1 Sunday, February 5, 2012 Pastor Dena Williams Fifth Sunday after Epiphany Denver, Colorado If you read this

sermon on scribd.com, please do not hesitate to leave a comment or question! I love hearing from you!

The Holy Gospel according to the community of St. Mark in the 1st Chapter Glory to you, O Lord Mark 1:2939 Scene One Jesus and the disciples left the synagogue, immediately they entered the house of the brothers Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and the disciples immediately told Jesus about her. Jesus came and took her by the hand and raised her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. Scene Two That evening, when the sun went down, the people brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door of the house. And Jesus cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. Scene Three Very early the next morning, while it was still very dark, Jesus got up and went out to a desolate and deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him.

2 When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you!" Jesus said to them, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came to do." Scene Four And Jesus went throughout the whole region of Galilee, he came preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, O Christ Healed to Serve Would you read the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark this week? Read it aloud, to yourself or for your spouse or family. Read it carefully, a scene at a time. It will just take a few minutes and you wont be sorry. This is our third Sunday spent with this single Chapter and we have one more to go. Must be important. Will you read it this week, please? Promise? The first chapter of the Gospel of Mark. Thank you. Theres something for everyone in this first Chapter. Meet Marks Jesus! Here he is the messenger announced by prophets. Here he is, the baptized Son of God. Here he is,

3 calling disciples who immediately follow, then last week, teaching with authority in the synagogue, casting out an unclean spirit, casting out an unclean spirit on the Sabbath, no less, and today, here is Jesus . . . Four Scenes Lets begin with the fourth. Jesus goes to the whole region of Galilee, preaching and casting out demons. Wow! What a man, what a preacher, what a pastor! Scene Three Jesus rises before the sun, to go away, by himself, for a time of prayer. Wow! What a man, what a priest, what a pastor! Scene Two Jesus heals every single sick person in the whole town of Capernaum! He works late into the night, turning away no one, showing compassion for all, subduing and silencing demons. Wow! What a man, what a prophet, what a pastor! Scene One Hmm . . . scene one.

4 What a homely story! Why on earth Mark, in the midst of frantic teaching, preaching, praying, and healing, why include this insignificant event? Who cares? Who cares that some old woman with a fever is sick? Not only is she just some old woman, but shes a mother-in-law for crying out loud! Who cares? Well, apparently, Jesus does. The prophet, the priest, the preacher cares, cares deeply. Cares enough that he goes into the hot and smelly sick room, he goes to her where she is lying ill on the bed, burning up with fever, Jesus goes to her, takes her hand in his, goes to her and raises her up. Wow! What a man! What a pastor! No ordinary man, this Jesus, but one who preaches and teaches and prays and heals, heals the crowds, but also has the compassion, takes the time to raise up some sick old woman, someones mother-in-law. Jesus the preacher, the priest, the prophet, Jesus, the perfect pastor. I hear youre lookin for a new pastor?! Youre lookin for a pastor and it would be nice if you could find a perfect one. Well, the reality is I know of a perfect pastor. During the childrens sermon last week, both at 8 and at 10:30,

5 our children described the pastor they hoped for remember? Yes, hes young and male! I reminded them and reminded you that it seems every congregation in America thinks they want a young, male pastor. Im thinkin they just dont know what theyre missin! Well, I know of just such a perfect, young, male pastor. Hes perfect, but unfortunately, hes not available. He is ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God. Now, before I became a pastor, I often heard my future colleagues complain that their parishioners expected them to be perfect, I never really understood what that means until I became a parish pastor myself. Being viewed as a perfect pastor did not sound so bad. After all, a pastor needs to be a person of good moral character and high principles, I thought. Then I discovered the problem . . . The problem is that each person in the congregation has a bit different idea of what perfect looks like! And there are some folks who want and expect the pastor to meet every detail of their personal definition of perfect! Well, it is not going to happen. Expecting to like and approve of everything about your pastor is an unrealistic expectation. We do not have that expectation of perfection in our family members or friends. Wonder why some folks have that expectation of their pastor? It is not an expectation I, or any other pastor, is likely to meet. You will not and do not need to like everything I do or say, the way I teach, and preach, and care for others. You do not need to approve of every facet of my life, my every thought and action.

You may be thinking right now, Well thats a good thing pastor, because I dont like the way you . . . Fill in the blank. In eight years of ordained ministry, I think I have heard it all. Do you want to hear the list? Pastor, I dont like . . . where you stand, what you wear, the way you pay your taxes, the hours you keep, I dont like that you waste time taking classes, thats not what we pay you for! I dont like the way you spend money, the house you live in, the car you drive, where you go on vacation, when you take your vacation, the way you parent, the gestures you use, your voice, your musical tastes, your politics, what you eat and drink, the way you wear your hair! Ive heard it all . . . well, actually, the sad part is, I probably havent! Now, its ok that there are some things about the pastor you dont like. Remember, please, though, that she knows you dont like everything about her. She knows and so you really dont have to continually remind her or anyone else what you dont like. As a matter of fact, it is probably not necessary for you to mention most things at all!

7 To your pastor or to other members! Its really alright to keep some things to yourself. Its really alright, because, guess what? There are some things she probably doesnt like about you either! Shes not perfect, remember? And neither are you. The good news is that you do not need me or your new pastor, to be an example of perfection, you dont need your pastor to be perfect. Why? Because you have Jesus. We do not need to find perfection in each other, because we have Marks Jesus, who is perfect beyond our wildest expectations, more perfect than we can ever imagine perfect to be.

Not only is Jesus perfect, he is the answer to our imperfections, as well. That is what healing is, I believe, it is the willingness of God to cover our imperfections. Healing is the willingness of God to cover our imperfections. Just as Jesus took the little old lady by the hand and raised her up so God raises us up, covers our imperfections and we are healed. There are places in each of our lives where we need the healing touch of Jesus. Perhaps there is grief over the death of a loved one, grief that refuses to go away. Maybe there is brokenness in a relationship that still causes pain, pain that haunts our days and nights.

8 There may be powerful memories of trauma, memories that insinuate themselves, unbidden, into our minds and spirits, memories that rob us of potential joy. Our whole world suffers from anxiety in times like these. We are afraid, afraid of violence and war and political instability and natural disaster. Grief, brokenness, memories of trauma, fear: all of these are places in our lives where we need the healing touch of Jesus. We need for God to cover the scars, ease the pain, wash away the sorrow, take away the fear. We need for our perfect Jesus to cover the imperfections in our lives. Perhaps, if we have the courage to look at our own imperfections, recognize the need in our own lives for the healing touch of Jesus, perhaps then we will be able to let go of expecting our idea of perfection from others, including our pastors. Perhaps we will recognize that what we need from each other is not judgment and criticism, but what we all need from each other is compassion, and encouragement, and support, and love. That is the reason we are called to be community in this place. We are here to care for and encourage, support and love one another, as God cares for us, encourages, supports, and loves us. There is much love in this place.

9 In so much of what we do as individuals and as a community we bring the unconditional love of God to one another. I am grateful for a community of believers who show love to me, to each other, and to the world. I am grateful for a community of believers who do not expect perfection from each other, even from their pastor, most of the time, but recognize that we are all imperfect in one anothers eyes, that we are all sinners saved by grace. There is more good news. there is the news that, in spite of our imperfections, we are all perfect in Gods eyes. How is that possible? How does that happen? How can we who are scarred and imperfect, how can we ever appear perfect to anyone, least of all, to God? It happens this way. Jesus touches us and heals us, covering our imperfections and we are made perfect and beautiful in Gods sight. We are healed, by the grace of God, we are healed. There is still more good news. God does not place any conditions on our healing. Jesus did not put any conditions on the man with the unclean spirit, or Simons mother-in-law, or all the sick of the city of Capernaum. He did not say, I will only heal you if . . . He did not say, now if you want to stay healed you must . . . So God does not say to us, I will only heal you if . . .

10 God does not say, now if you want to stay healed you must . . . Jesus healing of the people, Gods healing of us, is unconditional, free, without cost, without consequences. Why, then, are we healed? Here it is the answer to our question to the writer of Mark. Why did you include this homely little story about someones mother-in-law in your Gospel? Who cares that some old woman was healed? Here it is Then the fever left her and . . . she began to serve . . . Our perfect pastor, our Jesus says to us, I have covered your imperfections. I have healed and forgiven you. I have made you beautiful in the eyes of God. Then the fever left her, left us, and she, we begin to serve . . . We have good news to share. It is the good news of a perfect Jesus, come to save the world. We have good news of a Jesus who covers our imperfections, who accepts us, and calls us to serve by accepting one another, accepting all people, even our pastors, as perfect and beautiful and lovable in Gods eyes. Amen