"Jesus, I hate to bring this up," said Simon,
"but, Mums, that is my wife's mother,
isn't doing so well.

She is right in the other room;
Would you mind, well, looking in?

She has heard a lot about you
and I think it would cheer her up."

"I know very well who she is, Simon,"
Jesus, perhaps, said.

"Let's go see her,"
and so, they did.

And there she was,
lying abed, sick with a fever;

Jesus went up to her
and held out his hand.

That's all it took
and there was one Jewish mother
on the job.

She arose and prepared food for them all.
the word used in the Greek is deaconos,
the same word we use to describe
an order of ordained ministry.

She was a deacon to the Lord Jesus
and his community of disciples.

By the presence of God
she was united to family and community
and made able to serve God
and his people
with purpose and joy.

What is it, do you think
that makes people truly ill?

What renders us unable to serve God
and his people?
and, how is one cured?

Well, this is one cure that was noticed.

Mark says that the whole city
gathered at the door,
bringing all who were sick
or possessed with demons
to be touched by Jesus,
and, he cured them all,
casting out many demons.

It was quite a night.
The whole city was astir
with the possibilities of it all.

Think, for a moment
what it meant to be freed from a demon.

A demon, by its very nature,
was and is
a dehumanizing inhabitant
of the human psyche.

To be possessed by a demon
was to be unacceptable
in one's own home and community.

It was to be judged damaged in humanity.
People were afraid of you,
judged you to be different,
and pretty much left you alone.

Whether your demon
was actually mental illness or addiction,
your appearance or a physical disorder,

you probably came to understand
that you were judged and found wanting
or different, or dangerous,
and found yourself isolated and alone.

Then, Jesus comes
and says to you, even you,
"The Kingdom of God
is in your very midst,"

and he reaches out, touches you,
and lifts you up.

Instantly, you are restored,
recognized as fully human,
perceived as a child of God,
and given an important task to do.

That task is serving God's people.

It was a powerful night.

Jesus, you will remember,
felt the power run out of him
when his robe was touched in the street
by one woman who had been ill.

After this night
he must have needed recharging.

So, he did what he also calls us to do
on a regular basis.

He left the house before the first light of dawn
and found a quiet place in the hills to pray,
to be connected purposefully
and completely, to God.

Perhaps, should we visit our quiet places,
beyond the din of the world
and the march to war,
we would pause and pray
and name what is going on in us
and connect also to our God.

It is not something we are able to do
when we allow the "real world"
to deny us permission.

It is something Jesus came to help us do
precisely because the world
wishes to define our humanity
and take away the options
which are of God.

We fail to pray and to listen to God
when the demons which inhabit us
have their way.

Our demons are persuasive,
Our demons claim our first and best attention.
Our demons choose to define us
and diminish our humanity.

What Jesus can do for us,
if we allow him to be present at all,
is to lead us to name our demons.

By contrast to the person of Jesus
we know what they are.

They are the inflexibilities
which imprison us.
They are the closed mindedness
that limit our freedom.
They are the fears
that cause us to isolate ourselves
from people we judge as different.
They are the insecurities
that cause us to follow bad leadership
without question.
They are our addictions to money or power
or affection, or status or memory
or all the other demons which tell us lies
about who we are
and whom we believe.

Some of us have diseases,
most of us, I suspect.

We have arthritis, heart disease, cancer
depression, anxiety, or the common cold;
they are the natural result of biological life
and cell division.

Have you ever noticed
that even with such people
the greatest sadness often seems to be
the associated isolation and loneliness,
caused by the apparent dehumanization.

To such people Jesus goes,
often through you and through me,
often as the church,
and touches them,
raises them up,
restores their connectedness to God
and one another.

So, there was Jesus,
in that quiet place over Lake Galilee,
praying with God,
connected,
perfectly one with the Father of us all;

and, here came Simon, later called Peter,
and some of the other followers.

They found him, and said,
"Everyone is searching for you."

Feel, if you will,
in your very heart,
the human cry,
the agony of desperation
in those words.

"All these demon possessed people
are searching for you."

But, I think there things are one step
further than that
in this reading.

Jesus came to town for one evening,
and, because of his presence, his touch
the evening before,
they knew Jesus by name
they ask for him by name
and the demons fled.

How about ourselves?
What is heavy on your heart just now?
What is it that holds you down,
makes you less than free.
renders you less than that which
Jesus would have you be?

Is it close and personal
like an addiction, or anger
or self hatred?
or is it a community demon,
the national rush to war,
or a Lazarus condition?
that is the case where the rich man
does not even notice his fellow
human being at his gate.
What are the demons
that make us less than fully human?

Name them by contrast to Jesus.
I dare you to be free, he says,
and in the story, he came close
they did,
and were saved.

"Everyone is searching for you,"
said Simon,

and Jesus knew his work
had been successful there.

He had no need to tarry longer,
and he said,
"Come, let us go to all the other towns
that I might tell them also
that the Kingdom of God
is among them,
for that is what I came to do."

And he went,
and the demons fled.
He comes,
and demons flee.