05-28-21

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHING
May 28, 2021
Scripture: Luke 4:38-39
After leaving the synagogue Jesus entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus about her. Then he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them.

Thought for the Day: Please note that Peter (Simon) had a mother-in-law which I’m pretty sure means he was married. So often we think of the original 12 disciples as a bunch of bachelors, but at least one (if not many) of them was married. That is more of a side note as I really want to focus on the healing of this woman. Healing stories are very important in the Gospels, but they are also troubling in that we don’t always receive healing when we make a request of Jesus. So often it is presented that if you have faith and you request healing of Jesus, he will heal you. And so in those moments when you are not healed, the only logical explanation is you lacked faith. That experience has left so many people feeling lost, confused and rejected. I wonder if we read the story too narrowly. Is it simply to communicate how asking in faith will always bring you whatever you ask for? Or are we to read it from a broader standpoint, recognizing in the larger landscape of the healing stories a simple insight: Jesus wants us to be whole. And if Jesus wants us to be whole, then God wants us to be whole. And if you and I are the Church, the Body of Christ, then isn’t it our task to bring wholeness to every human being? I believe this is our task through the power of the Holy Spirit working within our collective gifts. I wonder how often we notice one part of the story, but miss the larger implication. For example, we notice how Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law, yet we do not take the next step and recognize how having a mother-in-law implies he was married.

Prayer: Merciful and Generous Healer, you are ever present to us with an endless supply of love and compassion. It is these gifts at work through your collective body that mends the broken pieces of this world. Amen.

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INVITE A FRIEND
TO CHURCH
THIS SUNDAY

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