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Epiphany 5
February 8, 2009
Psalm 147:1-11, 20c
Isaiah 40:21-31
1 Corinthians 9:16-23
Mark 1:29-39
Healing the Primary Relationship
Now let me get this straight. Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law. Then he heals a bunch of people. Then when people get their hopes up and start looking for him, he leaves town. That must have been a prayerful response. What did God tell him during his prayer time? “Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth…” (Isaiah 40:21-22a)
The people lining up outside the house of Simon’s mother-in-law are not the center of the universe, and as much as they may need healing, they need to know the center of the universe more. “How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious…he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds. (Psalm 147:1b-3) Yes, that knowledge was already on the books, but it wasn’t written on the hearts of God’s people. So, Jesus is out of Capernaum and on to “proclaim the message” in the neighboring towns.
I’ve heard people say, “If you had enough faith, God would heal you.” Fine, show me the faith muscle, and I’ll squeeze it harder. The problem is that no one can identify the faith muscle. Is it in the brain? Is it in the heart? Is there a nerve attached to it that I can control? Do you think that if the folks left behind in Capernaum would have squeezed the faith muscle harder, Jesus would have snapped back into town? No, I think faith is not a squeezing harder or a trying harder. I think it is a relaxing into the knowledge of our caring God.
Jesus didn’t heal everybody then, and he doesn’t now. This is a hard pill to swallow. What do you say to the people waiting for their healing back in Capernaum? “Catch up with Jesus?” In a way, yes. Jesus is out ahead of life. As important as my body is to me, my knowledge of God is more important. First, it is more important because it is eternal whereas my body is mortal. Second, it is more important because my relationship with God is more important than any other. My body gives me relationship with the creation and with the people I love. Those relationships are just a little lower in importance than my relationship with God, but they are lower nevertheless. “You have made [us] a little lower than God…” (Psalm 8:5) Yes, a little lower.
So, Jesus heals because God cares, but knowing our caring God is primary. What is left today of those whom Jesus healed? Only their knowledge of our caring God. What is left of those whom Jesus did not heal? Only their knowledge of our caring God.
Is this comforting? It was for Job.
Roland McGregor, Pastor
Asbury United Methodist Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
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