Here, There, and Everywhere

Where does Jesus have authority? Only in the church? Or maybe in some other places, too? This sermon considers where Jesus can "make things happen." You might be surprised where those places are.

Once upon a time, there were three… Three what? Well, I guess it depends on the story that I’m telling. It could be three little pigs. You remember them. They built houses in an attempt to escape from the Big Bad Wolf. Or it could be three bears – the ones who owned the “just right” bed that Goldilocks slept in. Or it could be the Three Billy Goats Gruff. If I remember right, they had an encounter with a troll under a bridge. It could even be three clergymen! We all know at least one joke about a minister, a priest, and a rabbi. Lots of stories involve three characters. This is especially true of folk stories, those tales that have been told over and over again around campfires and kitchen tables. Maybe the number three is easy to remember. But whatever the reason, sets of three show up in lots of stories: three little pigs, three chances to win the hand of a princess, three wishes granted by a genie.

The first healing story about Jesus in Mark’s gospel is a story like that. It has three parts to it; and last week; we heard the first part (Mark 1:21-28). You may remember it. While Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he cast out a demon from a possessed man. With just a few words, he freed that man from bondage and transformed his life. That healing is the first of three that Mark tells us about in the first chapter of his gospel. And this week, you heard about the other two. One involved Simon Peter’s mother who was ill with a fever. We saw Jesus go to her bedside, take her hand, and help her out of bed. We saw the fever leave her immediately so that she was able to resume her duties as hostess (Mark 1:29-31). In the second, Jesus healed a man with leprosy (Mark 1:40-45). When the man begged Jesus for help, Jesus healed him – immediately. Because he did, Jesus got such a reputation that he couldn’t even go into town! So many people followed him the he had to stay in what Mark calls “lonely places.”

Three different people… three different healings… three different places. What is Mark trying to tell us in this story that has so many sets of three? Well, he might be telling us that women as well as men deserve to be healed. The second person who needs healing in this set of three is a woman, Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. Jesus heals her as quickly as he heals the two men. That was a bit radical in Jesus’ time. Men held all the power, while women were… expendable. In that society, women were like taxicabs. If you missed one, another one would always come along. But Jesus gave Simon Peter’s mother-in-law the same respect that he gave the two men. Mark might very well be telling us that all people, men and women, are valuable in Jesus’ eyes. Or Mark might be showing us that Jesus can take care of all kinds of problems that plague us. In the first story, he casts out a demon. In the second, he cures a fever. And in the third, he cleanses a leper. Those are very different kinds of activities: exorcism, healing, and cleansing. There seems to be nothing that Jesus cannot do – and that may be just the point that Mark is trying to make.

But there is another aspect to these stories that I find interesting. Did you notice where Jesus’ healings took place? The first was in a synagogue; the second was in a home; and the third was outside, in a “lonely place.” Here, there, and everywhere – that’s where Jesus has authority. His power to change us isn’t confined to the interior of our sanctuary. Jesus can transform lives any time and any place! But that’s no news. Even the children know that wherever we go, Jesus is there. We all know that Jesus can do anything that he wants to! Sure, we all know that – but do we believe it?

If we’re honest with ourselves, it’s hard to see Jesus’ work in the world. That work isn’t always obvious. Sometimes it’s even hard to believe that Jesus is working here in the church; and the church is where we expect Jesus to have the most authority. After all, he is the reason for the church’s existence! Every Sunday we celebrate the power that raised him from the tomb on Easter morning, and raised us to new life right along with him. But people in the church behave the very same way that people outside the church do; and that can be very disillusioning. Mary stops speaking to Martha because Martha brought the wrong dish to the potluck dinner. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are irritated because someone had the nerve to sit in “their” pew one Sunday morning. Peter has his knickers in a twist because the choir hasn’t sung his favorite song for six months! Now, I know that no one in our congregation would ever behave like that. But there are churches where this kind of thing happens all the time. So, where is Jesus? Can’t he do something to change things? Well, he can… and he frequently does. When a tragedy strikes Mary’s family and Martha is the first one to phone her with an offer of help, the two women not only resume their friendship, but their love for one another is stronger than ever. That’s the spirit of Jesus working – even in the church.

And how about our homes? Does Jesus have any authority there? Of course, he does! After all, Jesus specializes in repairing relationships. He not only restores bodies and transforms souls; he heals hearts, as well. And let’s face it, home is where we are the most often wounded. Ask any therapist. My guess is that most people need a therapist not because of the behavior of their boss at work, but because of the behavior of someone at home – a husband, a wife, a child, or a parent. Our close relationships have the most potential to hurt us because they have the most potential to bring us joy! And Jesus certainly knows what a good relationship is like. Jesus is in an eternal relationship of mutual love with the Father and with the Spirit – and Jesus wants us to have relationships like that, too! As we are being individually transformed into his image, Jesus offers to transform our relationships into the image of the love that Father, Son, and Spirit have for each other. Jesus has told us how to help him make that happen; but it takes some hard work on our part. If I remember correctly, Jesus said a few things about relationships. “Love others as you love yourself,” he tells us. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” “Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” And we all know what St. Paul said: “Love is patient and kind; it is not arrogant or rude; it protects, trusts, and hopes.” If Jesus has the authority to transform relationships outside our homes, he certainly has the authority to transform relationships inside our homes! He’s ready to help us if we’re ready to let him.

Jesus has authority even in the “lonely places” of our lives. We’re usually comfortable in church… and we’re usually comfortable in our homes… but all of us have lonely places in our lives where we’re not comfortable at all. We don’t talk much about those places. But we all have them. Sometimes on those nights when we just can’t sleep, and we lie miserably awake in bed, those lonely places bubble up in our minds; and it’s all we can do to shut out the images. Sometimes we can’t shut them out; they cling to us like SuperGlue. There are people who would give everything they own to get rid of their lonely places. I have them myself; and I won’t even guess what yours might be.

The theologian and author Frederick Buechner wrote about one of his own lonely places as he remembered the suicide of his father. “We didn’t talk about my father with each other; and we didn’t talk about him outside the family either, partly because suicide was looked on as something a little shabby and shameful in those days. My father had tried to keep it a secret himself by leaving a note to my mother in a place where only she would be likely to find it, and by saying … that there was something wrong with the Chevy’s exhaust system which he was going to see if he could fix. His suicide was a secret we tried to keep as best we could; and after a while, my father himself became such a secret.” (Telling Secrets) Dealing with the suicide of a loved one is a very, very lonely place.

But Jesus has authority even in those lonely places. We may be afraid to face the shadows and the wild animals and the demons that live there, but Jesus isn’t. If you ask him, Jesus will come and stay with you in your lonely place. Like a mother whose child is frightened by the boogie man under the bed, he will hold your hand, and shine a light into the darkness, and reassure you that nothing can hurt you while he is there. You might even find out that the lonely place isn’t nearly so lonely when Jesus is there with you. In the same book in which he confesses his father’s suicide (Telling Secrets), Fred Buechner ponders how members of Alcoholics Anonymous cope with living in their own lonely places. He writes that they are a varied bunch: men and women, young and old, educated and illiterate, Christian and Jew and atheist. But they have one thing in common. “They all believe that they cannot live fully human lives without each other and without what they call their Higher Power. They avoid using the word God because some of them do not believe in God. What they all do believe in, or are searching for, is a power higher than their own which will make them well. Through prayer and meditation, through seeking help from each other and from helpful books, they try to draw near any way they can to God or to whatever they call what they have instead of God.” These folks may not call their alcoholism a lonely place; and many of them don’t believe in God. But when their lives are transformed by their Higher Power – and I’ve seen it happen – I’m convinced that it’s Jesus at work. He is always ready to go into our lonely places with us and help us to face whatever terrors they hold.

It is indeed good news that Jesus can transform lives wherever he finds them – in church, at home, or in our frightening lonely places. He healed a demon-possessed man in the synagogue; he healed Peter’s mother-in-law in her home; and he healed a leper in a lonely place. Jesus has authority here, there, and everywhere!

So, now we know the end of the story that I started at the beginning of my sermon. Once upon a time there were three… places where Jesus had authority. And he still has authority in all of them today! Thanks be to God!