Epiphany 5 B

Epiphany 5 year B

Mark 1:29-39

I’ll tell you, this week’s gospel reading really has me thinking. When we pair it with last week’s reading, it presents a challenge and a dilemma.
What we have in this week’s reading is Jesus in the home of Simon. When he gets there, he finds that Simon’s mother-in-law is sick and goes to heal her. Last week we had Jesus healing the man possessed by demons. Whether out and about or in the privacy of someone’s home, Jesus is doing what Jesus does. Jesus does not have one persona in public and another in private. And it is here that the challenge and the dilemma come into play.
The actions of Jesus challenge us to live our faith “out loud.” The way Jesus went about his life did not leave any room for questions. From the moment he was baptized, the world became aware that this man was different than what had come before. When Jesus cast out the demons in the story we heard last week, we can assume that did it out in the open because everyone was talking about it. And in today’s reading, Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law, in the quite of her home. Jesus doesn’t drag her out into the street to get more notoriety, he just simply heals her.
But the dilemma comes with the way I was raised and with the way many of us in main-line denominations were raised: If you are like me, you were raised to not draw a whole lot of attention to yourself. And you were also raised to not bring up religion in “polite” company. It was the whole “Religion and Politics” thing; these were just topics that were not discussed. But in the gospel lessons of the past two weeks, we have Jesus not only talking about religion and politics in public, but living religion and politics. And not only living it, but also unapologetically living it. This kind of thing just makes the skin of this Roman Catholic raised boy crawl!
Now, another thing that makes my skin crawl is this whole living our faith “out loud” that Jesus is showing us. I have had many occasions of being cornered by people who were “Evangelizing.” I want to set this type of evangelization apart because I think it is what comes our mind when we think of evangelization and, if you are like me, just the mention of the word is scary. I had been backed into a corner and told that I was damned to Hell (and I’m not talking about Hell, MI here!) if I didn’t accept Jesus. I had been trapped in an airplane, stuck between the window and the person who was bound and determined to save my soul, for over four hours. I’ve been told that if I don’t speak in tongues, then God really has not saved me. So when I think of “Evangelization,” these are the thoughts that go through my mind. And the thought of living my faith “out loud” can be mighty scary.
So, how can we work to create a life where our faith is as integral a part of us as our hair color? How can we create a life where our faith is as apparent as our eye color? How can we create a life where we can witness to our faith without the need to shove it into people’s faces? This is the challenge AND the dilemma of our gospel reading.
When I hear the word “Evangelism, ” or hear of a faith being “Evangelistic,” what comes to my mind are what could be referred to as “Pentecostal Pep Rallies.” Now, this kind of worship may be fine for some people, I just find them uncomfortable. I don’t think that this means I have any less faith than the Pentecostal folks, it just means that I have a different way of expressing my faith. Neither way is right or wrong, they are just different.
But the unfortunate thing is that when it comes to living our faith in the world, the usual example we call to mind is that of people similar to the person who had me trapped on the plane. Again, though, growing up in a mainline denomination, this “in your face” kind of evangelizing was not for me. I found it annoying and didn’t want to be annoying to others.
So again here is the dilemma: We have the example of Jesus living his faith “out loud” in the world. We have Jesus living his faith “out loud” around his friends. We have this example of Jesus fully living his faith in all he did. We are told that we are to follow our Savior and live as he lived. But for the life of me, I cannot be like the other Evangelicals that I see.
Now it would be nice if we could just be left off the hook. Since how society defines evangelism is really not the Episcopalian way, then we just don’t have to do it. We will leave that for others.
Unfortunately, that is not the way it goes. Jesus calls each one of us. Jesus calls you and me to be out spreading the word of love and forgiveness to a hurting world. Jesus calls us each to the table and then sends us out. Jesus calls us! And that is what we need to remember.
It didn’t matter where Jesus was or whom he was with. Jesus was authentically himself. He healed in the temple because that is what needed to happen. He healed in Simon’s home because that is what needed to happen. He did what he needed to do, and he did it in the way that only he could do.
Likewise, we each are called to be authentically ourselves. If you find the “Pentecostal Pep Rally” uncomfortable, that is ok. Your way of spreading the news of God’s love will be low-key. If you enjoy and are moved by loud and boisterous worship, that is ok too! There are people out there that you will reach. We each have our own way of spreading the gospel to the world. The important thing is that we get out there and do it! As there are all kinds of people, there are all kinds of way to spread the message. What works for some will may not necessarily work for others. And that is ok, that is the way it should be.
Jesus did not let the social conventions of the time get in his way. He taught, preached, and healed. He lived the love of God and showed that love to the world. And he calls us to be out in the world. We are to reach out in our way. We reach out through things like making prayer shawls. We reach out when we bring food for those in need. We reach out when we smile instead of getting angry. And we reach out when we use our skills and talents to ease the burdens of those around us.
We each have our way of reaching out, and God can use us to be God’s hands and heart in the world. We just need to be willing to move beyond ourselves and make ourselves vulnerable to the working of God.
This is the challenge of being a Christian. To be so aware of the love we find in Christ flowing through our lives that others can’t help but see this love and want to find it for themselves. This is not some lofty goal, it is highly attainable. We are called to this by Jesus, and Jesus will be there to help us through.