“The Driving Force”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Sunday, February 4, 2024
Mark 1:29-39 (Forward, p. 6) CEV p. 1027
In reading over today’s passage and reflecting upon it, I couldn’t help but think about the catchy business name that a certain Canadian trucking company as taken as its own. It is the name, ‘The Driving Force.’ Starting in 1978 with rather humble beginnings in ‘a rented office atop a service station in rural Alberta’ it has grown to ‘one of Canada’s leaders in fleet management and transportation systems.’ And, if they were asked about it, I suspect that they’d say that customer service was the driving force behind all their operations.
That said, I couldn’t help but wonder what the ‘driving force’ is behind many of our contemporary leaders, businesses, and institutions. Certainly, some of them would point to customer service (or putting it another way, to meeting a need.). Others might suggest a sense of accomplishment, of fulfilling a dream or following up on a hobby or a particular interest. And others—this is not to be dismissed--just to make a profit. And certainly, I think that it is safe to say that the driving force for some people is a sense of power, importance, or personal glory and aggrandizement. For them, that would be the ‘driving force.’
So, what about Jesus: what was His driving force? Right off, we are told that, upon returning from the synagogue, He healed Simon Peter’s mother-in-law from a debilitating fever. We are told that immediately upon her healing, she got up and served them a meal. Now, there is something very significant here. In the Middle Eastern world, then as now, men and women were accorded differing roles and expectations. Each of these gave the person a sense of identity and purpose, a sense of belonging and fitting in with the overall course of things. For an older woman, a matron like Simon’s mother, this would have been preparing and serving a meal to the menfolk of the household. And, having been sick, she would have lost that. However. In being healed, she would have been restored to her rightful and natural place. She would have had a ‘new lease on life’, one that she had lost for a while. So, here is something that I find greatly appealing, that Jesus cares for such things as our purpose in life and our place in society, and how we fit in. I find this quite homey and comforting.
As we continue in our narrative, we find that a vast host of people descended upon this humble home after sunset—after the close of the Sabbath—with their needs of healing and deliverance. Here we are not appraised of any particulars, but rest assured, there was also a story behind each of these. And suffice to say, these cases were only the tip of the iceberg, as Simon and the others suggested (see verses 36-37). There was a myriad of potential needs. Quite easily, this could have been ‘the driving force’ for Jesus’ ministry.
But it wasn’t. Jesus went off early, to a ‘solitary place’, to be alone with God. He needed to pray and check out His priorities, to make sure that they were aligned with what God wanted. And what did God want? Surprisingly it was not to stick around in that self-same community and meet some more needs. No, He was to go elsewhere with the good news of God’s kingdom. ‘That,’ He reiterated, ‘is why I have come.’
I’m afraid that this brings me up quite abruptly and sharply. Number one it is saying--if we are to follow Jesus’ example--that seeking God’s will and direction must come first. And number two it may be saying that meeting needs, as grievous and daunting as they may be, may not necessarily be God’s intended end-goal, the driving force of our lives, either. If Jesus’ example means anything, we should be concerned with bringing the good news of Jesus to people first and foremost, bringing them to faith in Him and nurturing them in that. That may not be our only task, far from it, but is certainly should be up there, up and central in our thinking. After all, it, and nothing else, is the central focus, the only focus, of Jesus’ last words (see Matthew 28:18-20). That should be our ‘driving force.’
Forward notes: “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” (verses 30-31).
“This passage in the Gospel of Mark always leaves me with more questions than answers. Why did Jesus and the disciples go to the house of Andrew? Did they go because Simon’s mother-in-law was sick? Did Jesus go there intending to heal her, and if so, why? Was it so the disciples could be witnesses to the healing?
“Unlike other people Jesus heals, we know nothing about the inner thoughts and motivations of the mother-in-law. Was she healed by her
faith? Why does she immediately get up and begin to serve? Clearly, Simon is fond of his mother-in-law, although his wife, the daughter of the healed woman, is never mentioned. Life much in the sparse and rapid Gospel of Mark, I am left wishing for more. Despite this longing, there is something holy about wrestling with the Scriptures. My active engagement with the text draws me closer to Jesus, who walked the earth, teaching, healing, and feeding his people.”
Moving Forward: “Does wrestling with Scripture bring you closer to God or cause you discomfort? Reflect on your answer.”
Some concluding thoughts: Perhaps some of our author’s wrestling is unwarranted. We learn elsewhere that most contemporary dwellings were patrilineal, that is, belonging to the father. Unmarried sons—and sons together with their wives—all lived in apartments, separate apartments in the case of married couples, within the same complex. And so this home being described as the home of Andrew and Peter is to be expected. And the fact that Peter’s mother-in-law also lived with them points to a death or similar disruption in her family, such as would displace her from her usual place. As for any advance notice of her need of healing, the text tells us explicitly that Jesus was told of it when He arrived. And, as for serving, this was her usual and expected role, one that she had been derived of during her illness. In fact, given this expected role, she probably felt useless and in the way--‘like a bump on a log’—and was relieved when she could once again take her rightful and expected place in the household.
