Lord, I know you can make me clean

If you were asked to describe characteristics of Jesus using only four words, which words would you select? When we read the passage from Mark (Mark 1:40-45) assigned for this Sunday we not only find the message of his Gospel as well as Mark's four words.

Compassion: Mark doesn't often reference Jesus' psychological state, but he does in this Gospel. When Jesus sees this man approach him in need, he is moved immediately to compassion, not judgment.He doesn't ask "What have you done to cause this to happen?" No, he's moved with compassion and a desire to act. This is Jesus, the Word made flesh, the embodiment of God  who is not judgmental, or demanding. He's compassionate.

Touch: There is an intimacy to touch that we frequently take for granted. We rarely think of the basic need human beings have to express their connectedness in a tactile way. Have you ever visited someone who is ill or infirmed? People in a vulnerable state feel separated from the world and often reveal  a need to return, be restored and be part of the community. There are few gestures as powerful as touch and the physical connection between humans. Jesus could easily have healed with a word, a gesture, or a command, but instead he reaches out to touch the leper. The very incarnation of God who takes on our form and endures every aspect of our humanity in all its manifestations, reminds us how much God seeks an intimate relationship with us. 

Willing: Jesus does more than simply respond to the man's plea; he affirms his deepest hopes that is to be seen as having value, dignity and worth, despite his leprosy. And he is, after all, a child of God. Nothing can ever change that. There is nothing we can do to lose God's love. It's not possible. This Gospel provides another example of his everlasting mercy and grace.

Lonely: Make no mistake. These acts of mercy, while perhaps free, take their toll on Jesus. There is, an emotional exchange going on in this reading. Although the leper is now healed, and restored to his community, Jesus can no longer safely travel  anymore. Love always costs something. Perhaps this is why Jesus asked the man to be silent; maybe it’s the "Messianic secret"  or  maybe it was because he knew this would make it difficult for him to freely continue with his ministry? Whatever the reason, and despite the risk, he continues oblivious of the personal risk. He trades places with this man  by sacrificing his freedom in order that the leper finds his. I know many parents, grandparents, lovers and friends can relate. 

So maybe one way to get at this text this week would be to think about the images we have of God. These images were often formed when we were in our formative years; they can be powerful, comforting or troubling and often exist at an unconscious level. So, what four words do we personally think best describe Jesus and God now and then?  

  Love takes what you have and gives it back more beautiful than before.

 (adapted from  Dear Working Preacher, David Lose Feb, 2012.)

This is who God wants me to be

 

I mean no disrespect but reading this story about Peter’s mother-in-law, I am reminded of a scene in the classic 1987 movie, Moonstruck in which Loretta’s (Cher) fiancé, Johnny travelled to Sicily to be with his dying mother. Johnny, played by Danny Aiello, telephones Loretta in tears as he and the wailing women keep vigil; “it’s just a matter of time,” he says. Then suddenly, out of the blue, Johnny’s mother is miraculously cured and jumps out of the bed and begins to prepare an elaborate dinner for a multitude of people including the future mourners. It’s a miracle Johnny proclaims; it’s a sign and being superstitious, he tells Loretta he cannot marry her. To me, like Simon’s mother-in-law, the real miracle is that the old woman begins to cook and serves everyone. 

The healing of Simon’s mother-in-law is a classic healing story (Mark1: 29-39).  But there is something a little disturbing about this story that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with healing. “Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.” Doesn’t that strike us as a little strange? Can you see why I was reminded of Moonstruck? Virtually everyone I know has had the flu every now and then. Now I’m not talking about Covid,  I’m referring to the typical flu whose season usually begins in the fall and exits in  April. The idea of popping out of bed and doing anything at all much less serving guests dinner, is inconceivable. If it were me I would have thanked them all for their support and, especially Jesus, then tactfully usher them out of my room, asking them to help themselves to tea and left over Christmas fruit cake…really hoping that they would leave my home so that I could rest some more. 

I realize that in that time and in a time not so long ago, the matriarch’s role as keeper of the house, was to serve her family and guests. If you are brought back from the edge of death, or from the brink of whatever, shouldn't there be something else for you to pursue? Perhaps, a new vocation or career or a new identity? And yet Peter's mother-in-law went back to the kitchen and whipped up dinner and served the guests. Was that what she was expected to do?  

But, what if the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law gave her a new lease on life and a new purpose, beyond her traditional role as mother and housekeeper? And what if in being brought back to who she was, she became a disciple, called to minister, to serve. Have you ever felt like God has brought you back from the brink ... to yourself? That you were called back from a place that was not fully you, to be the “real” you?

Jesus lifted her up. What if resurrection is being raised up to be who we always were and always meant to be? Not that of a successful rock star, athlete or business tycoon but as the incredible feeling of being the real us. Being raised up is not just some sort of spiritual future but is our present reality, in the here and now, to live as the real you…your mind, spirit, body, everything together, everything that you were always meant to be. The story of Simon’s mother-in-law reminds us that God does not call us to be something we are not, but is in the business of restoring us to who we really are. 

 God called Jesus to be who he was. That’s what the incarnation is all about. Jesus didn’t go around pretending to be something that he wasn't. Didn't he petition his father  to“ let this cup pass" Being human is to what God committed God’s self and therefore, being who we are is what God wants us to be. God brings us back from the brinks of our lives, from despair, from disease, from desperation, to live. Because then, maybe, we will actually know, feel, and get that which we are a part, that God needs us to be a part, of what’s at stake for God when God decided to become one of us.

 (Adapted from Karoline Lewis, Dear Working Preacher, February 1, 2015)

 

I know who you are, the Holy One of God

 

How in our place and time can we relate to what’s going on in this Gospel?    Talking about evil or demons either is a little out of our experience much less comfort zone. Mark’s account of the exorcism in the temple on the Sabbath in Capernaum (Mark 1:21-28 ), makes us a little uncomfortable and maybe our need to explain what cannot be explained is troubling.  

Yet there is something about this reading that compels us beyond the narrative. We get a sense of immediacy and a bias for action that characterizes Jesus’ behavior. He is in control and taking charge of business. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Did Jesus purposefully wait for the Sabbath to enter the synagogue to teach? If so, this act alone established his authority. And isn’t it ironic that the one who knows who Jesus is, is the man with the unclean spirit: .Christmas and the Feast of the Epiphany are behind us and the Lenten season is in two weeks, followed by an “early” Easter.  Ordinary time as the Lectionary calls it, is anything but “ordinary” and not just a place-holder for Lent and the Easter season. Jesus wasn’t just waiting and checking off the boxes as he went about his ministry. Jesus, we are told, "is on fire" and came as scripture reminds us “to set the world on fire.” He is taking on the evil of the world that of all places resides in the synagogue, a place of worship. He is shaking up a religion based on rules and proclaiming a faith based on love…he preaches on the Sabbath and heals a man possessed… all of which will “purposely”(?) incite the temple authorities who exploit religion and will eventually call for his arrest. No, ordinary time is a time of an awakening, a transformation into a new realm of living and faith.  

In many ways, this past year was one of self-imposed seclusion for me. 2023 was a time of waiting for what I hoped would be an all-clear signal sounding a return to some semblance of "normalcy.” In many ways it was a transformative period during which waiting yielded to acceptance. The calendar pages turned and the seasons passed, oblivious to the goings on in the world. Yet at ground level, just as in the time of Jesus, the days, weeks and months were turbulent and far from “ordinary.”  2023 was hardly a place-holder for 2024 and based on world current events, January is unimpressed by its new “address,” making us realize how little the calendar has to do with the passage of time in eternity. And what does time have to do with "eternity." So no time is ordinary and what we call as normal is merely part of our journey. In a few weeks we will be focusing on the end of Jesus' earthly ministry, culminating in his passion, crucifixion and resurrection. We would all agree that Jesus' time on earth was anything but ordinary but like 2023, it was certainly transformed the world forever.  

Now back to exorcisms and evil and how this relates to us today in the here and now. Our epiphany calls us to see something in a way we never saw before. It sets the stage for personal transformation, in which our eyes are opened to a new understanding. In Gerald May’s Dark Night of the Soul, he talks about "Mystery and Freedom." We become comfortable with things we can’t explain when we are comfortable in the knowledge that we don’t have to explain them and we allow the words to speak to us for what they mean and what they say. Sometimes transformation requires that we enter a dark period, outside our comfort zones before we are able to see things "in a new way." We must be rid of those demons that disrupt our journey. We must open our hearts and actively listen. Yes, demons and evil exist and we must wait to hear "Be silent, and come out of him!"

 

I will make you Fishers of Men

 

What force could be so strong  and so compelling that would make us drop everything and leave home? Sure, many of us have left our homes as part of a plan to pursue our dreams. Maybe we went away to college, leaving our family and  friends behind; maybe we moved to advance our careers or change our lives elsewhere, or maybe we were summoned or inspired to serve our country in the military. It's not uncommon in today’s world in which greater opportunity and career development are linked to mobility. It seems like only yesterday that this trend in upward mobility was introduced in the book, "The Greening of America."

We all make choices in our lives. But the idea that an unknown itinerant preacher and former carpenter, talking about the kingdom of God, could ask us to drop everything and follow him is inconceivable. That's essentially the scene that Mark1:14-20 describes. Unfortunately the details in Mark’s Gospel are few and there’s obviously a lot more we don't know than we do. But what we do know is that there was something compelling enough about Jesus and his message that prompted these four initially, Simon, Andrew, James and John, to follow him, to become his disciples, students of this teacher and servants of his mission.

What could be so powerful a message in what Jesus said that would compel us to change our lives so drastically? Could this happen in our time?  Mark writes “And immediately they left their nets and followed him.” Mark's use of the word immediately suggests that something happened to them, in them. They experienced an epiphany that suddenly prompted them to follow Jesus. I wonder if profound changes in our faith can only happen suddenly? Are they planned or studied or God's working in us has nothing to do with our plans? It's almost as if we are on automatic pilot and all we have to do is to let go of the controls and say yes.

Mark’s sense of urgency, i.e., "immediately,"  leaves bo room for “wait a few minutes. Let me pack my bag and make a few arrangements.” No -- epiphanies just happen. No preparation. No packing list. No recommendations of what to take, what to do. 

Karoline Lewis writes, “Jesus just happens. We have no time to think. Epiphanies are untamable, unpredictable. There is nothing comfortable about epiphanies. They rock your world. “Epiphanies, especially of the divine nature, demand an immediate response. There’s no invitation for contemplation or reflection but instantaneous commitment and risk. Or, to put it another way, no real choice... If the heavens are ripped apart, well then, get ready for a wild ride. This can be simultaneously freeing and terrifying. Free to respond in the moment. Terrified of what beyond the moment will unfold. (Working Preacher, January 18, 2015). 

So, back to the question, could this happen in our time? Can we remember those  times when our behavior surprised us and made us ask, where did that come from? Maybe this is what Mark wants us to think about.

 

What are you looking for?

 

When I entered basic training, I was warned never to volunteer for anything or respond to a request for volunteers. It was common for a drill sergeant to “ask” unwitting recruits for “volunteers” for duties that appeared to be easier on the surface than they were. Invariably, these jobs never turned out to be easy. In time we learned to avoid eye contact with the "inviting" sergeant and stand way in the back of the formation to hide and avoid being “volunteered.” John's (John 1:35-42) account of how Peter, Andrew, James and John immediately responded to Jesus invitation reminded me of my time in basic training. I’m always amazed as to how quickly the disciples dropped everything and just followed Jesus. I wonder how I would respond to a request from a passing stranger who asks me to stop what I was doing, drop everything and follow him. At the very least I think I would have pretended not to hear him and let him bother someone else. If cornered and pressed I might ask for some time to think about it. After all, how could I possibly stop what I’m doing right now? It's too important. Maybe later.

Could we drop everything, leave our families and communities, and follow someone we didn’t even know? Both Matthew and Mark emphasize the word “immediately" to describe the new "recruits’" snap decision. Snap decisions are often fraught with risks and don't always turn out as we had hoped. Yet, sometimes they turn out better than if we had planned for them. Consider those times in my life when our snap decisions turned out really well. Don’t we sometimes wonder what prompted those decisions?

And so what does John's Gospel mean to us today? Does it mean leaving behind the promise of a steady income in a successful family business? Or, maybe it means letting go of things that hold us bound to our comfort zones, and perhaps symbolic of the fisherman’s nets in our Gospel.  Responding to the prompt and letting go can come in a variety of ways and will vary from one person to another. While Jesus does not ask everyone to leave everything behind, no one can be a disciple and follow His call to repent without leaving something behind, or without letting go of the nets that keep us "tied up." 

Jesus is calling us to a new way of life and asking us to turn the focus of our lives to being God-centered. At its basic level, discipleship means saying “yes” to Jesus and following him wherever he leads. There are times we try to run away and go back to where we were before but like the young recruit trying to be invisible, we can’t hide in the back of the formation out of sight. Jesus, like my drill instructor is relentless, and as often as we try to hide, he will find us.

Getting back to “snap decisions” and following that inspiration, John Powell writes "There have been quite a few times when I have felt the winds of God’s grace in the sails of my small boat. Sometimes these graces have moved me in pleasant and sunlit directions. At other times the requested acts of love were born in the darkness of struggle and suffering. There have been spring times and there have been long cold winters of struggle for survival. God has come to me at times with the purest kindness, at times with the most affirming encouragement, and at other times with bold frightening challenges. I think that all of us have to watch and pray, to be ready to say 'yes' when God’s language is concrete and his request is specific-'yes' in the sunlit spring times and 'yes’ in the darkness of winter nights." (John Powell, S.J., The Christian Vision, The Truth That Sets Us Free, p147)

 

Are you waiting or are you looking

 

The Mystery of Christmas embraces both the feasts of the Nativity and the Epiphany. In the Nativity we commemorate God’s humble entrance into human life, incarnated in Jesus. In the Epiphany we celebrate Jesus as God’s gift to the world and embodies the expression for our longing for intimacy with God. (Matthew 2:1-12)

Like the Magi, we need only the "light" of strong, unwavering faith to see Him, to find Him, to serve Him in the people around us and in the circumstances of our everyday living. Like the Magi, we need only to trust in and know God's love for us…only then we will recognize His presence and His power in sunrise and sunset, in storm and calm, in the faces of children and wisdom of the elderly, in moments of elation and heart-break. We will see His radiance and warmth behind every cloud of sorrow or failure that darkens our days.

The Magi went to extraordinary lengths to look for the Christ Child. They serve to remind us that there are those who wait for the coming of the Jesus with those who make the effort to find Him. Like the magi, our search goes on - but so does Epiphany…Are we actively looking or merely waiting… and what gifts do we bring?

 

Be it Done Unto Me According to Your Will

 

The Gospel celebrate those events in the life of Christ that serve as models for us to follow and live. Over time many of our original interpretations that we were taught to believe were eventually dismissed, leaving a void for which literal meanings no longer exist. Over time our faith flourished as knowing filled that void and intuitive knowing took root, and new insights emerged that were clearer, simpler, and more beautiful. I’ve come to realize that if I understand something and feel that I can explain it clearly, it’s not a mystery. Yet, I have this undeniable egotistical urge to do my best to try to explain things that defy explanation. 

Somehow, the mistrust of all that has been handed down to us, has led to a failure of the imagination, evidenced by language that’s childishly comfortable and unchallenging. Our prayers become a self- indulgent praise of ourselves as we purported to “confess” our weaknesses. These prayers are anything but the lifting of our hearts and minds to God. There’s no attempt to listen and stop talking.

Gerald May writes in The Dark Night of the Soul that “It is the same for all important things in life; there is a mystery within them that our definitions and understandings cannot grasp. Definitions and teaching are images and concepts created by our brains to symbolize what is real. Our thoughts about something are never the thing itself. Further, when we think logically about something, our thoughts come sequentially – one after another. Reality is not confined to such linearity; it keeps happening all at once in each instant. The best our thoughts can do is try to keep a little running commentary in rapid, breathless sequence.”

 And so now in this last week of Advent, on Christmas Eve, we focus on the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38), a mystery of epic proportions that defies rational explanation. It stuns us to hear some attempt to reduce the virgin birth to a mere story of an unwed pregnant teenager. Have we come to a time when anything that did not stand up to reason or that we couldn’t explain, should be characterized as primitive and infantile? Why do we think that an almighty spiritual being is confined to man’s intellect and his feeble language to communicate? Do we not see how metaphor and poetry reveal meaning, not explanation, on a deep personal level?  

A few years ago we had an opportunity to travel through Eastern Europe, making our way from the Black Sea to Amsterdam. I was taken aback by the devastation in human lives caused by the failure of the “great social experiment,” that created societies whose wealth was shared but only among those at the top. So great buildings were erected for the personal aggrandizement of the elite while sacrificing the welfare of the people who were desperate for food and who desired a modicum of personal enrichment. On the other hand, I was impressed with the number of churches and cathedrals that were reopened after decades of being forced to close. These were flourishing, but more in support of tourism than worship. Yet, as their spires are raised to the heavens so are our spirits for whatever their intended origins, they pay homage to Almighty  God.

Looking at the beautiful classical paintings and art in these churches made me wonder what it was that inspired the artists to create poetic images and visual metaphors depicting the “mysteries” of Christianity. It occurred to me that their art was conveyed in a language all its own and derived its source from inspiration and not the intellect, and while the cynic might deride the image of the Angel Gabriel appearing to Mary, the artist understood it completely.

Art and music are languages of the soul that bypass our literal sense of sight and understanding and speak to us at a level we cannot explain or know but do we really need explanation for something we feel down deep? 
When we allow God’s love to break through our consciousness as we contemplate the Mysteries of the Annunciation and Virgin birth, do we run from it? Do we ask it to explain what it cannot? Or are we “virgin” enough to surrender to our deepest self and allow it to fill our being? We cannot ask it to explain what it cannot.