Food Of Heaven; Meal of Restoration; Mark 5:21-43

 

Rev. George Miller

Feb 4, 2024

Mark 5:21-43

 

Anyone who came to church on Tuesday stepped into a sensory delight.

 

Sherrie was cooking in the kitchen and even before opening the front door, you could smell the homemade goodness and love she was putting into her Chicken Ala King.

 

Sherrie’s cooking not only warmed up the entire campus, but it smelt “warm” like a turkey on Thanksgiving or soup on a rainy day.

 

Warm not in temperature, but warm as in Mom and Abuela and GG.

 

Warm as in “welcome” and “sit down” and “let me make you a to-go plate covered with aluminum foil.”

 

Tuesday afternoon our entire church was warmed by the aroma of Sherrie’s cooking.

 

Why was she making a homemade meal?

 

To feed the people who were busy restoring our restrooms so they would have something to eat when they took their lunch break.

 

Bravo to Sherrie for doing this; she didn’t have to do so. 

 

When we hired these folk, and signed the contract, there was nothing that said “Emmanuel will supply a scrumptious, rib-sticking, soul smiling meal.”

 

We’re paying this company good money to fix our facilities; we did not have to provide a single thing.

 

Yet, that’s what Sherrie did- making sure the men had something to eat.  Sherrie embodied the Gospel of Mark.

 

She knew folk were working, she knew they’d be hungry; she made sure they had more than a sack lunch from home or a takeout meal.

 

Perhaps THAT is why the Fellowship Hall not only felt warm but smelled warm-

 

she was embodying the Kingdom of Heaven in a pure, fundamental, and most holy way.

 

What Sherrie did felt like a warm hug- because it was. She didn’t have to do it, but she did.

 

Food is so essential to our faith; food is so essential to our relationships.

 

Think of Ridge Area SDA who invites us to be the first to eat when they share a meal after worship.

 

Think of Fe, who happily shares dishes from the Philippines, watching as we enjoy them.

 

Ari’s family, who if you ever have the honor to eat with, will encourage you to try their lamb, their coquito, their meatless chicken legs, and watermelon Agua fresca all the way from Miami.

 

When we share food with others, we share ourselves.

 

When we eat the food of others, we are validating their personhood, their culture, their mothers, their ancestors, their heart.

 

Anytime anyone says “Come, eat,” they are saying “I like you,” “I trust you” and “I want to spend time with you.”

 

Skyline Chili from someone in Ohio.  Oxtails from someone in the South.  Arepas from someone in Columbia.

 

Food plays an important part in today’s reading, even if you may not notice it.

 

Jesus has come back after greeting the guy in the graveyard.  The crowds surround him.

 

He’s asked to heal a man’s daughter; a woman who’s bleeding touches his robe.

 

He’s dealing with life and death, death and life, all while regular folk try to have a piece of him.

 

He's surrounded by weeping and wailing, naysayers and laughers.

 

Just as he did with Peter, he goes into the home and personal space of a family in crisis.

 

He speaks words of life to their daughter, and she begins to walk.

 

The family is amazed.  They thought their child was dead; sure their daughter was gone.

 

But Jesus steps into their life, Jesus steps into their home, Jesus goes into their most private of places…

 

...and their family is restored.

 

The family receives the gift of new life, new possibilities, they receive the gift of a future.

 

And what does Jesus do?

 

Does he hand them an Emergency Room bill and say “That will be $390.  Would you like to set up monthly payments?”

 

Does he say “Now that I healed your child, your daughter is mine”?

 

Does Jesus says “I am Lord of All Creation, bow down and grovel at my feet”?

 

No. 

 

Jesus does none of these things, even though he could.

 

What does Jesus say after restoring this family?

 

He says “Give her something to eat.”

 

Wow.

 

Once again, in the Gospel of Mark, we see how even the most mundane of things becomes sacred and important to Jesus.

 

“Give her something to eat.”

 

Now why would Jesus say something like this?

 

Well first of all, the dead don’t eat.  So to have the little girl fed means that she is alive and with them.

 

Second, food is one way to say that you are welcome and you belong.  This could be Jesus’ way of saying “Welcome back to the land of the Living.”

 

Third, back then, there was no belief in heaven as we have today.  Back then, dead was dead.

 

And death was the ultimate separation. 

 

To say the little girl is dead means that she is no longer part of the family; it means their relationship is over.

 

 

Because she is brought back to life, Jesus has restored their relationship; he has restored their family.

 

Because their relationship has been restored, she gets to eat.  Mom and Dad and daughter get to sit at table and be one.

 

And that is beautiful.

 

When Jesus says “Give her something to eat” he is saying “Welcome her back” and “continue the relationship you have.”

 

And some ways, that’s what Communion is about.

 

Communion is not just about the Last Supper or a Holy Meal. 

 

Communion is about relationships.  It’s about the bonding we share when we come to the table.

 

When we participate in Communion it means that no matter what we’ve been through during the week, no matter what we are each going through, at that moment, we are bonded and we are united via food.

 

Communion reunites us after being separated for a week or a month or a crises like COVID.

 

Communion is a way we can be restored- I’ve seen people at odds with one another make amends after sharing the broken bread.

 

Communion means that we are ALIVE.  It means that we are still here. 

 

Communion means that we are free to experience the Kingdom of Heaven right here, right now.

 

Communion means that we get to live another day.

 

It means we are free to participate in the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

Coming to this table to be fed means that we are free to experience the Morning Savior, regardless of what we have been through or what we have done.

 

The food we are given today means that we are restored to experience the Savior of the Mundane, Savior of the Menders,

 

Savior of the Matriarchs, and Savior of the Children and Most Vulnerable.

 

Today’s reading reminds us that just as Jesus was present to the man in the cemetery, just as Jesus is present in the crowd,

 

Jesus is present in our pain, Jesus is present in our most intimate of moments.

 

And Jesus does what Jesus can to restore our wellness, restore out relationships, and ensure that we are fed, body, mind, and spirit.

 

Jesus is not just the Savior of Our Mornings, but he is also present in our meals, our needs, and our relationships.

 

For that, we can say “Amen.”

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.