Sermon on Healing

INTERRUPTIONS

TEXT: MARK 5:21-43

INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE

The Gospels are written to help shape our relationship to God. They are not news reporting and they are not psychological portraits. In fact it is sometimes frustrating how little we are told about the inner thoughts and reactions of the characters. Today we're going to remedy that. As I read the Gospel lesson from Mark, Deb Adams and Sean Osborne are going to help bring the characters in this story to life. It begins as Jesus is just coming ashore after rowing with his friends across the Lake of Galilee. He's got a huge following and a crowd is there to meet him on the beach.

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.

WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO MAKE OF THESE MIRACLES?

Just a couple weeks ago, in our Bible study group, we read a story about a miraculous healing in the book of Acts. One of the group commented, "What are we supposed to believe about these miracles?" It's a question that recurs in Bible study all the time. This time, it was asked in an atmosphere dense with meaning. We'd been praying for Marie Dyck's healing all year and she was steadily drawing closer and closer to death. We came up with several answers to those questions and I think they are all relevant to today's Gospel.

NO "SUPPOSED TO'S"

What are we supposed to believe about these miracles? Well, first, in our tradition of freedom of thought and exploration, there is no "supposed to." Just as faithful Christians through the ages have thought very different things about miracles and all biblical interpretation, so do we. One of the most respected scholars of the ancient Church, Origen, believed that the Bible was basically a huge metaphor for God's love and care for the creation. Everything pointed to something beyond itself and little was to be considered literal. That is one end of the interpretative continuum. The other is to take the stories at face value and understand them as stories about the supernatural-Jesus' ability to transcend the laws of nature. The middle is a free flowing meld of those poles. One way might be to look at physical ailments and see that Jesus remedies them not only for the sake of curing the person, but for bringing them into fullness of life.

THE SUPERNATURAL VS THE RATIONAL

Jesus can bring about a cure but that cure could be explained "scientifically"-after all, even Jesus says that the little girl is just asleep. The important thing is what happens next. The restoration of a person's dignity, worth, and place in the community. None of these approaches is better than another. We each find ourselves somewhere on that line, struggling to make meaning for our own lives.

I remember one of our former members, an engineer, once gave me an article that explained every one of the 10 plagues of the Exodus as a common natural phenomenon occurring in the Nile delta. That article did more for his faith than any preacher who told him unless he believed God could part the Red Sea, he wasn't a very faithful Christian. He came to understand that it didn't matter that he couldn't accept as fact that frogs fell from the sky or the river turned to blood. The bottom line was that God delivers people from captivity. In fact, that article, which some say explained away the miracle of the Exodus, was his miracle. God liberated him from fear of being considered outside the Christian fold because of his pragmatic frame of reference. His faith was restored by having a rational explanation for the plagues.

A METAPHORICAL INTERPRETATION

Commentators who have analyzed today's passage from Origen's symbolic point of view, find significance in the number twelve. The woman, twelve years hemorrhaging, being unclean and outside of the true communal life of Israel, the little girl, dead at twelve years old. Early readers would not have missed the reference to the twelve tribes of Israel. This is a passage in which Jesus, the reformer is calling for the rebirth and renewal of his own people. Can we see our own religious communities in these stories-dead and needing to be brought back to vibrant life, losing blood, becoming anemic and unable to function, spending our resources on what does not contribute to our health. "That'll preach," as Beth Graham likes to say.

DIGGING BENEATH THE SURFACE ~ THE FEELINGS

Today Sean and Debra have led us into the personal, psychological aspects of the story, exploring how it feels to be isolated, afraid, and desperate. The synagogue ruler lets go of every shred of prestige to beg at the feet of this uncredentialed street preacher. The woman, abandons social conventions to reach out with tremendous faith. They are typical of people who are at their wits' end. When you've exhausted all the possibilities, then, maybe then, you'll take a chance on God. I think that's a pretty good message, don't you? People feel guilty for turning to God as a last resort. Faith gets put on the back burner until there's a crisis, They'll reach out to God only when nothing else can help. This story says it's OK. When you can't do it yourself any more, God is there. There need be no shame about coming to God when you've hit rock bottom. The Bible is full of people who do just that.

THE IMITATION OF CHRIST

I want to examine one more facet of this scriptural gem. And that is looking at the character of Jesus. I believe that every time we read a story about him, we need to say, "How do I measure up to this." Thomas a Kempis calls this "the imitation of Christ," and considers it the purpose of every Christian. We can resonate with this Jesus, he's on a mission, determined, focused, and then he gets interrupted.

Haven't we all experienced this? But instead of trying shrug off the offending woman; checking his caller ID and not picking up, he turns to her-"Who touched me?"

I read a newspaper story about a man who was hit by a car in Hartford last week. He lay seriously injured in the street as people and other drivers passed by, looked at his broken body, and continued on their way, nobody bothering to call 911 or come to his aid.

I was struck by how much this grim story was the opposite of today's with the fully involved, compassionate Jesus, quick to lose himself in the cares of others. I saw Jesus on the streets of Hartford, kneeling down to cover that shattered body with his own denim jacket, dialing 911 on his cell, and holding his head and saying a prayer while he waited with him for the ambulance.

FORMS OF HEALING

We prayed for healing for Marie Dyck but cancer and then a stroke took her body. If healing is defined only as a cure, our prayers were not answered. But healing may come in other forms; knowing you are cherished by friends, being held by a caring family, being prayed for by a community, finding serenity in the face of death. And scripture tells us that even death is not the worst thing that can happen. Healing may happen on the other side of the grave.

In both of these stories, the people get what they ask for. But it doesn't always happen that way. And yet, perhaps we get what we need. And while we're waiting for healing for ourselves, perhaps we can be agents of healing for others.

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