Maranatha
(Mark 1:29-39; Isaiah 40:21-31; I Corinthians 9:16-23)
Some of you know that I have a very close friend who has been battling cancer for over two years. I Medically he has been diagnosed as terminally ill for some time. During his journey there have been incredible downs and some amazing ups. This next Tuesday we had hoped that he would have a kind of pioneering surgery, as almost any and all hopes for survival have been exhausted. Yesterday my friend sent me and so me other friends this email: "Well guys, life can be cruel and faith sorely tested. I went for my final test before surgery and its (that's his reference to cancer) back in my bowel so I got the wonderful news that there is nothing else they can do for me."
I tell you this because my friend's battle to live is important. His battle for life can propel us into our own realities of life and death, of despair and hope. Without such projection I might be speaking, but my words may only then be mere words.
Last week while channel surfing I watched part of a special on the comedian George Carlin. Carlin was doing a stand up routine on of all things, death. He said, "you know the great thing about death – we're all equal. We all get to do it once!" And everyone roared – because it's true and because death makes us very UNEASY. Sometimes when we're uneasy, we giggle or laugh like pre-pubescent children do when adults attempt to educate them about their sexuality. Would we all be able to grow in the manifestations of our living so that we could honestly reflect on our own sexuality, our own approaching death and then be able to laugh heartily, honestly but not derisively!
The prophet Isaiah writes this morning to refugees. These people have been torn from their homes, families, and at times their previously held religious convictions. They have been forced to exist in a strange land, dominated by a people who worshipped gods that initially for them held no value or meaning. Yet as time passes and the time of their exile extends they begin to wonder. Could the conquerors be right? Is life simply about winning, about whoever has the most weapons, the largest army, the biggest biceps? Is there now absolutely no hope for them? Was their ancestor's trust and worship of the one God, Yahweh, only delusion?
Similar questions may arise for us as we journey life. When things are going well, when we are handsomely rewarded for our work, while our children are growing and thriving, even when things are comfortable at church or at work, well then we may think we know what we believe. But all of that can change in an instant. Our phones ring. We receive a text. Then there is the diagnosis: cancer, heart disease, MS. Or, perhaps one we have counted on, one we have trusted with who really are, abandons or rejects us. Or, the economy plunges into the toilet leaving us with so much less than we had ever imagined. What and whom do we believe, trust, then?
We might come to church. We may even hear the wonderful accounts of Jesus taking Peter's fevered mother-in-law by the hand and restoring her to health instantly. Or we may read of an entire town coming to the door of her house that night and while Jesus cured so many who were sick with various demons. As we do so we may wonder one of two things: If Jesus actually did this, why doesn't he cure me or those I love, others I hear about? Or secondly we may wonder if this isn't all just a fabrication, understandings of an ancient, superstitious, less knowledgeable people?
Both of these questions are excellent questions.
In the light of these questions let's see and hear some other realities. Isaiah wants to address these refugee people because they are his people, because he too is exiled, and because God speaks to him. On God's behalf Isaiah asks the people, "Have you not heard? Have you not seen?" These are rhetorical questions designed to move them from what they think is an impossible situation towards both comfort and then hope. Someday they will be enabled to return to their homeland, because of that one great God, the God their ancestors worshipped and knew. God is the Creator of the universe. As such God is, greater than any nation, more powerful than any military power, including the one that now seeks to hold them captive. God can lift you up even as you are weak, tired, captured by despair. God can give you new life. So says the prophet Isaiah.
In terms of this morning's healing account from Mark's Gospel please note these realities. Early in the morning Jesus goes off to pray. He realizes his need for God's ongoing renewal of his ability to care for others, to actively trust and obey God. Secondly Jesus continues to move on inviting, and commanding those who trust him to keep moving too. Jesus' healing power does not exempt him from suffering, pain or even death. In fact Jesus' concern to bring restoration of all people and all creation to healthy relationships with God and with each other, to limit the powers of evil and selfishness, the enslavement of human thinking and acting as if we are God, all of this, propels Jesus to give His life for others. It should be no surprise if his followers don't exactly experience a bed of roses either.
What does all this mean for us? We need to realize that the powers of death, evil, sick- ness and disease continue to be real. We are not exempt. We are mortals. We are caught up by much of the broken fabric of our world. The battle between evil and God rages both within and outside of us, among us. Evil seeks to stake its claim on us in so many different ways. If we attempt to stand alone, the battle cannot be won. But God in Jesus Christ comes to stand with us, to go before us, beckoning us to follow. God's way is not to murder, nor to seek to overpower with increasingly gross expenditures on military armaments. Rather God's way of overcoming evil and death is to allow Jesus to suffer and die but still love, calling His followers to do the same. In that God does overcome evil and death.
On an early Sunday morning some 2 ½ days after everyone is convinced that death and evil have won the day, Jesus is raised. This is not a historical fact, in the sense that newspapers wrote it down and cameras flashed or whirred. But Jesus' resurrection is a reality that has propelled Peter, Andrew, James and John, Mary Magdalene, Mary and a myriad of other followers of Jesus to invest their lives trusting that in God there is hope here, now and forever. Evil and death will not win the battle, though they may seemingly temporarily claim the day.
When our hearts are breaking and broken or when our hearts are filled with joy and exultation may our song, the cries of our hearts ever be the same, 'COME LORD JESUS! WE NEED YOU! WE LOVE YOU! COME AND ENABLE US TO FOLLOW YOU, NO MATTER WHAT. You see life and all its powers can be cruel. But in Jesus we see that God is not! Amen.