Jesus Comes Out

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany – Year B

February 8, 2015

Mark 1: 29-39

As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. 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. In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you." He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do." And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Who is your best friend? Who is the person that you can confide anything and everything to? Who is that someone that you can trust with your biggest and most-hidden secret? All of us have someone like that. Maybe it's a close friend. Maybe it's our spouse. Maybe it's our diary or journal. Hopefully, we can trust God with our innermost thoughts and secrets that we are not likely to share with anyone else. When I was younger, I remember grabbing one of my close friends, taking them aside and whispering in their ear, “Don't tell anyone, but...”

We all have secrets. We all have things about ourselves that we do our best to keep private. There are things about ourselves and things about our families that we are either ashamed of, or afraid of how people might react if they knew the truth. For many years, if a young girl happened to get pregnant she would disappear, shipped off to a family member in another part of the state for a few months. Then, she would return just as mysteriously. Her pregnancy and birth a matter of knowledge known only to a select few. There was a time when victims of rape and domestic violence were forced to keep their mouths shut, hide what had happened to them. We all have secrets. That dad had lost his job was hidden from the kids and neighbors for as long as possible. That little Johnny couldn't read or write because he was dyslexic, that was also hidden. When Jane was born with misshapen legs, she was sent off to a home to live, and never spoken of again. I had a friend who was born with 6 toes on each foot. It took years for him to be able to wear sandals in public, he was so worried about what people would think if they saw his feet.

We all have secrets. Some of the secrets we have are secrets because we are ashamed of them. Some of them are because we are unsure of how people might treat us if they knew. And some of them are secrets we keep for our own safety. Such as the secrets that were kept during World War II. Thousands of Jewish children were sheltered and hidden in closets and attics throughout Europe. Kept secret to keep them alive, hidden from the searches of the Nazi soldiers. If the child were found, not only would the child disappear, but likely also the entire family who hid the child. We keep secrets for all kinds of reasons.

When we read the Bible, especially Mark's gospel it seems like Jesus had a secret or two as well. Over and over again, we find Jesus performing a miracle or healing, then telling those around him not to tell anyone what he has done. Theologians refer to this as the Messianic Secret. There are several different ideas put forward as to why Jesus wanted his actions and identity kept secret. Some people say that Jesus didn't want to be confused with a purely political messiah; others that Jesus wanted the focus to be on his message, not on him; others say it was a story-telling tool, used to show how the message of Jesus could not be kept silent – even when commanded by Jesus himself.

In our Gospel lesson today, we see a version of the Messianic Secret. We see Jesus performing miracles, his identity being recognized by demons, and Jesus not permitting the demons to speak and identify who he was. Jesus didn't want to come out about who he was, at least not yet.

The unfortunate reality is that once you know something about someone you tend to think about them according to what you know. You find out your neighbor was in prison, and that becomes how you think of them. Your coworker shares that she was a college cheerleader, and the way you interact with her changes. Your brother reveals to you that he is gay, and the way you joke around with him changes. The demons declare Jesus to be the Messiah, and the way the crowds listen to Jesus change.

There were many different ideas as to what kind of a mission the Messiah was going to have among the Jewish people. But, the idea that had the greatest number of followers was the one that said the Messiah was to be the king who would unite Israel against their foes, leading them in glorious battle, freeing them from the cruel hands of those who had occupied their lands and controlled their lives for generations. Jesus' message of peace, love and forgiveness would have had a hard time being heard against the clamor of voices calling to destroy Rome and remove the gentiles from Israel.

In our passage Jesus declares that his mission was to proclaim the message. So, we must look and see what the message Jesus came to declare was. One of the aspects of Mark is that he combines both word and action when he speaks of Jesus proclaiming his message. It's like the saying, “Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary use words.” Jesus' message “includes his exorcisms, healings, and legal controversies. It involves all the ways in which he makes God’s reign (or “kingdom,” as traditionally translated) known and observable. His preaching activity, the full range of his public ministry, is performative and effective: it demonstrates what God’s reign looks like, and it has real effects as it delivers people, heals people, restores people to community, forgives people, and speaks truth to power.”¹

Although Jesus' ministry of healing, his announcements of freedom from oppression were a part of who he was, a part of the message he was sent to proclaim, Jesus knew that if he allowed the crowds that followed him to dictate what he was going to do, the proverbial train would jump off the tracks. It was necessary for him to be in control, for him to reveal what he felt comfortable revealing.

When things got a little too hectic, a little too crazy, when the voices of the crowds shouting and crowding around him, demanding of him to be who they wanted him to be, Jesus sought a place of safety. He looked for a place where he could spend time with God in prayer, a place where he could be himself without the pressures of the crowd. I think that is a wonderful image for the church. What would it be like if the church became a place of refuge, where you could be who you are, who God created you to be, without having to live up to the hopes and expectations of those around you?

You are a naturally shy person, but your life requires you to interact with people on a daily basis at work. What if church gave you the space you need, to be alone, to be surrounded by people, but not forced to interact? You are the victim of domestic violence, and bare on your face the signs of that abuse. What if church gave you a place where you didn't have to hide, where you didn't have to worry about people blaming you, where you could find the support you need to get out of a dangerous place? You are a teenager who is bullied. Every day you go to school, alert every second , terrified of what might happen when you are at your locker, or walking in the halls. What if church was a place where you could leave your fears at the door, if you could find support and love you need, if you could hear the message that you are loved just as you are?

The church is called to set people free from the things that limit and bind them. But, it must go beyond simply setting a person free. What if the church was a place that not only freed you from the things that limited you, but freed you for something? Not just from, but for. That is the challenge that we in the church must face, we have all been freed for something. God has set us free to from sin and death, and all that binds and limits us; and God has called all of us to do something. What have you been freed from, and what have you been freed for?

Look to how our text began, with Simon's mother-in-law sick and in bed. Jesus comes to her, heals her, and she rises to serve. She was freed from illness to serve the needs of those around her. That too is what we have been freed for. We have all been freed so that we might serve, that we might give of ourselves to assist those around us who are in need, to set them free from the things that keep them from living whole and full lives. Whether that need is physical, emotional, spiritual or any other numerous ways in which need presents itself, God has freed us from what hinders us so that we might free others, and in freeing others we might serve our risen God. When we do so, we are following in the path of Jesus himself.

Throughout his ministry Jesus often refers to his own life in terms of servanthood, and to the life of servanthood to which he called his disciples. Jesus, though he was God incarnate, did not use that reality to rule over others, but lowered himself and took the role of servant again and again. His life was one lived not for himself, but for others.

For most people in today’s world the motto of “live for yourself” reigns. Jesus’ message and life were in constant opposition to that claim. His crucifixion as the servant without limit placed an exclamation point on that fact. The way in which Jesus defined his kingship defy human logic. His call to follow in his footsteps, to work for his Kingdom is heard by all the faithful.

In our text, Jesus does what he is called to do, he works to free people from the bondage under which they suffer, and in so doing frees them to be able to free and serve others. Jesus comes out as the Messiah in his terms, not in the way others may have wanted, not in the actions some may have demanded of him, but as the holy one of God, the one sent to be the servant-King of all creation. May we have the courage and grace to create a place where all people may be set free from the things that bid them, and be set free so they may themselves set others free to live as the people God created them to be. Amen.

1http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2344