5 Epiphany Year B
February 4, 2024
Isaiah 40:21-31; Psalm 147:1-12, 21c; 1 Corinthians 9:16-23; Mark 1: 29-39
Before I begin my sermon…I invite you to listen to today’s message in the context of our stewardship theme for this year…To renew and strengthen our call as the church to be outposts of hope in our communities…
Opening Prayer: Everlasting God, you give strength to the powerless and power to the faint; you raise up the sick and cast out demons. Make us agents of healing and wholeness, that your good news may be made known to the ends of your creation. Amen. (Bread for the Day)
I invite you to pause and think for a moment…Can you recall a time in your life when you thought of yourself as an agent of healing and wholeness? Or maybe a time you were witness to someone else being an instrument of healing and wholeness to someone in need? Did you later share your experience…with anyone else? If so…what stands out for you, in remembering that encounter?
My guess would be that pretty much all of us, have been an agent of healing and wholeness to someone…but I’m not sure we may have recognized it as such…and perhaps you didn’t think to share your experience or encounter with someone…just brushing it off…as I didn’t really do anything...I was just there…
Now, I do know that there are plenty of folks who are very strong believers in the power of prayer and healing…and are not shy in proclaiming this good news with others…they are firm in their faith, knowledge and understanding…they are passionate about their calling to be the healing hands of Jesus in our time…
We have some very passionate prayer chain members here at St Peter’s, who pray daily for the needs of local persons, family and friends far away, they pray for our leaders and our nation, they pray for healing, they offer prayers of thanks, they pray for the repose of the soul of those who have died…they pray for healing on so many levels…
And there’s the expectation too, that your priest and your deacons would be committed to a way of life and spiritual discipline that includes daily prayer…
There are many others besides the prayer chain members and clergy who are passionate, and persistent in their ongoing prayers for any needs they hear about here at St Peter’s, in Sitka…and in the wider, world-wide community…
Yet…there are still many among us… who may underestimate their ability to be an agent and instrument of God’s healing and path to wholeness…
We are ALL called to be agents of healing and wholeness…and we need not shy away from sharing this good news with others…there are so many who need to hear what you have heard, see what you have seen, experience what you have experienced…especially in times when people may be feeling like there is no path to healing…no light of hope that they see right now…
What makes us agents and instruments of God’s healing and wholeness?
We begin, by acknowledging that everyone of us is a beloved child of God. We respect the dignity of every human being. We strive to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ Jesus...a Good News that proclaims that God is love in all that we are and do…in every interaction and encounter we have with one another…and with all of creation…
It is God’s love for every one of us, it is God’s power that strengthens us and empowers us, throughout our lives, to be agents and instruments of healing and wholeness…in our families, in our communities, and in our world…
God gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint…
We have a beautiful and simple healing story in today’s gospel… the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law…Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus 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.
He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up…
3 simple actions here…
Jesus came…he showed up…he went to her bedside…
Jesus took her by the hand... he reached out to her…
Jesus lifted her up…he healed her…body, mind and spirit…by lifting her up with his Love, with his presence, with his compassion…
We don’t hear any words spoken in this healing moment...
Only the assurance of God’s presence, his healing touch, and the love of God brought to this moment…through the hands and heart of Jesus…
We, too…can bring healing into the lives of others…with our hands and our hearts…and most of the time they are in simple everyday moments like this…
Now think back to one of my questions at the start of my sermon today… Can you recall a time in your life when you thought of yourself as an agent of healing and wholeness?
I would guess that it was much like this example of Jesus healing Simon’s mother-in-law…
You saw a need, perhaps the person was lonely...and you went to visit her…You reached over, and held her hand, while you sat quietly and listened to her concerns…Your love and concern, your physical presence with her, your touch to remind her that she wasn’t alone…surely brought healing to her heart and mind and spirit…
What about the other time...when a young child came running up to you in tears…You stopped whatever you were doing…you sat there with him…You held his hand, you held him close with your other hand… And through your presence, your touch, and your love being poured out for this child in need…within moments…this little boy was up and running around…assured once again…that yes, indeed…I am loved…
No words spoken, here…just the sharing of the Holy presence of God’s love for another person…
This past week, our news reports and social media feeds were buzzing with a story about Elmo, a pre-school age character on Sesame Street…Elmo posted a question on a social media feed, asking a simple question… “How is everyone doing?” Millions of people responded to the questions, pouring out their feelings of despair and discouragement on just how hard life has been lately… And many thanked Elmo for asking the question, and many felt, seen, heard and acknowledged…and perhaps didn’t feel so alone anymore…
ALL of us…whoever we are, wherever we are… are called by God to be agents of healing and wholeness…
The thought of that doesn’t need to overwhelm us…
Jesus has given us a simple model to follow…
When we see someone in need…
Go to them…look at them…acknowledge them….
Reach out your hand…and grasp the hand of the other… reach out with your eyes meeting the eyes of the other…
Bring along the Good News…that God is love…
It is God’s love, revealed to us through the life and teachings of Jesus, that brings true healing and peace to all of God’s beloved children…
May we all know the healing power of Jesus’ love for ourselves, our neighbors, and all of creation…and share this Good news with others…share it generously…
And…be sure to take time away for prayer, often, as Jesus has modeled for us…so that we may we never tire of proclaiming and sharing this Good News…for that is what we are called to do…To proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ…That God is love….and this love is for all of us...God heals the broken-hearted, and binds up their wounds. God counts the number of the stars and calls them all by their names…
God calls us each by name….to be agents and instruments of healing and wholeness…
Closing Prayer/Hymn: Wonder Love and Praise - #772 O Christ, the healer
1 O Christ, the healer, we have come
to pray for health, to plead for friends.
How can we fail to be restored,
when reached by love that never ends?
2 From every ailment flesh endures
our bodies clamor to be freed;
yet in our hearts we would confess
that wholeness is our deepest need.
3 How strong, O Lord, are our desires,
how weak our knowledge of ourselves!
Release in us those healing truths
unconscious pride resists ourselves.
4 In conflicts that destroy our health
we recognize the world’s disease;
our common life declares our ills:
is there no cure, O Christ, for these?
5 Grant that we all, made in one faith,
in your community may find
the wholeness that, enriching us,
shall reach the whole of humankind.
Rev. Julie Platson, Rector
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, AK