Her name is Jackie Greer. She is without question one of the most amazing persons I have ever known. She is without question one of the most devoted Christians I have ever known. She is without question one of the most influential witnesses for Christ, the Christian faith, and the Christian Church I have ever known. 

Whoever came up with the idea of the “Energizer Bunny” in those TV commercials must have had Jackie or someone like her in mind. She is so full of life and zest and energy. Her life is filled with purpose and a checklist of things to do. She is tireless in her love for life and unwavering in her commitment to her God, her church, and her friends. This is all the more amazing because on March 23 of this year, she will become 94… 94 years young. 

Our church honored Jackie in 1999 by giving her the St. Luke’s United Methodist Church Distinguished Life Award. This is the highest award our church gives and it is presented to those special people who have served our church in signal ways over many years and who have lived before us in the spirit of Christ. Jackie Greer has done all of that and then some. 

Jackie was honored again a few weeks ago (February 2003) by our church. She was the Guest of Honor at our annual Women’s Ministry Tea for her incredible record of service to our church and for her compassionate “can-do” spirit. 

Since becoming part of our church family (and years before that in other churches), Jackie has been an exemplary servant of the church. Teacher, counselor, mentor, advocate, leader of workshops and seminars… and caller of first time visitors… Jackie is all of those and much, much more. 

The Women’s Tea honoring her was held on a Sunday afternoon. The following Wednesday morning, she checked into the hospital for surgery. The surgery went well. We had prayer together on the Tuesday night before her surgery. I reminded her that I had a funeral the next morning, but some of our other ministers and staff would check on her… and they did that well and kept me informed of her excellent progress. She was back from surgery and recovery and in her hospital room by early that Wednesday afternoon. I called Jackie’s room. The line was busy. I tried again. Busy again. Finally, after 30 minutes or so, I got through and Jackie answered the phone. She sounded great… and we celebrated her good results… and had a prayer of thanksgiving. Then I said, “Jackie, I’ve been trying to reach you for some time but the line has been busy.” You will not believe what she said to me. She said, “Yes, I know. I’ve been on the phone calling our first-time visitors.” 

Now, think of that. Jackie is 94 years old, and there in the hospital, just a few hours after major surgery, she was calling all of the people who had visited our church for the first time the previous Sunday and she said, “I got a commitment from one family. They are going to join in the 11:00 service this coming Sunday.” 

Let me tell you about that conversation. She reached the man at his office and told him that she was 94 years old and that she was the great grandmother of St. Luke’s Church… that that we have a great church and the one thing that would make it better is if this man and his family would come back and join our church. 

As is the case with many people who visit with Jackie, the man was astounded and he said, “Now, let me get this straight. You are 94 years old and you are making phone calls for your church. That’s unbelievable.” “Well,” Jackie said, “If you think that’s unbelievable, guess where I am right now. I’m in the hospital.” “As a patient?” the man said. “Yes, I had surgery,” Jackie said. “Surgery? When?” the man asked. Jackie responded, “This morning.” “This morning!” the man exclaimed. “Yes, this morning, but I’m back in my room now and I’m just doing fine,” Jackie answered. The man said, “Jackie, my family and I will be there to join the church next Sunday in the 11:00 service. If anybody loves the church that much the way you do… it must be some kind of church!” 

The life of Jackie Greer is even more remarkable when we realize that life has not been a “bed of roses” for Jackie. She has experienced a lot of tragedy and heartache in her lifetime. She lost her dad tragically when she was quite young. Her husband died in the war effort not long after they were married. She has known sickness and sadness and disappointment, but she has never wavered in her love for God, her love for people, her love for the church, and her love for life. She has just looked for the new place to serve. She has just looked for the new opportunity to serve God and help people. 

Why? Because she is so grateful to God for what He has done for her in Jesus Christ! She is so thankful to God for all the hope and help He has given her that she can’t sit still. Motivated daily by that gratitude to God, she wants to share God’s love with everybody she meets. She has recently written her autobiography. It’s entitled “So Life Always Begins.” What that means is: whatever may come our way, God will love us through it and heal us and give us a new start and a new life. God, through His love, always has a new beginning for us. Interestingly, Jackie reminds me of Simon’s mother-in-law in our text for today in Mark 1. 

Simon’s mother-in-law was sick and Christ healed her. She was knocked flat by this fever and Christ came and lifted her up…she is so grateful for this healing, this new lease on life that in gratitude she reaches out to serve others. Here in this story we have the three basic elements in the Christian faith: our need…God’s action…our response. We have a fevered sin-sick soul. God heals us. And in gratitude we serve Him. 

This story in Mark also teaches us how powerful love is. Love has the power to heal people. Love can cure and restore and mend and make whole… and when we are made whole truly – then we want to pass that love on to others. Such is the power of love. Let me show you what I mean. 

I. FIRST OF ALL, LOVE HAS THE POWER TO HEAL US PHYSICALLY. 
Simon’s mother-in-law was physically sick with a fever and Jesus healed her lovingly. Scientific research is now confirming what many of us have suspected all along… that love plays a big part in the healing of a hurting body. 

Some years ago Roy Angell told the story about a particularly affectionate young puppy who liked to hang out around a sanitarium. A doctor at the sanitarium decided to try an experiment on the pup. She made a small incision on the puppy’s leg. Then she bandaged it. Finally, she instructed those at the sanitarium to feed the puppy when he was hungry, but not to show him any affection, physically or verbally. 

The change in the little dog was quick and dramatic. Whereas, before he had always been energetic, frisky, happy, and friendly, he now seemed quite forlorn and pitiful. Even more significantly, six weeks later the incision on his leg had not healed. The doctor then instructed everyone at the sanitarium to do just the opposite… to lavish love on the little puppy… speak kindly to him, hold him, pet him, stroke him, love him. Amazingly, soon the puppy was frisky and happy and energetic again. And the incision healed very quickly. 

The point is clear: the healing streams that lie within the body which may be energized and activated by the power of love are potent indeed, more so perhaps than we even realize. 

A few years ago in Sweden, a nurse working in a government hospital was assigned to an elderly woman patient. This patient was a tough case. She had not spoken a word in three years. The other nurses disliked her and tried to avoid her as much as they could. Basically, they ignored her. But the new nurse decided to try “unconditional love.” The elderly woman patient rocked all day in a rocking chair. So one day the nurse pulled up a rocking chair beside the lady and just rocked along with her and loved her. Occasionally, the nurse would reach over and gently touch and pat the hand of the elderly woman. After just a few days of this, the patient suddenly opened her eyes and turned and said to the nurse, “You’re so kind.” The next day she talked some more and incredibly two weeks later, the lady was well enough to leave the hospital and go home! 

Of course, it doesn’t always work like that, but studies are accumulating which show without question that love has healing power. Take for example the poet Elizabeth Barrett. She was an invalid for many years, unable even to lift her head from her pillow. But then one day she was visited by a man named Robert Browning. It was love at first sight. In just one visit, he brought her so much joy and happiness that she lifted her head. On his second visit, she sat up in bed. On the third visit, they eloped! 

Love can heal us physically. No wonder people were healed by coming into physical contact with Jesus. He was love incarnate… and that’s what he is calling us to be today. Love made flesh. Love personified. Love lived out. This is the first point. Love can heal our bodies. Love can heal physically. 

II.  SECOND, LOVE HAS THE POWER TO HEAL US EMOTIONALLY.    Don’t you imagine that Simon’s mother-in-law was sick emotionally that day, too? All these guests in her house… and she was too sick to serve them. 

Some years ago when I was serving a church in another state, a doctor and his wife came to see me one day. They were burdened, worried, troubled. It was obvious. I could tell that they had both been crying. The doctor spoke first. “It’s our daughter, Betty. She’s 18 years old now and we are worried sick about her. She has absolutely no self-esteem at all… and she has gotten a reputation around town.” “Reputation?” I asked, “What do you mean?” “Well,” said the doctor painfully, “her self-esteem is so low that any time any man pays attention to her…” (His voice trailed off and he began to sob.) 

Then the doctor’s wife said it bluntly: “Jim she can’t say ‘no’ to any man… and now, she has this horrible reputation. It’s all over town… We’re worried sick and we’re scared. We’re at the end of our rope. We don’t know what to do with her. She’s emotionally ill. She needs help.” 

Well, I met with Betty and they were right about her self-esteem. It was non-existent. She walked all slumped over. Her hair was dirty and scraggly, her clothes unkempt and out of style. She wore no make-up. She could not look me in the eye. Most of the time she stared at the floor and when she looked up, her eyes darted like a scared rabbit. She was in a pitiful state. She looked like that Ruth Buzzi character on the old “Laugh-in” TV show. 

I brought in a psychiatrist. We both worked with her, but to be honest we didn’t make much progress at all. It seemed hopeless. But then the most amazing thing happened. A new young man named Jerry moved to town (the son of a Methodist minister) and he fell in love with Betty. He said, “Betty, I know about your past. I know about your reputation. I know the names they call you. I’ve heard all the rumors but I also know that I love you and you are so beautiful to me!” He kept telling her that: “I love you and you are so beautiful.” And pretty soon, she started believing him. She began to stand up straight. She put on a little make-up. She fixed her eyes and combed her hair. She bought some new clothes. And she did something else I’d never seen her do before… she started smiling. 

Not long after, I performed their wedding and then shortly thereafter I moved away to another city. A couple of years later, I was invited to come back to that church to preach one Sunday morning. As I walked toward the Sanctuary, I passed through the children’s building… and I saw Jerry coming out of a Sunday School class room. He had been teaching the 4th grade. With him was a gorgeous woman. She looked like a model… tall, stately, poised, radiant… and I thought, “O, my goodness, Jerry has left Betty and found somebody else.” But I was wrong! As I drew closer to them, I realized that the gorgeous, radiant, confident woman who had been helping Jerry teach children in Sunday School was none other than Betty herself! I could hardly believe my eyes and deep down in my heart I hummed the doxology! Betty had been transformed. She had been restored. She had been made well. She had been healed by love! Love has the power to heal physically… and emotionally. 

III. THIRD AND FINALLY, LOVE HAS THE POWER TO HEAL US SPIRITUALLY.    A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a crisp new $20 bill. There were 200 people in the room. The speaker asked them, “How many of you would like to have this $20 bill?” Hands went up all over the room. Then the speaker said, “I’m going to give this $20 bill to one of you, but first let me do this.” He proceeded to crumple the $20 bill up… and then he held it up and said, “Who wants it now?” Hand went up everywhere. “Well,” he replied, “What if I do this?” He dropped it on the ground and stepped on it and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up and held it up for all to see. It was crumpled and smudged and dirty, and he said, “Who wants it now?” Still hands went up all over the place. Then the speaker said, “My friend, you have just learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. No matter how smudged and rumpled it became, it was still worth $20.” 

Many times in our lives, we get knocked around… dropped, crumpled, smudged, and ground into the dirt… by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. And sometimes we feel as though we are worthless and used up and of no account. But no matter what has happened… or what will happen, you will never lose your value in God´s eyes. To Him, dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased… you are still priceless to Him! 

Psalm 17:8 states that God will always keep us “as the apple of His eye”… not because we are good, but because He is good. 

Let me ask you something. Do you feel spiritually sick this morning? Do you have a fevered soul right now? The doctor is in the house! Jesus Christ is the Great Physician… and just as His love healed Simon’s mother-in-law, even so, His love can heal you, help you, cure you, redeem you, save you. His love can restore you and make you whole… and then when that happens… you can’t sit still… In gratitude, you want to serve, to help others. You want to pass that love on to everybody you meet.