For Sunday, February 8, 2015 – Mark 1:29-39
Jesus clearly is gifted at healing the sick and curing them of many diseases. Healing simply is his nature, so it makes sense that he becomes widely known for these merciful acts. In the synagogue, in the streets, in private homes—everywhere he goes, people need healing and Jesus responds. Very quickly his identity becomes associated with this particular gift, and the crowds grow, so great is their pain and so ready is his response. He easily could make this one gift the entire focus of his ministry, restoring thousands to health. Thus we see the dilemma of gifts, how they can lure us onto a particular path, whether or not that path is our big calling.
There is for many of us the temptation to “follow our gifts” instead of following Jesus. To follow our gifts means to uncover and hone what we are naturally inclined toward, then offering these strengths to places and people in need. To follow Jesus is something else. It is to listen inwardly to the mystery of our unique pain and promise, to open our minds to what is beyond our understanding, to move out of our comfort zone and onto a path that leads we know not where. From an early age, many of us hear from parents, teachers, work supervisors about our particular talents, gifts and weaknesses. As we discover our natural strengths and limitations, we consider how we might use these—or avoid them—vocationally. We learn to follow the trail of our gifts, making a life out of what seems like a good fit rather than responding to a deep sense of call, whether or not we feel prepared and gifted.
While I would hesitate to say there is something “wrong” with a life that does only what it is good at doing, such a life can keep us insulated from the way of Jesus, who does not decide his path based on its popularity, even when his gifts clearly serve people’s needs. When the crowds affirm his healing, swarming around him, craving his touch, he withdraws. He goes to a deserted place where he is nobody except God’s beloved child, where even his friends have trouble finding him. He is showing us how to live our gifts but not be consumed by them. What matters more is to stay intimately connected to the Source, who has plans for us that go beyond our gifts.
