Recently Ken, the college student staying with the Van Velzens, asked if he could “shadow” me at work as part of a class requirement. “You want to spend a day with me, Ken?” I asked somewhat incredulously. I can understand wanting to spend a day with a police officer or a firefighter but spending a day with a pastor? I warned Ken that I spend much of my day studying and writing. He might have more fun watching the paint dry than watch me work. I’m not saying that my work is boring. If it were, I don’t suppose I would do it. And no, I don’t only sit at my desk all day. The best part of my calling is standing before you to proclaim God’s Word whether here on a Sunday morning or at your house on a Saturday afternoon.
You know who Ken ought to really spend a day with is Jesus. That would be fun for all of us wouldn’t it? Well we get that opportunity this morning through our Gospel Lesson. As we spend the day with Jesus we’ll not only learn more about our Savior we’ll learn more about ourselves.
We’re going to follow Jesus around as he carried out his ministry in the town of Capernaum not too long after he was baptized. After spending the morning preaching the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus moved indoors and preached at the synagogue in Capernaum. There he impressed the people with his teaching and demonstrated his power by casting out a demon. We’re going to join Jesus after that worship service. Since Jesus was invited to the home of Peter and Andrew, two of his disciples, we’ll tag along with him there. We can see the house now. It’s not fancy but it’s looks pretty big. I suppose it needs to be since Peter’s extended family lives here. As we step through the doors we learn that Peter’s mother-in-law is sick in bed with a fever. Without hesitating Peter asks Jesus to help. So Jesus goes over to where the woman lay. He doesn’t call for any medicine. He simply “rebukes” the fever as if chastising the family cat off the counter and the fever scurries away! It’s obvious that Peter’s mother-in-law is better because she immediately gets up and starts making preparations for the evening meal. She doesn’t even bat an eye when Peter says his guests are staying for dinner!
Let’s pause here to meditate on what we’ve just seen. We’ve learned, first of all, that sickness invades even the house of God’s servants. I wonder what Peter’s reaction was when he found out that his mother-in-law was sick? Hadn’t he just left his job to follow Jesus and was this the thanks he received? It shouldn’t surprise us either when we get sick, Brothers and Sisters. Yes, you may be a dedicated servant of God but as long as we live in this sin-filled world, we will have to deal with the consequences. We’ll have to put up with fevers and colds…and worse. Thankfully we also learn that there is no sickness too small to bring to Jesus’ attention. Jesus will never look at you the way a medi-centre doctor might look at you for coming in for that cough. Such a doctor might think you a worrywart and complain that you are wasting his time but Jesus will never say that. There is no matter too small to take to Jesus in prayer. As one Christian put it: “If it’s too small to pray about, then it it’s not big enough to worry about.”
We also learn from Peter’s mother-in-law’s healing that Jesus deserves our thanks for his blessings. Peter’s mother-in-law showed her thanks by serving Jesus. No, the woman hadn’t cured world hunger by fixing that meal but she did serve people who needed food right then. Jesus will commend her for that on Judgment Day. And he will commend you for taking the time to put a meal together for your family, a guest, and for people who may never be able to repay you. For Jesus tells us that whatever we do out of thankfulness for his love, we do for him. So the next time you’re fixing a burger for your spouse or cookin’ up some Mac ‘n Cheese for the kids don’t look at it as just another chore. Do it for Jesus just as Paul encourages in a passage familiar to our Sunday School students: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for man” (Colossians 3:23).
Let’s get back to our day with Jesus. The evening meal has been cleared and it’s dark outside now. If Jesus were in Canada instead of Capernaum, you wouldn’t be surprised to see him tune into Hockey Night In Canada. After all it was Saturday and Jesus deserved to put his feet up on the couch and relax after his busy day. But wait. There’s a knock at the door. When Peter opens the door to see who it is his jaw drops. The whole city has gathered on his front lawn. Some were laid out in stretchers, obviously sick. Others nervously glanced around as if haunted by demons, which they are. As Peter is about to tell them to come back in the morning he feels a hand on his shoulder. It’s Jesus…smiling. And for the next few hours Jesus touches every sick person there and heals them.
What we learn as we watch Jesus is that there is never a time we can’t “drop in on him.” He’s never too busy or too tired to listen to you about your aches and pains. What’s even more comforting is that Jesus has the power to do something about your sickness. He can cure you no matter what the ailment. Let’s not forget that he sometimes chooses to heal us by taking us from this world to be with him in heaven.
But there wasn’t just physical healing going on that evening; there was spiritual healing as well. Jesus helped the many demon-possessed people there by driving out the evil spirits that had taken up residence in them. This obviously demonstrates Jesus power over Satan and his minions but it also demonstrates Jesus’ loving forgiveness. How so? Demon possession is not a random thing. You don’t get possessed just because you walked past the occult section at Chapters bookstore. Demon possession can happen when we reject the truth of God’s Word, continually spurn God’s love, and seek answers to life’s questions from palm readers and others willing to tap into Satan’s power. Jesus could have said to those demon possessed: “You picked your bed, now lie it!” Instead by throwing out their demons Jesus was really saying: “I forgive you. I want you as my child.”
Isn’t that what Jesus says to us this morning no matter what evil possesses us – whether pornography, an addiction to alcohol, or a condescending attitude towards everything and everyone around us? As surely as Jesus stood on Peter’s doorstep and cast out demons that Saturday night, he says to you this Sunday morning: “I forgive you. I want you back. I’ve brought you back.” Don’t take my word for it; take God’s word for it – the word of love and forgiveness he spoke at your baptism. There is no sin-stain, no matter how filthy, that can withstand the cleansing flood that is baptism. And that baptismal flood has also broken sin’s fingers so that even though a certain temptation may have hold of you now, you can escape it as you would from a pair of broken handcuffs. Just remember what baptism has made you: God’s child, not Satan’s.
How long did Jesus stand there on Peter’s front lawn attending to the needs of the people? I don’t know. I turned in before Jesus did. What about you? One thing is certain, when we got up the next morning Jesus was gone. Thankfully Peter has an idea of where Jesus is. As we follow him on the road out of town he explains that Jesus has a habit of going off on his own to pray. And sure enough, there he is under a gnarled olive tree. We wait until his lips stop moving and then approach. “Jesus, how long have you been here?” we ask. He’s lost track of time but says he left the house well before dawn to come out here to speak to his heavenly Father in prayer.
Isn’t this amazing? Our Savior didn’t pray just when he had time. He made time for it. What about you, dear Christian? When do you make time for prayer? Why would you want to make time for prayer? Because prayer is a duty and a privilege. We pray because God commands us to pray and because he promises to listen. So just as you make time to text your friends during the day or call your spouse during work because you enjoy speaking to someone who listens and cares, make time to speak to your heavenly Father. Speak to him who makes you ready to handle the difficulties of the coming day by letting you dump on him all your worries so that your mind may be filled with his promises.
When Peter tells Jesus that there is a large crowd already waiting for him back at the house Jesus says: “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come” (Mark 1:38). As the sun rises above the hills we set out in the opposite direction of Capernaum. Jesus hasn’t come to set up a health clinic in any one town to keep everyone physically fit. He has come to tell the world about their sin and what he’s going to do about it. And we won’t be going to any big cities today – just to the small towns and villages around Galilee. In other words you don’t have to live at a posh address for Jesus to care about you. He came to serve every single person in this world.
And so here we are in the small city of St. Albert. People outside of Alberta may not know about our community but Jesus does. In fact he’s come here today to speak to us so listen closely to him. Just as it’s never boring to hear your parents say they love you it’s never tiresome to hear Jesus tell us how much he loves us. So don’t just spend this hour with Jesus spend the day with him. Spend your week with him. Spend your whole life with him. It won’t be time wasted. Amen.
