The Gospel isn’t meant to be gulped down on Sunday morning, but gnawed on through the week so it really becomes a part of us. You’ve got to work at it, like a dog with a good bone! Here’s the Gospel for this coming Sunday — the Fifth Sunday After The Epiphany — with food for thought on the power of love to heal and transform. Gnaw away!

Mark 1:29-39

Upon leaving the synagogue, Jesus entered Simon’s and Andrew’s house with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told Jesus about her.

Jesus went over to her, took her by the hand and helped her up and the fever left her. Then she went about her work.

After sunset, as evening drew on, they brought to Jesus all who were ill and possessed by demons. Everyone in the town crowded around the door. Jesus healed many who were sick with different diseases, and cast out many demons. But Jesus would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew who he was.

Rising the next morning, Jesus went off to a lonely place in the desert and prayed there. Simon and some companions managed to find Jesus and said to him, “Everybody is looking for you”

Jesus said to them, “Let us move on to the neighboring villages so that I may proclaim the Good News there also. That is what I have come to do.” So Jesus went into their synagogues proclaiming the Good News and expelling demons throughout the whole of Galilee.

The Backstory – What’s Going On Here?

It’s hard to believe we’re still in the first chapter of Mark … but  that’s just how dense and fast-paced this Gospel is. Jesus has called his disciples and already he is a phenomenon. Casting out the demon in the synagogue in Capernaum was just the beginning. It seems like there is no challenge that Jesus cannot meet. He is a presence like none other, and word is spreading fast. Whomever comes in contact with him is changed … be it healed from disease or freed from the grasp of demons. The people are beginning to press in on him … and not for the last time.

Power attracts. And Jesus is power. But as we have seen from the demons, the power of Christ also strikes fear. And we will see more of that as the story continues, too.

A few things to chew on:

*You’d be hard pressed to find someone who was busier at more important work than Desmond Tutu was in the 1980s and 90s. He was the point person in the dismantling of a society’s whole way of functioning and a key figure in the liberation of millions of people. And yet all the time he still spent several hours every day in prayer. U2’s Bono tells the story of asking Tutu how he managed to find time for prayer and meditation with so much to do, and Tutu answered “What are you talking about? Do you think we’d be able to do all this if we didn’t pray?”

Just at the point when Jesus’ is getting the busiest and the demands of the world are at their peak … when “the whole city was gathered around the door,” Mark tells us that Jesus presses pause. “In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.” Prayer is not a luxury to be fit in if we have the time, but as essential as oxygen. Jesus shows us the busier we are, the greater the demands on us, the greater the necessity for prayer … not less.

*Jesus was a rock star. Everyone in Capernaum loved him. He could have stayed where he was and lived a life of adulation. Even when he got up and went out for an early morning stroll to pray he was missed and desired. But he was not content to stay in this comfort zone, in this place where he had already tasted success. He knew his call was to bring healing and wholeness not just where he was but everywhere. Following Jesus is always having our gaze trained toward the next horizon. Where can we spread the love of God deeper and further? How can the circle keep getting wider … and wider … and wider?

Try This:

Last week, we heard about how the people were amazed at how Jesus spoke as one with authority. This week we see even more how strong that authority is … it is strong enough to heal sicknesses and cast out demons of many sorts.

As Americans, we have more choice and power in our lives than most people on the planet. And yet we are so quick to feel powerless. To feel that whatever our circumstances are, it is they that determine what we can and cannot do. But Jesus stands in the midst of us as one with power over all circumstances … and says in his name we have that power, too.

This week, take a few minutes at the beginning of each day and think about that in your life you feel powerless over. Is it a habit or an addiction? Is it a circumstance? Is it a relationship that is going downhill or a job you feel trapped in or unemployment that seems like it will never end? Think of what it is and remember the power of Christ is the greatest power there is. Call on the power of Christ’s name to make God’s love the dominant force in your life. Ask him to break the hold of whatever is holding you back. And believe the God’s love is the most powerful force the universe will ever or has ever known.

What would Jesus do?

On Sunday, January 28th we welcomed Dr. Mikala Rahn to the rector’s forum to talk about the changing face of poverty in Pasadena and the Learning Works (http://www.publicworksinc.org/) model that has built life-changing communities of youth that previously had been homeless and involved in gang life.

When I asked her what the impetus for the whole enterprise was, she said: “It’s really, remarkably simple – love everyone.”

For her that means, one life at a time, encountering kids who are in deep trouble and just asking herself “What would Jesus do?” And what Jesus does is bring healing. What Jesus does is bring hope. What Jesus does is get personally involved – one person, one life at a time.

This week’s Gospel reads:

“Upon leaving the synagogue, Jesus entered Simon’s and Andrew’s house with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told Jesus about her.”

So What Did Jesus Do?

He didn’t call a doctor.

He didn’t tell James and John what they should do.

He didn’t sit down and design a health care initiative.

None of these things would have been bad things. But that’s not what Jesus did. Here’s what Jesus did:

“Jesus went over to her, took her by the hand and helped her up and the fever left her. Then she went about her work.”

Jesus got involved. He put the person in front of him. He took her by the hand. He loved her. He asked what healing she needed and he stayed with her until she got it.

And then she went about her work.

It is so easy to be paralyzed by the complexity of the problems plaguing us. And that’s because they are truly complex! Houselessness. Hunger. Poverty. Food deserts. Struggling schools. The list goes on. And we absolutely should be working on public policy solutions and big programs and changes that can make a difference and solve these problems.

But it all begins with doing what Jesus did. It begins by immersing ourselves in the lives of one another. Asking what healing looks like for that one person. Then doing that work.

That’s what Jesus did. That’s what we can do, too.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Check out the rest of Sunday’s readings

The Lectionary Page has all of the readings for this Sunday and every Sunday – just click here.

Collect for Sunday: Pray this throughout the week as you gnaw on this Gospel.

Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Want to read more?
“The Text This Week” is an excellent online resource for anyone who wants to dive more deeply into the scriptures for the week.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Gnaw on This is a weekly publication of All Saints Church by our rector, Mike Kinman.