Mark 1:29-31 “As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.”

This was far from the most dramatic miracle Jesus ever performed. Nothing indicates that Simon’s mother-in-law was at death’s door-step. She was in bed at home with a fever. Maybe she had the seasonal flu. Maybe her body would have fought it off in a few days. But Jesus did what no Theraflu, Tylenol, or chicken soup could do: he dispatched the fever immediately. He helped her up, and it was gone. His power makes him Lord even of seasonal upper respiratory infections.

Good thing these four disciples had thought to say something to Jesus about the woman. It helped that they had just witnessed his quick and decisive removal of a demon from a man at the local synagogue. They had every reason to believe he had the power to remedy this woman’s fever. More than that, they had the faith to believe his love would move him to act.

They say that there are no atheists in fox holes. When bullets are whizzing past your ears, or grenades are being lobbed in your direction, people suddenly find religion. They beg God to spare their lives. But what about the less urgent crisis, the less deadly discomfort, the hundreds of irritations and inconveniences that plague our lives each year? Those who don’t know Jesus have an excuse to think that maybe these don’t merit the Almighty’s attention.

But we have more than Peter, Andrew, James and John’s fresh evidence of Jesus’ power to help, more than a recent example of his mercy born of love. We have the whole history of his miraculous interventions to bring relief from hunger, storms, diseases, devils, and even death. We know that love took him to the cross as our substitute, and led him to die for our sins.

In logic there is something called an argument a fortiori, from the greater to the lesser. It is legitimate to apply it here. The disciples concluded that if Jesus could defeat a demon, he could lick a fever, too. If he can do the greater, he can do the lesser. Jesus invites us to believe that if he could work all the wonders he did during his ministry, if he loved us all the way to torture and death in payment for our sins, then we can come to him with the little things as well. It may be that, for reasons unknown to us, we need our aches and pains to continue, so God leaves them alone. But he wants us to be certain he is in control. He acts in love, and to live in such a relationship with him means we can seek him even for the coughs and sniffles, the bumps and bruises that trouble us along life’s way.

When his power and love do bring us relief and strength, there is a response he seeks. “The fever left her and she began to wait on them.” Don’t misunderstand. This was not a condition for helping her. There was no bargain between Jesus and Simon’s mother-in-law before he removed her fever. He did not obligate her to get up and wait on these men. He was not a chauvinistic male expecting the woman to do the women’s work.

No, her service was an unsolicited “Thank-you.” Jesus’ powerful act of love made it possible for her to serve this way. It inspired her to serve this way. That’s how Christian service works. That’s what Jesus intends. Love begets love.

Have you ever noticed that so often it is the new Christians who are so eager to give their time and energy to God’s work? A couple I once served barely completed my Bible Information Class, and they were volunteering for everything. He became the maintenance chairman on the church council. She poured herself into our Christian school, proposing new programs, even teaching new courses. No one ever told them, “You have to do this.” But fresh with assurance of Jesus’ love on the cross and power in his resurrection from the dead, they were new people. It made it possible for them to serve this way. It inspired them to serve this way.

Jesus comes with power and love so that we can serve him this way, too–just like Simon’s mother-in-law.