single persons, people
of all races and families
of every kind.
Holy Eucharist at 9:30 am
191 Flanagan Way (Rt 153) Secaucus, NJ 07094
Fax: 201-863-1474
MLewis@secaucus.org
This page
revised 06 Feb 00
http://www.secaucus.org/
oursaviour
http://www.secaucus.org/
oursaviour
The Church of
Our Saviour
in the Town of Secaucus, New Jersey
Home | Welcome | News | Sunday | Bulletin
Bookshop | Stewardship | Community | Links
We tell God's healing love
by listening and serving
Reflections on the lessons
for the Fifth Sunday after The Epiphany
By The Rev. Mark A. Lewis, Vicar
2 Kings 4:8-37
Psalm 142
1 Corinthians 9:16-23
Mark
1:29-39
Elisha's miracle recounted in the Old Testament lesson (2 Kings 4:8-37) is very complex. Not simply a rich and emotional story, it alludes to other Old Testament stories:
God visiting Abraham in Genesis,
Elijah's miracles earlier in I Kings.
But, layered as it is with references, the story is odd in that the religious aspects of the miracle are really downplayed. The Elisha in the story of the Shunammite woman is more of a magician than a prophet.
I read several authors on this passage. They seem to think of the story as a primarily literary production, rather than theological, assigning its authorship to a particularly secular period in Jewish culture. The story seems to emphasise themes such as: Elisha is every bit as good a prophet as his mentor Elijah ever was, and that miracles are not so much exceptions to the laws of nature, but signs that God's power continues to have measurable impact in the real world.
That message is a hard one for me
to deal with many times.
A surprising number of churchgoers believe,
on one level or another,
that being a good Christian,
praying properly,
or simply gaining God's favor in some way
should be hedges against disaster.
It's an understandable notion.
The Bible talks quite a lot about people who were sick -
- even dead. And then, suddenly, it wasn't so -
- vanished like a dream.
And I have seen things almost that dramatic happen.
But I have seen plenty of cases where no such thing happened.
Wonderful people gone.
Terrible people thriving like weeds.
The gospel (Mark 1:29-39) is less like a magic show than Elisha's caper in the Old Testament. Written, remember, in a world that had no concept of the germ theory of disease -- and no idea what causes for sickness and recovery might be out there besides demon possession -- the healings and exorcisms are still products of their time.
Jesus heals his friend Peter's
mother-in-law.
Then townspeople bring lots of others.
And Jesus heals them and casts out demons.
But, much more forcefully than Elisha, Jesus makes a point:
Jesus says that he' s got to move on down the road
because his job is to proclaim the good news.
That's the big priority, he says.
And healing and casting out demons are just two
of the many ways to do that.
But notice two further, crucial things about the text:
Jesus' bouts of healing
alternate with prayer in a deserted place:listening and waiting for God.
And Peter's mother-in-law,
once healed,
gets right back into her normal role:serving.
That sounds sexist to us now,
but Mark was saying that she got up
and got on with her life.
Today's lessons are complicated and far from simple to understand.
I find layer upon layer in them
and still never get to the bottom of it.I just peel away awhile and then put it aside
until some other time.
Maybe that's what counts as
"waiting for the Lord",
putting aside the urge to DO something,
to ANSWER all the questions,
and just living with the good news
until it soaks in a little more on its own.
And like Peter's mother-in-law,
we do well to serve
as we wait for a better understanding
of what healing is
and how it works in our lives.
Waiting for God,
and serving while we wait.
At that point we become like
Paul,
seeking to "become all things to all people
so that we might at least save some (heal some)
for the sake of the gospel."
Our call and our duty is to proclaim the gospel.
Like love,
it is its own reward,
to tell others,
in many different ways,
that God came down from heaven
to live and die as one of us
to show us how deeply important
every human being is.
We proclaim the good news in as
many ways
as there are moments in our lives.
Today's readings, though,
point on that long list to two prominent ways:
With Elisha and Paul and Jesus
we tell God's healing love by listening and serving.
-- Mark Lewis
Your comments or questions are welcome MLewis@secaucus.org.
Links to additional "Reflections on Lessons" may be found at the bottom of the Sunday web page.
© 2000 -Church of Our Saviour Home | Welcome | News | Sunday | Community | Links
http://www.secaucus.org/oursaviourWebmaster - DRoberts@Secaucus.org