Mark 1:29-39
Transformed for Service
James Sledge February
7, 2021
had become a big deal. In Greek class I learned that most of the time the word translated man or men in the New Testament really meant people. As I continued my studies it became more and more apparent that many Christian stereotypes about women didn’t so much come from the Bible as they did from the males who ran the church and interpreted the scriptures for much of Christian history.
When you consider that the Bible appears to have been written entirely by men, women actually fare quite well, depicted as being disciples alongside men and as being leaders of some early churches. Still, the biases of those male writers do make their way into scripture. Being inspired by the Spirit doesn’t eliminate bias, and sometimes it is necessary to separate the inspired word of God from a writer’s prejudices.
My knee-jerk, first reaction when I read today’s gospel passage saw gender bias on full display. Jesus has just begun his ministry, called a group of disciples, all male, and made his first preaching and healing appearance. Now, for the first time, a female character shows up.
We learn almost nothing about Simon’s mother-in-law other than she is sick with a fever. The setting is a private one, and when Jesus heals her, it doesn’t impress any crowds. What it does do, however, is enable this woman to get up and wait on the guys Simon has just brought home. She gets up and serves them, and that is the last we ever hear of Simon’s mother-in-law. Ugh, I cringed
Except knee-jerk reactions are not always correct. As I looked more deeply at this story, I began to realize that Mark may not have been depicting this woman as a stereotype at all.
I have frequently lamented the way we often look at scripture without sufficient context. We take brief snippets of the biblical story and use them for sermons, Bible studies, and devotionals, often acting as though everything we need to understand the passage is right there in front of us. Most often, that is not the case.
Our gospel passage for today comes from the Revised Common Lectionary, a three-year cycle of readings providing verses from Old Testament, Psalms, Epistles, and Gospels for each Sunday. These passages are typically rather short, chosen knowing that they will be used by preachers on Sundays. I assume some care goes into how passages are divided up, but sometimes important information gets left out.
Nothing in the verses we heard moments ago lets us know that Jesus enters Simon and Andrew’s house on the Sabbath. They have come straight from the synagogue where Jesus delivered a man from an unclean spirit. Such things were not supposed to be done on the Sabbath, something that Jesus’ opponents will soon use against him. Jesus breaks the Sabbath rules again when he heals Simon’s mother-in-law, but he’s not the only one. The mother-in-law also does when she began to serve them.
She began to serve them. At first I just heard that she took on a woman’s role, but I’m not so sure now. Not only does she serve on the Sabbath, imitating Jesus, but then there is that word serve. It’s a pretty big word in the New Testament and in Mark. The Greek form is the root of our word “deacon,” and it does not imply any stereotyped female roles.
And near the end of Mark’s gospel, at a time when the disciples engage in some very unsavory jockeying for position as top disciple, Jesus says, “Whoever wishes to become great among you must become your servant… For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.”
I wonder if Mark doesn’t contrast Simon’s mother-in-law with the disciples, her the good example and them the bad. The disciples often come off badly in Mark’s gospel, and that seems to be the case here.
At sundown, when the Sabbath has ended, Simon’s house becomes a hotbed of activity, as people come seeking healing. The next morning, Simon expects that to continue, but Jesus is missing. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. Hunted; the Greek word implies hostile intent; think pursuing an enemy. Simon seems to think Jesus should be back at the house, keeping the gig going, but Jesus has other plans. “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.”
The contrast seems clear. Simon’s mother-in-law exemplifies what is supposed to happen when Jesus comes into our lives. We are healed, made whole, and respond in acts of service. But Simon wants to manage Jesus, to keep him at the house, packing in the crowds.
It may help to remember that all churches at the time of Mark’s gospel were house churches. Add in the prominent place of Simon Peter in that early church, and it may be that Mark’s gospel is also commenting on the mission of the Church. Individually its members are called to acts of service, and the Church itself is not the place Jesus is kept but a base of operations from which the ministry of Jesus reaches out into the world.
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Recently a friend and colleague posted a quote from a church consultant and author on her Facebook page. It read, “When we believe our church’s purpose is to please us and make us happy, then we will withhold our money and withdraw our participation when we are displeased with our church. When we believe our church’s purpose is to make us more like Jesus, we expect discomfort in church, knowing transformation is sometimes hard. Church purpose matters.”[1]
I think our gospel reading today says something similar. Our purpose, as individuals and as a congregation, is to become more like Jesus. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not about being good enough or accomplishing enough, but it is about transformation, about becoming something new.
At FCPC, we say that our call as a congregation is to “Gather those who fear they are not enough, so we may experience grace, wholeness, and renewal as God’s beloved.” It is to help people encounter the healing touch of Jesus and so to be renewed as those who become more and more Christ like. This doesn’t happen primarily by our efforts. It happens because we are in Christ, joined to him through the Spirit, and transformed into those who follow him.
In a wonderful book titled A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life, Donald Miller writes this.
If I got any comfort as I set out on my first story, it was that in nearly every story, the protagonist is transformed. He's a jerk at the beginning and nice at the end, or a coward at the beginning and brave at the end. If the character doesn't change, the story hasn't happened yet. And if story is derived from real life, if story is just a condensed version of life, then life itself may be designed to change us so that we evolve from one kind of person to another.[2]
I think that is what happens when we experience grace, wholeness, and renewal. A central part of our story as individuals starts to happen as we become more like Simon’s mother-in-law, more like Jesus. And as our congregation’s story unfolds, we get better and better at taking Jesus into the world around us.
Whoever you are, whether or not you think you’re impressive of unimportant, good or bad, God’s grace is freely showered on you, offering you healing and wholeness, and calling you to a new life of service as God’s beloved. Come, let us walk together in the newness of Christ Jesus.
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