RCL 05B, 2012
Sunday February 5 2012, 10:00 am
Isaiah 40:21-31
Psalm 147:1-12
I Corinthians 9:16-23
* Mark 1:29-39
Children's Sermon Preparation:
·
Make
a “Prayer Fan”
·
Extra
copies of the labels for adults too.
Prayer of the Day1:
Everlasting God,
you give strength to the weak and power to the faint.
Make us agents of your healing and wholeness, that your good news may be made known to the ends of your creation, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
Children's Message:
So glad you're here!
In the Bible story that I'll read in a few minutes, Jesus heals a whole lot of people, and then he takes time to talk with God in prayer.
Jesus got up early in the morning, and went to a lonely place to pray.
What are some places that we could pray? [Everywhere!]
What are some things you might talk with God about in prayer? [Everything!]
I want to encourage you to pray each
night at bedtime.
Bedtime is a great time to pray,
because you can look back over the day and talk with God about all the
things that happened.
You can also look ahead to the next day and talk with God about that too.
I've made something to help you talk
with God in prayer.
I call it a “Prayer Fan”
and you use it by filling in the blanks.
I've set out some extra sheets for the adults to take when they come up for Communion.
[Walk through the prayer fan and show
how to use it for praying: -Dear God, I want to talk with you in prayer.
I'm glad that you're
always ready to listen to me.
Thank you God for ….
Today I felt happy when
….
Today I felt sad when ….
I'm worried about ….
I'm sorry about, or
sorry for ….
I wish, I hope, or I
want ….
Keep us all safe
tonight, and help us to love and serve you.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Gospel Introduction:2
Everywhere Jesus goes, many people expect him to set them free from oppression. Everywhere Jesus goes, he heals them and sets them free. Disease, devils, and death are running for their lives. The forces that diminish human life are rendered powerless by Jesus.
GOSPEL (Mark 1:29–39, NRSV)
The Gospel of our Lord, according to St. Mark. /Glory to you O Lord.
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 sundown, 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.
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
The Gospel of our Lord / Praise to you, O Christ.
Sermon: Healing and Withdrawing
After worshiping in the synagogue,
and casting out the demon, Jesus, James and John headed for Simon and Andrew's
house3.
They expected to continue the Sabbath
celebration as they had done so many times before.
And Simon's was a favorite spot to do so: the food was always good, and a special candle would be burning— what a glow surrounded these special times together.
But they knew something was wrong the
moment they entered the door.
Simon, in a hushed tone, told Jesus about his Mother-in-law and how she was near death with a terrible burning fever.
Simon Peter would tell every detail
of what happened later on when things settled down.
Jesus went right into the darkened
room where she lay, and lifted her out of the sick bed.
Pushing the strands of hair from her
eyes, a look of health and happiness spread across her face like the first rays
of sunshine breaking in upon the dark night.
The fever that moments ago had
wracked her bones and left her weak and shivering under the covers, was gone.
Jesus said simply, "You will be
fine now."
Peter’s mother-in-law reached for the water jar and drank deeply, and then got up and served them at table.
They laughed, and ate; they drank and
spoke until the last rays of the Sabbath were fading.
A new day had begun, in more ways than one.
As the sun set, voices could be heard outside the door.
Word had indeed spread and it seemed as if the whole world had made its way to Simon's house!
Simon opened the door slowly and the mob pushed their way in, nearly trampling him as they looked for Jesus.
It's hard to describe what happened next.
Fishermen, tax collectors and Roman soldiers made up the bulk of the population.
All of these people showed up at Simon's door that evening because they heard what had happened at Synagogue.
Word was out that Jesus had tremendous powers— if he could cure that man with a demon, he could cure anyone, they were saying.
And so all pandemonium broke loose that evening at Simon's house, but Jesus took them one at a time.
Jesus then spoke to each one so lovingly,
and sent them away— cured of what ailed them!
Yet each time, Jesus told them not to tell anyone what he had done!
There were so many who wanted healing, that Jesus couldn’t see them all that evening!
There was tremendous disappointment when the door was bolted late that night.
So, a large crowd camped at the doorstep like people waiting all night for a rock concert or special sale, hoping to get Jesus' attention first thing the next day.
But before daylight, Jesus
slipped quietly out of the house and left
He kept going until he found solitude
in a nearby wilderness.
Then he stopped to pray.
When the others finally woke up,
Jesus was nowhere to be found.
Simon and the other disciples were left to contend with the increasingly restless crowd that was pressing-in at the door seeking Jesus and the cure he could offer.
So they sent out a search party for Jesus.
Finally, after a long day of trudging up and down very difficult terrain, they spotted him.
With an edge of anger and frustration in their voices, they told him that he was wanted down below at Simon's house.
But Jesus responded: "Let us go on to neighboring towns so that I may proclaim the message there also..."
Jesus made it very clear that he wasn't going to be persuaded to go back and do what the disciples wanted.
Instead, Jesus was listening to God's voice, in the same way as the prophets had before him.
That authority established Jesus' leadership among these disciples: never before had they seen such a connection
with what was spoken from the Torah at Synagogue and what was desperately needed among the people.
The hope of
driven by the south wind.
Jesus healed, and Simon Peter’s mother-in-law was again able to serve.
Jesus healed, and when he became so popular, he chose to leave town.
Jesus healed, and then withdrew for prayer.
Jesus healed and Simon Peter’s
mother-in-law was again able to serve.
God renews our strength for service.
How often we become weighted
down with serving!
How frequently the demands
of those around us tire us out!
Family members, friends, probably even our church— there are so many needs, and so little to go around!
If anyone understands, it’s Jesus!
Today’s Gospel reading proclaims that
in life, oscillation is necessary and good!
Note the pattern of Jesus’ alternating
between preaching and healing, and time alone with God in the
desert.
Work and worship.
Service and rest.
Doing and being.
Today’s Gospel reading calls us, too, to adopt such a pattern for our lives: servanthood and renewal.
C.S. Lewis says that “The moment we wake up each day, all our wishes and hopes rush at us like wild animals.
And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, in taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.”4
Countless icebergs float in
the frigid waters around
Some are tiny; others tower
skyward.
Sometimes, the small ones move
in one direction, while their gigantic counterparts go
in the other direction!
Why?
The small ones are pushed
around by winds blowing on the surface of the water.
But the huge ice masses are
guided by the deep ocean currents.
Each day, there’s a tug-of-war
pulling us in opposite directions!
Will we be pushed around by all those
forces clamoring for success as the world defines it?
Or will we take the time to link up with God, and be guided by the deep current of the One who created it all?
Jesus healed, and Simon Peter’s mother-in-law was again able to serve.
Jesus healed, and when he became so popular, he chose to leave town.
Jesus healed, and then withdrew for prayer.
It would have been easy for
Jesus to have chosen popularity and fame!
Yet numbers, popularity, and success
seem to bother Jesus!
Jesus didn’t pass-up the opportunity to heal, but then he asked the people to keep it quiet: Jesus doesn’t say, “Throw away your cane, and walk across the stage so everyone can see!”6
Jesus apparently feared that rumors of miracles would gather the curious and foster cries for help only in physical terms, thus hindering his message7.
Jesus is concerned about the crowds and success8 because he knows that people will follow anybody almost anywhere who gives them what they want.
The Messiah is not some form of Santa Claus who has come to give us everything our hearts desire!
And so Jesus sought time alone in prayer, because he needed further clarity about his mission, and because he needed encouragement to walk the narrow way desired by his Father.
Jesus healed, and Simon Peter’s mother-in-law was again able to serve.
Jesus healed, and when he became so popular, he chose to leave town.
Jesus healed, and then withdrew for prayer.
May we, too, adopt our Lord’s pattern of service and withdrawal, of work and worship, of doing and being.
And may we, too, be guided – not by popularity and success – but by God’s will for our lives. Amen.
Hymn of the Day: # 787, On Eagle’s Wings
Communion Hymns # 617, We Come to You for Healing
#
612, Healer of Our Every
# 485, I Am the Bread of Life
Sending Thought:
A young boy and his
father were walking along a road.
They came across a huge
boulder.
The little boy looked at
the stone, and asked his father “Do you think if I use all my strength, I can move that rock?
The father thought for a
moment and then answered, “I think, if you use all your strength, you can do it.”
That was all the
encouragement the little boy needed.
He ran over to the rock
and began to push on it.
He pushed and he pulled so enthusiastically that beads of sweat began to form on his
brow.
But the rock wouldn't budge.
After a while, the little boy sat on
the ground, defeated.
His face had fallen;
his enthusiasm had gone.
”You were wrong,” he
told his dad. “I can't do it.”
His father walked over to him,
knelt beside him, and put his arm around the boy's shoulder.
”You can do it,” said the father.
“You just didn't use all your strength: you didn't ask me to help.”9
By withdrawing for prayer we can tap into our heavenly Father's
strength.
By withdrawing for prayer, we can be renewed for service.
Will you take some time each day this week to tap into your heavenly father's strength by taking time for prayer?
The Blessing follows ....
Sending Song # 673, God, Whose Almighty Word.
1Sundays and Seasons, 2012 Year B.
2Sundays and Seasons, 2012 Year B.
3This re-telling of the Gospel is adapted from Ecunet’s Sermonshop 2000 02 06 notes 44 and 52, Wed, 2 Feb 2000 by steve.souther@ecunet.org (STEVE SOUTHER)
4C.S. Lewis: “Solitude — Avoiding Burnout”in Sermon Resources for February 5 [2012] by SermonIllustrations.com
5From Sermon Resources for February 5 [2012] by SermonIllustrations.com
6Bill Adams (from Trinity Episcopal
Church in
7The New
8From “Holy Agnosticism” by William H. Willimon, in Pulpit Resource Vol 28 No. 1 January to March 2000, page 25.
9Donald M. Tuttle, “All Our Strength” in Sermon Resources for February 5 [2012] by sermons@clergy.net