Taken By the Hand, Mark 1:29-39

Taken By the Hand, Mark 1:29-39

Do you remember the Old Spice commercial, the man your man could smell like?  It was an over-the-top exhibition of a villainously vain man.  He plotted for viewing women to compare him to their spouses or boyfriends.  Starting in his shower towel, he said, “Look at your man. Now back at me. Look at your man. Now back at me.”  It quickly shifts venue from a shower, to a boat where he offered the viewing woman an oyster containing tickets to a show, the tickets turn into a pile of cascading diamonds.  Throughout he commands, “Look at your man.  Now back at me.”  He finishes on a horse saying, “Look, now I am on a horse.”  Of course, males get the message.  If you want a great physique, a boat, a horse and the money to buy gifts like tickets and diamonds; buy Old Spice.  If you want to impress the ladies, buy Old Spice after-shave.  And of course, females get the message; if you want a man like that buy him Old Spice.  The commercial insults us all.

                Old Spice parodied our culture’s heterosexist, archetypes of the ideal, successful male – one who is handsome, fit, and wealthy - one who thoughtfully buys expensive gifts.   Old Spice counted on us laughing at the parody.  Laugh on the way to Target.  Laugh as we buy Old Spice hoping for a scent of truth in the commercial’s claims.  

                Our Gospel text can be offensive too.  Jesus on the Sabbath day heals a man who was possessed by a spirit.  Afterwards, he goes to Simon Peter’s home.  The disciples bring to his attention Simon’s ill mother-in-law.   We cannot help but see this story through the lens of our culture’s old Ozzie and Harriet worldview. 

                Can you see the commercial; maybe it is for DiGiorno frozen pizza?  The handsome, rugged men go to Simon’s home after a hard day at the synagogue.  They lounge down on the sofas and Lazyboy.  The large, HD plasma TV is on and tuned to the Superbowl pre-game show.  They look at each other – thirsty looks, hungry looks.  The camera pans in on Simon, who whacks his head and says, “Oh Yeah – we have no food, Mother-in-law is sick.”  The disciples turn together to Jesus and together point to her room.  The camera follows him to her bedside where she is obviously sick with fever.  The music swells; he reaches out his hand to her and lifts her up out of the bed.  She shakes off her bathrobe.  She is dressed in a bright kitchen apron.  She rushes to the kitchen to put DiGiorno pizzas in the pre-heated oven. 

                The healing could be read this way, but the sexist view is not true to the context.   Simon’s mother-in-law is healed so she can participate in the community.   Yes – the culture of Jesus’ day was not gender-enlightened providing equal vocational opportunities.  Yes – the women cooked and served meals.   But unlike today’s culture, meals were not peripheral to life, they were central, important, meals centered family life.   No breathless meals of fast food, no watching TV while eating, no texting during meals.  Meals centered human community.  The ones preparing the meals were vital. 

                One of the early church’s Egyptian monastics taught this image: “Suppose we were to …draw the outline of a circle…Let us suppose that this circle is the world and the center is God: the straight lines drawn from the circumference to the center are lives of human beings.  So to move towards God, each individual must move towards the center…and the closer they are to one another, the closer each is to God.”[1]  We discover God in community.  When we eat as family we come closer to each other and God.   When we worship as family we come closer to each other and God.  When we serve our communities we come closer.

                Simon’s mother-in-law is healed of fever; she is enabled to fulfill her family role.  Anthony and I watched the entire first season of Downton Abbey this weekend.  I’m fascinated with its portrayal of the British aristocracy and the hierarchies of a society.   I’m fascinated with its clear vocations, the certain roles everyone plays: Lord, Lady, Butler, Footman, Maid, Cook.  I’m offended that those born into wealth, those who own the horses and gems are at the top enjoying the greatest freedom and value.  Yet, the drama portrays the importance of everyone’s role.  Many scenes are in the mansion’s kitchen and at the center is the cook.  Mrs. Bird hides her encroaching blindness.   When found out, she is not cast from the home.  It is declared that the staff will have to support her more in the kitchen.   Regardless of her health, she would be able to serve, to stay.  Despite its caste-like roles, the drama recognizes the importance of vocation at every level.  

                Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law so she can serve in the family.  In the Gospel of Mark service is not a pejorative role.  Verse 31 says, “Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.”  The word for serve is diakoneo, from which we get the word and role of deacon.   The same word is used to describe how the angels served Jesus during his 40 days in wilderness.  After disciples vied for the most powerful place at Jesus’ right hand, he corrected their presumption that leadership is the most important role.  “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  It is the same word.  The Son of Humanity did not come to be served, but to serve just like the angels served Jesus, just like the mother-in-law served her family. 

                When hearing today’s healing in the larger context of the Christian story, the serving mother demonstrates the truest discipleship.  She can be contrasted with her son-in-law, Peter.  I see another Old Spice commercial where a vain man pursues frivolousness and seeks to climb imaginary ladders of success.  “Look at your man. Now back at me.”  Peter jumps into the sea to water walk like Jesus.  Peter rebukes Jesus’ admission that his healing, inclusive ways lead to suffering.  Peter declines Jesus’ humble washing of his feet refusing to have a leader who serves. Peter denies knowing Jesus as the cock crows.   His Mother-in-law, the cook, understood Jesus’ real power much faster.  She got up from her sick bed and served like Jesus.

                Jesus heralded, witnessed, taught and created a new age, an age where all people were valued, an age without praiseworthy or pejorative social distinctions.  Jesus created the Kingdom of God around himself.   He healed people and the health was not simply freedom from physical illness, not simply freedom from mental illness but freedom from societal illness.                Within the World Health Organization’s Constitution health is defined: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”  Our world struggles for wholeness.  The hierarchies of British castes may be over.  The hierarchies of Levitical cleanliness may be over.  The hierarchies of masculine superiority may be ending.   But hierarchies of value persist.  Rather than biblical cleanliness, we have physical beauty as a cultural divider.  Rather than British aristocracy we have the super wealthy increasing poverty.   We have crazy inequities regarding what vocations are most valued.   

                Jesus’ healing was not distinguished from his teaching.  They were one and the same.  He taught that all of us can be healers.  He showed the disciples that they were to be a community of wholeness.   Through Christ, we are invited as disciples to reach out our hands for wholeness to equally value farm and factory, beauty salon and bank, Silicon Valley and school. We are invited to value all of God’s children and their gifts for our society.

                When I was in college I participated in the Presbyterian Student Fellowship.   Many of us were close to the Campus Pastor, David and his wife, Trina.  Mandy joined our little community and she was drawn close to the Pastor’s family, very close.  She shared that she had a terrible, life-threatening disease; our community surrounded her with love.  Trina and David took her in, provided her a room in their home. 

                After more than a year, Christ reached out his hand, took hers, and healed her.  God enabled her to tell the truth.  Mandy shared with Trina and David that she had created the elaborate story of illness, so that she would be included and loved.  She had not been ill at all.   She left their home and the University.  Her deceit and departure shocked us all.  We pondered that her illness was not physical but spiritual.  We pondered whether our prayers helped her.  While we prayed for her physical health God was healing her mind and spirit. 

                Months passed and we learned that she found another community.  She lived and served in a L’Arche community as a cook.  Within L’Arche Communities peoples of differing abilities live together.   People with intellectual disabilities are valued because of their inherent qualities of welcome, wonderment, spirituality and friendship.   According to their mission statement, L’Arche exists to strengthen local communities, to welcome people, to engage in advocacy on behalf of those on the margins of society, and to raise awareness of the gifts of persons with intellectual disabilities.[2]   In David and Trina’s home, Mandy had been touched with wholeness.  She had learned that she was lovable.  While our compassion may have been coerced by her deceit, it was real.  Healed, she was enabled to tell the truth and given a vocation to serve and touch others with wholeness. 

                Jesus healed Simon’s mother to value; Jesus healed Mandy to value and inclusion.  He touched them, took them by the hand and lifted them up from illness, to service.  As Jesus reaches out to us a hand of health, a touch of health, we reach out to others our hands of welcoming health.   And that health is body, mind and spirit.  That health is full inclusion.  That health is value in community.  That health is God’s good creation and beloved community. 

                Friends, if you watch the Superbowl commercials tonight, beware of false messages.  You know the truth: your value is not in cars, houses, diamonds, horses, boats, masculinity, femininity, or sexual attractiveness.  Your value is not in the things of our world.  Our value is in our community – our friends, our family, those at our table.  Friends, Christ takes us by the hand, lifts us up.  Christ sets us on our feet as deacons of love.  Amen.