The Adventurous Lectionary – The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany – February 4, 2018
Isaiah 40:21-21
Psalm 147:1-1l, 20c
I Corinthians 9:16-23
Mark 1:29-39
Today’s readings invite us to look at life from a wider perspective and to go from self-interest to world loyalty. Theology and spirituality are intensely ethical in nature. As Archbishop Oscar Romero asserted, spirituality is not just about hearing God in our inner life, but in the suffering of those around us, especially the poor and vulnerable. If we don’t hear the cries of the poor, we may, as the prophet Amos notes, experience a famine in hearing God’s word, despite our elaborate liturgies and well-crafted sermons. Our individual lives are part of a greater story, the universe and God’s story, adding by our decisions beauty or ugliness to our communities and implicitly to the whole.
The prophet Isaiah asks, “Have you not known? Have you not heard?” that God is both transcendent and immanent, that the God of the universe is also the God of finite and fallible humans, that the God whose eternity dwarfs our imaginations, is also concerned about our suffering and our behaviors. God supports all things, energizes all things, and also relativizes all things. Presidents and corporate moguls are but grass, having their day and then perishing, before divine eternity. Their pretensions are unmasked by mortality. Their narcissism undermined by divine providence that has the final word in relationship to every institutional structure. Those who wait for God will, in contrast, experience divine energy, grace, and power. They will have the fortitude to persist and to outlast the challenges they face.
The contrast between divine infinity and human finitude enables us to take our tasks seriously, but not too seriously. Our work is important, but not all important. We leave are mark, are remembered by God, and shape the future, but we gain solace by being partners with the cosmic God who sustains and guides us. We can work hard, knowing that we are part of a much larger story. Much depends on our agency, but not everything. God is the beginning and end of all things; therefore, we can work hard and also rest in God’s abiding care. Patiently waiting on and trusting in God’s providence renews and restores our spirits so that we might lovingly and effectively face the large and small injustices of our world.
Psalm 147 connects social justice, the sustaining of the people, and the healing of the broken-hearted with God’s grandeur. Awe in God’s grandeur inspires us to bring beauty to the earth and support God’s creation. The microcosm is sustained and guided by the energy and wisdom of the macrocosm. The force that guides the heavens also insures justice and well-being in human life. Embracing God’s energy of love energizes our lives and transforms the world.
Paul’s words in I Corinthians 9 also invite us to larger perspective. The gospel of salvation and wholeness relativizes every theological and ideological position. The grandeur of God’s good news inspires flexibility in our presentation of the gospel and our relationships with others. There are many ways to share God’s good news, and our good news sharing needs to mirror the needs of those whom we address. We need to listen for the revelation of God, coming from those we serve. In Paul Simon’s poetry, “the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls.” Paul can with integrity identify with Jews, Greeks, law abiding and lawless, weak, and strong, because Christ, in the spirit of John Cobb’s vision of creative transformation, is the way that excludes no authentic way. What matters is not our parochial viewpoint but God’s vision of healing and wholeness which embraces all the diversities of life.
Mark 1:29-39 describes a “day in the life” of Jesus. Jesus teaches, heals, and exorcises the demonic. Jesus is going from dusk to dawn. No healing is too large or too small for his attention. The story concludes with Jesus going to a deserted place for prayer. His time of prayer connects him with God and gives him a clear sense of mission.
Many progressive and mainline Christians polarize action and contemplation. They see the mission of the church as either political or spiritual or activist or contemplative. In contrast, throughout Mark’s Gospel, action and contemplation are seen as interdependent. Jesus is always on the move, constantly responding to human need. Yet, Jesus regularly retreats for prayer and reflection. Moments of quiet, such as the one described in Mark 1:35-39, enable Jesus to connect with his Spiritual GPS. In the case of today’s reading, Jesus’ quiet time fortifies his sense of calling to all Israel and implicitly the world and not merely the village of Capernuam. (For more on preaching Mark’s Gospel, see Bruce Epperly, Mark’s Holy Adventure: Preaching Mark’s Gospel for Year B and Healing Marks: Healing and Spirituality in Mark’s Gospel.)
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