5th EPIPHANY

February 08, 2009

the Rev. Ken Kroohs

(Isaiah 40:21-31, Ps. 147:1-12 & 21; I Corinthians 9:16-23; Mark 1:29-39)

AWE OF GOD

St. Christopher’s, High Point, NC

MAY THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH ... AND THE MEDITATIONS OF ALL OUR HEARTS ... BE ALWAYS ACCEPTABLE TO YOU ___ OUR STRENGTH AND OUR REDEEMER AMEN

This is another passage that gives my dark side a chance to flourish! I love tweaking the noses of people who are pompously sure of things — and occasionally getting my nose tweaked back!

This gospel raises the interesting question about whether God anticipated a religious debate and slipped in a seemingly meaningless piece of information to help with the debate. That is a particularly interesting thought since Mark is the gospel writer who tends to keep everything direct and simple.

Jesus cures Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. Now since Simon Peter is generally seen as the first “priest” and specifically the Pope is seen as a spiritual descendent of Peter ... and since last time I checked having a mother-in-law meant you had a wife which meant you were married ..... this passage seems to say something about the whole question of whether clergy should marry!

Actually the unmarried priest teaching is a practice in the Roman Catholic church and not a firm requirement. Some of the Episcopal priests who left the Episcopal church became Roman Catholic priests ... wife, family and all.

So even though the fact Peter was married is really not all that important, it is interesting. Doesn’t it make him a tad more familiar? More human?

With the lack of birth control it is a safe bet Peter had children. A wife, children, a mother-in-law ... and one of the most important followers of Jesus Christ.

I also have to believe that despite the lack of evidence in scripture ... the lack of discussion ... I have to believe Peter was a good family man ... a good husband and father. I cannot see Jesus supporting and encouraging someone to NOT be good to their family.

That assumption is a bit easier when we recognize that all the events in all four gospels only describe a few weeks depending on how you account for some things. So we are only getting the highlights — there probably were times Peter was caring for his family that are not recorded because they were not “highlights”.

All that said I don’t think Peter’s family is the most important part of this gospel! Interesting but not the most important. Notice how, just like last week, Mark focuses on the healings and the casting out of demons.

I really wish Mark and the other gospel writers had written down a few more of Jesus’ teachings! Most of the time we only hear that Jesus was “proclaiming the message in their synagogues” or some similar words.

What message? Exactly how did Jesus phrase it?

As a preacher it would be wonderful to begin with: “As Jesus taught in Capernium.” And then just read Jesus’ lesson!

In fact, what we read last week and this week shows what some scholars believe is the explanation for Jesus telling the demons, and people, to not speak. Mark focuses on the miracles – the amazing stuff and avoids the teachings. Many scholars say this is what Jesus feared — that people would approach Him for curing of the body and avoid the teachings. Accept the cure but not the life change.

Well, Jesus just might how known us human beings better than we want to admit!! After all, don’t we tend to do the same thing? We pray to God for a cure, or a healing. But we seldom focus on “thy will be done”. We seldom kneel before God and pray: “here is your servant, send me”

I suspect that is partially because we have lost at least some of our “awe” of God.

One of the sports channels recently was doing one of the those “top 50 plays” shows. Part way through the announcer commented about one player: “He does so many amazing things we no longer notice. We forget how amazing he is because he makes it look simple.”

Maybe that is part of our problem with God. We have seen so many amazing things made to look simple that we have lost our sense of awe — our sense of respect.

The psalm says “fear of God is the beginning of wisdom”. Actually a better translation might be ... or at least an equally good translation would be: “the awe of God is the beginning of wisdom.” To be in awe of God.

I believe that semantic difference is extremely important. To respond to God because we are afraid of God is very different from responding to God because we are in awe of God ... responding to God because God is awesome.

Some people argue that we have lost the sense of awe in our worship. The argument goes that when you are in a huge cathedral, filled with incense, and the organ drowning out any other sound it is easy to have a sense of the majesty of God.

That doesn’t work for me .... which doesn’t surprise anyone I know .... but I understand the concept and understand it does work for some people. So how do we gain or regain our “awe of God”? Other than visiting the National Cathedral, how do we regain our awe of God?

In my own spiritual journey, one of those days a Baptist would understand journey was the first day the concept of Jesus as my friend and brother really hit home. I can tell you the day, the place, who was with me, and who was speaking. The idea that God could be so close to me that I could call Him “friend” or “brother” was astonishing! Amazing! Wonderful!

But I did lose a tad bit of the awe ... of the sense that God is so much more than me. Before I had the image of a God so separate and above me that we really could not communicate. I could ask for things or whatever but it was like writing to President Obama to tell him what the stimulus package should look like!

It was a bit better than that since I was confident God heard me but there was that sense of separation.

Then with the “Jesus as friend” revelation I tended to go to the other extreme and lose the sense of awe and God’s superiority.

Interestingly this is not a modern problem! This is not something we can blame on the modern, scientific mind set. No this problem goes way back – look at our Isaiah reading today. In it Isaiah is speaking to this very problem. “Have you not heard? ... God sits above the circle of the earth and its inhabitants — that’s us — are like grasshoppers” ... “To whom who then will you compare me, or who is my equal asks the Holy one ... Lift up your eyes on high and see: “who created these?”

The point of the first chapter in Genesis ... the beginning of the Bible is NOT whether “days” were 24 hours long or not! The point at the very beginning of the Bible is that God did it all! Without my help. Without my advice – or yours – God did it all.

But then Isaiah goes on and says something that is mentioned other times in scripture ... and which still is a major issue. “The Lord does not faint or grow weary, His understanding is unsearchable.”

THAT could be one of our greatest problems ... the idea that God is greater than us. Historically the idea that human beings did not fully understand God was just an accepted fact. But just yesterday I over heard a speaker going on about how God could not have done something that way and my immediate reaction was: “How arrogant! How arrogant to tell God what God can and cannot do!” The first step to wisdom is being in awe of God enough to not doubt God. Question God – yes. Challenge God - yes, but not to doubt God.

Our challenge is to keep the balance ... to be in awe of God ... so much in awe that we understand the need to trust, follow and obey ... but also know God is closer to us than our closest sibling or our closest friend. To balance those two extremes.

And that is not really possible – another fact to act and trust about.

A similar challenge – there is a claim that any way you try to understand the Trinity is blaspheme! Our limited human minds cannot grasp three entities which are simultaneously fully separate and fully connected. We should be in awe of a God who can accomplish what we cannot even imagine.

In the same way we really cannot get our heads around a God who is simultaneously the creator of the universe and a friend. We can skip from side to side — which is probably a good idea.

We can relate to God sometimes as the divine creator and sometimes as our friend. But we cannot do both simultaneously unless we elevate ourselves to the level of the universe’s creator.

We need to appreciate and ask for the miracles while also working toward the change in our life. To be in such awe of God that we will kneel before Him and say: “Here is your servant Lord, send me”.

One final thought — slipping back to the gospel lesson for a moment. I learned something fascinating this week. One problem when we study the Bible is we are studying a translation and a translation that is not always precise. English words and Greek or Hebrew words don’t always equate.

Our English does not fully convey the meaning of the word usually translated as “preaching” or “proclaiming”. It turns out the word includes both speaking and doing. Jesus, for example, both healed and taught.

In our prayers to the creator God --- and our closest friend --- we should be asking the God we are in awe of .... to make us a servant who will be speak and do.

AMEN

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