Pastor Alison Williams - June 27/28, 2015 - Bethel Lutheran Church
Mark 5:21–43
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. 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 hemorrhages 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 hemorrhage 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 around 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.
---------------------------
Jesus spent a large portion of his life and ministry on healing. Everywhere he went, he encountered people in need of healing. And he healed them. As news spread about his healing, he had more followers seeking healing. People from farther and farther away began to seek him out. People with terrible conditions no doctors could cure sought him out, too. Today’s gospel story is a snapshot of a day in the life of Jesus and two of those desperate people seeking Jesus for his miraculous healing. And though our medicine is more advanced today and we have made leaps and bounds in technological advancements, we are still a people and a world in desperate need of healing. Everything from the physical aches that mean multiple trips to multiple doctors to the more spiritual or emotional aches that weigh us down and give us heavy hearts.
The needs are specific, vast, personal, and profound. As individuals, we have a wide range of ailments. Things like cancer or chronic pain, loneliness, grief, struggles in our personal faith and relationships... It seems there is always something in us in need of healing. We are a congregation in need of healing as well. We are still trying to learn the names of all the newest staff members and many are weary of the constant changes inside and outside the building and are searching for a way to serve Christ that brings life and meaning to all. And of course this weekend we are celebrating Gary Lewis and his retirement. Even as a nation, we are in need of healing as we continue grieving the death of nine individuals in Charleston and remembering all who have lost their lives to gun violence. We are calling out for more attention to mental health, to race issues, to gun control. And if the comments on some of the Facebook posts and news articles I’ve seen are any indication, we do not appear to agree about any of it.
I’m not sure how much you are involved in any of these discussion but they have become remarkably divisive. Personally, I hate seeing the Confederate Flag but then I read about how others view it with pride and see it as a piece of history and heritage. And then I am trying to read about gun control from both sides of the debate, from ones I love back home in Tennessee where I’m from who believe in protecting their homes and families, and then from those who have lost children to gun violence on the south side of Chicago near where I went to seminary. I’ve seen debates over mental health issues, about ongoing racism and white privilege, and marriage equality. And what I see and experience is an indignant stance that refuses to allow the other side to speak. We all just seem to dig our heels into the ground and refuse to budge, believing that only OUR own opinion is correct because it is well researched and what the Bible tells us is true. More than anything, I grieve the chasm that grows wider and wider as debates rage on. The middle aisle seems to be disappearing as we get our news from people that agree with us, surround ourselves with friends who agree with us, and attend church where we hear about a God that would be on our side of the issue.
But here we are, gathered together side by side in pews facing a stained glass Jesus and a cross bearing the body of our Lord. And while church is often seen as a time when we set our politics aside and come together to worship, I am no longer sure that is the best course of action. If we spend our week digging deeper into our claims about our personal beliefs and politics and views and then be completely silent about them on Sunday, how can we allow Jesus to enter into the debate? To enter into our hearts so that our conversations are not fruitless debates on semantics but productive conversations that move us forward for the benefit of the entire world, including each one of us. I’m not saying that we pick sides as a church. I’m not going to ever tell you how to vote, what to say, how to lean in your political standing. But I will tell you that we need to talk about it. All of it. The racism. The class divisions. The violence done in Charleston and right here in Madison. Let’s talk about homosexuality and the decision of the Supreme Court on Friday for marriage equality in all 50 states.
Let’s talk about sex and immigration and depression and divorce and obesity and suicide. Because I guarantee that for every issue I named, we have someone in need of serious healing right here in our congregation, watching at home or sitting next to you. And not talking about it is no longer an option. As Christians, we cannot sweep issues under the rug that are uncomfortable and divisive. We have to bring them out in the light of day, shine some light on them, listen to one another with compassion, and ask each other how the God who created us all would respond. How Jesus who hung out with lepers and prostitutes would respond. How Jesus who healed people without exception would respond. Because if we come back to our gospel story and these two people desperate for his response, we have to be able to see ourselves in their desperation. A man who has a sick daughter and would do absolutely anything to see her well again, to see her up and laughing again, but she dies before he can get Jesus to her. And a woman who has been to more doctors than she can count and is debilitated by her illness, desperate to be a part of society again, but feeling hopeless than even Jesus can fix the mess she is in.
Think again about Jesus’s ministry on earth. Again and again, he goes out of his way to heal someone that he has never met, that he has never had a relationship with. He heals people who are deemed unclean and not worthy of anyone’s touch. He heals people in different social classes, both those above him and those below him. He heals so much and so randomly that he would never get away with running any medical practice today. He’d take on people without insurance, people who were out of his specialty, the young, the old, and even, it seems, the dead. That’s right, Jesus does not even mind taking on patients who are dead. When situations are most hopeless, Jesus waltzes right in and says, “I’ve got this.”
The woman reaches out to touch Jesus and is instantly healed. Jesus walks into the little girl’s room and invites her to get up and she does. She lives! Do not miss the power of these moments. They are the ultimate mission impossibles. Friends, do you get what Jesus is doing here? Taking on the impossible and healing it. Causing wholeness. Freeing people from pain and misery and death. There is nothing Jesus cannot heal. Nothing Jesus can’t heal. Even you. Even the church. Even our nation that is filled with arguments against loving one another. All those great divides we put between us and people on the other side of whatever the topic of the day is?? Jesus jumps in. Jesus jumps into the great divides that separate us and stretches his hands out wide across that chasm and unites us once again as brothers and sisters that are one body. One. Not people who are pro this or anti that, not people who are right or wrong or well informed or not. One body.
As we celebrate three baptisms this weekend, we welcome new members into that one body. And while they need our support and prayers, they also need to hear our thoughts, our opinions, and how we view the world. And it should be no surprise that we as a congregation also need them. To hear their thoughts on life and the world around them. Because we are one body. And let me tell you, that body functions best when it communicates. When the heart is pumping blood and the fingers are moving and the feet are walking. We call Jesus the great healer and reconciler of the world which means that Jesus can heal anything you bring to him. Anything. Even the impossible situations of our life, the church, the world. There is nothing Jesus cannot heal. So let’s begin.
Mark 5:21–43
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. 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 hemorrhages 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 hemorrhage 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 around 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.
---------------------------
Jesus spent a large portion of his life and ministry on healing. Everywhere he went, he encountered people in need of healing. And he healed them. As news spread about his healing, he had more followers seeking healing. People from farther and farther away began to seek him out. People with terrible conditions no doctors could cure sought him out, too. Today’s gospel story is a snapshot of a day in the life of Jesus and two of those desperate people seeking Jesus for his miraculous healing. And though our medicine is more advanced today and we have made leaps and bounds in technological advancements, we are still a people and a world in desperate need of healing. Everything from the physical aches that mean multiple trips to multiple doctors to the more spiritual or emotional aches that weigh us down and give us heavy hearts.
The needs are specific, vast, personal, and profound. As individuals, we have a wide range of ailments. Things like cancer or chronic pain, loneliness, grief, struggles in our personal faith and relationships... It seems there is always something in us in need of healing. We are a congregation in need of healing as well. We are still trying to learn the names of all the newest staff members and many are weary of the constant changes inside and outside the building and are searching for a way to serve Christ that brings life and meaning to all. And of course this weekend we are celebrating Gary Lewis and his retirement. Even as a nation, we are in need of healing as we continue grieving the death of nine individuals in Charleston and remembering all who have lost their lives to gun violence. We are calling out for more attention to mental health, to race issues, to gun control. And if the comments on some of the Facebook posts and news articles I’ve seen are any indication, we do not appear to agree about any of it.
I’m not sure how much you are involved in any of these discussion but they have become remarkably divisive. Personally, I hate seeing the Confederate Flag but then I read about how others view it with pride and see it as a piece of history and heritage. And then I am trying to read about gun control from both sides of the debate, from ones I love back home in Tennessee where I’m from who believe in protecting their homes and families, and then from those who have lost children to gun violence on the south side of Chicago near where I went to seminary. I’ve seen debates over mental health issues, about ongoing racism and white privilege, and marriage equality. And what I see and experience is an indignant stance that refuses to allow the other side to speak. We all just seem to dig our heels into the ground and refuse to budge, believing that only OUR own opinion is correct because it is well researched and what the Bible tells us is true. More than anything, I grieve the chasm that grows wider and wider as debates rage on. The middle aisle seems to be disappearing as we get our news from people that agree with us, surround ourselves with friends who agree with us, and attend church where we hear about a God that would be on our side of the issue.
But here we are, gathered together side by side in pews facing a stained glass Jesus and a cross bearing the body of our Lord. And while church is often seen as a time when we set our politics aside and come together to worship, I am no longer sure that is the best course of action. If we spend our week digging deeper into our claims about our personal beliefs and politics and views and then be completely silent about them on Sunday, how can we allow Jesus to enter into the debate? To enter into our hearts so that our conversations are not fruitless debates on semantics but productive conversations that move us forward for the benefit of the entire world, including each one of us. I’m not saying that we pick sides as a church. I’m not going to ever tell you how to vote, what to say, how to lean in your political standing. But I will tell you that we need to talk about it. All of it. The racism. The class divisions. The violence done in Charleston and right here in Madison. Let’s talk about homosexuality and the decision of the Supreme Court on Friday for marriage equality in all 50 states.
Let’s talk about sex and immigration and depression and divorce and obesity and suicide. Because I guarantee that for every issue I named, we have someone in need of serious healing right here in our congregation, watching at home or sitting next to you. And not talking about it is no longer an option. As Christians, we cannot sweep issues under the rug that are uncomfortable and divisive. We have to bring them out in the light of day, shine some light on them, listen to one another with compassion, and ask each other how the God who created us all would respond. How Jesus who hung out with lepers and prostitutes would respond. How Jesus who healed people without exception would respond. Because if we come back to our gospel story and these two people desperate for his response, we have to be able to see ourselves in their desperation. A man who has a sick daughter and would do absolutely anything to see her well again, to see her up and laughing again, but she dies before he can get Jesus to her. And a woman who has been to more doctors than she can count and is debilitated by her illness, desperate to be a part of society again, but feeling hopeless than even Jesus can fix the mess she is in.
Think again about Jesus’s ministry on earth. Again and again, he goes out of his way to heal someone that he has never met, that he has never had a relationship with. He heals people who are deemed unclean and not worthy of anyone’s touch. He heals people in different social classes, both those above him and those below him. He heals so much and so randomly that he would never get away with running any medical practice today. He’d take on people without insurance, people who were out of his specialty, the young, the old, and even, it seems, the dead. That’s right, Jesus does not even mind taking on patients who are dead. When situations are most hopeless, Jesus waltzes right in and says, “I’ve got this.”
The woman reaches out to touch Jesus and is instantly healed. Jesus walks into the little girl’s room and invites her to get up and she does. She lives! Do not miss the power of these moments. They are the ultimate mission impossibles. Friends, do you get what Jesus is doing here? Taking on the impossible and healing it. Causing wholeness. Freeing people from pain and misery and death. There is nothing Jesus cannot heal. Nothing Jesus can’t heal. Even you. Even the church. Even our nation that is filled with arguments against loving one another. All those great divides we put between us and people on the other side of whatever the topic of the day is?? Jesus jumps in. Jesus jumps into the great divides that separate us and stretches his hands out wide across that chasm and unites us once again as brothers and sisters that are one body. One. Not people who are pro this or anti that, not people who are right or wrong or well informed or not. One body.
As we celebrate three baptisms this weekend, we welcome new members into that one body. And while they need our support and prayers, they also need to hear our thoughts, our opinions, and how we view the world. And it should be no surprise that we as a congregation also need them. To hear their thoughts on life and the world around them. Because we are one body. And let me tell you, that body functions best when it communicates. When the heart is pumping blood and the fingers are moving and the feet are walking. We call Jesus the great healer and reconciler of the world which means that Jesus can heal anything you bring to him. Anything. Even the impossible situations of our life, the church, the world. There is nothing Jesus cannot heal. So let’s begin.
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