Sermon - Epiphany 5

2024 Epiphany 5 – Isaiah 40:21-31             1 Corinthians 9:16-27           Mark 1:29-39

In the first article of the Nicene Creed, we confess that God created everything that exists, visible and invisible.  Long before that creedal statement was formed, Isaiah makes a similar confession, “The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.”  The LORD is above His creation.  He “sits above the circle of the earth, … he stretches out the heavens like a curtain.”

The LORD is not content to reveal Himself to His creation only as a maker, a creator. He does not stand afar off admiring his creation, especially his human creation, as if we were a museum piece that is to be kept at a distance. The LORD chooses to interact with us. He has from the very beginning chosen to engage with us.  He did this in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. In the evening, the LORD would visit with Adam and Eve. It is widely understood that this is another example of the Pre-Incarnate Christ being in our midst before the Incarnation. 

As the LORD interacts with us he demonstrates his compassion and mercy. His compassion and mercy have been present from the beginning, just as his sense of justice and order have also been present from the beginning.   

The prophet Isaiah is teaching and preaching from around 740BC – 681BC.  This was a time of great upheaval in that part of the world.  Some of that upheaval comes because God’s chosen people have a tendency to repeat the mistakes of Adam and Eve. Through the prophet Moses God gave clear instructions about how to live and worship. Things are fine for a while, then the people, led by their leaders, choose to disobey God, worship false, hand-made idols, and eventually forget God.  God kept sending the prophets, but there is no enduring, multi-generational change. Eventually, God’s patience runs thin and punishes the people in order to bring them into repentance.  Isaiah is serving as Prophet during one of those periods of time.  

In 722 Assyria conquers the northern kingdom, which at that point is identified as Israel. This is where most of the 10 tribes are located.  Assyria kills some residents. They exile many more as slaves. Assyria turns it cruel head toward Judah and in 701 Assyria under the leadership of Sennacherib besieges Jerusalem.  

The prophets speak clearly that Assyria is allowed to do this because of Israel’s unrepentant sin. To be clear, the repenting has to start with the leadership.  They were not listening. Because of their hard-heartedness and their conniving, there is a lot of suffering going on. Family members are being killed. Businesses are being destroyed. Farmers are having their fields and livestock destroyed, or, confiscated.  People are sick, they are going hungry, and there is no help. This is truly a hard time with a tremendous amount of suffering.  People who are not really with the ones that God is punishing are caught in the middle of God’s judgment. The future for everyone is uncertain at best, most definitely grim. 

God speaks through Isaiah to those who are suffering. As he “brings the princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness” the LORD offers compassion and mercy to those who are yet faithful to the LORD God. He promises the downtrodden, the weary, the broken, exhausted, the grieving, that He sees them, He is with them, and He will lift them up.  In mercy, the Lord promises to “give power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. … but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Amid a horrible, but deserved judgment, God shows compassion and offers His mercy. 

This passage from Isaiah 40 also points us to the Incarnate One, Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, comes down to us for our salvation. As Jesus ministers to the people through his presence and words, he also brings healing.  He takes the broke and broken, the homeless, the grieving, the sick, the lame, the deaf and blind. He has compassion upon them. In his mercy, he announces the forgiveness of sins and the coming kingdom. In his compassion, he renews their bodies, their strength, their energy. 

Jesus embodies the promise of the LORD God. So, on the Sabbath, the same Sabbath as last Sunday where Jesus was teaching in the Synagogue with an authority that impressed the assembled, and, where he healed a man with an unclean spirit; Jesus now enters the family home of Simon and Andrew. Simon Peter’s mother-in-law is sick. 

This incident is also told in Matthew 8 and Luke 4.  In Luke 4, the physician Luke adds the important detail that she has a “high” fever.  Now, I have been sick and I have had fevers. Most of you probably have too. What happens when we are in this condition?  At the very least, we have no physical or mental energy. We sleep a lot, and we stare into space even more. We are not good conversation partners. When we do get better, it generally takes a couple of days or longer to get our energy back. 

What a stark contrast to what happened with Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. Jesus takes her by the hand and lifts her up. Immediately, she has energy. She is lifted upon those eagles’ wings and her strength is renewed. She immediately begins to serve them.

The other night I watched this healing event portrayed on The Chosen. I have never watched The Chosen. I was just looking through YouTube and it popped up. I think the way it was portrayed was spot on.  Mother-in-law goes from terrible sickness to life as normal in moments thanks to Jesus.  She immediately gets up, takes command of the kitchen, and begins to serve them. No grogginess, no after affect. She is her normal bossy self.  Now, that is a gift. 

At sundown, the Sabbath has ended, and here they come: the sick and the possessed. They are brought to Jesus by their caretakers. 

What do they seek? Mercy. Help. Relief. What they get is freedom. Freedom as if they were carried on eagle’s wings. When Jesus heals people, he gives them their lives back. Freedom of movement, freedom of energy. Freedom to see, hear, communicate, work. Freedom to be with their loved ones. 

The miracles that Jesus performs free people to receive the good news that God’s kingdom is at hand. Better days are ahead. 

In the course of His ministry, Jesus goes on to address sin, the most serious, deceptive, and pervasive of sicknesses. The mercy and compassion that Jesus extends through healing bodies and minds is only a small part of the mercy and compassion that he will demonstrate upon the cross of calvary. Upon the cross, Jesus offers His life so that we can be set free from the clutch of sin.  His offering of love upon the cross removes the eternal indictment against us on account of our sin.  In his mercy, we are declared forgiven.  In faith, we receive his gift of forgiveness. Through faith, we declare that Jesus is Lord. Through faith we are justified before our heavenly Father on account of Jesus’ sacrifice upon the cross. 

We are free. Free to serve. Free to look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. 

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.