever as soon as he got in the house. I guess when they saw how he healed in the person with the demon in the previous story, they thought he could help Simon Peter’s mom. Jesus seemed to know that he could help her. So, he uses his holy resources and makes the choice to help her. He takes her by the hand and lifts her up. In the time it takes to move from lying down to standing up, her fever disappears.

     The last part of her story is interesting. In Greek, it says, “καὶ διηκόνει αὐτοῖς.” You might know an English word that came from one of those Greek words. Has anyone ever heard the word “deacon” before? Excellent. Has anyone who is here today ever been a deacon before? What are some things that deacons do? (help set up worship, check in on people when they need help, serve communion) The word deacon comes from the Greek word διακονέω, which can mean both “to serve” and “to minister.” The scripture you heard read today says that she got up and began to serve them. This could mean serves them dinner or offers them hospitality in her home.

     Dr. Gafney has a translation of this passage that reads: “she ministered to them.” This could lots of things: She helped prepare them for the next part of her journey, she preached to them about her experience of healing, or even offered them a blessing as they had blessed her. Whether she fed them dinner or fed their spirits, I like to think that, like Jesus, she knew that now that she was well, she would have the resources to help these men, two of whom were family, prepare for the ministry that was ahead of them. If she had resources to share, she realized that this was the time to share them.

     It is good that she offered them some manner of care, because the very evening, Jesus and the disciples would begin their healing ministry in earnest. People of all manner of illness were brought to Jesus, so many that it seemed like the whole city was at the door. He healed many people. He also kept any demons floating around from telling people who he was. That’s an odd tidbit in this story, right? Dr. Osvaldo Vena thinks it was because Jesus was trying to avoid become popular through gossip or wild stories, with the assumption that the demon-possessed people would tell wild stories about him. He wanted people to believe in him because they saw him and experience healing through him.

     The last thing Jesus does in this story is to go to a deserted place to pray. Chandra Taylor Smith notes in her commentary that Jesus’ approach to healing and just love is to love himself enough to take time to replenish his own spirit. There will be multiple times that he does this in Mark. Dr. Smith said that it’s a model for us to have a devotional practice that sustains us in challenging work, too. He came to the realization that it was time to go to the next place to teach and heal there, too, “for that is what I came out to do.” He would leave the deserted place, and begin his ministry in earnest.

     Now, I don’t know if you’re feeling like you need to tell Elmo the monster that you’re stressed out or if you could use Jesus to lift you up so that you can serve the ones who have come to your home. What I do know that is that Jesus has clearly equipped us to take care of one another as an extension of the love he has for us. Be it through prayers in the wilderness, a meal served to strangers and family alike, or through a note of compassion over social media, may you feel renewed by Jesus’ spirit of love and justice in this time and this place. And, may you share that renewal with those who need it. This ministry is just starting. We’ll need all the sustenance we can find to continue it.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:

Chandra Taylor Smith: "Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany," Preaching God's Transforming Justice: A Lectionary Commentary, Year B Featuring 22 New Holy Days for Justice, Ronald J. Allen, Dale P. Andrews, and Dawn Ottoni- Wilhelm, eds. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011)

Elmo asks a kind question: https://twitter.com/elmo/status/1751995117366296904?t=_VQmvVR1JUHJZeDWzHhMBg&s=19

• Marsroseo: https://x.com/marsroseo/status/1752006155360973157?s=20
• Among Us: https://x.com/AmongUsGame/status/1752133394597814383?s=20
• Rainn Wilson: https://x.com/rainnwilson/status/1752730588732408194?s=20
• Elmo's response: https://x.com/elmo/status/1752378693446508842?s=20

 
Sesame Street's follow-up: https://x.com/sesamestreet/status/1752069858160758885?s=20
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Osvaldo Vena: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fifth-sunday-after-epiphany-2/commentary-on-mark-129-39-5

​Wil Gafney, "Advent III," A Women's Lectionary, Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year B (New York: Church Publishing Incorporated, 2023)

This page has the Greek version of the text: https://biblehub.com/text/mark/1-31.htm
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