Mark 1:29-39

As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else- to the nearby villages- so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

Let us pray,

May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of all of our hearts, be pleasing and acceptable to you, our rock and our redeemer…

A few years ago, I was asked to lead a women’s retreat at Camp Crestfield. For the ladies of Hiland Presbyterian Church. Hiland was currently in between ministers, and they needed someone to lead their women’s retreat. The ladies of Hiland have been gathering at Crestfield for a winter retreat for more than 35 years.

This women’s retreat was actually the first women’s retreat I ever attended. Let alone led. Unlike the retreats of my youth, this retreat included something called “downtime.” Which is basically unscheduled time where you could do whatever you want. Having never experienced downtime on a retreat before, I looked to the older women to see what I was supposed to do with all this free time. 

One of the women, Linda, invited me to have a seat next to her on the sofa. Linda is a retired gym teacher. She’s got a bad hip was scheduled to have her fifth elbow surgery later that month. So she was not going to be taking a walk in the woods during her downtime. Linda told me that she serves as a deacon at Hiland. And that the deacons were responsible for providing a service project for the retreat. They decided to make Linus blankets. 

As we were talking, I noticed that nestled in between us on the couch was a stack of what looked like unfinished children’s blankets. They came in various sizes. Some were covered in butterflies. Some in kittens and flowers. A few even had Steeler logos on them. “I’m going to teach you how to make a Linus blanket.” Linda told me. “It’s very simple. All you have to do is poke the fabric, and pull it through the hole.”

As I got to work on my first blanket, Linda told me about Project Linus. Project Linus’ mission is to provide blankets for children experiencing sickness or trauma. The Linus blankets are named after the Peanut’s character- Linus van Pelt. In the comic strip, Linus is a smart, shy, and serious little boy who is never without his security blanket. It’s a source of comfort to him when his older sister Lucy teases him. Project Linus creates and collects Linus Blankets to be distributed to sick kiddos in local hospitals.

I was reminded of Linda and her Linus blankets when I read our Scripture passage for today. In Mark’s gospel, Jesus’ healing ministry begins with Simon’s mother-in-law. Simon is one of Jesus’ disciples. His mother-in-law is one of the first deacons we meet in the New Testament. Deacons comes from the Greek word “diakonos” meaning servant, or messenger, or man in waiting. Mark tells us that Jesus cured her of her fever. The fever left her, and she began to wait on them.

Now a few of you may be wondering why Simon didn’t tell his mother-in-law to relax. He would fix the sandwiches. And make the coffee for his friends. His mother-in-law just had a demon in her, for crying out loud. To be fair, the “demon” was probably just a fever. Because in the Ancient Near East, a fever was attributed to a demonic force. But nevertheless, it’s not unreasonable for her to need some rest before she starts waiting on Simon and his friends.

What’s interesting though, when you look at the text, is that Jesus doesn’t command her to serve him. She assumes the initiative. And she assumes the consequences of working on the Sabbath.

The other interesting thing is that her diaconal work is some of the earliest proclamation of the gospel. By that I mean that her service shows us what discipleship looks like. If we want to follow Jesus, we should behave like Jesus. And Scripture tells us that Jesus travelled throughout Galilee, preaching in the synagogues, and driving out demons. (

This passage encourages us to imagine how we might live out our discipleship in service to others. It also encourages us to imagine what service might look like for us. Christians living in 2021. I think a helpful place to start is by looking at Jesus’ life and ministry. Like Jesus, service for us should include some type of travelling, preaching, and driving out of demons. Let me explain what I mean by that. 

Travelling. Jesus didn’t expect people to come to him, he went to them. So for us, traveling involves going out into our communities and discerning how we might meet their needs. Now traveling is going to look different in 2021 then it did in the Ancient Near East. A lot of that traveling is going to have to happen virtually. A good place to start is by reconnecting with a friend or a neighbor you’ve lost touch with over the last year.

Preaching. Preaching isn’t always what I’m doing right now. For Jesus, preaching meant sharing words of hope with desperate people. Not to give too much away, but Jesus preaches more words of hope, encouragement, and love than he preached words of judgement. In a pandemic, good preaching points to the hope we have in Jesus. That even in the face of tremendous suffering and loss we have hope in a God who is actively conquering the forces of sin and evil. That eventually this pandemic will end, and we are grateful for the hard lessons we learned along the way.

Finally, driving out demons. I’m not really talking about exorcisms here. Please do not go home and tell your parents that the pastor said that doing an exorcism will make you a better disciple. What I mean by driving out demons is providing comfort and healing to people who are discouraged and wounded by life. Driving out demons is the work of diaconal ministry. Sometimes that work is as simple as sending a blanket to a sick kiddo in the hospital. Or a thinking of you card to a member isolated at home.

I want to wrap up by saying that I think all disciples are called to service. Because serving others is the most effective way we can share the love of Jesus with others.

But I think a lot of us think we can’t serve because we don’t have enough time, or energy, or skills. To that I say you don’t have to start with something big. No one is going to ask you to coordinate the Boy Scout Spaghetti Dinner your first year serving with the Scouts. Start with something simple. Offer to carry an elderly neighbor’s groceries in for them. Make a blanket that doesn’t involve a sewing machine.

Once you master the simple stuff, do something that scares you. Maybe visit with your elderly neighbor after you help them unload their groceries. Maybe volunteer to distribute the blankets to a local hospital. Before you know it, doing something nice for someone else becomes an important part of who you are.

The key here is to remember that we serve because Jesus first served us. We don’t serve because we have to. Because it’s expected of us. Because we want people to speak highly of us. We do it because it’s the best way we have to point others to Jesus. It is a small way that, like Simon’s mother-in-law, we can show gratitude for all that Jesus has done for us.

Thanks be to God,

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.