Wintersmith Books

I am a member of the Enfield Congregational Church in Enfield, CT, part of the United Church of Christ. Occasionally I do a sermon, as a deacon, or a part of the bell choir on Music Sunday.  I'm happy to share some of these with you.

“Christ’s First Miracle of Healing”

Mark 1: 29-34

 We are continuing our ongoing story of Jesus, the divine person, Jesus the carpenter, the child in the temple, the fisher of men, the chastiser of the money changers, the healer of the sick, and the teacher of God’s message.

 Our reading today is said to be the first recorded incident of Christ healing someone directly by touching them. There was a previous miracle—the turning of water into wine at Cana, and a previous healing of a centurion’s son…from a distance. He told the centurion to go home and he would find his son healed. 

 In this instance, Jesus arrived at the house of Simon and Andrew, to learn that Simon’s Mother-in-Law was ill.  He had recently recruited Simon Peter and Andrew as disciples, asking them to follow him. He went in the house and took her hand and lifted her up. She was healed and she served them. The word soon got around and people came from all over the village to be healed, and he healed many.

 Throughout the Bible are many instances of Jesus healing. He healed a blind man, a deaf man, those with leprosy, a paralytic, a bleeding woman, a withered hand, and raised Lazarus from the dead. God heals today also and many ask for healing in the name of Jesus. But not all are healed. Not all are saved from disaster. Why is that?

 Just as an aside, that has always been important to me. Today is the 31st anniversary of the Shuttle Challenger Explosion on Jan. 28, 1986.  Most of us remember exactly where we were when we heard that news. It was profoundly devastating. Some of us asked, “Why didn’t God save those people?” Was it God’s will for them to die? Why does one survive cancer and not another? Why do some and not others survive a plane crash, a tornado, an earthquake, a fire, or a mud slide? Are some favored over others?  How painful and insulting would that be to hear that God loved someone else’s husband or child more than yours. We know that God has unconditional love for all of us so that cannot be the answer. It is not God’s will for you to suffer or for your loved one to die.

But in God’s world, there are diseases that we are challenged to cure. There are natural disasters that happen. There is violence among humans, that hurt and kill other humans. And, all it takes is one little mishap, one tiny defective part, one person not doing their job, for a rocket launching a space shuttle to explode. It only takes one sleepy engineer to throw a train off the tracks and kill a dozen people. It takes one public employee to cover up eroding water pipes and poison a town. God does not always intervene. He wants us to do that.

 Jesus could have asked God for anything. He could have been saved from the cross, but he wasn’t. He could have removed all pain and suffering from the world, but he didn’t. He did not fix everything. He didn’t tie the hands of his executioners. He didn’t take the wealth from the rich and give it to the poor, like Robin Hood. Why not? We wonder.

 But why did Jesus bother to heal anyone? Was it to show that he could? That he was divine? Was Jesus wanting Simon Peter to follow him, so he needed to show him what was possible, and to remove Peter’s problem regarding his mother-in-law, and needed her to be healed, so that he could continue teaching his new disciples?

 Jesus did not heal on demand or to entertain. He wanted people to hear his message. That was the greater mission. In Mathew 15, when the Canaanite woman pursued Jesus, and asked him to heal her daughter, he at first refused her.  Only when she persisted, did he turn to her and tell her that her faith was strong and her request was granted. There was a lesson, beyond just magically healing her daughter.

 He leaves us our free will. The world is in our hands.  We are not babies in paradise. We eat daily of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. It is not going to be all done for us. Life and health are not served to us on a silver platter.  We are responsible for our health. Easy examples are smoking, overeating, drugs and alcohol.  We know that excess can cause problems, yet it is up to each one of us to control that. No one can do it for us. We see suffering, and it is up to us to do something about it. It is up to us to cure diseases, help those in need, and keep our planet healthy.  What would be the point of us going back to Eden?

 So, if God doesn’t heal all, what’s the point of prayer?  Why talk to God? The problem is it’s usually a one-way conversation. We don’t listen for the answers. Prayer is one way for you to know God and for God to know you, and for you to know yourself.

 God did not save Jesus from the crucifixion. It would have been a miracle that contradicted God’s plan. Jesus didn’t come down because the Cross had a purpose. The miracle of his survival would have undermined the greater miracle of his resurrection. The doubters demanded proof from Jesus, and proof from God. Just as the devil tempted him to cast himself down on the rocks. But Christ, like his Father, did not work from demands. His purpose was far more than showmanship. Christ didn’t perform on command. He healed to show that God could heal through him. But he often refused to heal someone just to put God to the test.

 In Mark 6, Jesus returned to his home town of Nazareth and began to teach in the synagogue but the people there dismissed his words because they knew him as a neighbor, an ordinary person. He could do no great work there, but healed a few and then left. His main purpose was not to run around healing people.Yet, he sometimes performed signs and miracles not prayed for or asked for.

 When it came time for Jesus Christ to be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, according to the Bible, his disciples were upset at the sight of Roman soldiers and Jewish religious leaders who had gathered there, ready to take Jesus away. So, wielding a sword, one of them -- Peter -- cut off an ear of a man standing nearby: a servant of the high priest. But Jesus rebuked the violence and miraculously healed the servant's ear.  That was the last healing that Jesus performed before the crucifixion.

 The greater answer, the true understanding is not that God could heal anyone and everyone on earth, in the name of Jesus. He could, but He does not, because there is a greater plan that we do not yet understand and to simply heal everyone and fix everything can interfere with that plan. We would all be in the garden of Eden, and have no reason to learn anything. There would be no challenges, no mysteries, no problems to solve.  We are in this world to learn and to love, and to heal. And more importantly, perfection in this world is not what it is all about.   If everything were perfect, that all people only loved and not hated, if all trees bore healthyfruit that never spoiled, what would drive us to seek answers—to seek God and to call upon Him?  Jesus tried to tell us to focus on what is more important, which is our own personal relationship with God, our connection to the Divine and what the future holds in the Kingdom of Heaven. We only begin to understand when we seek God through prayer and listen for answers for wisdom, for enlightenment. Only then can we begin to be healing people, peacemakers in our world. We have to be willing to listen, to hear and understand others, and to compromise. Not easy in our country today, but it is our task. God does not wave a magic wand.

 Then if God does not always heal us, no matter how much we pray, what shall we do when we are devastated, when we are overcome with fear or sorrow? When we are asking, Why me?

In Psalm 17, we read, “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord.”

 God will strengthen you, and He will comfort you. Be patient. We want relief right now, but God may have us wait for a greater understanding. This life is only preparation for a great and endless journey. We cannot yet know all the answers. We have to wait, speak to God, and listen. Be open to the answers and be patient.

 In Psalm 46, He says, “Be Still, and know that I am God.”

 Amen.

    THE WORD AND THE WORK

Luke 10:38-42

 Did Jesus mean that Martha’s work was not important? Mary chose the better part. Mary wanted to hear the direction that Jesus was giving to the people. She wanted to be informed. In those days women were not expected to be informed, but Mary wanted to know what to do….so that she could then act rightly. Martha knew her role, and performed it well. It was necessary and valuable.

 You who have worked at the soup kitchen know well that someone has to cook the food, serve the guests and wash the dishes. It doesn’t just appear because you hear God’s call to do so. Someone has to do the work: feed the hungry, clothe the naked and give aid to the sick.

 Yes, we must hear the word of God, from the words of Jesus in our Holy Bible, and within our own hearts. We need to listen, with a desire and a willingness to hear and understand what is expected of us. And then we must act. To act without guidance is reckless. But just to know what to do is not going to get it done.

 We know that we should not steal, or lie, or swear, or cheat or kill-and yet we do. And if we do not do it ourselves, we may allow others to do so, by doing nothing--by not taking a stand.

 Last month, the world lost a great spiritual, God-loving man, who listened and also acted. Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize winner, author of       books, speaker of the truth about the holocaust, and genocide in all parts of the history of the world, and advocate of speaking out, of taking action.  Perhaps his greatest message was, “Don’t be a Bystander”. We must not stand by and let evil happen. If we do, we are part of the evil.

 If malevolent dictators are trampling on humanity

If ethnic populations are being massacred

If corrupt leaders are responsible for fraud, deception, hate mongering, profiling, …

If in our own country, state, or neighborhood, people of any race, ethnicity, skin color, religion, gender or sexual orientation are being bullied, tormented, profiled, excluded, ..

 And we do nothing. …we say nothing……we are part of the evil. We are in sync with the perpetrators.

 "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

 Jesus said turn not away. Go the extra mile.  ……and that if any person gives water to another, they give it to him.

 We hear in our public service messages:  If you see something…..say something. It is the responsibility of all of us… to help prevent terrorism.

 If you see a group of people harassing a Muslim woman about her head scarf, say something.

If you see children teasing a handicapped child, say something.

 If you become aware of corruption in your government or community: federal, state or local. Say something. Speak up. Listen to what is going on, read the paper, watch the news, be a part of the culture, and don’t let it just fall to others. Don’t snuggle up in the comfort of your own little hideaway and feel contented. The wolves that are out there, will soon be at your own door, and who will come to your aid?

 If you learn of stress in your own family, don’t call your brother a fool, take the mote out of your own eye.

 Whatever you are a part of—you are responsible for the whole of it.

 If you are a member of this church……you are responsible for this church. It is your duty to know what is happening….not just in worship on a Sunday morning receiving the WORD….as primary as that is.

 It is your duty to do the WORK of this church….to be part of the love and caring and growth and support of this church. If we all just showed up on Sunday morning and never stepped foot in here another time, there would be no church. This is a community with many facets. Someone has to set up the service. Someone has to play and sing the music. Someone chooses hymns and Bible verses, and writes a sermon. Someone makes the bylaws, attends the meetings of council, deacons, Christian Ed, or Outreach. Someone teaches Sunday School, sets up and serves communion, decorates our church for special services, writes for the Drumbeats, delivers home communion, cares for our ill and homebound. Someone cooks pork dinners, makes baskets and crafts, and knits baby hats and cancer hats and prayer shawls, and makes quilts for sick children. Someone carries and tags tag sale items and dusts them off. Is it you?  (maintenance, mowing the lawn, painting

 If there is pain, or want, or need, or discord in your church, our church, do you notice?  Do you say something? Do you step up to do what must be done? Or, are you a bystander?

 Mary chose the better part. That is primary. Hear the word. But also, look to do the work with God’s direction. He will show the way.

 All there is needed for evil to happen is for good people to do nothing.