Jesus' Healing Ministry-Capernaum

One of my favorite healing stories involves a paralyzed man whose friends desperately wanted to take him to Jesus.  The story is found in Mark 2 and more than likely it took place in Capernaum, probably Peter’s house.

Several men had heard that Jesus was a healer.  They had a friend who was sick, paralyzed, unable to walk.  They put him on a stretcher and lowered him through the roof.  I can almost hear Peter howling at these men as the dust and dried mud began to fall on the heads and his roof is torn apart.  All the gospels report this story the same way:

“Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the man, “Your sins are forgiven. Get up and take your mat and walk.”

The man never says a word.  We know nothing about his faith.  It was the faith of the friends that impress Jesus.  How many of you have friends who have picked you up and ripped off the roof for you?

In every one of the Gospel healing stories, we find that Jesus made a point of noticing and stopping to heal these sick people.  Jesus was constantly looking for the sick and oppressed.  He had a heart for them.  This is what we see as he stayed up all night at Peter’s home to heal the sick and cast out demons.

There are people all around us who are sick or oppressed.  And as we are invited to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, we are invited to look for them; to seek them out.  There are people who are paralyzed by fear, addiction, grief, losses of all kinds, even loss of direction.  They need us to rip off the roof so they can hear the words of Jesus “Your sins are forgiven.  Take up your mat and walk.”

----Pastor Suzanne

Where in the World?

As a kid I was fascinated with geography.  Like most middle class families of the time we had a set of encyclopedias that came from the grocery store, buying one volume each month or so.  In the back of one volume there was a table listing every country in the world (at that time) along with the official language, population, state religion, monetary unit, and a synopsis of prominent geographical features.  I read and reread and memorized those facts, thinking that somehow knowing that information would bring me closer to escaping the small, isolated town in which I lived.  I would be transported to one of those magical, far away places.  I never made a magical journey, but I think memorizing those facts allowed me to subconsciously internalize the understanding that geography strongly influenced the development of civilizations and cultures, of people.
 

Until now I never thought about geography and it's impact on the stories of the Bible. This week's sermon was based on Mark 1:9-13, the baptism and temptation of Jesus, a passage that not only reveals Jesus as the Son of God but also ties together the prophecies and stories of the Old Testament and the New Testament through both the actors and the setting.  The baptism takes place in the Jordan River, at the same spot where the Israelites crossed a muddy river into the Promised Land.  John and Elijah both begin and end their ministry in Jericho.  Elijah got into trouble with a king and queen and so did John.  The baptism and temptation take place in the wilderness, the same wilderness where the Israelites wandered, where Elijah fasted for forty days, where Jesus fasted and was tempted
In addition to the scripture narrative, this sermon series is accompanied by video excerpts from "The Way" by Adam Hamilton.  One thing that struck me from the video, from actually seeing the Jordan River and the wilderness, was that it would be very difficult to tell what decade, or century you are in.  Being from Missouri I would be hard pressed to call the spot on the Jordan River that was filmed "lush"... until you see the wilderness.  There is also the contrast between the clean,structured, fabricated ritual baths and the overgrown, muddy, shallow river.    It is one thing to read and think you know what a place is like.  It is another thing altogether to see it, feel it, smell it and use the texture that setting provides to inform your understanding.

Another thing that struck me was the absolute barrenness of the wilderness.  We know how many distractions there are in every moment of every day, but even in the non-digital ages, there appeared to be no distractions in this wilderness.  You could easily strip away all the superficial, visual, cultural "bling" and get down the the bare bones of relationships, purpose, life.

  Studying those encyclopedias gave me knowledge, but not understanding.  It seems to me that in living, being, doing we weave ourselves into the fabric of our surroundings, we become part of the geography and that colors how we see and understand everything.  For today I am wondering if the take-away for me is to understand how geography influences the scripture of the Bible, or how my geography influences my understanding of life?

Jesus Wept

Sometimes my procrastination is simply procrastination, and sometimes it is designed to mesh with other events in order to help clarify my understanding.  I didn't really even process the sermon from June 9 - "Jesus Wept" - for whatever reason.  And then I learned of the passing of a friend who moved away, with whom I had been in touch intermittently since she left, and the passage and sermon took on new significance for me.

There are lots of significant details in this passage from John 11, all of them with layers upon layers of meaning.  There is the juxtaposition of Lazarus' tombstone being in place, while Jesus' tombstone had already been rolled away.  Lazarus emerged still bound, Jesus' bindings were left behind in the tomb.  Jesus tarried, or waited to return to Bethany.  Mary and Martha varied in their reaction, but not in their expression of faith and belief.

But the big question in this passage seems to be why did Jesus weep?  There are many interpretations and suggestions out there - compassion for the suffering of his friends, tears of anger and longing over sin, the inner distress Jesus must have felt knowing that the cross was only days away, the knowledge that raising Lazarus would be the trigger that would lead to his own death, and I just read an opinion that Jesus wept in order to identify himself with Jeremiah, "the weeping prophet."

I tried to land on one reason that Jesus wept, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought maybe it isn't about the reason Jesus wept but what that action says to you today, right where you are in your faith journey.  I know it is important to read and understand the scripture, but the more I do it the more I think the real value comes in contemplating the back story and then applying it to your own circumstances.  I often feel so inadequate and ignorant of all the scholarly things, but I believe each one of us has it in us to figure out what the message is today, in this place, at this time for me and me alone.  And that is enough.  Today it tells me that God knows we are sorry to lose someone we love, that God feels and understands our suffering, that it is OK to feel that sorrow, and that in the end it will be OK.

There were a whole lot of people in this story, and they were all in a different place when it came to their faith.  But Jesus interacts with them where they are, and they each take away a different, personal understanding of what Jesus says and does.  It is about a very real, very personal, very unique relationship with God.  

Getting off the Fence

Well, I am officially an idiot and just deleted all of my notes on this week's sermon.  Ever happen to you?  I remember the pastor talked about this passage from Galatians 1:1-12 being about distorting the gospel.  The Galatians were Judaizers, trying to force converts to become Jews before they could become Christians, but Paul is telling them that God really doesn't care about that and even calls their insistence on the two-step process a perversion of the gospel.

I felt for the Galatians.  They were probably just trying to do their best.  After all, they didn't have the miraculous conversion experience that Paul had.  You have to work from what you have and know, and the Law and Tradition were the basis for their understanding of the gospel, not the New Testament.  So, it is not to hard to see how they could make a wrong turn or detour.  Then this letter comes from Paul.  I have to confess that based on my life experiences I hear, "Tsk, tsk, tsk.  Shamey-shamey-shame on you."  I can even see him giving the little finger swipe I absolutely hated as a kid.  I feel embarassed, guilty, disgraced... a whole bunch of negative emotions.  That got me wondering if I could read this passage from a different point of view.  What if Paul was trying to make a loving correction?  Hard to see that when he is cursing folks - twice!  Maybe he was having a bad day.

Or maybe what has Paul so worked up is that he clearly sees, based on his own blinding and enlightening experience, that God is doing a new thing.  God is doing a new thing not just in the Paul, but in the world.  The Galatians have trapped themselves, their souls, inside a box built of experience and expectations and tradition.  They taped it securely shut with fear - fear of the new and unknown.  Fear of people with whom they have never associated, and who they do not understand.  Fear of sharing the gospel.  Fear of articulating and professing their own individual faith.  Maybe Paul's message is not "Shame on you" but "Go out, meet people.  Share the gospel."  I bet they would have also liked that angel who popped up in other places, offering the encouraging, "Do not be afraid..."  I know I would.