Sermon for January 24th, 2016

The Reading

Mark 5:21-43

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered round him; and he was by the lake. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, ‘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.’ So he went with him.

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ Immediately her haemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?” ’ He looked all round to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’

 While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?’ But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, ‘Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha cum’, which means, ‘Little girl, get up!’ And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

The message

I would like to start this morning with a few words on where we are in Mark’s Gospel.  At this time, we have read through the first five chapters.  The rapid movement from place to place, problem to problem and need to need continues from chapter to chapter.  The immediate and urgent pace of Jesus ministry continues from chapter to chapter.  So far Jesus has suddenly appeared as a force in the religious, social and political world of the 1^st century.  Over the matter of a few weeks, Jesus goes from being a very common and normal carpenter to a sort of celebrity that everyone wants to see, hear and talk about.  Jesus has healed the sick, exorcised demons,  restored the dead to life, performed miracles and signs of power like calming the storm and taught about God with an incredible, shocking authority.  Jesus has gathered a small, committed following. He is also being followed by large crowds of curious, excited and hopeful people as well as doubters, detractors and people looking to silence him.  So far, no one is quite sure who Jesus is, where his authority comes from or what exactly he is doing.  All they know is something amazing, scary, and powerful is going on.

The primary ways that Jesus communicates with everyone at this time is parables and miracles. During my time at seminary, I took a course that focused on the miracles that Jesus performed and the parables he shared to teach people about God, God’s love for the world and God’s vision for our life together.  Miracles served as a way to restore life, welcome the excluded, show God’s power to act in the world and God’s willingness to answer faithful prayer.  Parables served to teach people deep, world altering things with everyday language and common, but timeless examples (like the growth of seeds or the care for a hurt person).   Parables also required explanation and a perspective of faith and trust to understand them. One unique aspect of this class on miracles and parables was that we would spend a lot of time in small groups, researching, preparing and acting out the stories.  This allowed us to get a better sense of the character’s thoughts, emotions and feelings as well as the movement of the stories.  When we looked at the healing of Jarius’ daughter in class, we included some things that were not obviously stated in the text.  

My group focused on the idea that Jarius was in a great hurry. After all, he had waited to the last minute to reach out to Jesus.  His daughter was at the point of death which means he tried everything and everyone else first in order to restore her to health. He did not turn to Jesus when his daughter was first sick or even during her decline. Turning to Jesus was a last hope after all else failed.  Once he makes contact with Jesus, Jarius wants to get home before his daughter dies.  People at the time knew there could be healings but there was no way a person could bring the dead back to life. Few people ever claimed to have that power and they were all seen as frauds.  No one thought it was possible.  This was a race against time, it was urgent for Jesus to get there as soon as possible.  As anxious and eager as Jarius is, there were a few obstacles in the way of a quick return home, well more than a few.  There was a large crowd all around Jesus, slowing things down, reaching out to him, speaking to him, seeking healing, or just trying to get a glimpse of him.  I’m sure Jarius was upset and complaining, why is Jesus going so slowly. Perhaps he was even yelling at the crowd to move out of the way, letting them know their petty problems and curiosity could wait, his daughter was at the point of death and Jesus was their last hope. 

Jarius is stuck in traffic during one of the most important moments of his life, one with an uncertain but unmovable deadline.  I imagine how frustrated Jarius feels when Jesus completely stops because someone touched him.  Here, the leader of the synagogue, an important and powerful figure in the community, is left waiting while Jesus seeks out and talks with a poor, sick and sneaky woman. Even Jesus disciples critically note the ridiculous nature of Jesus pause.  “You see the crowd pressing in on you, you see the chaos here, how can you say “who touched me”. On the surface, the disciples make a good point, dozens of people probably touched Jesus in the past minute. Even after the woman is healed, Jarius probably thought “come on, you were sick for 12 years, what’s another day, you could have waited”. Perhaps by this point, Jarius is wondering if Jesus even cares about his daughter, or if Jesus even has the power to help, maybe he’s stalling because he cannot help.  

For this story to make sense, we need to realize that Jesus knows things that the crowd, the religious authorities, Jarius, even Jesus closest disciples do not.  Jesus knows that someone in the crowd had such deep faith, she was healed. At this point, Jesus has to stop. He needs to make sure this woman is at peace, to make sure she knows that she did not steal a healing, like a thief getting something they do not deserve, and that she is truly well.  Jesus also wants to make sure this long suffering woman and the people she talks to do not think that he is some sort of magic, healing rock that you can simply touch in the right spot at the right time and be made well.  Jesus is not magical, he is teaching and showing people God’s compassion and response to our needs. It is not some sort of magic energy that Jesus emits that heals this woman, it is faith in God and trust in God’s power that matters, that makes her well, that can make anyone well.       

Jesus also knows that if Jarius’ daughter is barely hanging on to life, recovering or even dead, he can still help her.  God acts in God’s time. God’s power is not limited to a few people, certain situations or particular places.  There is no limit of 10 healings a day, no need to be within 7 feet of Jesus, there is no priority for the rich and powerful and there is nothing that God cannot heal.  God’s grace is abundant, there is enough to heal the sick woman and Jarius daughter and everyone else.  There is enough to forgive your sins, heal your sickness.  

For us today, this story shows the abundance of God’s grace, inviting us to be patient, that there is hope even when things are hopeless,  there is plenty of room in God’s kingdom, room for me, you, the person next to you, the woman down the street, and the child in another place.   When we talk about God’s grace, we are not dealing with a limited resource here.

Finally, I just wanted to note that Jesus does downplay the restoration of life.  He takes a limited number of people with him, he insists that the child is not dead but rather simply sleeping, he orders everyone to keep this quiet, and he tells them to give her something to eat (its not that the newly resurrected are really hungry, to eat food was an indication that she was not a ghost, illusion or spirit, that she is truly alive and well).  Although it is obvious what happened, Jesus sticks with the story that she was sleeping.  God’s love would not be fully revealed in deeds of power, in healing the sick, restoring the paralyzed or even raising the dead.  God’s love would be fully revealed through Jesus death and resurrection.