Sermon on Esther 2 (August 6 2023)

Mark 1:40-45

Mark 1:40-45 

English Standard Version 

  Jesus knows everything about us, all of our faults and weaknesses, even the ones we successfully manage to hide from everyone around us (even those closest to us), and yet still, when confronted by our brokenness, Jesus is constantly moved with pity.

  The leper certainly hadn't done anything wrong to cause leprosy, but we've all done plenty of things wrong to deserve separation.  But Jesus doesn't separate from us -- he moves towards us in pity and love, seeking to heal the divide.  Jesus loves us and takes on our uncleanness, our brokenness, and we are made clean.

  Such is the love of Jesus.

  Where is there brokenness in your community, in your neighborhood, that you might be tempted to pull back from, and how can you be moved with pity to move towards that in love?

Mark 1:35-39

Mark 1:35-39 

English Standard Version 

  Jesus was perfect in every way.  He was fully human and fully God.  How did he start his day?  He spent time on his own in prayer.

  It baffles me that I think I can get through a day without prayer.  I do it often... I get so wrapped up in whatever it is that I'm doing.  I get busy, and I tell myself that I'll get around to it, and I don't.  Time and time again it happens, and it's probably the reason that I so often feel unmoored, drifting in the surf, battered by so many waves.  So often, it feels like everyone is looking for us, demanding something of us, asking for more... but Jesus leaves it behind, anchoring himself in prayer before action.  It's his first priority.  

  May we make it ours, that before we preach or teach or serve or do anything, we pray first, and then go.

Mark 1:29-34

Mark 1:29-34 

English Standard Version 

  If someone gave you a million dollars, how would you thank them?  

  There's plenty of stories about people entering lives in ordained service because they made promises to God when they were sick or desperate and found their prayers answered.  I don't think God works like a vending machine, where if you deposit a promise you get your prayer answered as you want, but if you make such a promise to God, then you should probably keep it.  It's a much harder thing to simply make your request and say, "Thy will be done," but I think that's how Jesus calls us to pray.

  Either way, when something dramatic happens in our life as a gift, we want to say thank you.  Here, Simon's mother-in-law is healed, and she begins to serve.  That's her way of saying thank you.  And perhaps it best reflects what our natural state is -- when released from whatever binds us, we begin to serve.

  So when we reflect on all the things that God has done for us, we should naturally begin to serve.  That should be our orientation.  It tells me that heaven is a place of service, because we've been restored, so we serve one another as our way of saying thank you.

  How can you practice that today?  Who can you serve?