February 4, 2018           Healing                                                 

Once upon a time there was a famous pianist who flew over all the world playing for kings and presidents of all nations. One time, when he was playing for a king, there was a plot to overthrow the government. Someone lobbed a grenade on stage in front of the king, and although the king and the pianist survived, the concussion from the explosion caused the pianist to slowly lose his hearing until he became deaf.

After this incident, the pianist returned home to his penthouse overlooking central park. Having become a somewhat arrogant man, from all of the years of people celebrating him, he became very angry that such a thing should happen to him.  And he became so angry with the world and with God, he decided that he would no longer step forth from his penthouse or receive people, or ever play again.

Now this went on for some time, but being alone in a penthouse became tiresome, and so to break the monotony, he had a pair of binoculars, with which he would watch the people in the park, and he even became quite good at reading their lips and listening in on their conversations.

One day, he spied a young couple who were so poor that they were having a discussion about putting their child up for adoption, because they could barely make ends meet for themselves. For some reason, the thought of this young child not knowing it’s parents moved the pianist to send a servant down to them, to ask their address so that money could be sent, and they would not have to give up their child.

And so it began, the pianist became the man who played God, he would watch the people in the park, read their conversations and dispatch his servants to meet their needs. He even seemed to relish the idea that it was he who helped them, and not some imaginary God. However, one day a thought occurred to him, what if there was a God, who was using him, to carry out his plans. At first this made the pianist very angry that he should be used in such a way, but then, as he considered all of the people he had helped, and the change that playing God had wrought in his life, he came to give thanks to God. And he decided to go forth from his penthouse, and perhaps even perform once again.

Whenever I read that story of Jesus healing Peter’s mother in law, I think of this story of the man who played God. So many times, when people face tragedies in their lives, they tend to withdraw from the world and those around them. Sometimes they even become angry with God and withdraw from their community of faith. Even worse, sometimes they become lost and even self-destructive of their own lives and of the lives of those closest to them.

I think Peter’s mother in law, suffers a kind of spiritual illness that keeps her confined to her home and even to her bed. And I think that Jesus represents not only the good news of God’s love for us, but also from this 1^st chapter of Mark, a call to repent of these ways that keep us bound to ourselves, and a return to spiritual health that is found in serving others. Now this is not a simple formula, you can’t just make yourself spiritually healthy by doing lots of things for others. But I believe God offers us these opportunities as we are ready for them, just as God offered these opportunities to the pianist, so that we may be returned to spiritual health and life.

Many of the members of this church, who have faced tragedy in your lives and have come through it, know that a large part of coming back to health is found in thinking of others, of the troubles they face, of knowing you are not alone, and in finding ways to help others. And so when we are facing your own personal trials and troubles, we should consider taking advantage of this wonderful treasure that God has given us in one another, to consider the ways in which we might let God into our lives, in our love and caring for others. For there is healing and new life to be found in this!  

And that’s the good news of Jesus Christ