Published With Thanksgiving

“Simon’s mother-in-law was down with a fever; so, the family told Jesus about her. And he turned, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she began to wait on them” (Mark 1.30-31).

Dwight McKissic is an African-American Baptist pastor. He’s made news of late; because, he and his congregation have separated from the Southern Baptist Convention. Two weeks ago, McKissic received a letter from an individual who wanted to share his opinions about this action, and his thoughts about those whose skin color differs from his own. It is not the product of a healthy mind.

I’m guessing you heard the news regarding the statements and tweets of the new junior Representative from Georgia. She’s the one who has repeated false information about the recent election, made some strange comments about last summer’s wildfires, and “liked” some rather violent comments on social media.

I’ve been thinking about the author of the letter to Pastor McKissic and of the words of the Georgia Representative this week. I was angry. The anger then turned to sadness, and I found myself thinking about fevers and how we respond to them.

Fevers aren’t an illness but a sign of one. It’s the body’s natural reaction to something it’s come into contact with that is harming it. It’s presence identifies something that is making us sick and is separating us from our communities.

The word for Jesus’ action after he takes the hand of Simon’s mother-in-law is the same used by Paul for Jesus’ Resurrection. She is raised up. She is restored to health and community. Her sickness has passed.

Thinking about the letter-writer and the Representative this week, I can’t help thinking about how much our world has changed these past few years. Down South, we knew not to say the kinds of things that were written to Pastor McKissic. People who said that were taken aside. We knew there was something not okay about them. Just like we knew there was something wrong with people who said or agreed with things the junior Representative from Georgia has said and done.

We recognized such words and actions as signs, a fever if you will, of an illness inside of them. Something was wrong with them, and they needed help.

I wonder, though, if I’ve grown so used to seeing people feverish and ill from the toxins that have seeped into their souls from environments and social media that I’ve forgotten how to respond to those symptoms.

Jesus knew how to respond. He recognized Simon’s mother-in-law was sick with something her body was struggling to overcome. He didn’t make fun of her. He didn’t call her out as a broken and flawed person. He stretched out a hand and raised her up.

Simon’s mother-in-law was not feverish with the illness that affects the people I’ve mentioned above, but they are suffering. Their words and actions, definitely, call for repentance. But they also cry out for healing. They are signs that there is something their bodies, minds, and souls are struggling to overcome.

They, like us, need a hand to raise them up.

Divine Healer, there are pandemics in our nation and our neighborhoods more virulent and destructive than the one that continues to take lives. Help us to see the symptoms and diagnose the fevers in others so we might be your hands that reach out to heal, to raise up. Bring hands to us to drive away the fevers that keep us separate from one another.