Today's Old Testament Lesson is from the Book of Job, beginning at the 7th Chapter, and the 1st Verse:
"Has not man a hard service upon earth, and are not his days like the days of a hireling? Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hireling who looks for his wages, so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me. When I lie down I say, 'When shall I arise?' But the night is long, and I am full of tossing till the dawn.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and come to their end without hope. Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good. "
Today's Epistle is from the 1st Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, beginning at the 9th Chapter, and the 16th Verse:
For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. What then is my reward? Just this: that in my preaching I may make the gospel free of charge, not making full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more.
To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
+ A Reading from the Gospel of Mark, Beginning at the 1st Chapter, and the 29th Verse:
And immediately he left the synagogue, and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him of her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her; and she served them. That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered together about the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose
and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who
were with him pursued him, and they found him and said to him, "Every
one is searching for you." And he said to them, "Let us go on to
the next towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came
out." And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues
and casting out demons.
Today's Readings talk about how the world weighs upon us -- the slings & arrows of outrageous fate, as Hamlet says. The also, especially the Epistle, talk about the Gateway -- which is Jesus Christ and his Gospel -- which leads us out of the "Slough of Despond" of everyday life.
In the Old Testament reading, Job is speaking for everyone who has ever had a routine job. You work for days and weeks and years, and after a while, it all seems the same -- you put in your time, and the only difference is payday.
After a while, as Job says, one's "days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and come to their end without hope." Without hope, without the certainty that what you are doing is meaningful and worthwhile, life becomes a burden.
We all too easily fall into this slough of despond, where everything looks grey and dejected. We are creatures of habit, but also creatures who demand variety and excitement. Employers, too, often set up jobs to be routine, and pay as little as possible to get them done.
Even the best of jobs can get this way -- excitement gets old, too. Being creative and constantly solving problems can get wearing, too. After a while, even money is not motivation.
Such is the way of the world, and without a source of power and refreshment, we feel ground down and depressed, like Job. Fortunately for Christians, however, we have such as source -- Our Lord, who said: "Come unto me, all you who travail and are heavily laden, and I will refresh you."
St. Paul talks about both the grind and the joy of his job in today's Epistle: "For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!", and: "I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."
We see in his other Epistles how driven he is to preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ -- how he labors, how he rejoices. It was his gift, as an Apostle, to never be still or cramped -- he was always going from one place to another, always talking, always teaching.
And what he teaches is a liberation from the mundanities -- the depressing sameness of the world, the grind. He preaches the transformation of the self in Jesus -- that we become members of His Mystical Body, we get drawn it to His Divinity, to the Glory of the Father.
The key to this transformation -- to become fully human, and to touch God's grace and energy -- is to cease to grasp after the things of this world -- money, status, possessions -- and immerse ourselves in Him who is God, but shares our humanity.
By taking on our humanity, the Eternal Son reaches out to us, and makes it possible to cross the vast gulf between our daily grind and the ultimate joy of infinite glory which is God's. Because He is human, we can share His Divinity -- he is the door by which we escape the mundane, and enter into the supernatural and glorious.
Today's Gospel talks about how Jesus went about refreshing some of those who were heavily laden in life. He heals Peter's mother-in-law of a fever; he cast out demons -- we would likely call them psychoses in this day & age -- and "healed many who were sick with various diseases"
But: "in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed." Not only did He DO -- setting the pattern for us of social action, and involvement in the world-- but He also looked inward and upward, reached out to the Father -- setting us another pattern, one equally important.
"Man does not live by bread alone", nor in the flesh alone, nor by the bank balance alone. We are more than just ephemeral minds contained in a bag of skin. We are immortal beings, passing through this mundane world of dust and depression.
If we never lift our eyes up beyond the concrete of the sidewalk or the paper on our desks, we will indeed be trapped in Job's world of being: "Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hireling who looks for his wages, so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me."
In Our Lord, however, there is limitless energy, limitless joy, and limitless grace. He cam not only to forgive sin -- which he does easily and off-hand -- but to bring us to the joy and love that He, the Father, and the Spirit share from all eternity.
To reach that grace and joy -- not only in the hereafter, but now, all we need to do is pray . . .
In the Name of
The Father +
And of the Son
And of the Holy Spirit
Amen.