03 Epiphany 5th Sunday After the Epiphany
My friends, I greet you this morning in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our lesson comes to us from the first chapter of Mark’s Gospel.
It wasn’t too long ago that I found myself in the corner. I was standing there with the closet door opened in such a way that it concealed my presence. My heart was pounding in my chest and I could almost feel the adrenaline. I discovered that I could see around the door into the rest of the room without giving away my position. So there I stood waiting in anticipation, watching with expectation. And then a little voice called out, “Daaadddyyy?? Wheeerrreee arrrrre yooouu??” As the voice drew closer my heart beat faster. He was seeking, I was hiding, but then that is how you play the game isn’t it?
You know how it goes. All you have to do is find a really good hiding place, and then be sure to not be found. Today’s Gospel reading tells us that Simon and his companions weren’t just seeking Jesus, they were hunting for him. They were diligently, eagerly, and closely searching for him. There was anticipation to their search. What would that have been like? I can’t prove it, but maybe it went a little something like this. “Jeeessssuss?? Wheeerrreee arrreee yoooouuu??” They call out. It is early in the morning. In fact it is so early that the sun hasn’t even woken up yet. The warm blankets of bed have now been replaced with the cold blanket of night. And yet the hunt continues. You can’t help but wonder what was going through his head in those moments. My guess is that he was trying to sort out the events of the last day.
During those hours he had heard Jesus teach. But his teaching was unlike anything that they had heard before. He was teaching with authority. Then there was that showdown with the unclean spirit. Although really it wasn’t much of a show down because Jesus simply spoke and the spirit left. You could say it was like the Superbowl, it really wasn’t a competition. As Simon calls out again “Jeeessusss?? Wheerrreee arrreee yoooouuu???” he continues to marvel at all that had happened in the previous moments.
After the synagogue they go to Simon and Andrew’s house. They find Simon’s mother-in-law laying in bed with a fever. They tell Jesus about the situation and with out a word, at least the text doesn’t say that Jesus said anything, he takes this woman’s hand. He lifts her up and as he does her fever leaves her. And she is well.
Simon pauses for a moment. The eager searching has left him with short breath and so he sits for a moment to catch his breath. The sun still has not begun to climb over the horizon. It was just a few hours ago that the people of the town came over to Simon’s house. They brought with them their sick and demon possessed. It seemed like the whole town was there standing around the door. And Jesus reached out to them. Those who had come to him sick, left with a clean bill of health. Those who had come tormented by evil spirits, left free from their anguish. As Jesus went from person to person you could see the love and compassion in his eyes. His gentle touch, his kind words. It was awesome.
When the last person left it was rather late. And so exhausted from the day’s events, they laid down for a much needed nap. But latter Simon was awoken by the sound of the door closing. He sat up, looked around the room. “Where is Jesus?” Simon grabbed Andrew and James and John and they went out into the darkness to begin their hunt. “Jeeessusss?? Wheerrreee arrreee yoooouuu???”
We don’t really know why Simon and his companions were looking for Jesus. The only clues our text gives us is that everyone was searching for him. But that only tells us the action. So the purpose behind the action is anyone’s guess. What do you think? Why were they looking for Jesus?
I think it had something to do with the power they had seen. The sick were healed, demons were cast out, I mean this is big time stuff. As wonderful and amazing as our medical advances are today, they don’t have the success rate of Jesus. Power like that attracts people. Simon and his companions were probably expecting another day like the one they had just witnessed and so they were expecting Jesus to be back at the house when the people from the town began to show up.
The healing of diseases the driving out of demons, these would certainly be considered miracles. But there is another miracle here. The miracle of God becoming a human being. This is known as the incarnation. The one who touches the sick and drives out demons is the one who created the universe. Out of his great love for people he came to be one of us. He came to live among us. And so Jesus true God and true man is himself a miracle.
He came because a long time ago in a garden far far away sin entered into the world. At that time a game of hide and seek took place. In the cool of the evening the Lord called out, “Aaaadddaammm wwwhhheeerrrreee aarrrrreeee yoooouuu?!?!” He was hiding because he was afraid.
Sin is a nasty thing. It separates people from God. It makes them his enemies. It separates people from one another. The wages of sin is death, and there is no one who escapes its grasp. Sin is the reason for all the pain and suffering we see in our world. When we talk bad about somebody to make ourselves look better, that is sin. When we see people in economic terms, their value coming from what they are able to contribute, that is sin. When relationships are broken, when hatred brews, when forgiveness is withheld and revenge is pursued, that is sin. Sin is the reason why I will choose to serve myself, when I could be serving you. It is into this picture that Jesus comes.
He comes because of his love and compassion for the people of this world. As he walks with them and sees their pain and suffering, he reaches out his hand to touch them. He stretches out his arms to heal their pain, their sickness and their suffering. But he didn’t come just to deal with the effects of sin. He didn’t come to just deal with symptoms. He came to deal with the problem at its root. A little latter down the road, he will again reach out his hand, he will again stretch out his arm only this time they will be nailed to a rough wooden cross. His blood will be shed. His life will be ended. And the power of sin will be destroyed. Three days latter death will also be conquered when Jesus rises from the dead.
Remember how I told you I was hiding in the corner? Well David did find me. And the reunion was a joyful one. "Daddddyyy" he said with great joy and excitement and he threw his arms around my legs and gave me the biggest bear hug his little arms could muster.
We were no longer separated. We were no longer apart. We were together, we were reunited. And just as David and I were reunited in that game of hide-n-seek, you and I have been reunited to our God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the waters of Baptism he has washed us clean and claimed us as his own. Through the hearing of his Word his Holy Spirit works faith in our lives. The faith we have, the relationship that we have with our God, these are gifts that he gives us. We do not deserve it. We do not earn it. We have these things because of God's great love for us.
He did not want us to be forever hidden from him because of our sin. So he sent Jesus to seek us out, to save us, and to make us his own. Jesus paid the price for our sins. Just as he reached out his hand to heal Peter's mother-in-law, he reached out his hands on a cross to heal us. What an awesome gift.
So where do we go from here? I would suggest that we take a clue from Peter's mother-in-law. Notice what happened after she was healed. She got up and she served. Now I want to be very clear here. She was not healed so that she would serve. She served because she was healed.
Like her you and I have been healed. Our broken relationship with God has been restored. And so our response is service. Service to God. Service to one another. Service to the people in our lives. We do this as we come to worship. We do this as we study God's word. We do this as we are prepared to give a reason for the hope that is in us. We do this as we offer forgiveness because of the great forgiveness that we have been given. We do this as we love in the great way that we have been loved.
The disciples found Jesus. They told him that everyone was looking for him. But there were still more people who need to hear is message that the Kingdom of God has come near. There were more people who need to feel is healing touch. There were more people who needed to have their demons cast out. So Jesus and his disciples did not stay there, but they went out to continue his mission. Today there are people who need to know of the healing love of God in Christ Jesus. May our God bless you and me as we go out and continue his mission. Amen.