“Why Soul-Searching is Necessary”

Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – February 7, 2021

Centenary United Methodist Church

Isaiah 40:21-31; Mark 1:29-39

 

    Mark's lesson this morning may represent the first healing of Jesus' ministry. This passage may also be telling readers when it was that Jesus discovered that he had the power to be a healer. There had to be a beginning when Jesus made such a discovery about himself.

    As the story opens, Jesus went to Simon and Andrew's home.  Simon's mother-in-law was sick and in bed with a fever.  Jesus went to her bedside, took her by the hand, and helped her to get out of bed.  Soon her fever broke and she was fine.

    The word began to spread that Jesus had healed her.  Before the sun set, many people were bringing sick to the home of the brothers.  Prior to the sunrise, Jesus went off to be alone. 

    When his disciples found him, their first words were, "Everyone is looking for you."  Of course, they were.  More people were seeking healing for their friends and family.   Jesus responded, "We must go on to other villages.  I must continue to teach people how to improve the quality of their lives. This is my mission in life." (Mark 1: 38) 

    This was the first definition that Jesus gave for his mission. The last time that Jesus defined his mission was in front of Pontius Pilate when he said, "I was born and came into this world for this one purpose and that is to teach the truth." (John 18:37). 

    The healing component to his mission was a gift, but it could also have been the biggest curse.  For the rest of his ministry, this gift of healing was a hinderance. In fact, the foot traffic to see Jesus became so overwhelming at times that he and his disciples did not take time to eat. (Mark 3:20-21)

    Most of us have had moments of soul-searching when we stand at a crossroad and have to make a decision that will dramatically impact the rest of our lives. It appears that Jesus made a choice but he found it very difficult to be known as the teacher that he wanted to be.

    One day, I found myself walking in an open shopping center near where we lived and there was an art show in progress.  People had brought their oil and water color paintings to sell. All at once I saw two magnificent oil paintings, the beauty of which I can still recall.  One was a winter scene and another was a highly detailed Spanish castle. They were marked, "Not for sale."

    A woman noticed that I had paused in front of them and she remarked:

They are quite exquisite, aren't they?  I am a neighbor of the artist. His home is filled with these.  In fact, these two had fallen behind his piano and needed to be cleaned up and framed for this exhibition.  He is a neurosurgeon at the hospital in Annapolis.

    I could not believe it and I asked why he refuses to sell any of them. She responded with an odd answer;

He refuses to sell anything because each of his paintings is personal. Painting has become a healing hobby.  Each creation is a display of his imagination at work as he deals with one of his frustrations, the office-politics he must endure in his profession, or dreaming about his wish list. His spirit is in every oil painting that keeps him centered and at peace.  He asked me to volunteer to watch these two creations so that they did not walk away.

    There were times when Jesus and disciples had to escape, like the surgeon did when he picked up his paint brush and faced a clean canvas, the group literally left the area and traveled through the land of Tyre and Sidon, the old Phoenician cities along the eastern shoreline of the Mediterranean Sea. No matter how far away from their homes their adventures took them, they always encountered someone who recognized Jesus and his disciples.

    A Canaanite woman made such a discovery. The disciples came to Jesus and begged him to send her away.  They said, "She has been following us for quite some time and is the one who has been shouting to us!" 

    Jesus asked her to come closer so he could hear what she wanted. She said, "I need your help.  I have a daughter who is very sick.  Is there any way that you could make a small detour and visit her?"

    Jesus said, "It is not right for me to take my people's food and throw it to dogs such as you."  She sensed the sarcastic spirit in his words and returned with a beautiful response, "That is true, but even the dogs can eat the scraps that fall from the master's table." Jesus no doubt smiled and said, "You are a woman of great faith!  Go home and you will find that your daughter is well." (Matthew 15:21-28)

    When we circle back to our lesson, we learn that Jesus and his disciples traveled all over Galilee, preaching in the synagogues, and driving out demons. Jesus had chosen the path of teaching and his healing ministry appears to have greatly tapered off during the last years of his ministry. Indeed, Jesus did drive out demons and so can we.

    Last week we talked about demons.  The word demon is not defined as an invisible creature that can take control over a person's body.  Rather, they are emotional attitudes and habitual responses that have been used repeatedly over the course of one's life as an invading influence.

    Today, we use the word demon in a different way.  When people can become angry at the least provocation, we say that anger is one of their demons. Today we commonly say, "All of us have demons that seduce us into eating comfort foods, being verbally judgmental of the shortcomings of others, and finding excuses not to forgive the responses directed toward us."  (Matthew 7:5)

    Jesus drove out demons by teaching people more loving responses. He would teach, "You have heard it taught, get even with your enemies, but now I tell you to not engage in revenge on anyone who treats you poorly. You will have much better results for your spirit by forgiving them." (Matthew 5:33-42)

    Remember, our skills of spirit need to be polished against the abrasiveness of the material world.  ­ We are vulnerable to the tides of politics, the ebbs and flows of opinions, and the duality of right and wrong that can change places easily.  A book was once written called, Situation Ethics by Joseph Fletcher. That explains how easily we can change our values when an experience  appears to demand it.

    The temptations of the material world have not changed.  Temptations of the world have the same influence on people even though the context appears different. Jesus said:

Prophets are respected everywhere except in their own hometown and by their relatives and their family. I was surprised when I came here because I cannot connect with many people. We have nothing in common.  They have no understanding in which to place their trust.  (Mark 6:4-6)

    Nothing that Jesus taught us matters if we allow anything happening in the external world to have a greater priority over what he taught.  When our filters are controlled by our demons, we make visible what the prophet Isaiah said nearly three thousand years ago, "The people will listen and listen but not understand, they look and look but do not see because their minds are dull." (Matthew 13:14f) 

    One day, a teenager came into my office and said, "Dick, I have come to say good-bye.  I want out of living in this stupid world. I love you and I wanted you to know." This was not new for her and she had failed on a number of attempts.  I said, "Okay, but first I would like you to do something for me."  She rolled her eyes and asked, "What is it?" I said, "There is an old lady in our church whose yard we missed on Saturday when darkness made us quit. Before you leave this life, please rake her leaves to the curb" She promised me that she would do so.

    When Mimi finished the task, Martha came out of her house with cookies and mug of hot chocolate.  Martha said:

Honey, I don't know who you are, but I have been praying to God to send someone who could rake my leaves.  You must be that angel sent to me by God.  These are for you. I made these cookies myself. They are still warm. And the hot chocolate comes from a recipe of my mother.  Thank you so much for coming. You are a dear.

    Did I drive out a demon?  Absolutely!  I gave Mimi something to do for someone else.  Loving others is a marvelous distraction from the ugliness that can surface in the world and become a resident in our minds.  Jesus knew that only individuals can change the direction of their lives. All anyone else can do is point and influence others by simply loving others where they are.

    No, Mimi did not take her life.  Martha saw an angel and that label turned the tide for her.  Martha never realized that she had just saved this teenager's life with her label. Doing so, did not take a lot of soul-searching to accomplish.  It just takes compassion and gratitude directed toward others that points how to take a higher road.  There is never a need to judge when we are committed to the same solutions that Jesus was.   Have we said, "Yes" to this consciousness and mean it?

     

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER

There are no words, O God, that can describe our peace when we experience your presence. Even during life's more fragile moments, our awareness of you restores our confidence. We want to hold onto such moments of wholeness forever, but doing so remains a struggle.  We want to remain committed to our relationship with you as well as to the realities of our world.  Our priorities are always changing.  Remind us how little effort is required from us to bring your loving spirit into every setting of our world. Nurture our spirits today with the resolve to experience you everywhere and in everyone. Amen.

 

PASTORAL PRAYER

Loving God, as we sit in our sanctuary this morning, it remains a challenge for us to avoid being distracted while we are here.  There are so many aspects of our living over which we have no control. Gently remind us that there are still places where we can have an enormous impact. 

Perhaps there is a friend who is facing further medical treatments where a call, card, or a visit would be like a ray of sunshine.  Perhaps we could take a friend to lunch as a healthy break from their routines.  Give us moments, O God, where we can gain perspective about the community where we live, the people with whom we associate, and the spirit we display while being with them.

Sometimes there are moments during our lives when what we do appears to be insignificant.  Sometimes a smile, a compliment, or a nod of appreciation is all that is necessary to bring a healing to someone’s weary spirit. 

Comfort those who are healing from recent surgeries, from the loss of loved ones and from reversals in their place of work.  Help others to find peace as they face the uncertainty of tomorrow.  Give us enough freedom from the noise of our society so that we may remain sensitive to the needs of others who surround us every day.  We pray these thoughts through the spirit of Jesus, the Christ who taught us to say when we pray . . .