No peace at all

Years ago I was taking a walk with a neighbor and her two year old.  The little one wanted a piece of gum.  "Piece, piece!" she begged.  Mom said, "I have no gum." The little one was nothing if not persistent.  "Piece, piece" she cried.  Mom answered, "I have no piece......no peace at all."

Being the Mom of a two year old often feels like that.....no peace to be found anywhere.  But then I think that being a teacher or mechanic or retail clerk or town highway worker....or a thousand other places that demand, demand, demand from us sets us up for a moment of longing for peace.

Even so, we know that the longing for peace is much larger than our day to day frustrations.  It has something to do with our dog eat dog world and with greed and hunger for power.  It has something to do with our fear of strangers and struggle to protect ourselves and our own.  It has something to do with those who have and those who have not rubbing up against each other.  Somewhere under our normal activity is a tension and pressure that keeps us from relaxing into a state of peace.

Jesus came so we might know peace but he wasn't naive about the work it would take to separate us from all the stuff we have and all the habits we have developed.  Jesus knew that achieving peace among nations and peace among peoples and peace within families would be a great deal like ripping off a bandaid.  There is no way to do it that it isn't going to hurt.

But we need to discard the old bandaid so real healing can happen and wholeness can be experienced.  We will  come to realize that we cannot have our cake and eat it too - we cannot live with one foot committed to 'the way things are done now' and one longing for God's vision of peace for all.  As long as we dither, we will have no peace.....and until Christ comes again, the world will not truly know the joy that is life in God, the creator and maker of all peace.

Are you looking for peace?  Seek Jesus.

Bow your head, close your eyes....and shut out the world?

It is how we pray.

But I wonder if it is also a way to shut out the world; to create our own world in our own mind.  I wonder if we bow our heads and close our eyes in order to blot out the reality of the world we live in.

If so, we are not following Jesus - the one who stepped into the muddy water of the Jordan River and then walked out into his world to heal the sick, include the outcast, love the unlovable, free those who were held captive and seek justice for others.

Not just food and shelter and clothes and justice and freedom and a living wage for his own family.  No, Jesus counted every other person as family - and then he worked for the weakest of them.  We are called to do the same.

Need some care? Need a calling?

I read an insightful reflection on this week's Gospel text, Mark 1.29-39 on the website Working Preacher.  Insight is helpful since, as usual, Mark either gives us too much (three distinct portions to the larger assigned text) or too little (Mark always skimps on details).

Dr. David Lose, of the Luther Theological Seminary in Minnesota, points out two ways to distinguish individuals:  either people are in need of help, or they are in the position to help others.  Another way to put this:  either we are in need of care, or we are in need of a calling.  On any given day, you and I could be one or the other....or maybe on a particularly active day, each in sucession.

We understand the part about being in need of help.  In fact, it appears too often that when we speak of faith we speak about God's ever present help in times of trouble.  In fact, in the Old Testament text of Isaiah, the term 'everlasting God' is (according to the scholar, not me) a translation for "God of forever".

I like the sound of that. Like everyone else, I know what it means to be in need of care.  In the moments when I am hanging on by a thread, when I need someone/some being larger than I to provide strength and sustenance, then I am ever grateful for the God who loves and cares for me. 

But, in 'need of a calling' - that might require more explanation.  Dr. Lose is responding to the portion of Mark's story where Jesus' heals Simon's mother-in-law (MIL) and she gets up and serves them.  At first glance, this whole healing story looks a little self serving on the part of the disciples and Jesus, and not all that flattering to we women of the church who have worked long and hard to be accepted as more than altar guild attendants. (and thanks be to God for the altar guild!)

Dr. Lose, however, points out that while Simon's MIL is laid low with a fever, she cannot participate in her world as she is called.  She cannot show hospitality to her guests; she cannot make their day more pleasant.  A fever has cost her her place in the community.  When Jesus heals her, she is able to rise up and be who she is called to be for the sake of the community and in entertaining Jesus, for the sake of the gospel.  Many commentators refer to this unnamed woman as the first model disciple of Mark's gospel.

I quote the website:  Through Jesus' healing "new strength is imparted to those laid low by illness, unclean spirits, even death, so they may rise up and take their place in the world."  The woman is restored to health, community, and her calling.  You and I know that any extended illness pulls you out of the current of life around you.  You lose touch; you cannot participate; your calling is gone.

To serve is our calling.  Just as Jesus came 'not to be served, but to serve others' God preserves us so we might continue to serve in his name. 

Here is an old prayer (found in the hymnal) that includes that thought

O Lord, suport us all the day long of this troubled life, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes and the busy world is hused, the fever of life is over, and our work is done.  then, in your mercy, grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last through Christ our Lord. 
AMEN

Peace