During Pub Theology last week, while extending my welcome to the group of over 50 people who had gathered, the 1980s alternative rock song, “Personal Jesus,” by the band Depeche Mode came on in the brewery. It made my Gen X heart sing. It also gave me a spontaneous “way in” to our conversation that night about where and how we find meaning and purpose in our lives.
The song is on my mind again as I’m think about the story we explored in worship, the story of Jesus healing Simon’s mother-in-law in the gospel according to Mark. It’s a very personal act of Jesus, emphasized by the intimacy of Jesus taking the woman by the hand, and yet it is surrounded by very public acts of healing and exorcism. Is Jesus Simon’s mother-in-law’s “Personal Jesus”? What does her response to the healing tell us about her own answer to that question?
The worship video of this sermon is also available here.
For Some Reason 