Sermon: Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany - Youth & Children's Sunday

Mary Margaret Winn, guest preacher
> Scripture for the day

Today’s gospel seems like a fairly straightforward lesson about the healing power of Jesus. He comes to Galilee, heals the fever of a friend, performs some miracles, casts out some demons… pretty normal “Jesus” things to do. But I don’t think this is really about Jesus’ high profile, memorable actions. Rather, I think it is about the people’s response to these actions.

Life is all about choices. What to wear each day, what to have for lunch, how we are going to treat others, and so on. But before we can make these decisions, a choice has to be presented to us. In my English class, we are reading Flannery O’Connor, the quintessential Southern religious writer. In all of her stories, there is a character we call a “candidate for grace” or someone who has not yet seen or understood the love of God. This character has some sort of sudden, often violent, revelation about his or her spirituality or personal characteristics. After the initial shock, they begin to process what they have learned about themselves, God, and others. And then the story ends. O’Connor leaves it up to the reader to determine what the character is going to do with their new-found Grace.

In one story, Mrs. Turpin, a Southern, middle-class woman, enters the waiting room at a doctors’ office and strikes up a conversation with the other patients. She continuously insults people based on their “class” while at the same time praising herself for being such a good Christian woman. Finally, one girl becomes so angry that she hurls a book at Mrs. Turpin’s head and attempts to choke her. After the action dissipates, Mrs. Turpin makes her way home to finish up her chores for the afternoon. In the “pig parlor” where she raises hogs, she begins to really process what has happened to her. She hoses down the pigs, ends her inner monologue, and walks back to the house. We had to decide whether or not she was going to act on her epiphany.

This scenario is a lot like our relationship with God. At some point in our lives, we start to notice the wonder of His grace. This realization may come gradually through everyday experience and observation, it may come in a fun Sunday school assignment from Father Deneke, or it could hit you like a book between the eyes as it does for Mrs. Turpin. Regardless of what prompts this moment, we have to process and react to how this “revelation of love” affects us emotionally, spiritually, and socially. Then we act.

One way that people can act is by spreading the Word. For me, this is like the first time I visited Yoforia. Yoforia is a place in Virginia Highlands that sells frozen yogurt. But not just any frozen yogurt-- this stuff is unbelievably delicious. Three different flavors with an endless supply of toppings. I fell in love, and the next day at school, all I could talk about was Yoforia and the “best dessert ever.” I wanted everyone to know about so they could go try it and fall in love just like I did.

Now replace the frozen yogurt with God’s love. Some people spread the Word by bringing people to church, the same way I brought people to Yoforia. Others volunteer their time or money by doing missionary work, helping at a soup kitchen, or giving money to charity. Still others simply chat with the check-out lady at the supermarket, or (a rare occurrence in Atlanta) actually let someone into the lane while driving. The best way to spread God’s love is to show others that our actions are a direct result of our faith.

But there is also another reaction, or lack thereof. Some people forget about their revelation. As much as I love Yoforia, I have not been there in months; Mrs. Turpin may have continued her life as if her eyes were never opened. Our lives are so hectic—with school, work, the economy, family, and a multitude of other commitments—that we can often let everyday life get in the way of responding to God’s Grace, even though it is always there. If we are in a hurry, we can forget to thank the cashier at the gas-station, or even cut someone off on the highway. These actions—good or bad—are evidence to others about our faith.

But God has done his part…showed His love to us…and all He wants us to do is act. To take what we have seen and do something with it. Again, the purest, most effective way to spread God’s love is to act on our faith. In our Gospel reading, Simon’s mother-in-law responds to Jesus’ care by serving Him in her home. The people of Galilee respond by going to the synagogue to see Jesus at work. Simon acts by searching for Jesus in the early morning. Jesus is our model as he moves from town to town to “proclaim the message.” So we need to take what we see as evidence of God’s grace- a sister, a friend, nature, or even frozen yogurt- and act.