If I Matter to Jesus, I Matter to Me; Mark 5:1-20

 

Rev. George Miller

Jan 28, 2024

Mark 5:1-20

 

Last week, Carnide blessed us with the song “If it matters to me, then it matters to the Master.”

 

It perfectly summarized the context in which we’ve been meandering through Mark.

 

Scene after scene we have noted just how much Jesus is involved in the mundane-

 

His moments with menders and Matriarchs, his being familiar with fishers and farmers.

 

The possibility that his home became a haven for healing.

 

For someone so spectacular, Jesus is right where we are, not just in our home or at our job, but even where death dwells.

 

Work, home, the soil, the grave.  The full human experience.

 

Today we enter a new world.  After Jesus has spent time on the west side of the water, he hops on a boat and heads east.

 

But where he goes is not a place of sloping green or pot roast simmering on the stove.

 

Jesus arrives at a graveyard full of death and decay, bones and foreboding.

 

In this place is a man living in constant torment and sorrow.  His days and nights are filled with howling and self-harm.

 

Friends and family fear him, so they’ve deserted him.  Shackled and strangled by chains, he is living in total hell.

 

Filled with demons he runs to Jesus, throws his scabbed filled body against the putrid soil.

 

Jesus casts the demons into swine, and jumping right off the cliff, there goes breakfast!

 

A little while later, the man reappears, this time dressed clean and sparkling like a diamond.

 

Jesus says “Go home to your people, tell them that what matters to them matters to the Master.”

 

He who once howled with hurt is now glowing with the Good News.

 

Did you notice how artistically Mark paints this picture?

 

Images of doom and tombs, chains and chaos that seem like a monster movie, not the kind of thing you’d expect for a service devoted to praise and joy, pajamas and comfy clothes.

 

And yet it fits.

 

After being where people work, eat, and sleep, Jesus is now where imperfection, wounds, tears, loneliness are the reality.

 

This is a 180 from the Christmas Season we just celebrated.  This is sooo far from the light of the nativity.

 

Yet, this story holds great, good news.

 

Take a moment to think of our self.  Our true selves.  The self that most people never get to see.

 

Think of our morning self.

 

Yes- many of us today may be in our pjs, but this ain’t what we look like first thing in the morning. 

 

This is what we look like after an hour of preparation with a shower, some deodorant and coverup.

 

If we saw each other in the morning, would we recognize one another or want to get too close with our bad breath, messed up hair, baggy eyes?

 

But guess what?

 

The Lord does.  The Lord recognizes and see us, and the Lord is not scared if we have BO or pre-morning coffee attitude.

 

If Jesus could interact with a man living in scabs and shackles, Jesus could handle us.

 

Think about this.

 

Think of our own unique vulnerabilities.  Think of our own issues of self-worth.  Our times of self-doubt.

 

Think of those who spend time sowing demonic seeds of doubt, trying to tell you-

 

that you may not be smart enough, light skinned enough, speaking the best business English.

 

Think of all the self-appointed scribes and Pharisees who love to say who’s in and who’s out, who is worthy or unworthy of rights, compassion.

 

How many here today or watching online have ever wondered if they truly matter to Jesus, do you truly matter to God?

 

How many have you ever woken up in the morning and just wanted to get back into bed and run from the day?

 

Who has ever contemplated-

 

Lord- in my pjs, in my comfy clothes, in my headwrap, in my bonnet,

 

With my whiskers, crusty eyes and dry mouth, with my aches and pains, fears, and quirks,

 

Without my makeup, without a shave, without a suit and tie, without my first morning cup of coffee-

 

Do you really care about me?

 

Do you really care about the things I do?

 

Do you really care about the things that have hurt and wounded me?

 

Do you really care about the things I do that hurt and wound me, that can separate me from others?

 

And the answer is “Yes.  Yes, Jesus cares.”

 

We go a step further during this PJ service of praise and joy-

 

Just as Jesus is amongst those who work and those who are the Matriarchs,

 

Jesus is also a Morning Savior-

 

That Jesus is right there with us, regardless of morning breathe, wrinkled sheets, messy hair, no makeup, baggy eyes and lack of coffee…

 

Jesus is there, Jesus sees us, Jesus hears us, and Jesus cares for us.

 

And with that knowledge, with that assurance, we discover something else-

 

If I matter to the Master, then I matter to me.

 

Let us repeat that- If I matter to the Master, then I matter to me.

 

And if I matter to me then I am more that what I wear, how I look, and what others think.

 

And that, that is powerful, powerful good great news, worthy of all praise and joy.

 

For that, let us say “Amen.”

Jesus Goes to Where We Are; Mark 4:1-9, 26-32

 

Rev. George Miller

January 21, 2024

Mark 4:1-9, 26-32

 

Today we come to an exquisite reading, one that really shows how Mark understands that Jesus is for the people, from the people, and of the people.

 

We’ve seen Jesus go out into the wilderness, call upon menders of nets and gatherers of fish, offer physical restoration to a Mom, and possibly allow his own roof to be dismantled. 

 

Now we have Jesus back by the shore.  He is casting his own kind of net, using breath and words to bring light to the people.

 

This is such a holy scene set in such an important setting.

 

Jesus is preaching to the people at a place in which the water, the boats, the men making an honest living fishing are behind him, beside him…

 

…and in front of him are the sloping hills of green, filled with people farming the land who could be clearing the earth of thistle, plowing the soil, swinging their arms as they sow seed, or stooping to harvest the grain.

 

The lesson Jesus teaches today is told in a spot in which the fishermen can look up and see the farmers and the farmers can look out and see their brothers upon the sea.

 

Jesus is situated between two groups of hard-working individuals who make sure that everyone eats and has food on their plate.

 

Jesus is preaching between the often ignored, forgotten, poorly paid members of society.

 

And what does Jesus teach about?

 

The everyday things that the people would have understood-

 

sowing seeds and yielding a crop, the ripening of grain, the time of harvest, weeds that grow wild, and birds that find home.

 

Once more Mark shows us how REAL the Jesus experience is. 

 

That the Son of Man chooses to go to where the people are, while they are doing the most regular and underappreciated of tasks, and he uses what they do as parables for the Kingdom of God.

 

Jesus did not have to choose this route and teach in this way.

 

Jesus could have stayed in the synagogue.  He could have hung around the court of Pilate.  He could have went to the homes of the elite and offered to tutor their children.

 

But Jesus chooses to be beside the sea with its sweat and smell and songs of adventure.

 

Jesus could have used any image to discuss the Kingdom of God.

 

He could have used golden scepters and bejeweled crowns, he could have used opulence and over-the-top characters.

 

But instead Jesus used what the people knew, who they were-

 

Of the earth, from the land, attached to the seasons.

 

In doing so, Jesus once again validates the sacredness of the every day.

 

Once again, he makes us marvel at the miracles in the mundane.

 

He offers validity to what the people do.

 

In other words, Jesus is saying to them “I SEE you.  Your reality is worthy of representing God and the Kingdom of the Lord.”

 

Think about us right here in Highlands County. 

 

We live where 376,000 acres are devoted to agriculture, making up 53% of the ground around us.

 

The market value of agricultural products we sold was $196 million in 2017, making us the 12^th highest in the state.

 

But yet, how often do we see state and national politicians come our way to visit us? 

 

How often do we tell people where we are and the response is “Where’s that?”

 

Last week we visited Rev. Kuiper at the Fort Meyers hospital and each medical person who came in the room had to be taught a geography lesson about Sebring.

 

Think about this- in a County in which 53% of the land is agriculture based, how many of us know someone who works the land and plays a part of putting orange juice in our glass and beef in our bellies?

 

How many people here in Highlands go unnoticed, doing what they do so the people around them can eat?

 

THOSE are the people that Jesus talks about today, they are the people Jesus calls to follow, they are the people Jesus offers healing and restoration to.

 

That is amazing.

 

Because by seeing them, by valuing what they do, that means Jesus sees us too, that Jesus values who we are and what we do.

 

Jesus is not easily impressed with magi and wisemen, kings and scribes, politicians, and power players.

 

Jesus is at the water, sitting in a boat, no doubt getting his clothes dirty and feet wet, and he is teaching while all around him men fish and folk farm.

 

And he says “Listen- a sower sows seed into good soil and yields thirty, sixty, hundredfold.”

 

Jesus says “Listen- the Kingdom of God is a harvest of ripe grain.”

 

Jesus says “Listen- the kingdom of God is like a teeny tiny seed that grows into a home for the birds of the air.”

 

And we are all the better because of it because once again Jesus is saying that what we do matters, where we are matters, who we are matters to God.

 

And that is exquisite information to have.

 

Amen and amen.

The House of Jesus (?); Mark 2:1-12

 

Rev. George Miller

Jan 14, 2024

Mark 2:1-12

 

On the streaming service HULU there is a new documentary on world famous entertainer Raffaella Carra.

 

Born in Italy, Raffaella was the Beyonce of the 70’s and 80’s, putting on stunning shows with dazzling outfits.

 

Raffaella was adored in Italy, but when she toured South America, the people went into a near religious frenzy.

 

Their love for her was so great that her fans began to idolize her like a saint or a deity.

 

There is a clip where Rafaella is trying to make it across the street and the crowds have descended upon her to the point that she can barely move.  You see someone reach out a hand, and pluck a strand of hair from her head.

 

This image of people wanting a piece of her, interrupting her intimacy is like today’s reading.

 

Mark tells us Jesus has returned to Capernaum and is now at home.

 

Jesus was in the wilderness where the demons dwell, being baptized and meeting us in our loneliness.

 

Jesus has been at the work site of Andrew and James who were fishing and mending broken nets.

 

Jesus has been in Peter’s house, where he entered the most private of places to bring healing to the family matriarch, affirming her personhood and role.

 

Then, like Raffaella and Beyonce, Jesus embarks on a tour of Galilee, sharing his bright light, proclaiming the good news, evangelizing to everyone.

 

When his tour wraps up with remarkable success, he returns to Capernaum. 

 

Word gets out that he’s at home.

 

People crowd around Jesus, so much there’s no room, not even by the door. 

 

Next thing you know “Bang”, “Crack”, “Whoosh,” the ceiling falls in and a man on a mat living with paralysis is lowered down by four of best friends.

 

Holy Maria and Madonna!!!  Raffaella had a fan take a string of hair from her head, here Jesus has men take the roof off his house!

 

…wait!  Did I just say “his house”, as in the house of Jesus?

 

Haven’t we always been told that Jesus was a wanderer?  Haven’t we heard again and again that Jesus was homeless? 

 

Doesn’t Jesus himself say in Matthew 8:20 (and Luke 9:58) that the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head?

 

Mark 2:2 says that Jesus is “at home.”  How is this possible?

 

Welcome, sisters and brothers, fathers and mothers to the wonderful world of the UCC where we take scripture and look at it very closely and try to figure things out.

 

Mark, which is the first Gospel written, and said to be the most historically accurate, has done something to further expand our mind and our faith.

 

Mark makes it clear that Jesus is headquartered in Capernaum.  Mark also says that Jesus is at home.

 

But what does home mean?

 

Does home mean that Jesus is staying at his Momma’s house, eating up all her food and letting out all of her electricity?

 

Maybe this is Peter’s house and after being healed, his mother-in-law said to Jesus “You are now part of the family; our house is your home.”

 

Does home mean that Jesus is at home the same way we feel when we return to our childhood town; or how we feel when we go to our favorite spot in the world, like the beach, or Back Bay Mission?

 

Does Mark mean “home” as in “heart” or home as in “house”?

 

Mark is not here to answer our questions,  so we will never know, but here is the beautiful thing-

 

we now have another opportunity to think deeper about Jesus and why we follow him.

 

When Jesus was speaking to the people, and they filled the home, blocked the door, and took down the roof…

 

…does it mean more to you historically, theologically, spiritually if this was the actual home of Jesus; or does it mean more to you to think of Jesus as a 30-year-old homeless man?

 

In the traditional way of viewing Jesus as a wanderer of the land who depends on the kindness of others, we see the value of hospitality and how our Savior depended on the food, shelter, and goodness of others.

 

So if Jesus depended on the welcome of others, then we should do our best to welcome the hungry, the cold, the traveler.

 

On the other hand…if Jesus actually had a home, and he actually had day to day upkeep and day to day responsibilities, like sweeping the floors, going to the market, then that makes Jesus more real…. more human…more like us.

 

And if Jesus actually had a home with bills and things to get done, then this means Jesus really knows what it’s like to be us; like really really know.

 

Which means that all Jesus taught, all he said about blessed are you who hunger, blessed are you who thirst wasn’t just cool-sounding poetry, but that he knew, he actually knew.

 

Which means that when Jesus toured the nation, when he went from desserts to storms at sea to standing before Pilate…

 

…he could have been safely at home in his PJS, undisturbed, watching the Great British Bakeoff on Netflix.

 

Which means when those crowds filled the room, it was his living room. 

 

When those four guys cut a hole in the roof, it was his roof!

 

I can’t tell you what to believe or how the Holy Spirit is calling you to understand this text, but for me, today…

 

…for me, today I feel even closer to Jesus than before because it indicates “for me” that Jesus really put everything on the line and he really gave it all to us and everyone around us,

 

So that we can be witnesses to the Kingdom of Heaven,

 

so that we can see Heaven on Earth,

 

so that we can experience our stupid, stupid mistakes being forgiven,

 

so that we can be reminded that we are not forgotten, we are not forsaken, we are not insignificant.

 

If Jesus really had his own house, and if Jesus really really allowed his roof to be taken down and his front door blocked, we have an even more amazing image of Christ.

 

That not only did Jesus choose to begin his ministry by going into the wilderness where the wild things are and our loneliness dwells,

 

Not only did he go into our places of honest work and broken nets,

 

Not only did he go into our homes, and into our most intimate spaces and validate our mundane day to day tasks,

 

Jesus invites us into his home, Jesus invites us into his house, to evangelize, to speak, to heal, to forgive, to restore.

 

The home of Jesus is indeed the house of the Lord…and we are invited in, and we are all worthy.

 

And that is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

 

For that, let us say “Amen.”