Rev. Jennifer Whipple
Congregational Church of Brookfield (UCC)
4th Sunday After Pentecost
June 28, 2009
"In and Out" (or "Lessons Learned")
Mark 5:21-43
Prayer:
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our minds and hearts
gathered here this day be acceptable in your sight, Oh Lord, our Strength and
our Redeemer. Amen.
When I originally titled this sermon I was thinking that it was going to
go in a very different direction. However,
through the Holy Spirit, God tends to work in different ways than we might
expect. So, perhaps a more apt title
for this sermon is something like “Teach Us” or “Lessons Learned.”
You see I was reminded recently that God has more to say to us through
the scriptures even today – if we just look closely and listen a bit.
Sometimes I find it hard to see the message because it is difficult to
connect with the people in the scriptures, but today’s passage holds an
interesting cast of characters – people in whom we can see ourselves and who
continue to speak to us 2000 years later. I
think we can learn something about who we are to be as people of faith from each
of the main players in this morning’s passage.
So let’s take a look a little bit closer at each of them.
First, let’s meet Jairus, a man whose name in Greek means “he who
will be awakened.” The
first time we see Jairus in this passage he is kneeling at Jesus’ feet,
begging and pleading for his daughter’s life.
“My little daughter is at the point of death.
Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and
live.” Jairus was not only a concerned father; he was also a leader in the
local synagogue. As we have come to
know, many of the traditional Jewish folks did not agree with what Jesus was
saying and teaching – especially in the case of some of the religious laws
that he seemed to have no problem breaking – that whole healing on the Sabbath
thing comes to mind. As a leader in
the synagogue, then, Jairus perhaps should have been or would have been the last
person to approach Jesus for assistance. Doing
so meant not only swallowing some of his pride, but also showing his community
that he believed Jesus was someone special – someone who could heal his
daughter. Jairus went out on a limb
to ask Jesus for help – risking possible ridicule by other leaders – those
authorities with whom Jesus was in trouble.
Another thing that set Jairus apart was his intense care for his
daughter. Now that may sound a bit
strange living in the time we do and caring for our children as we do, but back
in biblical times it wasn’t always a given that a child would live even a few
years, and especially not live to come of the age when they would go on to have
a family of their own – and, at twelve-years-old, that was what Jairus’s
daughter was about ready to do. So
we learn two lessons of faith from Jairus – the first of which is humility and
the second is dedication.
As human beings we need to be humble in our faith, in the face of all
that God is able to do. We need to
constantly realize that asking God for something does not necessarily guarantee
that our wish will be granted. It
does however mean that we are moving into deeper relationship with God, showing
our humility and our belief that God can work miracles even today.
And what is faith without dedication?
As a community of the faithful living in the 21st century,
much has changed for us. We cannot
take for granted anymore that everyone we meet is a person of faith.
We cannot assume that living and sharing our faith will be easy.
Faith takes dedication – especially to that which is most important to
us. It takes time to be in
conversation with God, to study the scriptures, and to sit at the feet of Jesus
whether alone or with others of like mind. As
we head into this coming year and work toward living into the first year of our
vision, “Make Jesus Your Mentor: Pray,” we would be good to remember that
faith is a two-way street. Just as
God knows us and wants to know us in and out, we must engage God in a
relationship that helps us to learn more about who God is to us as well.
The next person we meet is the woman who has been hemorrhaging for the
last twelve years. Thinking to
herself, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well,” she muscles her
way through a huge crowd to touch the hem of his garment.
Have any of you ever been anywhere in a large crowd – concerts,
sporting events, the running of the bulls come to mind?
It takes a lot to make your way through and not get hurt in the process.
We hear stories on the news about people getting seriously injured or
trampled in such crowds, and yet here is this woman whose very lifeblood has
been drained from her, making her way through to touch Jesus.
She found a strength that perhaps even she didn’t know she possessed.
And she is rewarded with newfound health – with healing in body, mind,
and spirit. And not just that, but
with an acknowledgment from Jesus himself. Even
despite her fear and trembling, she went out on a limb and took a risk to touch
Jesus – an extra special risk considering the Judaic beliefs around unclean
people. And Jesus responds to her
boldness, “Daughter, your faith has made you well, go in peace…” Wow!
From this nameless woman, we learn another great lesson of faith, not
merely just that it is important to have faith – but that we must be
courageous and bold in our faith. At
times we must be advocates for ourselves in our lives, and how important it is
at those times to have the best advocate of all standing beside us.
At times we need to reach out in faith beyond ourselves, take a risk and
a chance to help others as well, and to see what amazing things God has in store
for us and our world. Each week we
boldly pray that God’s kingdom come, and God’s will be done.
If we truly wish to see that happen, then we would be wise to be
courageous in our faith and work toward those things – to advocate for
ourselves and others who need us. Just as Jesus told Jairus, “Do not fear,
only believe,” God continues to speak that same thing to us today –even in
the face of challenges that seem impossible to bear.
Moving along in our passage we meet another person, who doesn’t even
have to say anything to help us learn a lesson in faith.
Jairus’ young daughter, who, like the woman prior, goes unnamed, is
helpless, in need of a miracle. And
yet she manages to inspire others to hope and faith.
Her illness is what prompts her father to approach Jesus in the first
place, to share his hope that Jesus could do something to save her.
Inspiring others to hope and faith is not always easy, especially in the
difficult times in which we currently live but that does not mean it is
impossible. Often times what I hear
from people is that they find it difficult to share their faith in words, not
sure of what they would say or how they would go about opening a conversation
with others. But what we see from
the example of the little girl, is that often we don’t need words.
Through our life we are able to share our faith with others – to
inspire others to action. And God
can use us in that way. I have heard
countless times that living our faith is the most powerful witness we make to
the ways we experience God’s power in our lives.
We can speak our faith until the cows come home, but if our actions do
not follow our words all is lost. And
we can live our lives with the knowledge that God is beside us each step of the
way.
Last, but definitely not least, we have Jesus himself.
Just prior to his experience with Jairus, his daughter, and the woman who
needed to be restored to health, Jesus was kicked out of a gentile town on the
other side of the lake for healing a possessed man and sending demons into pigs
that promptly jumped over a cliff. Although
he had worked a miracle in the man’s life, people were much more interested in
anything that could be used against him – and the situation with the pigs was
a whopper. So back across the lake
he went, only to be met by a crowd of Jewish folks who wanted to see what crazy
thing he would do next. Even though
he was back among his people, we get the sense that everyone was just waiting
for Jesus to slip up. And I don’t
know about you, but I always wonder whether or not Jesus lived in a constant
state of exhaustion – literally on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week and more!
So he is met immediately by Jairus, seeking help for his daughter, is
being crowded out by the folks who followed along to see what might happen, and
then some of his energy is taken away by this woman who was bold enough to touch
him. Any of us, at that point, might
be more than a little on edge and upset about this whole situation.
But instead of getting angry or anxious, Jesus takes the time to figure
out what was going on with the woman, to bless her, and then to continue on to
assist Jairus with his concerns as well.
So what do we learn from Jesus in this passage?
We learn many things, of course, but the one that I might point out today
is that Jesus, much like us, was interrupted in his work all the time – and
therefore needed to be flexible. There
are very few stories where he is just waiting for someone to come to ask him to
heal them. He is always on his way
from one place to another, or preparing to teach, or in the middle of praying
when someone comes along needing his assistance.
As awful as they often are, as anxiety producing, or as crazy making,
Jesus teaches us that sometimes interruptions are the name of the game, and that
we should try our best to take them and make them into moments of blessing.
He teaches us that flexibility is a mark of faith – the flexibility to
work in new ways with and for others so we and they can live life and live it
fully. He also helps us to see that
sometimes the people who are most in need are the people we see right in front
of us, whether next to us in an office, at a restaurant, or in the mirror.
And, although sometimes the need is as pressing as the ones presented in
the scripture today, other times the need is much simpler – something with
which we can assist. Sometimes it is
merely some help with a project, a listening ear, some time away from the
busy-ness of life to just sit and be in conversation with one another or with
God. God’s grace is big enough and
willing enough to be in it with us; we just need to be willing and flexible
enough to be in it with God.
So as we think about the lessons of faith we learn from the people in
this passage from the gospel – or Good News – of Mark, we find that some of
the marks of faith are humility, dedication, courage, hope, and flexibility.
If we are all willing to live our faith with these hallmarks at the
forefront – always focused on how God is calling us to live and serve –
willing to see those in need right in front of us
-- we may just get a glimpse of the Kingdom of God.
May it be so. Amen.
