Mark 1:29-39

Jesus and some of his disciples had just left the synagogue in Capernaum, a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee.  There, Jesus had astonished his listeners with his teaching, described as “having authority” unlike the teaching of the scribes, to which the people were accustomed.  They go directly to the home of Simon Peter which, it would appear, he shares with his wife, his mother-in-law, and his brother Andrew.

Now, after all these centuries, we’re still a bit surprised to be reminded that Peter had a wife and mother-in-law ---that he was in fact a family man.  We tend to forget that the saints and disciples and other biblical persons were real people like you and me.  They, too, experienced the love, comfort and support, as well as the responsibilities, obligations and travails of everyday family life.

Peter’s mother-in-law is sick in bed with a high fever.  We don’t know her name.  We might never have known of her except for the fact that scripture records that, on this particular day, Jesus came and stood beside her, “took her by the hand, and lifted her up.” ---from her sickbed and, we might add, from obscurity.

Not long after Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law, at about sundown, the whole city gathered outside Peter’s house.  Many others who were sick were also touched, lifted up, and healed!  This went on through the night until, in the darkness of early morning, Jesus slipped away to find some solitude in a "deserted place."   It was what he most needed to do after an evening of such intense activity.  And, when Jesus went to this deserted place, he  prayed.

Soon after, Simon and his companions came hunting for him, found him, and reported that everyone was searching for him.   So it was that Jesus began the next phase of his Galilean ministry, saying:

 “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” (v. 38).

Refreshed, “. . he went throughout Galilee, our text tells us, proclaiming the message. .”  and taking the sick by the hand, lifting them up and healing them.

It seems almost obligatory that we, at this point in our examination of the text, repeat the words of the old prayer hymn, “Precious Lord, Take My Hand.”  You may have noticed as you entered the sanctuary this morning that, just inside the doors to the sanctuary, there is a cart holding quite a few hymn books.  The bottom shelves hold our gray “Spirit Touching Spirit” hymnals, from which Damascus Road has long chosen hymns for our contemporary worship services; on the top shelves, there are 150 copies of “With One Voice” ---the new blue hymnal designed to supplement the old, green “Lutheran Book of Worship.”  Anyway, many will be pleased to know that “Precious Lord”, which isn’t in the old “green book” or, the even older “red book” or, for that matter, the very new “gray book,” did make the cut for the new “blue book.”  I say new; actually “With One Voice” has been around for several years, but it is only now making its way into our worship, officially, and “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” along with it.

“Precious Lord, take my hand,

lead me on, let me stand,

I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.

Through the storm, through the night,

lead me on to the light,

take my hand, precious Lord,

lead me home.”

Perhaps this hymn, which we sang at the “Community Service for Unity in the New Millennium,” held at St. Mary’s two Sundays ago, will be one of the first hymns we, as a congregation, sing from “With One Voice” ---we’ll see.  And, there is a prayer hymn very much like it. You will find “He Touched Me” in none of the hymn books just mentioned, but it is also appropriate to the text and the moment before us.  I don’t know if we Lutherans will ever get around to singing “He Touched Me;”  and yet, indeed, that is precisely the message of this morning’s Gospel lesson.  After all is said and done. . .  that is what Jesus does for us.  He “touches us” and he “lifts us up” in order that we might be healed.  This is what I am trying to convey when, during The Prayers, I often say, “Lord, let us feel your presence.”

Jesus touches us and lifts us up from our sickbeds.

          He touches us and lifts us from our sin and failings.

                    He touches us and lifts us above life situations that get us down.

That is what he did long ago in far away places like Galilee and that is what he continues to do nearby, today---here, among us!  Which causes me to ask you :

                             What is your sickness?

                                       What is your sin---what are your failings?

                                                What is your desperate situation?

That’s what God wants to know as he listens to your “prayers of confession,” your “prayers of petition,” and your prayers of “thanksgiving.”  Someone once said, “If you are too busy to pray, than you are too busy not to pray.”  

The last meeting of the Worship and Music Committee included a discussion of Midweek Lenten Vespers and possible themes for preaching.  I suggested, and it was agreed, that our lenten meditations could focus on:  “Prayer and the World’s Great Religions.”   Christianity, Judahism, Islam, Budhism, and Hinduism will receive our attention, in that order, beginning March 8th with Ash Wednesday Services.  The final midweek service will give special emphasis to the place of “Prayer in the Personal and Liturgical Lives of Lutherans.”  In case you hadn’t guessed, we’re also going to spend some time praying!   

It is said about Martin Luther that he used to rise at four every morning to pray, except on mornings that he had a particularly busy or challenging day ahead of him.  On those occasions, Luther would rise even earlier and pray longer.  It is in prayer that we are most intimately connected to God, and it is in prayer that we are strengthened for the journey.

That’s what this text teaches us about our relationship with the Father through his Son ---Jesus touches our lives with healing hands, lifts us up, and leads us on; and, in turn, we are to pray and then give thanks through our service to God.  In preparation for such service let us pray :

          “Faithful God, you have lavished us with your love.  Keep us ever mindful that you keep your promises.  On our difficult days help us to remember that you are a refuge for those who need shelter, a comfort for those who feel empty.  On our joyful days fill us with a deep sense of thanksgiving as we experience your everlasting love.  Help us to share your graciousness with all those who need a touch of generous love.  Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.”

 (Joyce Rupp, May I have this Dance? (Notre Dame, Ind.:  Ave Maria Press, 1992).