5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B - Hearts Burning Within

The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation during Ordinary Time

Job 7:1-4, 6-7

This passage uses three metaphors for life, each of which was a proverbially wretched state of life in that culture: military service, day labor, and simple slavery. Job says that day-to-day living is a drudgery, wanting what you can’t have, and futility. And at the end of the day, he can’t even sleep. And then he talks about how, even with all this, life seems to fly by and it’s gone. Even if there was some happiness, it would pass too quickly to catch it.

There are some beautifully poetic passages in this book. Today’s selection is not one of them. You might flip through the book and see what jumps out to get a fuller sense of the book.

What metaphor(s) would you use to capture life’s drudgery?

Does naming and articulating the sense of futility we all feel about life from time to time help you better deal with it?

1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23

Background of the book

For the last couple of weeks, Paul has been focused on the End Times as a motivation for how we structure our lives. In today’s passage, he talks about what this motivation compels him to do: evangelize – share the good news with as many people as possible.

At the root of this passage is that Paul considers himself a slave of Christ and he glories in that. Job laments life as a slave but Paul is proud of it.

For Paul, there is no question of if he would preach but rather how – willingly or begrudgingly?

The passage begins with Paul saying “If I evangelize, this is no reason for me to boast because it’s my task to evangelize; but woe to me if I do not evangelize.” Remember Jesus’ parable about the servant who labors in the fields all day and then is supposed to come home and cook dinner? That servant doesn’t get invited to sit down and eat with the master – that’s not the servant’s job. And the servant shouldn’t expect to be thanked for doing his job. Paul’s job as a slave of Christ is to evangelize and that’s what he’s doing.

He says that doing his job is no reason for him to boast, but in good Pauline fashion, he boasts anyway!

In verse 17 he says if he evangelizes of his own free will, that in itself is a reward. He expands on this in verse 18: I get to preach the gospel free of charge! I could claim the rights of a preacher or prophet to be financially supported but I don’t. I make the gospel freely available to all. This is Paul’s boast. It’s important to remember this was a culture where, if you did something good for someone, they were obligated to do something good back. If the Corinthian community had financially supported him, he might be obligated to change his message to suit their situation or withhold his criticisms when they didn’t live up to God’s standards.

He continues his boasting in verse 19, making it clear that he is actually a free man, but he has used that freedom to willingly make himself a slave to Christ so that he can evangelize as many people as possible. Vv20-21 are not in the lectionary but belabor this same point.

He continues in verse 22 as sort of a saintly chameleon. Paul loves everyone, regardless of their social or religious situation, for the sake of the good news, becoming all things to all people so that he might save some.

Why does Paul live this way? Why does he subjugate his freedom to live as a slave? The only way Paul can share in the fruits of the gospel is to share the gospel so that it bears fruit. It’s like if you had a seed for an apple tree – the only way to get the apple is to plant the seed and tend it. A major motivation for Paul choosing to live the way he does is so he can enjoy participating in bringing others to know Christ.

One theme that runs throughout the Corinthian letters is freedom, and the correct use of Christian freedom. For Paul, true Christian freedom is directed outward – to and for others; never on ourselves or the satisfaction of our own desires.

Do you ever feel an obligation to share the gospel?

What motivates you to do the ministry you do?

Mark 1:29-39

Background of the book

Last week we had the story of Jesus casting the demon out of a man in the synagogue. Today Jesus will continue to heal people.

The passage begins with another immediately – they leave the synagogue and go to the home of Simon, Andrew, James, and John. Incidentally, these are the same men that he called earlier in chapter 1, and they left everything to follow him. At least one of them left a wife and a house!

In verse 31, Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law. On the surface of this verse, this is a healing; her getting up and waiting on them demonstrates the completeness of the healing. Like much Gospel material, this passage functions on multiple levels, and Mark does it here in the choice of his words.

He uses two very technical words that have much deeper meaning throughout the New Testament. The first is “helped her up”. Anywhere else this would be translated “raised her up.” It’s the same word used for the resurrection. It’s a word that would seem out of place in this passage, which suggests that Mark wants to emphasize something.

The second important word is “she waited on them.” This is the word diakoenia – to serve or to minister. Most of the uses in the New Testament indicate more than serving food. This is usually a technical term that implies ministry and Christians serving one another.

This is the first healing in Mark that’s not an exorcism of a demon. It’s an unnamed woman who is raised up, evoking resurrection or maybe baptism. And she immediately engages in service. She is a picture of the ideal disciple.

Verse 32 says many people came in the evening. Why after sunset? Because on the Sabbath they were not allowed to bear burdens, and the Sabbath ends at sundown.

Mark starts Jesus’ ministry with two very specific healings: the man in the synagogue (last week), and then Simon’s mother-in-law. But then he broadens it out. Jesus is healing lots of people and casting out lots of demons. We get an idea of a very busy ministry even though Mark condenses things down in his typical fashion.

In verse 35, Jesus goes off by himself to pray. The verb forms imply he was praying for an extended time – maybe on the order of days. His disciples go out looking for him, “pursuing” him. This word “pursued” is often used in a hostile sense. Just a few verses ago, Jesus was calling the disciples and they dropped everything, as a model disciple should. As we progress in this gospel, we’ll see that the disciples become increasingly hostile towards Jesus. They want him to be a certain sort of Messiah, and they seem to get frustrated with him when he doesn’t live up to their expectations.

When they find Jesus, they say that everyone is looking for him. Here’s the first indication that the disciples misunderstand Jesus – they don’t have a clue. What they know is that Jesus healed the man in the synagogue and then the mother-in-law and then he healed everyone all over town. He was getting popular and they expected and wanted him to capitalize on that popularity. But what did he do? He runs away in the middle of the night, and they can’t find him for an extended period of time. Everyone is looking for you. “Everyone” meaning “we were looking for you because we don’t want your popularity to die down.” You’re missing some great opportunities! You’re missing the chance to exploit your popularity. But we couldn’t find you.

There is a progressive sense in the narrative that even those closest to Jesus will misunderstand him. They pursue him because he is not living up to their expectations.

The passage ends with Jesus trying to reorient them. He focuses on preaching rather than healing, saying this is why I’ve come. The preaching, not the spectacular deeds of healing. Like Paul, Jesus is on a mission to preach and evangelize. And the circle of that ministry will get wider and wider.

Ponder the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law in terms of your own faith journey. Was there a particular moment in time when Jesus “raised you up” into a new life? What was your response?

Have you ever felt drawn to pursue Jesus? What was your motivation?

Pray with this story from Jesus’ point of view, especially that of being misunderstood by those closest to you. Are there people in your life who consistently misunderstand you? Has God blessed you with people who do understand you?

Connections of the readings

Most of the time the connection between the Gospel and the Old Testament passage is at least somewhat apparent. This was a tough one.

When I first started looking at it, I thought maybe the connection was a bit tongue-in-cheek. In the gospel we see Jesus heal the mother-in-law, and she jumps right up and starts serving them. No rest for the weary I guess. Life is drudgery.

I think the responsorial psalm helps give a little better connection. “The Lord heals the brokenhearted.” There is so much in life that pulls us down and makes us question the very essence of things. Jesus came to heal all this and make us whole. It’s Jesus’ healing power, not just for illness, but for wholeness.

Questions to ponder