“Good News! Healing! Wholeness! Joy!” Epiphany 5 Lectionary 5 February 8, 2009

These are days of high anxiety. Who among us is aware of a friend or family member who has been laid off, or who is worried about being laid off yourself, or who has had to lay off co-workers? Who among us owns a business and is anxiously comparing this year’s sales figures with last year’s? Who among us is afraid she won’t be able to retire when she had planned to? Who among us is retired, and is worried that the money won’t last? Who among us is a college student or a parent of a student, worried about the college savings fund? Who among us is a child, sensing anxiety and tension among his mother or father?

Have I covered everyone?

Over the past several Sundays, we have been reading in the first chapter of the gospel of Mark. These stories are presented to persuade us that, in Jesus the Christ, God brings good news and healing and wholeness and joy! God, as Holy Spirit, is moving to persuade of us that, in the midst of bad news and despair.

The Bible has a point of view! It is full of persuasive writing. The four gospels, for instance, were composed by four first-century followers of Jesus, who collected and edited stories that had been told in their respective communities about Jesus, and who presented those stories in written form to persuade people that, in Jesus, God has entered our human lives.

In Jesus, God has brought the kingdom to us! In Jesus, God comes among us with good news! What healing! What wholeness! What joy!

Listen to how this is presented – to persuade you and me – in the first chapter of Mark. Notice that, in nine places, we encounter these words: “just as” and “immediately” and “just then” and “at once” and “as soon as.” In these stories there’s movement. There’s animation. There’s intervention!

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

[2] As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
"See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
[3] the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,' "

[4] John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. [5] And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. [6] Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. [7] He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. [8] I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

[9] In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. [10] And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. [11] And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

[12] And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. [13] He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

14] Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, [15] and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."

[16] As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea--for they were fishermen. [17] And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." [18] And immediately they left their nets and followed him. [19] As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. [20] Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

[21] They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. [22] They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. [23] Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, [24] and he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God." [25] But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" [26] And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. [27] They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, "What is this? A new teaching -- with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him." [28] At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

[29] As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. [30] Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. [31] He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

[32] That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. [33] And the whole city was gathered around the door. [34] 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.

[35] In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. [36] And Simon and his companions hunted for him. [37] When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you." [38] 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." [39] And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

[40] A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, "If you choose, you can make me clean." [41] Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I do choose. Be made clean!" [42] Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. [43] After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, [44] saying to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." [45] But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

The action is fast and furious in this first chapter of Mark. There is great hunger for what Jesus is doing and saying, what Jesus is bringing into the people’s lives. Is that not true, as well, for you and me? That’s how the gospel stories engage us. The stories are presented to persuade us that Jesus feeds our hunger for good news and healing and wholeness and joy.

Wherever there is healing and wholeness and joy, there is God. And God brings all of that good news to us in the entanglements of our everyday lives. Right there! For instance, notice the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law. We usually pay the most attention to the dramatic call story of Simon and his brother, Andrew, who leave their fishing nets to follow Jesus. Do they leave everything behind? That does not seem to be the case. My favorite story takes place in Simon and Andrew’s house. Simon is obviously married. His mother-in-law is part of the household. And right there, into the entanglements of Simon’s everyday life, God enters in, through the flesh and blood of Jesus, bringing good news and healing and wholeness and joy. Wherever there are those things, there is God. Are you persuaded?

In this first chapter of Mark, there is great hunger for what Jesus is doing and saying, and what Jesus is bringing into the people’s lives. There is great uproar as well! Do you notice how Jesus encounters resistance? I wonder how often that is true, as well, for you and me. Even though these stories are presented to persuade us that wherever there is healing, there is God; and wherever there is wholeness, there is God; and wherever there is joy, there is God; how often is it that we don’t want to let go of our dis-ease and our dysfunction? How scary and risky is it to open ourselves to healing? What are the “demons,” the “unclean spirits” with which you find yourself in a death grip?

Letting go means changing our lives! It means turning towards God.

The core message of the entire gospel of Mark is this: in Jesus the Christ, [t]he time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news. God the Holy Spirit moves within and among us, to persuade us of this! God the Holy Spirit moves within and among us, to form us by this Biblical world-view of possibility, of healing, of wholeness, of joy!

And so, the bottom line is this: when you find yourself engulfed by fear, by anxiety and despair and exhaustion and bad news: Repent! Believe in the good news!

In the name of God who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia