Gospel: Matthew 8: 5-17
These first actions after the Sermon on the Mount are significant. In yesterday's Gospel portion Jesus heals an utter outcast and untouchable - a leper. Today Jesus has compassion on the slave of the hated Roman occupiers, a person with no status in society in the employ of one even more reviled and unclean than a leper in foreign oppressors. Yet, Jesus demonstrates that the love and mercy of God are for all people without distinction.
But then Jesus does something remarkable. He heals Peter's mother-in-law, and she becomes the first to serve the needs of others in the ministry of Jesus. For upon being healed, she gets up to serve others. The word used in the text is diakonia. Peter's mother-in-law in effect becomes the first deacon of the community of Jesus, demonstrating model discipleship: the healed - the ones who have received mercy - are then to heal and show mercy to others.
Meanwhile the modern church continues to create categories and criteria of worthiness in terms of who should be cared for, and who can serve in various ministerial roles. The limitations of our care for others stand in stark contrast to the unlimited mercy Jesus extended to others. The exclusivity of our ministry cliques clash with the boundlessness of Jesus in allowing everyone to serve. If the growth of the church is anemic, it is due to our lack of love and mercy, not in the availability of God's grace.
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