Sermon from March 26, 2000
When I was a thirteen-year-old boy, I had surgery to repair a hernia. About a year later, I had pain that made me fear I would need surgery again. Our surgeon had not examined me, never did examine me, to determine if the problem had recurred.

During that time, I remember watching TV one Sunday afternoon, and there was an Oral Roberts healing service. I had never heard of Oral Roberts, but I watched and listened with great interest. At the end of the telecast Oral Roberts asked people watching on TV to place one hand on the part of their bodies that needed healing and the other hand on the TV set, while he prayed. I solemnly did that while he prayed. When he finished, the telecast ended, I turned off the TV, and I never told anyone what I had done.

The pain went away, I never did see a doctor, and I was never sure if God had healed me or if I had not had anything wrong with me in the first place. Over the years, I have concluded there was probably nothing wrong with me, because I have since had similar pains, and physical exams have never revealed any problems.

I do not tell this story to make any comment about Oral Roberts one way or the other. I tell it to illustrate how important our health is to us and to what lengths we will go to recover and maintain our health. Desperate people sometimes resort to desperate measures. I was not desperate, yet I was willing to experiment with faith healing to see if God would remove my pain and fear. This yearning for relief from physical suffering connects us heart to heart with the unnamed people we meet today in the Gospel of Mark 1:29ff.

Everything in Mark 1:21-38 happened in a 24-hour period in the fishing village of Capernaum. Jesus, accompanied by Andrew, Peter, James, and John had entered the synagogue there and stunned the congregation by the authority of His teaching. While they were recovering from that, He stunned them again by exorcising a demon from a man in the synagogue. Verses 29-30 tell what happened next.

As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her.

It was the Jewish Sabbath. Nothing could have been more natural than to go home from synagogue for a Sabbath meal and to discuss the remarkable events of the day. Nothing could have been more natural than to be solicitous towards Simon's mother-in-law, who had some kind of fever that had confined her to bed. Nothing could have been more natural than to tell Jesus about her. To hear Mark tell it nothing could have been more natural than what Jesus did next. Verse 31: So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and (nothing could have been more natural) she began to wait on them.

At the risk of being repetitious I need to say something I have said more than once during the past month, because I want you to see clearly Mark's purpose in telling these stories of Jesus' first public acts. Jesus was a preacher as well as a healer and teacher. Verse 15 said that His message was, "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near."

Whenever we hear about the kingdom of God, two words need to come at once to mind: authority and love. The kingdom of God means God's exercise of authority over ever widening circles of human life in love. The word in Jesus' message that put the fat in the fire was the word near. If someone tells you that God's exercise of authority over a nation's life is about to show itself in the public arena, the next thought in your mind should be, "Show me! Prove it!"

The first proof in Jesus' pudding was a display of authority in the lives of four men. He asked four fishermen, Andrew, Peter, James, and John, to abandon their source of livelihood and attach themselves to Him as His disciples, and they did it. A man who can do that is a man who has authority where it counts – with people.

There was more, as we saw last Sunday. A man whose teaching can persuade and illuminate the consciences of people is a man who has authority where it counts – with people. A man who can break the power of irrational evil over a human personality by virtue of His command is a man who has authority where it counts – with people.

So, what do we say about a man who calmly walks into the back bedroom at Simon Peter's house and by a touch dismisses a fever from a woman's body as you might shoo away an unwanted mongrel from your back door? We would have to say that He has authority where it counts – with people. We would have to say that Jesus was continuing to show God's exercise of authority in the public arena.

In Mark's telling of this episode, Jesus says nothing; He simply takes the woman by the hand and helps her up. Mark tells us no response from the woman, no tears of joy from her daughter, no comment from Peter. Mark's threadbare account focuses on one reality: the power of Jesus Christ to heal human illness.

As we read the Gospel of Mark, we will often stop and reflect on events; that is only natural and necessary. Here in Mark 1:16ff, we should remember that the function of each story he tells about Jesus is to demonstrate the presence of the kingdom of God in the daily affairs of Israel. That is crucial to the meaning of Mark.

Now, if I left you with the impression that no one responded to the healing of Simon's mother-in-law, then I misled you. Mark reports no response in Simon's house, but he reports a dramatic response outside Simon's house. Look at verses 32-34.

That evening after sunset (Sabbath was over, and people could freely move about again) the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. (Word about events in the synagogue and in Simon's house had gotten around.) The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak becaue they knew who he was.

Do you remember how the demon-possessed man addressed Jesus back in verse 24? He called Him Jesus of Nazareth and said, "I know who you are – the Holy One of God!" "It is as the divine Son of God ... that the demoniacs address Jesus," (Mark, Cranfield, 77). It must have sounded like a pistol shot in the synagogue of Capernaum.

And what was Jesus' response? "Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. He does it again in verse 34. He would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was. You will be amazed at the number of times Jesus asks people to be quiet about Himself or something He has done. Mark has peppered his gospel with evidence but little explanation of Jesus' reticence, especially where demons were involved.

Actually, Jesus did not have to say much. Other people did it for Him. It must have been a shock for Peter to look outside his door at sundown and discover the whole town gathered there. They must have been an odd-looking, odd-sounding crowd. They had brought the sick and suffering and demon-possessed to Simon's door. And they had not come to see him or even his mother-in-law. They had come to inquire about the availablity of the powerful young teacher who had wrought a wonder of exorcism in the synagogue and a wonder of physical healing in Simon's house.

He was available and most effective. Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons. I have mentioned several times that in these early acts of Jesus the scale of things was still small. At sundown on Sabbath outside Simon's door the scale of events had grown considerably. The whole town gathered at the door.

So, what do we say about a man who gets the undivided attention of an entire fishing village? He has authority where it counts – with people, this time with lots of people. The action of Jesus in this episode bears witness to the growing authority you need, if you are going to start a revolution. Verses 35-38 report events that further expanded His power base.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. All you Promise Keeper Men, who get up early, you are in good company. When you pray, you are in good company. Keep it up. Stay the course. You women, who prayed through the night last January, you were in good company. You who morning by morning seek God in prayer, you are in good company. We do well to imitate Jesus at prayer.

Verses 36-37 continue. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!" I would be. Wouldn't you? Who in your family is suffering today? Wouldn't you be at Simon's front door early the next morning, clamoring for Jesus to come out and continue what He had begun the night before, only this time with your loved ones? This is where the yearning for relief from physical suffering connects us heart to heart with the unnamed people of Capernaum. We understand perfectly their eagerness.

I think we can understand the eagerness of Simon and his companions. "Jesus, you said you would make us fishers of men. Well, we have a net full of them back at my house. Whatever you are doing out here at this time of day, don't you think it is time to come back and finish what you started last night?" Understandably, he did not yet grasp just how big a net Jesus intended to cast. Verse 28 expands Peter's vision.

Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else – to the nearby villages – so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." Those last six words speak eloquently of Jesus' intentions. "That is why I have come." This Man knew what He was about. He was not acting randomly; He was acting according to some clear vision of where He was to go next and what He was to do. Capernaum mattered. Other places mattered also.

At this point we need to stop and get perspective. Jesus asked four fishermen, Andrew, Peter, James, and John, to abandon their source of livelihood and attach themselves to Him as His disciples, and they did it. His teaching persuaded and illuminated the consciences of His listeners. He broke the power of irrational evil over a human personality by virtue of His command. By a touch He dismissed fever from a woman's body. He got the undivided attention of an entire fishing village. Now He declares that what He had done in Capernaum must not be confined to Capernaum. What happened there serves a model of what must happen elsewhere.

What do we say about such a man? We would have to say that He has authority where it counts – with people. We would have to say that He was continuing to show God's power to exercise authority in public life. We would have to say that the actions of Jesus bore witness to the authority you need, if you are going to start a revolution. So, says verse 39, he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

Jesus' abrupt departure from Capernaum raises a question. Today I want to raise the question with you. I hope to answer it more fully in a few weeks. What about the sick and demon-possessed Jesus left behind in Capernaum? How would you feel if you or someone you loved stood ill in Simon's front yard, only to learn that the person who could do something about your suffering had left, and no one knew for sure when He was coming back?

Does Jesus' abrupt departure tell us anything about the purpose of Jesus' power to heal the sick? If we look at the question from the point of view of the sick, it could have only one purpose, namely, to make me well. But why make you well? In light of His sudden departure from Capernaum, why make you well and not someone else? But that seems capricious on His part. That drives us to ask: Does His power to heal serve some greater purpose?

It is almost an insult to frame the question just that way. What could be greater than healing? What could be greater than health? "If you have your health, you have everything." What could matter more than that? These questions and their answers will return with great force a few weeks later right in Capernaum. We pay close attention to them then.

Meanwhile, we have seen Christ's expanding authority emerge early in His ministry. When He told Simon and the others that he was going to other towns and villages as well, He explained His decision by saying, "That is why I have come." He had not only a sense of authority, but also of an expanding authority.

At the beginning of March I said, "The Church's authority to evangelize and turn people to Christ away from the religion of their ancestors and establish churches in every culture on the face of the earth – that authority derives from Christ's authority, which is the exercise of God's authority and love over ever increasing circles of human life."

Sometimes, the Church's authority expands in a conscious way through the purposeful and powerful actions of anointed individuals, as it did with Jesus Himself. At other times, it expands in what seems a haphazard way, as it did when the residents of Capernaum spread news of startling events at the synagogue on the village grapevine, and people came in great numbers to Simon's house.

Both ways reflect the wisdom of God. God anoints a Billy Graham or a C.S. Lewis, and by their actions the love and authority of Christ extend to ever greater circles of people. Their actions in turn create "space," so to speak, for His love and authority to expand through the sometimes conscious, often unconscious and haphazard ways of ordinary people.

We ordinary Christian people have an opportunity to spread Christ's love and authority in the days ahead, leading up to Easter. We have musical events, Jesus Studies, Holy Thursday, Good Friday services at Bethel Baptist Church, and Easter Sunday, to name only the more obvious events.

Would you consider inviting someone in your life, who perhaps does not go to church, to come and spend the Easter season with us here at BVBC? All you have to say is that what happens here means a lot to you, and you think they would find it meaningful, and here are the times, and "We'll pick you up or meet you at the front door." Love and authority have been given into our hands. Let's use them for Him.