First Reading:
A Song of Ascents.
1Out of the depths I cry to you, O
Lord.
2Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplications!
3If you, O Lord, should mark
iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
4But there is
forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.
5I wait
for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
6my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for
the morning, more than those who watch for the morning.
7O
Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.
8It is he who will
redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
Second Reading:
21When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other
side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the
sea. 22Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named
Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 23and
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.
24So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. 25Now
there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve
years. 26She had endured much under many physicians, and
had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew
worse. 27She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him
in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28for she said, If I
but touch his clothes, I will be made
well.
29Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she
felt in her body that she was healed of her
disease. 30Immediately aware that power had gone forth from
him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, Who
touched my clothes?
31And his disciples said to
him, You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you
say,
32He looked
all around to see who had done it. 33But the woman, knowing
what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before
him, and told him the whole truth. 34 He said to
her, Who touched me?
Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in
peace, and be healed of your disease.
35While he was still speaking, some people came from the
leader's house to say, Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the
teacher any further?
36But overhearing what they said,
Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, Do not fear,
only believe.
37He allowed no one to follow him except
Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. 38When they
came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion,
people weeping and wailing loudly. 39When he had entered,
he said to them, Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is
not dead but sleeping.
40And 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. 41He took her by the hand and said to
her, Talitha cum,
which
means, Little girl, get up!
42 And immediately the
girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At
this they were overcome with amazement. 43 He strictly ordered them
that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to
eat.
Sometimes I wonder what the people in biblical scenes must have been
thinking… Jairus the synagogue leader: My daughter's only
twelve years old, not even a woman yet. How can she be so sick? This
isn't the way things are supposed to work. I've heard of this Jesus
of Nazareth. Most of the other religious leaders think he's trouble
waiting to happen. But nothing else has worked and if the stories
about him are true, I don't really care what they think. He'll help
me, I know he will because I might be able to help him. It would be
good for him to have someone in my position on his side. Besides
that, I won't take no for an answer. He'll hear me, or I won't stop
until he does. Jesus, My little daughter is dying, come lay your
hands on her so that she may be well and live.
I know you can
help… come lay your hands on her.
Help me, please, help
her. She's dying. You can make her well.
She's young and
she's at the point of death, come lay your hands on her so that she
may be well and live.
I knew he would come. Apparently he's a
smart man… now if we can get there in time. I hope he can do
something for her…
Then there's the woman in the crowd: No one will know. No one needs to know. If I can just make my way through the crowd and touch him… maybe even if I could just touch his clothes… He'll never even notice, but if this guy is anything like what people say, what have I got to lose. Twelve years I've been bleeding. A week a month was bad enough but this has been going on twelve years, unclean. I'm not allowed to touch people, practically an outcast. But maybe that wait is almost done… twelve years of my life gone but maybe he can help me… here he comes… if I can just get close enough to—got it…
Then back to Jairus: Why is he stopping, doesn't he remember my daughter… Oh, come on, everyone's touching each other it's a crowded street… let's go we don't have much time; who cares about that woman, she's not worth worrying about… you promised you would help me.
I stopped my imagination exercise there because it was too hard for me
to imagine what came next as Jairus learned that his daughter had died
and then to be told Do not fear, only believe.
Once again this week there are two stories woven together in our gospel text. In some regards the stories parallel each other; in other regards they highlight contrasts. But, when taken together, each story sheds light on the other as they show who Jesus is and they show a bit about how God works.
Both stories begin with someone at wits end ready to try anything to address their problem. The woman who was hemorrhaging blood had the affliction for twelve years. It was obviously a physical condition, but it was also a social condition because it made her unclean. Now in twenty-first century America we have to stop and think for a minute about what uncleanliness was… it didn't mean dirty it didn't mean shameful, it didn't mean bad. Uncleanness was a regular, but usually temporary part of almost everyone's life. It meant that the person who unclean was not able to participate in the ritual and the normal life of the community. One author has talked about uncleanliness in terms of needing space after coming in contact with mystery. On the one hand, diseases could make someone unclean but so could touching a scroll on which the law of Moses was written. If something was mysterious or powerful, contact with it rendered a person unclean… now in biblical thought blood was understood to carry the mystery of life so exposure to blood made someone unclean… So she was unclean since she had been bleeding. For twelve years she had been cut off from ritual and normal everyday life, and she was likely even cut off from physical touch. After that long, she was hardly part of the community at all. At one time it appears that she was a woman of means. She had been to the doctors of the day… the text tells us that she spent everything she had and that she had endured much under many physicians but in spite of that she was getting worse (I guess the need for health-care reform is nothing new). But now this woman was broke, she was broken, she was tired of being an outcast; she had heard of the things Jesus had done… and so she made sure that she was where he was going to be hoping he could make a difference in her world and she could put the past behind her.
When it comes to place in society, the people from other story, were from a different genre altogether. Where the woman was an outcast, Jairus was part of the in crowd. He was a religious leader, a leader of the synagogue… that title came with a certain amount of respect and prestige. There were people who congregated at his house presumably to be a support network for his family in their time of need as his daughter was dying, and that's the crisis they're facing… We don't get a picture as to why, we don't know what she was dying from, but from the moment we're introduced to Jairus to the time the scene moves into the girl's room, their story is one of death and everyone knew it. So Jairus also went out of his way to be where Jesus was hoping Jesus could make a difference in their world and he would have a bright future again.
Understand, Jairus had a lot to lose by going to Jesus. On a personal level, he risked missing the last moments of his dying daughter's life. But he also risked on a professional and social level. Two chapters before this story in the gospel of Mark, we heard that the religious leaders were already plotting against Jesus. Those religious leaders would have been friends and colleagues of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue.
One person who wrote on this passage said it was striking how the two came… Jairus, the leader of the synagogue came out in the open and publicly fell at Jesus' feet asking for help. I will stand face to face with you…if you're able to save my daughter, I don't care how much I'm ridiculed. The woman, who never was given a name in the text, went through the crowd, snuck up behind Jesus and as soon as she touched him she tried to disappear back into the crowd. I don't want to bother you with little old me. If you're able to fix me, nobody even needs to know about it, I'll just go on my way. That author said the woman was coming out of desperation and so she came anonymously and in secret, but Jairus was coming out of faith so he came boldly. I don't really buy that. I think they both came out of desperation (like in our psalm reading today Out of the depths I cry to you O Lord. O Lord hear my voice) they both came out of desperation and they also both came out of faith. They both approached Jesus hoping that he would be able to make a difference in their world but they approached differently because only one had a name, a face, and a place in the world.
And what's striking about this passage it isn't so much how they came
but how Jesus responded. To Jairus, who was well esteemed, Jesus said
I will help you. I've heard your cry, I've heard your pain and I will
go to your daughter. But then the woman touched him. She would have
been content to let it be a secret, but Jesus wasn't. This woman
interrupted his plan, or at the very least, she interrupted Jairus'
plan. She was a nobody in Jairus' eyes, but not in Jesus' eyes. Some
people say that these stories didn't originally belong together. They
say that the stories got put together to show that God can be working
on more than one miracle at a time and while it's true that God can be
working on more than one miracle at a time (thank goodness), I think
these stories are together to show a deeper truth. Jesus took the
time to see the woman who touched him, and it is good to be seen.
Even though she was an outcast and even though as the text tells us,
she was already healed, he took the time to find her, to look her in
the eye and call her, daughter.
You may be nobody in the eyes
of the world, but you are still a beloved child of God. Go in peace,
your faith has made you whole.
Who knows how long this interaction took, but it wasn't a momentary
diversion. While they were still talking, Jairus got the news that
his daughter had already died… and Jesus who was paying
attention to the nameless woman turned back to Jairus and preached
what Barbara Brown Taylor said was the shortest sermon ever. Do
not be afraid, keep on believing.
Once upon a time not so long
ago you believed enough to risk ridicule… you believed enough
to come to Jesus. At that moment, Jesus said to Jairus, Keep on
believing see where this goes.
In one of his books, Bruce Larson, who's a long time pastor and was a
mentor of mine back in Seattle, told a story about a friend who was a
successful business man with three young children… He was a
faithful member of his church and led retreats all over the
southeastern United States. Three years ago he was diagnosed with
Leukemia and was told by the doctors that he had less than a year to
live. But Bill is still here and never looked better. This is how he
explains it, I stopped putting off those things I wanted to do. I
spent more time with my wife and kids. I began to do those things I
felt God would have me do. I decided to put down death and take up
life.
Keep on believing and see where this goes.
We've just heard the story. Jairus's daughter was raised up and the main thing that this gospel passage celebrates is that the yearning for new life (metaphorical new life and literal new life), the hope of a better way, the promise of tomorrow: they all find fulfillment in connection to Jesus. Jairus and the woman came from different perspectives and different social positions and different places of need, but the one thing they had in common is that they both came. And because they came they were welcomed by Jesus. Long before we come to church, long before we come to Jesus, long before we're ever able to do things right, long before we're even able to say thank you, Jesus Christ stands with arms open saying to us, beloved child of God; you're welcome. Wherever Christ is, you are welcome. Amen.
The foregoing sermon was given by Rev. Dan Holland at the United Parish of Bowie on June 28, 2009.
© 2009 Daniel Holland
