Feeling Like Grasshoppers
A Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
February 4, 2024, St. Matthew’s, Chesterfield
The Rev. Robin Teasley
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? 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; who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. 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. To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One. 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.
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”? 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. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; 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. Isaiah 40:21-31
Eagle in Flight, Unsplash, Bill Alexy
After Jesus and his disciples 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. Mark 1:29-39
From a 13th c manuscript from Athos Monasteries
Be present, O merciful God, and protect us through the hours
of this night, so that we who are wearied by the changes and
chances of this life may rest in your eternal changelessness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen (1)
You might be wondering why I begin with a prayer for the evening from the service of Compline, found in the Book of Common Prayer. I believe it is a prayer we can adapt whenever we are wearied by the changes and chances of this life. The truth is that life is filled with changes and chances, and some days I am weary all day and all night.
Whether it’s a personal struggle with health or finances, changes on the horizon here at St Matthew’s, the division in our national politics, or the uncertainty of war across the globe, we have much to keep our minds racing. Take a minute to notice what is on your mind, what has you worried and weary.
Right now, we might all be feeling a bit like the grasshoppers the prophet Isaiah speaks of as we wait for God, who sits above the circle of the earth, who has created all and calls us all by name, who is great in strength and mighty in power. What is God doing and why do things happen the way they do? We humans can’t help but question God when the changes and chances of life affect us, whether change happens in our family, our church, or in the world.
Isaiah has an answer for us. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth, who does not faint or grow weary, whose understanding is unsearchable. It’s good to be reminded of this amazing God we serve when we are faced with the sometimes difficult truth that we are not in control of everything or really much of anything, we are not responsible for everything, and the reality that everything is not urgent, despite the constant messaging from media and culture.
We can see this playing out in our gospel text today, this sense of human urgency. Mark is an urgent gospel. It’s as if he's racing to get it all written down, as if he’s fearful of what is to come. We are still in the first chapter, where we have already heard that Jesus is baptized, is sent into the wilderness for forty days, and begins his ministry in Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” Jesus and his brand new disciples come to Capernaum and enter the synagogue, where Jesus teaches as one with authority and casts out a demon, astounding everyone.
The story continues today as they leave the synagogue, expecting to have a quiet dinner at the home of Simon and Andrew, only that is not what happens because Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever. There was no time for a quiet dinner because the whole city started showing up at the door, sick with diseases and demons and fevers.
A fever is a symptom, revealing that something is not well, that our body is fighting off an infection. Our experiences during the pandemic raised our awareness of what a fever might indicate. Now we are all probably more careful not to expose others to whatever we might have that causes a fever. We may also be better now at noticing when our lifestyle gets too hectic and feverish.
We all suffer from the fevers of this life. The reality of physical sickness is inescapable. Some of us are acquainted with this reality, through our own personal experience of illness. Many of us have walked with others through the valley of suffering. Then too, there are the fevers such as our inability to forgive, or failure to ask for forgiveness; our need to be in control; our need to define our self-worth by our busyness.
And aren't we all too aware of the fevered pitch of our relationships these days? Partisan rhetoric about everyone and everything is as contagious as a virus. We know that fevers of any kind, when left unchecked, can be hazardous to our physical, mental, and spiritual health. Fevers disrupt our families and our communities, can be contagious, and indicate that we are sick and in need of healing on many levels.
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It's interesting to me that after an incredible and overfilled day, Jesus models for us how to slow down, how to stop the busyness. He went away to a deserted place and prayed. Notice also that when the disciples finally found him, he set a boundary for himself and for them. He did not allow busyness to distract him from his priorities, from proclaiming the Gospel and leading the disciples to do the same.
Jesus is saying that we cannot do it all, that taking time to rest and pray is what strengthens us to serve one another, and that prayer is the place where we are called to be still and listen for what God would have us do next.
St. Matthew’s is about to enter a season of discernment. The temptation will be to be busy about checking off lists and getting things done, and there will be times when things might rise to a feverish pitch. My prayer for you is that you will be intentional about following Jesus, slowing down, taking time to pray and discern and listen for God’s voice. Whenever we find ourselves wearied by the changes and chances of life, it is so important that we take time to rest in God’s eternal changelessness.
Remember Isaiah’s words, “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. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.” And then Isaiah comforts us with the words we so often need to hear in the fevers of this life, “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.”
Jesus makes this promise visible as he takes the hand of Simon’s mother-in-law and lifts her up. Jesus makes this promise visible to us; he will take us by the hand and lift us up from our fevers, whatever they may be.
To be lifted up is to experience the nearness of the Kingdom. In fact, the Greek word Mark uses here, egiero, is the same verb used on Easter morning when the angel tells the women at the tomb “he has been raised.” The promise is to be lifted up into resurrected life in Christ, now and in the age to come. This is the good news we are called to proclaim!
In all the changes and chances and fevers of this life, will we allow Jesus to take us by the hand and lift us up?
There is another prayer in the Book of Common Prayer that we can pray now, and at the end of each day. Let us pray ~
O Lord, support us all the day long, until the shadows lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in your mercy, grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen. (2)
Title Image: Healing Peter's Mother-in-law, John Bridges
(1) Collect in An Order for Compline, BCP, 133.
(2) Prayer In the Evening, BCP, 833
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