“Responding to need”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Saturday, September 28, 2024
Luke 4: 38-44 (Forward, p. 61) CEV p. 1061
Today’s account takes place on the Sabbath, and so, for Jesus’ contemporaries, the more orthodox or scrupulous ones at least, it poses something of a problem. Immediately prior to it, we find Jesus in the local synagogue, where Jesus delivered a man of an evil spirit that possessed him. And, then upon returning to the home of Simon He encounters Simon’s mother-in-law, who is sick in bed with a fever. And, once again, Jesus heals her. Now, Jesus’ critics might well have questioned, as they often did, why it was necessary for Jesus to perform these acts of healing that very day, the Sabbath. Surely, He could have waited until sundown at least (which is what the crowds did), or until the following day.
But here I think that Jesus was moved with compassion for the two individuals involved, moved with the difficulties and sufferings their maladies brought upon them. I cannot imagine how terrible a demon possession might have been, but surely the afflicted individual was aware of it and keenly felt, and resented, its impacts. And for Peter’s mother-in-law, to be there in her own home with house guests present, and not able to live up to her accustomed role, and place in the household, and serve them! Why, to be ‘just’ lying there was a loss of her identity and function, and surely something very grievous. And so, Jesus responded in each case, even to the point of violating the letter of the law regarding the Sabbath.
Then, that evening, after the sun had set and the Sabbath was over, we find Jesus responding to a myriad of other needs, ‘herds’ of them if you will. However, here it gets interesting. There is, by all accounts, still a large and pressing need for healing in that community, but what does Jesus do? He decides to go elsewhere, to visit and bless other communities. And there, not overtly to heal, but to proclaim the good news of God’s kingdom. In other words, as much as Jesus cared about illness and the need for healing and wholeness, His concern for human souls was far greater. And, He was never one to forget that or let it take second place. And so too, should this be our abiding concern as well—not for programs or worship services or church finances or membership or any other peripheral thing, but simply for the state of the human souls around us.
Forward notes: “At daybreak he departed and went into a deserted place” (verse 42).
“I enjoy my own company. I can travel by myself, go to the movie theater alone, and dine at restaurants alone. My father, married for 50 years now, finds this strange, but he’s getting used to it as we get to know each other better in my adult years. When others learn of my travels, they ask incredulously, ‘You went by yourself?!’ But solo travel doesn’t mean alone. These days, I can be easily connected via social media—and interrupted or distracted anywhere.
“When I really want to be alone, I take a spiritual retreat. On retreat, aloneness becomes solitude and a space where I can be fully present to myself and God. While I find deep fulfillment in the company of others, I also need time in deserted places. In these moments of solitude, I am able to be deeply present to what is, from a leaf blowing across a yard in winter to the longing of my own soul.”
Moving Forward: “Make time this week for retreat as a way to deepen your spiritual life.”