Sunday
02/07/21 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Mother In-Laws!”
Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 147:1-11, 20c
New Testament Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:16-23
Gospel Lesson: Mark 1:29-39
Hello friends, and welcome once again
on this the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany. Five Sundays after the wise men visited
Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Next Sunday will be
Transfiguration Sunday, where Jesus was beautifully changed and transfigured
upon the mountain. Next Sunday is also Valentine’s Day and UMC Scout Sunday.
This morning though, especially with
everything that is going on in our country and our world, I decided to have a
sermon that was little more fun and a little more lighthearted. For those of
you that have had or maybe have COVID-19, or for those of you that have family and
friends that have had or have COVID-19, maybe you need a good laugh. I don’t
know about you, but I sure do! For those of you that might be out work because
of this Pandemic, or feel isolated, or who have not seen family and friends in
months, or are worried about our country or the world, I hope that we can all
agree that a good laugh might be needed now more than ever!
As a result of the desire to have a
little fun and to be a little more lighthearted this morning, my sermon is
called “Mother In-Laws!” Yes, once again, my sermon is called “Mother In-Laws!”
As many of you are probably all to well aware, there is this stereotype and a theme
among comedians and Hollywood movies about “Mother In-Laws”. In fact, I have
seen and have heard comedians, shows, and movies, where the “Mother In-Law” was
just no good. Any of you ever see or hear anything like this? “Mother In-Laws”
are very stereotyped in our culture.
Luckily for me, I have a great “Mother
In-Law” named Carol, but I guess not everyone who has a “Mother In-Law” loves
there “Mother In-Law”. As we are talking this morning, if you have or had a “Mother
In-Law,” I would invite you to be thinking about your relationship that you
have or had with your “Mother In-Law”. Hopefully, it is or was good. I have a
good relationship with my “Mother In-Law” Carol, and she always brings me food
to!
So why am I talking about “Mother
In-Laws” this morning, other than we need a good laugh? The answer is in the gospel
of Mark reading for this morning, once again, Simon, or Simon Peter, or Peter’s
“Mother In-Law” was sick (Mk. 1:29-30, NRSV). In this gospel version, it says:
“29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31 He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them” (Mk. 1:29-31, NRSV).
So, it is not just Simon or Peter that tells Jesus
that his “Mother In-Law” was sick or had a fever, so did Andrew. Since we have this stereotype
or this cultural stigma on “Mother
In-Laws,” I would assume that Peter loved his “Mother In-Law”, and that Andrew
liked Peter’s “Mother In-Law” to, or maybe Peter would have just said to Jesus,
“My “Mother In-Law” is fine Jesus, nothing to see here!”
The story about Jesus healing Peter or
Simon’s “Mother In-Law,” is recorded in the gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke,
but not found in the gospel of John. This being said, the gospel of Matthew
says about the healing of Peter’s “Mother In-Law”:
14 When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever; 15 he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him” (Mt. 8:14-15, NRSV).
So, in the gospel of Matthew version
of the miracle of Jesus healing Peter’s “Mother In-Law,” there is no request made of Jesus to heal Peter’s “Mother
In-Law”. Instead, Jesus just does it.
Let us look at the miracle of Jesus
healing Peter’s “Mother In-Law” in the gospel of Luke. In the gospel of Luke,
it says:
“38 After leaving the synagogue he entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her. 39 Then he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them” (Lk. 4:38-39, NRSV).
In this translation from
the gospel of Luke, it says of those in the house, probably referencing Simon
or Peter, Andrew, James, and John, that “they” asked Jesus about her. So, it
would seem that in the gospel of Mark and the gospel of Luke that it is not
only Peter or Simon that tells Jesus that his “Mother In-Law” was sick or had a high fever. In the gospel of Luke it
says, “they,” so that could have been all four of the disciples, or just Peter
and Andrew, like in our gospel of Mark reading for this morning. Again, the gospel
of Matthew does not mention a request or an invitation for Jesus to heal Peter’s
“Mother In-Law,” Jesus just does it. By the way, not in scripture, but
according to church tradition, Peter’s “Mother In-Law” was called Joanna.
So again, since our culture has this
stigma and stereotype on “Mother In-Laws,” I thought that it would be fun to preach
on the topic of “Mother In-Laws,” as this morning’s gospel reading involved the
miracle of Jesus healing Peter’s “Mother In-Law”. I am sure for all of you that
have or had a “Mother In-Law” you would tell Jesus if your “Mother In-Law” was
sick or had a fever, right? Or wouldn’t you? Well, you get the joke!
In all seriousness though, one source
I researched for this sermon said this about Peter’s “Mother In-Law” this:
“Peter's wife’s mother was sick with fever. In the Talmud, fever is described as a fire.[2]The original Greek implies that she was seriously ill.[3] Those present mention her illness to Jesus. He walked over to her, took her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healing_the_mother_of_Peter%27s_wife).
The Talmud is an ancient book of Jewish Law, used by many
Jews even to this day. So, it is clear that Peter cared about his “Mother In-Law,” and Andrew, Peter’s brother,
cares for her to. Since this is true, they are eager to have Jesus heal her.
Would you be so eager however, to have Jesus heal your “Mother In-Law,” if you
had or have one though?
Further, where did this whole “Mother
In-Law” stereotype and stigma in our culture come from? Well, I learned a lot from
a source that I researched that says this:
“Humour and jokes
about one's mother-in-law (the mother of one's spouse) are a mainstay of
comedy. The humour is based on the premise that the average mother-in-law often
considers her son-in-law to be unsuitable for her daughter (or daughter-in-law
unsuitable for her son), and usually includes the stereotype that
mothers-in-law are generally overbearing, obnoxious, or unattractive.[1] This has
commonly been referred to as the "battle."[citation
needed]”
“British comedians such
as Les Dawson and Jim Davidson have
often used them, and many television sitcoms have
featured stereotypical mothers-in-laws”.
“There is evidence that this joke dates back to Roman times: Satire VI by Juvenal says that one cannot be happy while one's mother-in-law is still alive.[1] Most of the mother-in-law jokes are easily translatable to other languages and are easily understandable in most European cultures” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother-in-law_joke).
For example, a movie with Jane Fonda
came out in 2005 called “Monster-in-Law,” not “Mother In-Law,” but “Monster-in-Law”.
This movie really shows the stigma or stereotype of “Mother In-Laws”.
In our reading from Psalm 147:1-11,
20c for this morning, once again, it says in 147:1:
“Praise the Lord! How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting” (Ps. 147:1, NRSV).
Praise the Lord, it is good to sing praises to God, and
then the verse from Psalm 147 says God is gracious. With that said, how many of
us think this highly of our “Mother In-Laws”?
Anyone not feel this way?
In our reading for this morning from 1
Corinthians 9:16-23 it says once again 9:16:
“16 If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!” (1 Cor. 9:16, NRSV).
The Apostle Paul tells us to preach
the life-giving gospel of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, and the
forgiveness and salvation offered through him. Yet, I can imagine someone
saying right now, “You know Pastor Paul my “Mother In-Law” used to preach to me all
the time, but it wasn’t the gospel!”
The Apostle Paul goes on to say in
9:22-23, once again:
“22 To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings” (1 Cor. 9:22-23, NRSV)
Now the Apostle Paul did this to win
people to Jesus, and maybe our “Mother In-Law” does or did this, to win us over? Or
maybe she told us what do and how to do it!
In looking back at our gospel of Mark
reading for this morning, it says once again:
“29 As soon as they
left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with
James and John. 30 Now
Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at
once. 31 He
came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and
she began to serve them” (Mk. 1:29-31, NRSV).
Since
we are hearing about the Apostle Simon or Peter’s “Mother In-Law”
being sick and healed, I once again took this as an opportunity this morning to
discuss “Mother In-Laws”. As I said earlier, would you tell Jesus that your “Mother
In-Law” was sick with a high fever? Or would you just say, “Nothing to see here
Jesus, she’s doing just fine!”
While I have focused this morning on the specific part of
our gospel of Mark reading on Jesus healing Peter’s “Mother In-Law,” the gospel
goes on to say that Jesus healed many that were sick or possessed by demons.
The “whole city” the gospel says gathered around the door where Jesus was, and
he healed, loved, and ministered to many (Mk. 1:32-34, NRSV).
Lastly, the gospel says that Jesus awoke the next day very
early after healing Peter’s “Mother In-Law,” and prayed in a deserted place,
Jesus and his disciples then went forth preaching the gospel all through
Galilee. This including preaching in the synagogues, healing people, and casting
out demons (Mk. 1:35-39, NRSV).
With this said, to bring this sermon to
a close, since this is the day that Jesus healed Peter’s “Mother In-Law” I want
to tell you a “Mother In-Law” joke. This joke is called “Solomon Delivers Justice to Mother in Law”. Here is how the joke goes:
“Two women came before wise King Solomon, dragging between them a young man. 'This young man agreed to marry my daughter,' said one. 'No! He agreed to marry MY daughter,' said the other. And so, they haggled before the King, until he called for silence. 'Bring me my biggest sword,' said Solomon, 'and I shall hew the young man in half. Each of you shall receive a half.' 'Sounds good to me,' said the first lady. But the other woman said, 'Oh Sire, do not spill innocent blood. Let the other woman's daughter marry him.' The wise king did not hesitate a moment. 'This man must marry the first lady's daughter,' he proclaimed. 'But she was willing to hew him in two!' exclaimed the king's court. 'Indeed,' said wise King Solomon. 'That shows she is the true mother-in-law.' (https://www.funny-jokes.com/mother-in-law-jokes.htm).
So, this morning, Peter, and his brother Andrew, have a
concern and care for Peter’s sick “Mother
In-Law”. As a result, they ask Jesus to heal her, and Jesus does.
If you have or had a “Mother In-Law,”
I hope and pray that you have or had a care and love for her, but if you don’t
or didn’t, well then, I guess you get the joke even more of my sermon title for
this morning called “Mother In-Laws”. Amen.
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