Ok we have been off and running with Mark. I remind you there is an urgency in marks
Gospel we have gone from John Baptizing in the desert to Jesus being baptized
Jesus goes out into the wilderness right after wards “and immediately the
spirit hurls him out into the desert” John 1:12 where he prayed and fasted for
forty days.
Then Jesus comes to Galilee proclaiming the good news; “The
Right-Time has been fulfilled and the kingdom of God has drawn near.” John 1:14
and then going along the sea calls four disciples then goes to the synagogue
and he teaches, with authority, and they are amazed and then a demon cries out
and he rebukes the spirit.
They leave and “immediately coming out of the synagogue they
enter the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. This Gospel moves fast there is a lot of
coming and going. Events happen fast!
The exorcism occurred in a synagogue, a more public setting than this private home. The exorcism involved a man; now Jesus will deliver a woman. Mark does not suggest the woman’s ailment is demonic, but we shouldn’t underestimate the seriousness of a fever, either; in a world without antibiotics, her condition may prove fatal, depending on the circumstances”
Mark hints here at that Jesus ministry is wide ranged and
meant for many. But there is something about this healing that is
unnerving. Especially when viewed in
these modern times.
“Why is the healed woman’s first response to serve Jesus and
his four disciples? When we learn that “serve” translates diakoneo, most likely
indicating food service, and means she “waited on” them, it doesn’t help. Why
didn’t Simon tell his mother-in-law to take it easy while he made sandwiches
this time?”
Yes, many preachers in breathless attempts Have tried to
explain away the discomfort, or to ignore this detail altogether and yet that
little detail matters.
One way it is explained is that it means only to indicate
that the woman was fully healed at once. What a miracle -- no recuperation
period needed!
“Or: yes, she served the men, but her service was a way of
showing respect and gratitude to her healer. Maybe she was also serving God as
a means of doing so. Jesus always commends humble service and describes himself
as one who came to serve (diakoneo; 10:45) -- what a faithful response!”
Note this is even better because Jesus used the same word to
describe his ministry.
“Yes, the explanations continue, in that culture it would
have been shameful for a woman in a household to neglect a guest. To feed Jesus
would have honored him, but it would also have restored the woman’s own honor
and dignity. Healed, she could do what her society expected her to do and what
her fever had prevented her from doing. She was set free!”
“All of these responses are true, but they still exacerbate
the frustration generated by this aspect of Mark 1:31. The woman’s appropriate
response is to serve? Appropriate in whose eyes? Wouldn’t true healing and
liberation allow her to take on other roles? After all, when Jesus raises
Lazarus from the dead in John 11, Lazarus doesn’t respond with service. He
reclines at a dinner table in John 12:2 while his sister Martha “serves”
(diakoneo). Jesus’ healing of the mother-in-law and the miracle’s outcome
remain indelibly gendered, and gendered in ways that veer too close to the
stereotypes we know to be tired and destructive.”
https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2344
“Simon Peter's mother-in-law "served" immediately
after having been raised. The verb( now this is very important) is diakoneo,
the same verb Jesus uses to describe the essence of his own ministry in Mark
10:45. It is "to serve" rather than "to be served" that
characterizes the Christ of God. It is also "to serve" that
characterizes his disciples. Simon Peter's mother-in-law is far from being an
exemplar of a pathetic, un-liberated woman for whom serving men is her whole
life. Rather she is the first character in Mark's gospel who exemplifies true
discipleship. (Side bar: it will be women who are described as having served
Jesus in 15:41 as well. This is not a verb used of Jesus' male disciples who
famously do not quite "get it" within the gospel itself.)”
https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1200
It is at the very end of marks Gospel we are let in on a
secret. The secret that the crowd of Jesus’ regular disciples includes more
than twelve men. We learn about the group of women who watched Jesus’ execution
“from a distance” whater that means . I
mean all the others had left only the women remain. (14:50) and Simon was last
seen weeping in a courtyard (14:72). Now not all of these women are named, so
we know little about them. Still, we learn that they “provided for [Jesus] when
he was in Galilee.” The verb the NRSV translates as “provided for” in 15:41?
It’s diakoneo. To Serve, perhaps Simon’s mother-in-law is among the serving
women who observe the crucifixion.
“If she’s among them, then she’s more than a cook, waiter,
and dishwasher. She’s also a follower.
If she’s a follower, and a follower who is willing to serve
as she goes (unlike the oafish James and John in 10:35-45), then she’s also a
disciple.
If she’s a disciple, then to her “has been given the secret
of the kingdom of God” (Mark 4:11).”
The Church has a sad history of overlooking, disparaging or
simply burying the role woman have played in it’s history. Back in 2003 three
the United Church of Christ happily celebrated 150 years of women Clergy. 150 years Really?? I am not sure that is something to be proud
of.
“The date was Sept. 15, 1853. On that day a woman named
Antoinette Brown, at the age of 28, was ordained in a small Congregational
Church in South Butler, N.Y. Brown received her theological education at
Oberlin College in Ohio, the first college to affirm coeducation. She was a
well-known lecturer on temperance and the abolition of slavery.
Brown's ordination caused little national controversy,
because the polity of Congregationalism empowers local churches, supported by
nearby congregations, to call and ordain their pastors. At her ordination a
progressive Wesleyan Methodist preacher named Luther Lee entitled his sermon
"A Woman's Right to Preach the Gospel." He used Joel 2:28, as quoted
by Peter on the day of Pentecost in the second chapter of Acts. "And it
shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh;
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." He insisted that the
church does not "make a minister," rather God calls ministers, and
the churches under the "Lordship of Jesus Christ" gather to celebrate
that fact.
Unfortunately, Brown's ministry in South Butler was short.
After a few years she resigned due to ill health and doctrinal doubts. In 1856
she married Samuel C. Blackwell, the brother of Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell,
early women physicians. She raised a large family, but remained intellectually
and theologically active, writing many books on philosophy and science. After
her family was grown she returned to active ministry as a Unitarian.
In 1889, over 30 years after her ordination, there were only
four ordained Congregational women listed in the annual Congregational
Yearbook. By 1899, that number had risen to 49. In 1920, a commission on the
status of clergywomen in Congregationalism reported that there were 67 ordained
women out of 5,695 clergy. It took until the 1970s before these small percentages
made dramatic increases.”
At the end of 2016 9897 ordained ministers 4997were
women…more than half. I would say that
this probably reflects more truth to the nature of the early ministry of the
church than many men or historians care to admit.
“Historians Gary Macy, Kevin Madigan and Carolyn Osiek have
identified documented instances of ordained women in the Early Church. And
Paul's letter to the Romans, written in the first century AD, mentions a woman
deacon:
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church
in Cenchreae.— Rom 16:1, “
Unfortunatly this practiced phased out with the Final
condemnation happening in “AD 494, in
response to reports that women were serving at the altar in the south of Italy,
Pope Gelasius I wrote a letter condemning female participation in the
celebration of the Eucharist, a role he felt was reserved for men.”
Today the call for equal pay for equal work, the me-too
movement, all stand as upright and just calls that have been ignored for too
long.
I believe we need to
lift up our heroines and saints who have been ignored for too long. Mary the Magdalene, the desert Mothers and
Julian of Norwich have so much to teach us. We need to pay more attention to
Indira Gandhi, Rosa parks and Eunice Kennedy Shriver. How many have read call
me Malaia as a young girl she called for education in her country for which the
Taliban tried to silence her for. Has anyone sought out the work of Lynn
Gilbert who back in the 80’s wrote Particular Passions women who shaped our
times.
Women have always been called to serve and not in the
submissive form but in the active form as Christ was called to serve. Today as Peters mother in law is honored to
be the first to answer that call, Diokoneo, that call to serve as Christ
served. I pray we can each answer that call as Boldly as many women have in the
past and still are today.
I pray that the day comes when we as people serve as those
who came before, who served in spite of oppression, who served in spite of be
written out of history, who served even though their service was taken for
granite. Today we lift up all who serve but I am especially lifting up our
women because we do not do it enough so thank you each and every one of you for
your service. Amen.
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