A man
was not feeling very well, so he decided to go to a doctor. While he was
waiting in the doctor's reception room, a nun came out of the doctor's office.
She looked very ashen, drawn and haggard. The man went into the doctor's office
and said to the doctor: "I just saw a nun leaving who looked absolutely
terrible. I have never seen a woman look worse."
The doctor said: "I just told her that she is pregnant." The man exclaimed: "Oh my, is she?" The doctor responded: "No, but it sure cured her hiccups."
The Gospel reading from Mark 5:21-43 is a pair of stories about faith and Jesus’ power over life and death. The woman with the hemorrhage showed great faith in spite of obstacles. The story of Jairus and his daughter demonstrated great faith on the part of a religious leader. Both came from different social classes. Jairus was a well-to-do member of the religious establishment-a group that often opposed Jesus. The woman with the hemorrhage was poor and a social outcast. The difference in social classes did not matter to Jesus. He treated both of them equally.
In
each case, the “establishment” could not offer a solution to the problem, but
Jesus could, in spite of opposition and laughter. Jairus was desperate because
his child was dying, and as those of you who are parents know all too well, a
parent of a sick or dying child will do almost anything to save the child.
Jairus was so desperate he knelt at the feet of the one person who could help him-Jesus.
The
woman with the hemorrhage also sought a solution from the one person who could
help her. All the doctors she saw failed her. Society failed her because her
bleeding made her unclean along with everyone and everything she touched. She
is an example of women today who struggle to break through in business and
society. She is an inspiration to women in religious settings who feel that
their ministerial gifts are ignored or rejected.
Jesus
did not fail her. He saw her as a person and as someone of value. She believed
that by just touching the clothes of the one man who could help her, she would
be healed, and her healing changed her, her heart, her body, her life and her
soul.
There
are many Biblical texts that refer to the relationship between sickness and sin
or between forgiveness and healing. These relationships exist not because God
has decided to inflict sickness on some poor unfortunate souls, but because
sickness and sin define everything that is wrong with our world. In other words,
they define the mess that God comes to clean up. The religious leaders of
Jesus’ time are good examples of the mess.
Some
people believe that God should rid the world of sickness and death, and that
belief does make some sense. If God protected everyone who believed in Him,
then everyone would believe not out of love, but out of a calculated
self-interest. People would believe only so that God would take care of them
and their families. Unfortunately, we would also have no freedom to believe or disbelieve.
We would be enslaved because of our fear of death, and that is not what God had
in mind.
Jairus
had to “lower” himself when he sought healing for his daughter. He had to move
beyond the rules and expectations of the religious elite in order to be delivered
from its assumptions and illusions. He had to move beyond the praises and
promises and good intentions of the religious elite and go with what his heart
told him to do. He used his social status and power in order to approach Jesus,
and then he emptied himself of them. He came to Jesus in humility and earnest
faith.
When
Jesus brought the little girl back to life, he didn’t fill her empty stomach.
That’s because God wants us to be a part of what he is doing. He brought the
little girl back to life, but he wanted the people around her to give her
something to eat and watch her enjoy every morsel. Then there would be no doubt
that Jesus truly was omnipotent-all powerful and great in mercy.
Jesus
came to raise the dead-both the physically dead and the spiritually dead. When
Jesus is on a mission, nothing can stop him. He did not allow the professional
mourners and their laughter to stop him from showing God’s healing power. The
mourners represent people who refuse to accept Christ and the gifts he offers.
Only
a select few were allowed to see Jesus bring the girl back to life. Jesus
wanted the news kept secret. He knew that most of the people could not
understand what had happened. He knew that the miracle of the dead being
brought back to life could only be understood by those who believe in one who
himself was raised from the dead-namely, Jesus.
Most
of you have heard of the old saying that “desperate times call for desperate
remedies”. Desperate times also call for a desperate faith-a faith we saw in
both of these parables. Faith in itself is meaningless, but faith in an
all-powerful God means everything. Jesus enters our lives in our hopeless
moments and brings us hope. He comes with his healing power when no healing is
possible. Sometimes he works the miracle of physical healing, and sometimes he
works the miracle of spiritual healing. He may not always come when we want him
to come, and he might not always answer our prayers the way we want him to, but
we must always be faithful and know that he will help us. Faith is the belief
that God will do what is right.
Sometimes
God does what is right by not doing anything right away or by doing something
other than what we want him to do. Jairus had to wait for his daughter’s
“healing” while Jesus healed the woman with the hemorrhage, and as a result his
daughter’s situation went from bad to worse. When we have to wait, our faith
can be shaken. We wonder if God loves us at all. We might wonder if we are
worthy of God’s love. We might wonder if we are praying to God in the proper
way. Jairus might have had some of these same feelings, and if he did, it would
certainly be understandable. Jesus did not give up on Jairus, and Jairus did
not give up on Jesus. Jesus asked Jairus to have faith, and Jairus did have faith. Even when God does not
answer our prayers in the way we want him to do, we can have faith that God
does love us and he answered our prayer in the way that was best for us and in
line with his will for our lives.
Faith
empowers healing, but the lack of faith hinders healing. That’s why Jesus
ordered the mourners to leave Jairus’ house. Their minds were closed to someone
who has the last word over death-Jesus. People who have faith handle life’s
problems differently from people who have no faith. This is the story of the
true meaning of the term “faith healing”. An act of faith on the part of the
woman healed her. Jesus even said that her faith made her well. Jairus never
lost faith, even when he was told that his daughter was dead. Jesus did not
comfort Jairus when he heard that his daughter had died. Instead, Jesus
challenged him to have faith. Regardless of our circumstances, God always urges
us to have faith, not fear.
Nothing
is too small for God. He notices the little things in our lives, just like
Jesus noticed when the woman touched his cloak. Jesus always knows the
intentions of our hearts and he distinguishes the touch of faith from the touch
of a follower.
This
Gospel passage shows the compassionate face of Jesus. He suffered with those
who suffered, and he still serves the suffering today. He served those who
reached out to him in vulnerable ways, and he still served them today. He
showed compassion to the suffering and the grieving, and he still shows
compassion to them today. This compassionate, suffering, servant attitude gives us hope for today and
hope for the next life as well.
Something
else that we learn from this story is that with God, all things are possible.
When things are impossible from an earthly point of view, they are possible
from God’s point of view. When things are looking bleak, as they are for those
of you who have been affected by the closure of the local paper mill, you can take comfort in
the knowledge that God will be there to comfort you and give you strength as
you face the challenges in the days, weeks and months ahead.
You
can also take comfort in the knowledge that there are people and resources in
the community that are ready, willing and able to help you, and I urge you to
seek them out and accept their help. For example, our rector has arranged for
some qualified people within our parish to help with debt counseling. He is
also prepared to offer stress management counseling and other counseling to
those who need it. In fact, he is already offering counseling to some clients
of the local food bank. Other members of the local clergy are also prepared to
offer help.
When
we receive God’s grace, we end up taking Jesus seriously. When we do, Jesus will
change our tears into joy and our skepticism into amazement. At that time we will
find out what it means to be made whole.
It
is at times like these when we need to put our differences aside and work
together to help those who are facing difficult times. Just like Jesus treated Jairus and the woman
equally, our spiritual differences are put aside when we come together in
worship and in faith. He reaches out to us in Word and Sacrament, takes us by
the hand and raises us up in faith. Only then can we experience the life God
intended all of humanity to have-one that is whole, free, redeemed and
restored.
Bibliography
1. Stanley, C.F., “The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles
Bible, NASB” (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publisher; 2009)
5. Jude Siciliano, OP, “First Impressions, 13th
Sunday (B)”. Retrieved from www.preacherexchange.org
11. McKenna, D.L. & Ogilvie, L.J., “The Preacher’s
Commentary Series, Volume 25:Mark” (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1982)
12. Lucado, M., “The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible”.
(Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2010)
14. The Rev. Beth Quick, “On the Road to Jairus’ House”
Retrieved from www.bethquick.com/sermon7-2-00.htm
16. Frederick
Gaiser, “How to Preach Healing Every Time You Preach”. Retrieved from www.sermoncentral.com/Articles/Article_PrintFriendly.asp?ArticleID=1291
18. John Shearman’s Lectionary Resource, Proper 8,
Ordinary 13, Year B. Retrieved from http://lectionary.seemslikegod.org/archives/year-b-season-pentecost-proper-8-ordinary-13
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