House Calls

Mark 1:29-39

As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured 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. In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you." He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do." And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

I remember when doctors made house calls. As a child I had both mumps and chicken pox, and in both cases I can remember being examined by the doctor in my living room. There was something beneficial in that process -- no need to go outside or sit in a waiting room with other sick people. All I needed to do was remain resting in the home...call upon the doctor...and usually within an hour or so there was a knock on the door and the doctor arrived with his gentle voice, his calm demeanor and his black bag containing the tools of healing. Even though my illness was fairly common, the care I received from the doctor in my home felt deeply personal.

I remember that the doctor always asked me "What's the matter, Pamela?" I am sure my mother had given him the basic information (otherwise, why would he come to our home) but he always gave me the opportunity to tell him where I was hurting, or how I was feeling. Sometimes I was too frightened to say much, but I always appreciated the fact that he asked me how I was before he even opened that black bag. He gave me his undivided attention and ministered to me so patiently that I felt like I was his primary and only concern. Even the penicillin shot was easier to tolerate than those times when I received it in his office and then had to walk through the waiting room with my "courageous upper lip." At home, all I needed to do was curl back up in my blanket and let the healing unfold.

In today's gospel lesson, Jesus moves fluidly from healing crowds of people in the broad, public synogague scene to the private, intimate setting of a home. That same power that washed broadly over the masses crosses the threshold of private dwellings and speaks the words of comfort and new life to us in our living room or bedroom or study.

As I write I am in my study on a couch with my laptop. I pause to acknowledge the places in my mind, body and soul where there is "illness" or where the demons of fear, anxiety or doubt are lurking. Something moves in my soul when I envision Christ's healing power meeting me here...now. I trust that power to meet my physical challenges. I curl my mind and heart in the blanket of Christ's comforting presence and wait, thankfully for fevers of anxiety or fear to recede.

Wherever you are, he will answer your call for his healing touch. Can you hear him asking you "What is the matter?" How do you respond?