Jesus’ Work: A Labor of Love

Will you pray with me….Lord, may the words…

It is hard for us to imagine what it was like for Jesus in His time. His time in ministry was short ….some say three years or so. We often compare then to now, and can only imagine what the cultural, fantasy attraction to Jesus was like; the miracle worker, who once was just a carpenter in a tough town of Nazareth. In spite of His obscure beginnings, Jesus began to attract crowds of people, and individuals who were desperate, we are told by the gospel writers. Certainly the paparazzi of the day were there, along with celebrity seekers and naysayers, but here were also simple, broken people who needed to see Jesus face to face and maybe get the miracle they hoped for. Not much has changed really…Jesus is still the hope for many of us. And we, the followers of Jesus are called to carry on His ministry by caring for the poor and desperate, whoever they are.

In Mark’s gospel, Jesus has left Galilee and has entered Tyre, virtually a foreign country. Jesus was looking for rest, and hopefully, seclusion from the labors of His ministry. Jesus was a living, laboring, fully human being; he was tired and needed some time away.

A Gentile woman, presented as a Syrophoenician, pursues Jesus in His solitude. She has heard of His miracles and needs His help, or better yet, a miracle. Frankly, Jesus’ response to the woman sounds mean and dismissive. “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” (V 27). Did Jesus mean to – do you think He meant – to refer to her as a “dog” as Mark writes? Mark has no apparent opinion on the harshness of Jesu/s response to this non-Jew in Tyre. What Jesus meant was that he is here for the Jews, the lost sheep, the little children. The woman calls Him out, if you will. “Your mission is not restricted to the Jews, is it?” she asks. Right here, she teaches Jesus how to lose an argument. She helps him lose his irritation at being interrupted from what was supposed to be a rest.  Here is the compassionate heart of Jesus who in His labors sees through the cultural and religious veils to the heart of the woman and her daughter.  He tells her to head for home and find her daughter freed from her demons. 

From there Jesus goes back to Galilee, where he is pressed for another miracle. A man who could not hear and had troubled speech is healed after a plea of desperation. Jesus’ healing is both physical and metaphoric. The man and those like him were thought to be taken by the devil’s forces because of their sins. Jesus once again crosses the lines of separation. He heals Jews and Gentiles alike. He reaches out to them all. Not only does He heal them, he returns them to their place in community. Can you imagine how their hearts were singing for the joy in healing, and for the love of Jesus? The work of Jesus is truly a labor of love.

In our church here, we welcome the poor and the homeless, the dirty and the bedless, and we offer them rest from their days. These overnights are saving islands of respite for men and women. We are called to bring those on the margins to the middle, with us. Status is the product of our own imagination, invisible to God.  These are labors of Love, and we work well in these times. By the way, Cindy needs a few men to come and spend the night, from time to time, when we have the men’s overnights. Women companions are also in need for the ladies’ overnights. Can you see the touch of Jesus, reaching across the divide to welcome someone, anyone who is in need?

Back to the woman in the scripture.  The problem is that she is outside the faith of the Jews. She claims no faith except in the presence of Jesus…she doesn’t really care about doctrine here.  Sometimes we get tied up in doctrine and miss the bigger picture. We might say, “I follow the doctrine of the Christian church. Some of us simplify by saying, “I believe in Jesus.” This woman was desperate and would do anything to save her daughter. At the very moment that she presses Jesus for his help, and he turns to her – not as the cuddly Jesus we might hold, but as an irritated teacher – this is the moment where faith comes alive. When we are hopeless, desparate, angry about life’s issues – this is where faith comes alive. This is where we have the personal relationship with Jesus that we believe may be a miracle.

As we accompany our confirmands through the Confirmation process, we look at our faith through biblical reference and study. We have open discussion about theology, history,and the tenets and doctrine of the United Church of Christ. We also hold and honor all the questions of doubt about the very same things we study. Like with the woman in today’s scripture, the reality of faith comes in a variety of ways and circumstances, and at different times and places. Some of us have come to faith and to worship this morning because we were as desperate as the woman in the story. We all want and need miracles in our lives. When we do, we are not likely to review the historical tenets of the Christian church. We are more likely to scream, weep, and pray to the personal, living Jesus who heals in the midst of a storm.

The man who is deaf and unable to speak is the partner story to the woman with the child possessed by demons in Mark’s Gospel. Historical reference indicates that people such as he were the scourge of the towns because they were thought to be invaded by devils and demons. No one would touch such a man. No one but Jesus. Why did Jesus not just wave His hand over the man? He healed the young girl from afar, didn’t He? Why did Jesus feel the need to wet his fingers and place them into the man’s ears and on his tongue to heal him? Jesus shows us that we have to be able to hear the Word of God within us, and then have the courage to act on it, to speak it.

Fortunately, the general feeling here at Dennis Union is, we are doing ok, for the most part. We are neither desperate nor miserable. Jesus is here, and He stays very close to those who struggle and those who don’t. The first step is to ask for what we need, like the man and woman in today’s scripture, saying “Lord, will you help me?”

This week, Judy Conrad and I visited Vera Dewar. Vera will be 103 on March 23^rd. She is blind, frail, lovely, and alert to her present existence. She has a concise operating philosophy. She says: “Accept things you cannot change. Don’t make everyone around you miserable.” Not bad for 102 years. Vera said when she was ten years old, she came home from Bible study, crying real tears as she personalized the death of Jesus. She asked her mom, “Why did they hurt Jesus so?” She said she knew Jesus then, and still does today. She told us, “I love Jesus. He is with me, and will stay with me forever.” Not one word of doctrine was uttered. Vera spoke of a Jesus she knew personally. In this time of her life, she reaches for Jesus, for her faith, and her heart sings, sings in joy and clarity of purpose. I think Vera sees the labors of her life as joyful. She knows the labor of Jesus word is real within her

Like the woman and the man in Mark’s Gospel, there are some of us who need a miracle. Like Vera, there are some of us here today who don’t have all the answers, but rely on a singing heart to stay with Jesus.

Even though Jesus’ ministry was short, it was truly a labor of love. When I think about our church family, I can’t help but see the folks who labored over the auction with smiles and hugs and true joy.  You can see many of them in the slide show following worship.  I see the choirs and church school and adult Christian education and men’s and women’s fellowship. The reason our church family and life is so vibrant is because we all see the call of Christ to serve, lead, and love with open, singing hearts. The varied ministries of this church require labor, for sure. But the labor glistens with love and joy. Truly, labors of love, just as Jesus taught and showed us.

Dorothy Day, the founder and rock of the Catholic Worker movement said, “We cannot love God unless we love each other. We know God in the breaking of the bread – just like we’re about to do – and we know each other in the breaking of the bread, and we are not alone anymore. Heaven is a banquet and life is too…even with a crust…as long as there is companionship. We have all known loneliness. We have learned that the only solution is love. And love grows in community. It all comes from Jesus.”

So many times in the gospels, Jesus asks those he heals to keep it to themselves – not to brag or tell too many people. Jesus fears the sensational side of healing, which would miss the point of God’s Love in the person, hands, and body of Jesus. In the fourth gospel of John, he uses the term “signs” to tell the story of the miraculous work; the labor of love of Jesus. Theologian David Garland says that “the signs of Jesus are called such because they point to the Kingdom of God. The signs or miracles are not done to demonstrate the arbitrary power of Jesus over ordinary casualty.”  I think what Garland is saying is that the miracles bind our relationship with God, through Jesus. Our response to God’s initiative through Jesus confirms that there is no barrier between God and any human being: not race, class, ethnicity, gender, age, physical condition, or sexual identity. It follows that there should also not be barriers between human beings as well.

So, do you need a miracle? Do you have a desperate need to press into Jesus’ hands? Take a moment and offer it to Jesus…… the Jesus of Divine majesty that helps us hear, see, and be alive in this community. Let’s just close our eyes right now, take a moment of silence, and offer our silent prayers to Jesus. I’ll call us back. AMEN

As I think about this morning’s scripture, I keep returning to the image of Jesus touching the tongue and ears of the man. Sometimes it’s hard to lay hands on another person, regardless of our good intentions.  The challenge for us here at Dennis Union is how we hold the least among us. Not just to serve them, but to touch them in a real and meaningful way. I hope we can see that all our labors can be those of Love. Every gesture of love and healing is a miracle. AMEN

Prayer after Sermon

God of all, your love streams like fresh water into the dry and desert places of our hearts. Help us be like Jesus, to be the ones to offer healing and justice. Help us be companions of those who long for your deliverance, and give us safe passage to your eternity.   AMEN