The Fifth Sunday
After Epiphany
**Please note this service is based on the format of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada. Unless otherwise indicated, all prayers and hymns come from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW). All other hymns and prayers have been sourced to give appropriate credit.
**NRSV translation used for the readings, unless otherwise stated.
**This is for personal use at home as
the church is unable to gather in our houses of worship but together we can
worship in our own homes.
Introduction to the Day
In Isaiah the one God who sits above the earth and numbers the stars
also strengthens the powerless. So in Jesus’ healing work we see the hand of
the creator God, lifting up the sick woman to health and service. Like Simon’s
mother-in-law, we are lifted up and healed to serve. Following Jesus, we
strengthen the powerless; like Jesus, we seek to renew our own strength in
quiet times of prayer.
Confession and Forgiveness
Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,
who forgives all our sin,
whose mercy endures forever.
Amen.
God of all mercy and consolation, come to the help of your people, turning us from our sin to live for you alone. Give us the power of your Holy Spirit that we may confess our sin, receive your forgiveness, and grow into the fullness of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.
Silence.
Most merciful God,
we confess that we
are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against you in
thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as
ourselves. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive
us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your
ways, to the glory of your holy name.
Amen.
In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for his sake God forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the church of Christ, and by God’s authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the almighty God, and of the ☩ Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Gathering Song – Oh, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing (ELW #886)
Greeting
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion
of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And also with you.
Canticle of Praise
Prayer of the Day
Let us pray.
Everlasting God, you give strength to the weak and power to the faint.
Make us agents of your healing and wholeness, that your good news may be made
known to the ends of your creation, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
Readings
A reading from the Book of Isaiah 40:21-31
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is he who sits above the circle of
the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a
curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to live in;
who brings princes to naught,
and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.
Scarcely are they planted, scarcely
sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows upon them, and they
wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
To whom then will you compare me,
or who is my equal? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see:
Who created these?
He who brings out their host and
numbers them,
calling them all by name;
because he is great in strength,
mighty in power,
not one is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted;
but those who wait for the Lord shall
renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Psalm 147:1-11, 20c
Praise the Lord!
How good it is to sing praises to our God;
for he is gracious, and a song
of praise is fitting.
The Lord builds up
Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted,
and binds up their wounds.
He determines the
number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond
measure.
The Lord lifts up the
downtrodden;
he casts the wicked to the ground.
Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the
lyre.
He covers the heavens
with clouds,
prepares rain for the earth,
makes grass grow on the hills.
He gives to the animals their food,
and to the young ravens when
they cry.
His delight is not in
the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;
but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his
steadfast love.
Praise the Lord!
A reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 9:16-23
If
I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation
is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! For if I do this
of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with
a commission. What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may
make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the
gospel.
For though I am free with respect to
all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. To
the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I
became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I
might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside
the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that
I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I might
win the weak. I have become all things to all people that I might by all means
save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its
blessings.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Children’s Message
(from sermons4kids.com)
Jesus traveled
all around Galilee preaching, driving out demons, and healing people. One day,
Jesus and some of His disciples went to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon's
mother-in-law was there in bed with a fever. Jesus took her by the hand and
helped her up. All at once, the fever left her and she began to prepare a meal
for everyone.
That evening
many people came to Jesus to be healed of all sorts of diseases. The whole town
gathered at the door to watch. That must’ve been a long day.
Jesus got up
before sunrise the next morning and found a quiet place to pray and recharge
His spirit. When Simon and the others woke up, they found Him and said,
"Everyone is looking for You."
Jesus had
recharged His batteries and was ready to go. He said to them, "Let's go to
other towns and villages so that I can preach to them, too. That's what I came
to do." So they traveled throughout the region of Galilee, and Jesus
preached in the synagogues and healed people and cast out demons.
People need to
recharge their batteries, too. We work and play hard, and if we don't get
enough rest, pretty soon we just don't have enough energy to do the things we
need to do.
If Jesus
thought it was important for Him to recharge His spiritual battery, it’s
important for us to do that, too. That’s
why we should spend time in prayer every day and come to church each week.
Is your battery
low or full right now? Take a moment to think about why your battery is where
it is and then tell someone who is in the room with you right now.
God, help us to remember that just as our bodies must be renewed by proper rest, our spirit must be renewed by spending time with You in prayer and worship. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Gospel Acclamation – ELW p.216
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark 1:29-39
Glory to you, O Lord.
As soon as they left the synagogue,
they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s
mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He
came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and
she began to serve them.
That evening, at sunset, they brought
to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was
gathered around the door. And he 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.
In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O
Christ.
Sermon
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable and pleasing in your sight O Lord, for you are our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
One of the things that has always irked me about the Bible is the lack of details. When you read a good novel, there are chapters that introduce you to characters and their backstories. These chapters are used to get you involved with the people and then you want to read on to find out what happens to them.
But in the bible, those details are lacking.
One of the most poignant examples is what was Jesus up to for 30 years? I won’t get into that right now, but you get my drift.
Today’s Gospel reading is no different. Jesus is at Simon and Andrew’s house where Simon’s mother-in-law is sick with a fever.
I have questions. Why do Simon and Andrew live together? If Simon has a mother-in-law, it implies that he is married. So to whom is he married? Saying that she has a fever is pretty general. Is it just a fever that most of us would just sleep it off? Or is it a more life-threatening illness?
Where are the details??
Especially when it comes to women, the Bible more than not leaves them nameless even though they are some of the most important pieces of the development of our relationship with Jesus.
Simon’s mother-in-law is left nameless, Simon’s spouse seems to have been left out of the story, and we have no idea how threatening the illness is, but what we do know is that Simon was worried enough that after witnessing Jesus dispel the unclean spirit from the man earlier in the day, he asked Jesus to come and heal his mother-in-law.
We all know the healing power of Jesus. That isn’t the lesson I want to provide you with today.
I want to look at verse 31.
The healing of Simon’s mother-in-law is a classic healing story. It’s all fine and good. It’s what Jesus does. It’s what he’s good at. But there is something sort of disturbing about this story that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with healing.
According to the NRSV translation, verse 31 goes as such: “He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.”
Did anyone else bristle at these words?
Assuming that this fever was life-threatening, this woman was just brought back to life with Jesus’ healing. What would you do if you were brought back from the edge of death? Would your first instinct be to get up and serve people?
I decided to look up some other translations.
NIV – “So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.”
KJV – “And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.”
Message – “He went to her, took her hand, and raised her up. No sooner had the fever left than she was up fixing dinner for them.”
Yikes. That last one especially gets my goat.
Of course Jesus healed her – they needed someone to make them some dinner! As if Jesus is saying, "What do you mean she’s sick? We can’t have this. I’ll have her up and cooking in no time.”
As my friend Rachel Twigg put it in her 2018 sermon, “Jesus heals her and immediately she gets up and begins to serve him. What did she serve him? A sandwich?”
I say again, yikes.
I don’t tend to read the King James Version, but I think that translation hits a little closer to home than the rest. Here’s why I say that.
Mark 1:31 uses the word serve which translates to diakoneo in the Greek language. This same word was used in Mark 10:45 “for the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve” and in Mark 1:13 when “angels waited on him.”
Translating the same Greek word as “minister” when angels are the subject but “serve” when a woman is the subject downplays her action.
As translated, Jesus’ healing of Simon’s mother-in-law and the miracle’s outcome are extremely gendered in ways that veer too close to the stereotypes we know to be tired and destructive.
Instead, let’s look at the fact that diakoneo is the root of the word Deacon. Perhaps Simon’s mother-in-law is the first to understand what it is to follow Jesus thus becoming the first deacon.
Unlike many stories of healing in the Bible, she doesn’t get healed because of her great faith; there is no mention that she believed at all. But once she is healed, the woman gets right out of bed and begins to work, to serve, to minister.
Though the details about her are left out of the story, details like her name and the reason for her illness, this woman who appears not to have been a believer, is now a follower of Christ.
She has been transformed by her encounter with Christ and will now live out her life in service of others.
I agree with Rachel when, in that same sermon, she says, “Simon’s unnamed mother-in-law is really a model of Christian discipleship, the embodiment of the type of discipleship that Jesus will embody in his own life and ministry, and which he will call his disciples to emulate. A type of service that his male disciples will often fail to live up to.”
So while the words “she began to serve them” makes us cringe because of how we know society treats women, then and now, the healed woman’s reaction to her encounter with Christ is actually something for us to strive towards.
Jesus heals this woman – she is brought to wholeness, to completeness – and she takes her rightful role in service to others. We could learn so much from her
Serving is not “woman’s work”, nor is it lesser than being served.
Simon’s mother-in-law is more than a cook, waiter, and dishwasher. She’s also a follower.
If she’s a follower, and a follower who is willing to serve as she goes, then she’s also a disciple.
If she’s a disciple, then to her “has been given the secret of the kingdom of God” (Mark 4:11).
This woman shows us that when we allow Jesus to come near and touch us, we are raised to the highest calling – to serve others.
Service is not the “proper place of women” it is the proper place for all Christians.
And no matter what that looks like in your life, you'll have a sense of peace and fulfillment unlike you've ever experienced.
Amen.
Hymn of the Day – On Eagle's Wings
(ELW #787)
Creed
Let us confess
the faith of our baptism, as we say the Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in
God, the Father almighty,
creator of
heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus
Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was
conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the
virgin Mary,
suffered under
Pontius Pilate,
was crucified,
died, and was buried;
he descended
to the dead.
On the third
day he rose again;
he ascended
into heaven,
he is seated
at the right hand of the Father,
and he will
come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in
the Holy Spirit,
the holy
catholic church,
the communion
of saints,
the
forgiveness of sins,
the
resurrection of the body,
and the life
everlasting. Amen.
Prayers of Intercession
Guided by Christ made known to the nations, let us offer our prayers for
the church, the world, and all people in need.
Silence.
For the church: for ministries of healing and wholeness, for hospital, hospice, and military chaplains, for those serving in prison ministry, for all who proclaim freedom and release in the name of Christ,
let us pray.
Have mercy, O God.
For creation: for insects in the grass, clouds on the mountaintops, for cattle and the rainwater they drink, for the humility to take our place among all creatures of the earth,
let us pray.
Have mercy, O God.
For the nations: for all who lead in cities and towns, states and countries; for community organizers, school officials, and CEOs; for international health organizations, that in times of trial, fear, or hopelessness, they find freedom in service to those most in need,
let us pray.
Have mercy, O God.
For all wearied by life’s burdens: for those who are poor, for those lacking supportive relationships, for those crushed by debt, for those struggling with chronic pain or other sickness, for those exhausted from overwork or stress, and for all who cry out to you,
let us pray.
Have mercy, O God.
For these congregations: for outreach and social ministries centered here; for parish nurses and visitors; for ministries of companionship and support, for the young people in this place who open us to new understandings,
let us pray.
Have mercy, O God.
Please take time to offer your own intercessions or to pray in silence.
In thanksgiving for the faithful departed, who were called by name and now rest from their labors, that their lives serve as witnesses to the goodness of God,
let us pray.
Have mercy, O God.
Merciful God, hear the prayers of your people, spoken or silent, for the sake of the one who dwells among us, your Son, Jesus Christ our Savior.
Amen.
Peace
The peace of Christ be with you always.
And also with you.
Offering
**Although
not physically at our church buildings to share our offering together I would
encourage you to set your offering of money aside so that it can be dropped off
or placed in the church once services resume, to mail your offering to the
church, or to make donations online. Please remember ministry is still taking
place.
Hymn of Thanksgiving – Healer of Our Every Ill (ELW #612)
Thanksgiving for the Word
Let us pray.
Praise and thanks to you, holy God, for by your Word you made all
things: you spoke light into darkness, called forth beauty from chaos, and
brought life into being. For your Word of life, O God,
we give you thanks and praise.
By your Word you called your people Israel to tell of your wonderful gifts: freedom from captivity, water on the desert journey, a pathway home from exile, wisdom for life with you. For your Word of life, O God,
we give you thanks and praise.
Through Jesus, your Word made flesh, you speak to us and call us to witness: forgiveness through the cross, life to those entombed by death, the way of your self-giving love. For your Word of life, O God,
we give you thanks and praise.
Send your Spirit of truth, O God; rekindle your gifts within us: renew our faith, increase our hope, and deepen our love, for the sake of a world in need. Faithful to your Word, O God, draw near to all who call on you; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory forever. Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.
Blessing
May God who has called us forth from the dust
of the earth,
and claimed us as children of the light,
strengthen you on your journey into life
renewed.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord’s face shine upon you with grace and
mercy.
The Lord look upon you with favor
and give you ☩ peace.
Amen.
Sending Song – I Love to Tell the Story (ELW #661)
Dismissal
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Thank you for your faithful service in challenging times. I am always enlightened and challenged by your message.
ReplyDeleteYou are quite welcome.
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