Not Just Another Speech

Pastor Kyle Clark

Gospel Lesson: Mark 1:29-39

Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009

Fifth Sunday after Ephiphany

Preaching. The ministry of the Word. How is the preaching of a sermon any different from giving a speech?  Is it?

Some, I suspect, would say there is no substantive difference – the speaker (preacher) speaks and the audience (congregation) listens. Active participation by the one talking, passive participation by those listening.

I recently heard a pastor telling about the congregation he serves. He asked them one day if any of them in that community of faith had anything, anything at all that they contributed to the sermon. Of the several hundred people there, some of whom had been members for decades, only a handful raised their hands. I won’t ask you to raise your hands, but I think this is an important question to consider – do you have anything to contribute to the sermon or are you just listening to a speech?

So, you see what’s coming, don’t you? You get to participate. Let’s read.

(Mark 1:29-39)

Here’s your part:

North Side  –  she [the mother-in-law] was in bed with a fever and “he took her by the hand”

Middle  -  he lifted (helped) her up and “she began to serve them”

South Side -  [later the next day] he said to Simon and his companions, let us go to neighboring towns so I can proclaim the message (preach- NIV) to them also because “that’s what I came to do”

He came to preach!

Mark begins his Gospel not with a story about a birth. Mark cuts to the chase, “The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Immediately after his time in the wilderness Jesus “came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God” (v14), “The time has come…God’s kingdom is near…repent, believe the good news.”(v15). It was a sermon. He preached because (south side).

Why then, if Jesus’ mission was to preach, because (south side), do we not read more about what he actually said? Sure, we have the red words in the Bible, but when you stop to think about it there are really not all that many red words, certainly not more than two or three 20-minute sermons if you add them all up. Is it possible that maybe preaching is more than speeching? Can it be that preaching should be active, like say reaching out to a sick woman to (north side)? What about a response from the hearers? Would it be unreasonable to expect that a person would be so moved, so overcome with relief or gratitude or joy or peace that (middle) as a response?

You see, preaching, the giving and receiving of a sermon, is anything but a passive exercise. You only have to watch C-SPAN to see members of Congress passionately speaking to an empty chamber to see the difference between a speech and sermon. Sermons cannot be done alone. “Listeners are active participants.”[1] Preaching is not simply a proclamation of words, “but rather a testimony demanding total engagement of speech and action.”[2]  It is a community affair where people really matter.[3]

Mark races through his account at breakneck speed, hitting only what he considers to be the high points of Jesus’ earthly ministry. The fact that the story of this unnamed woman is included is significant. So let’s pause here a moment to consider why Mark tells us about her and perhaps more importantly what it means for us. She had a fever. There is nothing to indicate to us that she was deathly ill. She very well could have just felt bad – had the flu. I don’t know about you, but when I am feverish, when I fell really bad, I crawl in bed away from everybody else, partly because I just want to go to sleep, but also because nobody else wants to catch what I have. When you’re sick, you’re isolated, unable to do the things you normally do, unable to be part of the community of your family, unable to participate in the things they are doing. Simon’s mother-in-law was isolated like this. To make thing worse, now she has a whole house full of people, some that don’t even live there, and she can’t do what she needs to do or wants to do.

When Jesus appears on the scene, when he enters the house he had just come from the synagogue where ha had been preaching because (south side). He sees this woman and she matters to him. He cares about her. So, he does something that is risky. He risks becoming ritually unclean. He risks becoming sick himself. He (north side) and lifts her up. In so doing he models for those in that house the kind of discipleship he calls Simon and the others to – the building up of community, the restoration of an individual to a community.

And immediately she (middle). It’s interesting the word Mark uses that we translate "to serve" is the same word he used to describe what the angels did for Jesus in the wilderness temptation. It is sometimes translated as "ministry." She served them, ministered to them, cared for them. Hers is not so much an act of subordination or domestication as it is her way of helping to build up the community in her house. She didn’t do anything extraordinary; she simply did what she could do for those that were there. But she did do what she could do.

Doing what we can do – that’s the proper response for any of us. You see, Jesus did not respond to every need during his earthly ministry. When he was in Capernaum he wasn’t in Bethsaida and there were people there that could have been healed, right? In our text today Simon finds Jesus praying and tells him that many people were looking for him. What does Jesus do? He says let’s go to other towns. Jesus was fully aware of his limitations while he was on this earth. Yet, he never lost sight of his mission to preach, (south side).  Jesus did what he could do and that was enough – and never enough to meet human needs. So later on he sends the disciples out to the ends of the earth to “preach” like he did to all people. And people still responded like this woman did.

I am reminded of the story about Francis of Assisi. He says to the monks “Let’s go into town and preach!” so they go into the village and they walked through the streets and alleys, up and down through town, never stopping their long and winding route until at the end of the day they arrive back at the monastery. As they were nearing the gate a young monk asks about their original plans, “Didn’t we come to town to preach?”

“My son,” Francis replied, “we have preached.  We were preaching while we were walking.  We have been seen by many; our behavior has been closely watched; this is how we have preached our morning sermon.  It is of no use to walk anywhere to preach unless we preach everywhere as we walk.” Preach every where and use words if necessary.

And it continues – disciples are still sent.

Where are you in this story? When were the times you felt isolated from community... without means... alone... afraid... unable to do what you would normally do? Is this the time that Jesus, or someone acting in Jesus' name reaches out and (north side)? Maybe this is where you are right now.

Maybe you remember being lifted up. Maybe you know how it feels to have someone show real concern. Maybe you have experienced healing of body, of mind, of spirit, of relationships. Maybe you have been restored to community and like the woman who (middle) you did what you could do.

Maybe you are like the disciples who have witnessed marvelous things. Maybe your life has been changed and you have seen lives transformed and you know, somehow you know you have been set free, restored, healed because a sermon, the good news was preached – actively preached, and Christ did what he (south side). Maybe you now know that that’s what we are to do as well, not out of any sense of obligation, but simply because a deep appreciation and unspeakable joy fills us. Because we have experienced being lifted up by the hand. Because we now understand that when we act, when we serve, when we minster to others, we all become preachers of the good news and individuals are restored to community. This story is our story. How many sermons have you preached without even knowing it?

He (north side) and lifted her up and (middle) because (south side)!

May it always be so!

Amen!