4th Sunday after the Epiphany-Year B

4th Sunday after the Epiphany Year B January 28, 2018 When I first read the readings for today in light of our Annual Parish meeting, my reaction was “ugggghhhh”! But the more that I spent time in prayer with the readings and in thinking about my hopes and dreams for this parish, in connection with our unique giftedness, for the coming year, I began to see them as a gift. Let’s look at the gospel reading for a minute. We spend all of this liturgical year, year B, going back and forth between the gospels of Mark and John, partly because Mark is such a short gospel, and we need John to fill it out. I’ve never really been crazy about Mark’s gospel. In it, Jesus is so stern, and there isn’t even really an ending to it. Just wait ‘til Easter, you’ll see! Total cliff-hanger! Today, we have Jesus healing a man of an unclean spirit in the temple. At first glance, not really applicable to our vision for the year, right? But then I started looking at Mark, and I realized or remembered a few things. Our reading for today is actually the first public act of Jesus’s ministry in Mark’s gospel. Think about that for a minute. He has called his disciples, begun teaching them, and they head to the synagogue where we have our reading for today—he heals a man of an unclean spirit. Now, I’m not going to even pretend to understand the notion of what that means to heal a person of an unclean spirit or to even try to translate that into our context today. But I will tell you that in Jesus’s time, if a person had an unclean spirit, he or she is called “unclean” because the effect of the condition was to separate the unclean person from the worship of God. This unclean spirit caused this man to be separated from God, from his family, from his community. So Jesus heals the man and through that healing, he restores him to relationship with God, his family, and his community. So, in Mark’s gospel, Jesus’s first act public act of ministry is to heal a specific individual and to restore him to fullness of life and relationships. That takes my breath away to talk about this today because that is the mission of the church! Now I know y’all are sick of the catechism, so I won’t ask you to turn in your prayer books, but I have to share this with you because I didn’t even know this until well into many years into my priesthood. But when the prayer books asks “What is the mission of the Church? The answer is: “The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.” And “How does the Church pursue its mission?” “The Church pursues its mission as it prays and worships, proclaims the Gospel, and promotes justice, peace, and love.” Just like Jesus’s first act was to heal and individual and to restore him to unity with God and others through himself, that is also the mission of the church. And fortunately for us, this church is especially gifted in doing this. I have seen it, and I have experience it first hand. This church can be a place of healing and restoration of relationships. I have received that gift from you, and I like to think that you have eagerly received that gift from me as well, in our brief time together. I think that is why these past 6 months have felt so much like a love song. Because the Holy Spirit has been working through our own unique gifts to bring this healing and restoration to fulfillment. But we aren’t done yet. This year, it is our task to grow in this calling of restoring people to relationship with God and each other. We will use our gifts as we focus inwardly on creating a system so we can make sure that people in our parish are cared for during transitions. Y’all are already really good about this, and we want to make sure people don’t fall through the cracks. If you’d like to be a part of this work, let Margaret Minis or me know. Also, this year, we will begin the work of reaching out to those in need of healing beyond our church walls. In my experience as a parish priest these last 13 years, I have been astonished at the number of people I have met who have been deeply wounded by a church. The Episcopal Church can be a great gift to folks who are hungry for spirituality, ancient worship, and good community, and we have all of that and more to offer. We will begin working with a system called Invite, Welcome, Connect. This was developed by Mary Parmer, a lay person who was working in the Diocese of Texas and is now based out of Sewanee, and it is a way to systematically examine how we as a church and individuals Invite, Welcome, and Connect new people to our church and also to brainstorm and implement organic ways that we at St. Thomas might do all of this work better. My friends, this reading from Mark reminds us today that the work of the church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ. In and through our baptism, we are the church—both as a body and also as individuals. You are the church, and your invitation this week is to do one thing that can be healing for another person, that might reassure them of God’s love. Spend some time looking around in your life to discover that person. It may be someone already in your life, your family or your work. Or it may be a complete stranger. Or if you know of someone who needs healing, pray for them and ask the Holy Spirit to inspire your heart to help you offer them healing. This week, look for the people in your life who are lonely, lost, or isolated, and may the Holy Spirit give you grace to offer them restoration and healing as an ambassador of Jesus Christ.