Fifth Sunday after Epiphany- 7th February 2021

Isaiah 40: 21–31                             

21 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
     Has it not been told you from the beginning?
     Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
     and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
     and spreads them like a tent to live in; 
23 who brings princes to naught,
     and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. 
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
     scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows upon them, and they wither,
     and the tempest carries them off like stubble. 
25 To whom then will you compare me,
     or who is my equal? says the Holy One. 
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
     Who created these?
He who brings out their host and numbers them,
     calling them all by name;
because he is great in strength,
     mighty in power,
     not one is missing. 
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
     and speak, O Israel,
‘My way is hidden from the Lord ,
     and my right is disregarded by my God’? 
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
     the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
     his understanding is unsearchable. 
29 He gives power to the faint,
     and strengthens the powerless. 
30 Even youths will faint and be weary,
     and the young will fall exhausted; 
31 but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
     they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
     they shall walk and not faint.

1 Corinthians 9: 16–23                      

16 If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe betide me if I do not proclaim the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. 18 What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel. 19 For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I might by any means save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

Mark 1: 29–39

29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31 He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. 32 That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered around the door. 34 And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35 In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and his companions hunted for him. 37 When they found him, they said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ 38 He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighbouring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’ 39 And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Reflection: 

I’ve been pondering a question recently: how do we notice, understand or recognise God’s activity in our lives? We hear time and again that God by the Holy Spirit is in us and works through us. Yet often we are unaware of his works, perhaps we fail to look for what God is doing and fail to give him credit for what he does. 

I find today’s reading from Isaiah is very helpful in that offers something of a record of the amazing characteristics of God. It is magnificent as it describes the extent and significance of God’s working. It calls us to open our awareness- Have you not known? Have you not heard? Isaiah is declaring = The Lord is bigger, and stronger, and more impossible to comprehend than you can possibly imagine! 

It’s almost like something so spectacular has happened but it has been missed by many and the author of Isaiah is saying/ almost shouting- Don’t you know- haven’t you heard? Are you not aware????

On the whole, the God described here seems to characterise absolute power.  So grand, so magnificent. Indescribable…Beyond words….

I wonder… is this the way most people, imagine God: as so BIG. You may remember the Sunday school song- My God is so big, so strong and so mighty! There’s nothing my God cannot do!!

Isaiah has captured in essence the magnitude of our awesome God. Isaiah seems to want to ignite a reverence and confidence as we come before God. 

I sometimes use this reading from Isaiah in my ministry- I am reminded you see -even youths grow weary. Young people have so much more energy- our grandsons seem to have an endless store- yet even they can become tired. My daughters youngest son began school last week and I rang to see how he was. He said- ‘Nana I love school, but I am exhausted!!!’ This boy usually has an inexhaustible energy!  …As I age, I am very aware that I am not able to do what I did even 20 years ago. I do run out of energy and am even exhausted at times from daily demands. More so, at the hospital I meet people who are weary from their illness, weary from their struggles in life, weary from life itself, especially in our present day. So how wonderful is it that Isaiah assures us that God- Will give strength, will sustain, will continue to be with us as his supremacy is beyond our comprehension.

By contrast then, Mark’s story seems quite small. While Isaiah paints an enormous story of God’s nature and works, Mark instead focuses on a simple occasion, a single detail as it were in the ordinariness, everyday happenings of life. This occurrence happens very early in Jesus’ life and ministry. Mark tells a story of the healing of a woman, who is unnamed except that she is identified as Peter’s mother-in-law. The story is an almost private happening, and I have to wonder why Mark tells it. But as I enter into it, I realise that though it is brief, it is certainly not simple. Indeed, Mark’s structure of the scene – and particularly the detail that, once recovered, the woman then serves the disciples – has been a source of frustration to many of us at it has been misused to reinforce the notion for some people that the woman’s role is not to lead but to serve.

Yet I find in Mark’s more personal description two elements that are very helpful as I try to understand the nature of God’s work in the world and our lives.  And as we try to understand and recognise God’s activity in our lives.

Isn’t it incredible that the amazing, remarkable, all-powerful God who Isaiah describes, cares for each of us as individuals? Isn’t it wonderful that this mighty God is willing to enter into the simplicity of everyday in our lives? Jesus has been flat out since he began his ministry, not only has he been announcing the coming kingdom, calling together his disciples, and beginning his ministry by casting out demons and healing many and all of this in the first chapter of Mark’s story– but he also now takes time out to care for a woman suffering a fever. 

Jesus meets Simon’s mother in law in the normality of life. In this story we see that our problems no matter how seemingly small problems are not insignificant to our God who tends the whole universe.

As he begins his ministry Jesus has called the first disciples and we heard that immediately they have left and followed him. I don’t know about you, but I often have presumed that this means they have walked away from their life and all it comprises of, yet here we hear now that it is at Simon’s house that this event happens and the first disciples are with Jesus. Therefore, Simon has a house, he has a wife and it is his mother-in-law who is gravely ill.

The almighty God whom Isaiah sings praises about is certainly at work, untiringly, to sustain, to strengthen, and to restore those who have fallen. And the most common way God does this is by working through those around us. And note, when this woman serves after she is healed, she is not being dismissed as somehow inferior to those she serves. Rather, Jesus has not only healed her but he has given her back her vocation which is, ultimately, a picture of her discipleship: serving which is what she most likely enjoyed to do.  

So, where do we look for and how do recognise the actions of the God whose care for us is never-ending. Well, I suggest that there are a couple of ways to do this. When you are feeling weak, in need of some extra strength, when life is tough- God promises to supply us with a strength beyond our own. It’s then up to us to be open to receive:

Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
     they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
     they shall walk and not faint.

 A well, it is in the everyday acts of service, care, and sacrifice that we see God all around us. Which means, that the seemingly ordinary lives of people can at any given time display the activity of the Lord, as God continues to love and bless the world…including through us! 

Perhaps as we recognise God’s activity we might even dare to say to others, “Have you not seen? Have you not heard? The Lord God almighty is at work in you, with you, and through you to care for the people and world he loves so much.”

And may God continue to reveal himself and his unlimited power to us. Amen