Enough.

John 6:1-15
Marilyn McKelvey Tucker
Seminary Intern
July 29, 2012

^NRS  John 6 ¹After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. ² A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. ³ Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. ⁴ Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. ⁵ When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?" ⁶ He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. ⁷ Philip answered him, "Six months' wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." ⁸ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, ⁹ "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?" ¹⁰ Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. ¹¹ Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹² When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost." ¹³ So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. ¹⁴ When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world." ¹⁵ When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

As I read this passage over and over again this week, I was reminded of when I was a child, growing up in Montgomery, AL. My church there had a Wednesday night program for youth and children called Logos, and for dinner we sat arranged like families at tables, with two adults as table parents and about five children of different ages. We children took turns going to get the plates of meat, bowls of vegetables, baskets of bread, and trays of dessert. Miss Carol, who some of you met two weeks ago, and several other members of that church cooked for us. I never doubted that there would be enough, and through this certain gift of food, I felt loved.

I’m not sure when I first began to understand the idea of scarcity. I am sure there are many who could quite rightly argue I still don’t truly understand it, and never will. I have always had enough. But scarcity, as defined by classic economics, says that humans have unlimited wants and needs in a world of limited resources. On this tenant stands all of classic economics, from supply and demand, to optimum production charts.

And yet, when it comes to food production at least, in the last ten or twenty years, the world has for the first time produced enough food so that everyONE could have enough to eat everyDAY. That is radical and scandalous and the logical follow up question is “then why do people still suffer from hunger, and even die from starvation?” The simple answer is that the food may be produced, but it is not distributed evenly. The complicated answer involves the production and business plans of incorporations which control the vast majority of food distribution, processing it, labeling it, and turning it into a commodity to be advertized and sold for profit.

But although the economics of food has changed dramatically since the early first century CE, the driving force of scarcity has not. People were just as worried about having enough 2000 years ago as they are today.

Now I really do believe in this miracle of multiplication. I believe that Jesus took those five loaves, and those two fish, and through the power of God broke them into enough pieces for everyone to have enough. But I have always been able to accept the mysterious, and rejoice in wonder instead of feeling compelled to find empirical evidence. I am after all, the child who heatedly argued with her third grade teacher that it just wasn’t possible that there was nothing at the North Pole but ice!!!

But as I studied, preparing to write a sermon this week, I found a surprisingly large number of commentators who want to treat this miracle as a miracle of “stone soup.” You remember the story about stone soup? Two soldiers on their way home from the war come to a village. They ask for food at each of the houses surrounding the square, but are turned away at every door. Each family says they only have enough for themselves, and they simply cannot share. So the soldiers end up hungry and alone by the well. One gets an idea, picks up a stone from the ground and goes to a house, asking to borrow a soup pot. The woman at the door asks why. “My friend and I are going to make stone soup, but we need something to boil the water in.” She asks what stone soup is, and he replies “I have a magical stone that will make soup from nothing but itself and water.” The woman gives him a pot and then goes and tells her neighbor about the strange stone these two men possess. The two soldiers get to work, building a fire, and bringing the water to a boil. The fellow with the stone drops it in. Soon the neighbor comes out to investigate, “How is it coming?” He asks, skeptically gazing into the pot. “Wonderful!” One of the men replies, “But you know what would make it even better?” “What?” asks the neighbor. “Potatoes.” “Yes,” the other nods, “potatoes really do help round it out.” “Well I think we have a few in the pantry, I’ll go check.” He returns with three potatoes, and watches the men cut them up and add them. They get to talking and soon another villager sees the conversation from across the square and she comes to join in. She asks what they are making. “Stone soup” the answer comes, “but don’t you think it could use some carrots?” one soldier asks the other, “Why carrots would fill it out nicely.” His comrade replied. “I’ve got some carrots,” the lady offers, “I’ll go get a few.” Soon other villagers come to join the conversation, ask about the soup, and contribute onions, beans, peas, and last but not least, a little rosemary. The soldiers declare their stone has made enough to share, and everybody brings out bowls and spoons, and makeshift tables are erected, and the whole village has soup. Hospitality is given and received, food is shared, strangers become friends and everyone has enough.

The “stone soup” version of the feeding of the five thousand says that Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, and started passing it out. Once everyone was seated, and saw how the teacher was sharing, they all began to pull out their own packed lunches, settling down for the best picnic ever, where those who had forgotten food, or just didn’t have any to bring, were fed by those who had more than enough. Hospitality was given and received, food was shared, strangers became friends over a shared meal, and everyone had enough.

Now if you have a very hard time believing in the miracle of multiplication which John presents us today, I don’t think your faith is weak. I don’t think that the “stone soup” interpretation lessens Jesus power, or the importance of his teachings. The “stone soup” version of the feeding of the five thousand is a miracle of generosity, and I think Peace Presbyterian Church lives into this miracle, every time members serve the mission of Beth-El with their resources of finances, time and labor.

But I also think the best picnic ever in this story is not just about food. The lesson here is not limited to one of generosity, however important a lesson that is. Because this story not only breaks the myth of scarcity of resources on which our entire economic system is based. This story breaks the myth of scarcity we have concerning the grace and love of God. This picnic, on a nice spring day, with a nice sea breeze, up on a mountain, in a meadow of grass, with enough for everyone, is a glimpse of the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven, where there is not only enough food for all, where not only can everyone sit in the wondrous comfort of creation, but where there is enough grace for everyone, there is enough love for everyone.

And this abundance is not something which will only be experienced at some pre-determined time when the Kingdom of God has come in its full Glory, all the Saints have been raised, and there is a new heaven and new earth. There is an abundance of grace today. There was yesterday. There will be tomorrow.
There was that day on the mountain.

 
And during those forty years in the wilderness when the manna was found on the ground every morning.
  
And when Elijah promised the widow that her flour and oil would not run out.

 And there is enough grace for those who lived wonderful, inspiring, love and joy filled lives even when they are cut too short by our reckoning.

And there is enough grace for those who, for reasons we may never understand, bring automatic weapons to a movie theater killing twelve and wounding fifty-nine.

So what is it that makes the feeding of the five thousand the best picnic ever? I don’t think it is simply that hospitality was given and received, food was shared, strangers become friends and everyone had enough. And I don’t think it is that the location was lovely, the weather was wonderful, food was fabulous and the Savior was serving.

I think Jesus knew people would respond well to an analogy of food. It IS a universal need after all. And although I know that some people do not love food, love cooking food, love feeding people, the way I do, that universal need for food, whether we savor it or just eat it because we know we won’t get by without it, makes for a very nice analogy to our universal need for grace.

So Jesus demonstrated the abundance of God’s grace that day with loaves and fish. And I think that is why he instituted the Eucharist, a meal, as a way of remembering him, his sacrifice, and his grace. 

         So when you come to the table today, remember that Christ’s grace not only abounds for us, but in us.Hallelujah! Amen.

Peacemaking: Our Way of Life

Ephesians 2:8-22
Ordinary Time

Elizabeth M. Deibert
22 July 2012

Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.

We want to hear what you, O God, will say to us.

for in your Psalter you promise to speak peace to your faithful people,

to those who turn to You in their hearts.   Amen.

When I chose this passage for preaching several weeks ago, I did so thinking it would be good to re-visit the scripture which first guided Peace when we chose a name for this mission outpost seven years ago, a scripture which grounded us and gave us wings when we chartered as the 39th church in presbytery three years ago.    Yes, this message which begins with God’s grace, and ends with Christ’s peace, reminds us of who we are in the Spirit and how we are  called to be a dwelling place for God.   This message is at the heart of our life as a church.

What I did not know when I chose this passage was that we would be grieving the loss of our sixteen year old sister in Christ, Leanna Knopik, daughter of First Presbyterian, Sarasota, and that we would be reeling once again from the news of an horrific and random act of violence in our own country.   And I could go on from Sarasota and Aurora to talk of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Marilyn’s hometown, where another gunman attempted a similar act of violence with an automatic weapon.   I could talk about suicide bombs in Syria, the Middle East, and Nigeria.   My Lord, is there enough tragedy to get our attention this week!    Is there enough pain this week?   Have we not already turned to you, O God, in prayer and begged you to work your miracles?   Have we not leaned into your grace and pleaded with you to bring peace and harmony to our world?    Well, dear God, we know you are not sleeping.   We know you are with us and all people in pain.    We know you do not sit aloof in some far away place not caring.    Surely you have borne our griefs and carried our pain.   Surely you have been our Shepherd as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death.  

We come each week to this quiet place, this place away to seek God’s face, to remember who we are and whose we are.   We come to be reminded that there is a larger and more glorious purpose and meaning to this life than is evidenced by these tragic events.   Worship is that time away when we slow down, reflect, and ask the big questions: what is my purpose?   What are my goals?   Who are my people?   Why am I here?

Funny enough, God never really answers that question so forward on our lips at times like this, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” but God does answer the other questions, “Why are we here?   What is our purpose?”   So back to what matters, our calling in Christ – the grace by which we are rescued from our despair, the peace which transcends all understanding, breaks down all the barriers we try to erect, the home we have with God in life and in death, and our call to be a reconciling community.

Ephesians 2:8-22

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing;

it is the gift of God--

⁹ not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

¹⁰ For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works,

which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

¹¹ So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called "the uncircumcision"

by those who are called "the circumcision"-- a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands--

¹² remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,

and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one

 and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.

¹⁵ He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances,

that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace,

¹⁶ and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross,

thus putting to death that hostility through it.

¹⁷ So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near;

¹⁸ for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.

¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,

but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God,

²⁰ built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

²¹ In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord;

²² in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

 So many of us who have followed the Caringbridge website with updates about Leanna have been amazed at the faith of her parents, her mother writing beautiful posts, full of faith, authentic hope, and reality of human pain and loss.    Beth Knopik is a Stephen Minister;  she and Steve and their children have been very active in the church as leaders.   Clay Thomas, their pastor, tells me they had a deep reservoir of faith from which to draw strength in this desperate time.    They understood to whom they and their children belong, and that brings a much-needed perspective when there are no answers.    They and Rogers and Clay sang “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” together, inviting Leanna to go home to Jesus, when there was nothing else the medical professionals could do.  Leanna is first and foremost, in her baptism, a citizen with the saints and a member of the household of God.   So whether she lives or whether she dies, she belongs to God.   That does not take away the pain of loss, but it reminds us of her true identity as God’s child.

I cannot imagine the pain of being Beth, Steve or Rogers Knopik in this moment.   Nor can I imagine the horror of being the parent of James Holmes, the Colorado gunman.   Nor can I imagine being the friend or family member of one who was randomly gunned down in a movie theatre.    But I know that these incidences make me all the more determined to live a life that counts, a life that matters, a life that is pleasing to God, a life that bears peace in this troubled world of ours.

For by grace we have been saved, not by anything we have accomplished.  No, this was a gift, giving us no reason to boast or claim to be better than others.    Grace – the free gift of God.   Faith is the appropriate response to grace, not something we muster to achieve God’s favor.    We were made to be responsive to grace, that is our way of life, a life of goodness which emanates, flows from the gratitude we feel for God’s unmerited favor toward us.   

And you see when we realize that grace is the free gift of God, fully appreciated and embraced in faith, then we cannot help but see that this gift is not ours for the taking, but ours for the living a grace-filled, peacemaking way of life.   

Isn’t it interesting that this letter to the Ephesians, circulated among all the early churches, doesn’t tell the Jews and Gentiles to forget their differences.   No, Paul or the Pauline writer who put this epistle together, encourages them to remember how different and how divided they had been before Christ changed the cosmos.    They could not enter one another’s homes.   They could not eat together.   They could not be seen together in the street.    They were different, but in Christ, even such a radical difference as between the Jews and the Gentiles, the circumcised and uncircumcised, was transcended by the grace and the peace that accompanies that grace.   

This vision is radical, more radical than we ordinarily think.  “There is no longer male or female, Jew or Greek, slave or free,”  Paul says to the Galatians.   “Christ is our peace.  He has broken down the dividing walls between us,” he says to the Ephesians.   So all walls are down – there’s no us and them.   Walls down between ethnic groups.   Walls down between religious groups.   Walls down between political groups.   Walls down between those who would debate sexuality, abortion, immigration, the economy, and healthcare.   Walls down!   That means that you and I know our relationship in Christ trumps everything else.   It calls us to exist peaceably and respectfully together.  Walls down between you and that family member who wounded your soul.   Holding up the wall will require too much of your energy, let it down.    Walls down between all who are divided by creed, need, or deed, because in the grace and peace of Jesus Christ, we are one in a way so amazing we cannot comprehend.

When we understand grace, then we appreciate that our calling is to be peacemakers.   Peace is our way of life.   Peace is the way God is made known, deep and transcending peace.   When we understand how deep and wide is the love of God in Christ Jesus, then we want to grow in grace-filled discipleship, and we want to care for the needs of others, so they too will be gifted to receive in faith the grace that God pours out on them.   

Are you living peaceably with your family, your community, and your world?    If not, then it is time to meditate, to delve deeply into the grace of God, to hear anew God’s message of love, so you can fulfill your destiny as a people called Peace.   We are not created for bitterness and division, but for peacemaking in the name of Christ.   We must get this message out to troubled world filled with reckless quarreling, ridiculous coveting, and random killing.   We must be the change that we want to see, as Ghandi said.   Be the change that you want to see.  

We are not created for such inhumane behavior.   We are being transformed by Christ.   We are destined to love God and love one another.   We are called to sit with the dying, to lift up those who are broken-hearted, to care for the forgotten, to be reconciled to those with whom we have differences.   We know that the light of Christ’s love shines on them as well as on us.   Making peace is our way of life.   It is not optional.   We are created by grace for this good but difficult work.  It is not for the faint-hearted nor for the head-strong.    A broken and contrite heart is required --  a heart wounded by God’s love, renewed by Christ’s grace, and made strong in the truth of the Spirit.

God, we pray for those who suffer when this world seems so unfair;
May your church be quick to offer mercy, comfort, gentle care.
And we pray: Amid the violence, may we speak your truth and love.
Give us strength to break the silence with grace and peace from Christ above.

Where is God?

Mark 6: 14-29
Marilyn McKelvey Tucker
Seminary Intern
15 July 2012

Holy God of every time and place,

may the words of my mouth,

and the meditations of our hearts,

be acceptable to you

Our rock and our redeemer.

Amen

^NRS  Mark 6 ¹⁴King Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name had become known. Some were saying, "John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him." ¹⁵ But others said, "It is Elijah." And others said, "It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old." ¹⁶ But when Herod heard of it, he said, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised." ¹⁷ For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because Herod had married her. ¹⁸ For John had been telling Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." ¹⁹ And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, ²⁰ for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When Herod heard John, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. ²¹ But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. ²² When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it." ²³ And he solemnly swore to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom." ²⁴ She went out and said to her mother, "What should I ask for?" She replied, "The head of John the baptizer." ²⁵ Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter." ²⁶ The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. ²⁷ Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, ²⁸ brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

The Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God.

This text would appear to have all the makings of a Shakespearian Tragedy. If I’d told you the story we would be reading Sunday involved a king who thinks a man he killed has come back from the dead to haunt him, a power hungry wife, a court full of people in front of whom the king must save face, a rash promise with disastrous consequences, and that the only honest person in the story suffers the most you might think I was talking about Macbeth, and not the passion of John the Baptist.

Yet even as I speculate on what a seventeenth century play adaptation of this tale might have been like, I cannot determine who I would cast as the tragic hero. Is it the foolish ruler in the delicate position of pleasing Rome and not angering the Jews to the point of rebellion? Is it the honest to a fault prophet who, not content to call the common folk and religious leaders to repent, has to stick his nose in politics and angers one of the most powerful families in the region? Is it the outraged, bitter, and thoroughly ruthless wife Herodias who has traditionally born the full blame for the death of John? Or is it the poor girl caught in the middle, the daughter, and step-daughter just beginning to come of age in a house full of betrayal and intrigue, in a court as decadent as Rome, in a region tottering on the brink of civil unrest? I found myself pitying each character, and I can’t imagine any of them as wholly villain or wholly hero.

And you know who is conspicuously missing from this passage? God! Jesus is only directly mentioned in this story when we are told the rumors going around about him. God isn’t directly mentioned at all, and the Spirit, so prominently present in our other story about John, descending in the form of a dove at the baptism of Jesus, doesn’t make a peep.

Mark, our succinct, straightforward and realist of a Gospel writer not only includes this lengthy tale of terror about John, instead of continuing to focus on his protagonist Jesus and the disciples, but he includes it in what seems to me to be an odd place in the gospel itself. In Mark’s timeline of Jesus’ ministry John has already been executed. Mark tells us that Herod was afraid of Jesus because he thought he was John, who he had already killed, come back from the dead. So why sandwich this gruesome story of execution between Jesus’ empowering and sending of the twelve which we heard about last week, and their joyful return?

Believe it or not, I have a theory. I think Mark interrupts the story of the disciples’ ministry precisely for the purpose of taking us off the high horse, to unsettle us, and to remind us that bad things happen, and that just because we are faithful, does not mean that we will be spared the harsh realities of life.

John suffers a violent death because of a proud and foolish king, a bitter and angry woman, and a self-absorbed and ignorant girl.

Bad things happen to good people.

Where was Jesus when John was arrested? Where was God when Herod was trying to decide whether or not to keep his promise? Why didn’t the Spirit come down and make the executioner miss at the very last second?

Why do spouses break their promises? Why after years of dating does a boyfriend decide he has no intention of proposing, ever? Why does a son die before his parents, or a daughter fall terribly ill and end up on a list for a heart transplant? Why does a fifty-something adult turn onto 70 going the wrong direction and collide with another car, killing himself, the father and one of three children in the other car? Why do people carelessly choose their words, blithely hurting the ones they love? Why does a mother of three in her thirties get breast cancer for the second time? Why do we let anger and bitterness eat us up from the inside out, poisoning ourselves and our relationships?

At the Stephen Ministry meeting this week we talked a little bit about the sappy theology of would-be-comforters when a loved one has died. During the visitation for an infant who died in my home congregation I saw an older lady tell the parents, “God just wanted another little angel.” The baby’s mother went from sobbing to livid it three seconds flat and I bet if her husband had not been holding her hand she would have thrown a wicked right hook that might have sent granny along as another angel herself. Really? God needed another angel and so this family had to lose their only child? Another time I heard a deacon in the congregation trying to comfort a woman going through a difficult divorce by saying, “everything is God’s will.” Really? It was God’s will that this woman’s husband cheat on her and decide to leave their marriage even though she was willing to try and work through it? I know people mean well when they say things like this. That they want to offer some comfort in the midst of the bad things we don’t understand. But maybe, when something terrible happens, and we don’t know why, we should say we don’t know why, instead of trying to comfort with a sappy line based on flimsy theology.

This passage in Mark ends with the body of John laid in a tomb. Before we know it, Mark will be telling us about another body laid in another tomb. Another violent death, ordered by a political figure who knew the victim to be a holy man, but still bowed to the pressures of what was popular. Death is a certainty for every human, even the one who was fully human and fully God.

So where is God when holy people are violently executed? Where is God when loved ones die, or relationships become broken beyond repair, or a job loss makes one’s financial situation go from bad to hopeless? When even our messiah lies dead in a tomb? When the Psalm on your lips is Psalm 22 “My God my God why have you forsaken me?” And not Psalm 23 “the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.”?

The good news is that even when it seems like God is not there, God is. God has promised to be there, and God’s beautiful and overwhelming promise is something which we as people of faith can be certain of, even more certain of than death. God promises that we are loved, forgiven, and empowered, and God will not take any of those gifts away. God is there in a way we will never fully understand, but in a way in which we can always fully trust.

And even when faced with death, the tomb is the not the end of the story. Jesus’ resurrection gives us all hope beyond death. Death is not the end of our story. At the worship and music conference this year on the day we remembered All Saints Day a note in the bulletin stated, “Death is not just turning off the lamp. Death is turning off the lamp because the sun is coming up.”

For Christians, the certainty of death is matched by the certainty that God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.

Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Hallelujah, and Amen.

When the Going Gets Tough

Mark 6:1-13
6th Sunday after Pentecost
Elizabeth M. Deibert
8 July 2012

Guide us, O God, by your Word and Spirit, that in your light we may see light, in your truth find freedom, and in your will discover your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Many of you know that I served as interim pastor of my hometown church for two years before accepting the call to come to Peace in 2005.   When I read scripture from the pulpit, I read from the Bible, given in my father’s memory.   When I proclaimed God’s word, there were some there who remembered when I had no words.  There were others who had gone to school with me from Kindergarten to 12th grade.   There was my mother in the choir, my sixth grade teacher, my jr high basketball coach, an old boyfriend’s mother and sister, my piano teacher, my high school chorus director, and I could go on.   I was now faith leader to those who had taught my Sunday school classes and fed me at youth group, and watched me grow in faith.   It was an interesting time to find my voice, my God-given authority as a pastor among people, most of whom had known me well for the first twenty years of my life.

Yet there is a familiarity that breeds contempt.    There is no one who can cut you down quicker or point out your inconsistencies better than a spouse or sibling who wishes to put you in your place.    In Jesus’ hometown it was no different.    The people who had watched him grow up figured he was just like them.    How could a carpenter’s boy act like the Son of God?    I mean, really, that just Mary’s boy.   “Don’t you remember his brother?   He was an average guy.” So the hometown community rationalizes away all Jesus’ authority.

But the interesting thing about this story is that when Jesus realizes his power has been thwarted by those who don’t believe in him, he then simply passes off his healing power to his disciples and sends them out in twos, multiplying the mission of God.

Let us now ponder what the Spirit is saying to her church, as we read Mark, chapter 6, verses 1 to 13.

Mark 6:1-13

He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.

² On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue,

and many who heard him were astounded.

They said, "Where did this man get all this?

What is this wisdom that has been given to him?

What deeds of power are being done by his hands!

³ Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses

and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?"  

And they took offense at him.

⁴ Then Jesus said to them, "Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown,

and among their own kin, and in their own house."

⁵ And he could do no deed of power there,

except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them.

⁶ And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went about among the villages teaching.

⁷ He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two,

and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.

⁸ He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff;

no bread, no bag, no money in their belts;

⁹ but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.

¹⁰ He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house,

stay there until you leave the place.

¹¹ If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you,

as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them."

¹² So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent.

¹³ They cast out many demons,

and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

(New Standard Revised Version)

Have you ever considered that Jesus’ exercise of power is dependent on those around him, believing in it?    Our text tells us that when Jesus’ hometown questions him, he is not able to do much, except a few healings.   All of us function better when people believe in us, when they affirm us, when they trust in us.   But ordinarily when we talk about believing in Jesus, trusting in him, we think of it differently -- that Jesus demands trust as a proof of our loyalty.   But in this story, it is clear that he needs it.   Believing in him is essential to empowering him to do what he is capable of doing.    Could the same be true in your life – that your trust in Christ empowers him to do more in your life and others?   I expect so.

The New Testament only records two occasions where Jesus is amazed.   Once, he is amazed at the faith of the centurian, who believes Jesus can heal his servant from a distance, only by saying the word.    The other instance is in this story, where Jesus is amazed at his hometown friends’ lack of faith.   Faith or lack of faith are what amaze Jesus.   Jesus may not be actually be amazed with us, but if he is, I prayed he is amazed at our faith, not at our lack of faith.   But I fear the latter may be true – that Jesus is shocked at how little faith we have.    Faith must be exercised to grow.    Following Christ is exercise.   Going where he says go.   Doing what he says to do.    All of this takes faith, courage, and dogged determination to keep trying, even when the going gets tough.

In C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan, the Lion King of Narnia, is a Christ figure. Lucy, conversing with Mr. Beaver, is curious about Aslan. She has never seen him, but has heard everyone say that he is "on the move," and anticipates meeting him. "Is he safe?" she asks.   "Who said anything about being safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "Course he's not safe, but he's good. He's the King I tell you."   Following Christ is not safe, but it is good.

And Jesus truly is the one "on the move."  In Mark’s high speed Gospel, it is clear he is going places and all who follow him must be ready to go also.   The second part of this passage is the sending of the twelve.   In fact, the word “apostle” means literally “sent ones.”  

There are many people who believe that the reason the Church (big C Church- not Peace and not just the Presbyterian Church) is struggling is that we forgot that we are the sent ones.    We are called to go, to take the Gospel into the world, not wait on the world to come to us.   What are you doing about that?

And don’t miss the fact that when Jesus sent the twelve he told them to travel light.   The Gospels vary on exactly which articles of clothing they should take, but the point is, especially in Mark, that they do not need to carry a lot.   This means they will be depending on others for hospitality, for food, as was customary in their day.    He challenges them not to try to find the most comfortable room in the town, but to stay with whomever offers them a place first in that town.    And then, of course, the most memorable part of the message he gives them is the shaking the dust off your feet when your message is rejected.   This was a practice of pious Jews when leaving a Gentile house, to purify themselves.  Jesus, having been raised as a faithful Jew, thought that the same should apply when people are not open and welcoming to the Gospel.  Move on, rid yourself of any regrets, any bitterness or blemish left with you by their lack of faith.  

For those of us who particularly like to please people, this is a very helpful message.   Some of us have very muddy shoes, from carrying around with us all the negative comments we have received from others.    And it is not a good idea to track the mud from previous relationships into the homes and lives of new friends.   Shake off the dust.   Wipe off the mud.   Rid yourself of all that negativity.   Shake off the Christians who were a bad witness.   Shake off the people who don’t want to give the church a chance.    Shake off the people who are just plain rude.   Don’t be rude back, but let it go.   It does not need to dirty your day.   Shake off all the horrible, hurtful stuff and put on Christ as Paul describes in Colossians 3.   As God’s chosen ones, put on the forgiving love of Christ, along with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.  (Col 3:12 NRS)

Gospel sharing cannot happen without Gospel living within you.   You cannot share what you do not have in your life.   So cultivate a life of faithfulness, of trust in the good news of God’s love in Christ.   But even so the Gospel is not easy to share.   Sometimes people are not interested.   Sometimes people misunderstand.   Sometimes people reject us because they have lost trust in the church as institution, and understandably so.   The church has committed some atrocities through the years and we’ve been terribly slow to admit it.  

And don’t forget:  people expect us to be more loving than the average person.  They want to know we were Christians by our love.   We, the Church, need to regain the trust of people if we ever hope to have an effective witness again.   Only if they trust us, will they open their doors and hearts to us.   Only if our lives are a faithful witness we might earn back the trust that the church for years has been losing by hypocrisy, by judgmentalism, by sexual misconduct and by ecclesiastical battles over non-essentials.

But this passage reassures us, that no matter how hard we try to be an effective witness, we will still be rejected sometimes, even as Jesus warned the first twelve who went out.  Jesus, thinking he could not secure the respect of his “homeys,” sent others and empowered them to be witnesses of his goodness by their healing of those in need.    And Jesus explicitly told his followers to travel light.   We live in such a different culture than 1st century early Christianity.   What does it mean for us to travel light as we engage the great commission – going into the world to share good news?   It surely does not mean that we travel with no money and no clothing beyond that on our backs.   But perhaps it means we simplify.   Too much stuff slows us down, encumbers us, makes it more difficult to trust in God to give us each day our daily bread.   We do not have to have every latest and greatest electronic gadget.   We do not have to have a pair of shoes for every outfit.   We do not have to eat out so often.  We could live with fewer cars, a lot less sugar, and smaller houses.   We’ve doubled the average house size in the last fifty years.   Why not begin to live more simply?  

Had the first disciples not been so willing to carry the torch for Jesus, to go where he sent them, to share good news of his power and healing touch, then the church may never have gotten a foothold in the world.   But they did and it did.   They were captivated by a desire to follow, even at great risk and sacrifice.   By the power of the Holy Spirit at work even today, may we too be willing to accept the cost of discipleship and live grace-filled lives of gratitude that commend the gospel to others.

Now to the One who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly

than all we can ask or imagine, to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus

to all generations, forever and ever.

The Healing Power of Trust

Mark 5:21-43
5th Sunday, Ordinary Time

Elizabeth M. Deibert
1 July 2012  

You know the scene in the movie, Bruce Almighty, where Bruce is suddenly bombarded by the cascade of voices of people praying to God for help?   Sometimes we wonder, “Does God really care about my illness in the midst of so many major problems in the world?   And does God have the power to make a difference?”   Today’s intertwined stories help us to see that God Incarnate is responsive to our needs and does have the power to heal us.   Having just calmed the storm on the sea, then healed a person severely deranged, the Gerasene demoniac, Jesus keeps moving, surrounded by crowds of people.    He is approached by two people in this story, one is a powerful man, Jairus, a leader in the synagogue, whose daughter is gravely ill.   The other is an unknown, powerless woman, who has been hemorrhaging for 12 years.   In these two stories, we see the boundless compassion of Christ, ready to assist all people in need, no matter their station in life.   We see the enormous power of Christ in his touching and being touched by others that gives them life and healing.   We see the relational integrity and timeliness of Christ, such that he attends to the present crisis of need without failing to fulfill his promise to the next one waiting for his care. 

Most significantly, we see the power of trust in those who are seeking Christ.   If you will just lay your hand on my sick daughter…. If I can just touch his clothes, I will be made well.”   Trust is a huge factor in the power of the healing relationship.  We know this to be true in our relationships with spiritual, mental health, and medical professionals – just as it is true in our relationship with Jesus Christ. 

May the Spirit guide our reading and hearing of this Holy Word, Mark 5:21-43.

²¹When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side,

a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea.

²² Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and,

when he saw him, fell at his feet ²³ 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." ²⁴ So he went with him.

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him.

²⁵ Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years.

²⁶ She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had;

and she was no better, but rather grew worse.

²⁷ She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,

²⁸ for she said, "If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well."

²⁹ Immediately her hemorrhage stopped;

and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

³⁰ Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him,

Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?"

³¹ And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing in on you;

how can you say, 'Who touched me?'" ³² He looked all around to see who had done it.

³³ But 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,

"Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."

³⁵ 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?"

³⁶ But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue,

"Do not fear, only believe."

³⁷ He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.

³⁸ When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion,

people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹ When he had entered, he said to them,

"Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping."

⁴⁰ 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.

⁴¹ He 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.

(NRSV)

Richard and I had only a brief scare when Emily was in Korea and had her seizure-like experience in the night.   But it was enough of a scare to make me realize how desperate a parent must feel when a child is gravely ill, like Jairus’ daughter, or like the parents of Leanna Knopik, 16 year old at First Presbyterian, Sarasota.   We’ve been praying for Leanna whose heart was so damaged by a viral infection that she is existing with the help of a heart pump.   I can only begin to imagine the Knopiks desperation and Jairus’ and his wife’s desperation over their sick child.  

Like many people rushing into emergency situations, pleading with the medical personnel, handle my urgent need first.   Please Jesus, come to my house now to heal my daughter.   And Jesus does, but not without getting side-tracked, delayed briefly when he notices that healing power has flowed from him to someone who touched him.   “Who was it?” he wants to know.   “Who touched me?”   And everyone, including the disciples, just want Jesus to acknowledge that any number of people in the crowd have touched him.  Let’s get on to the emergency, to protect the daughter of the very important man.   But Jesus was not interested in anonymous healing experiences.  Jesus was not interested in ignoring the poor to help the wealthy first.  Jesus WAS, despite his hurry, interested in the particular person in the crowd who was so desperate and so full of faith, that she reached out in trust, grabbed Jesus’ robe, and with it took some of his healing power.   She, shocked by the power that had entered her body and stopped her menstrual cramping, fell down before him and told him the whole truth.   I suppose that the whole truth in her case may have been a testimony of twelve years of misery.    Not only did she have a chronic disease, but her disease made her ritually unclean and thereby an outcast in society.   Jesus called her “Daughter” and said your faith has made you well, your trusting has saved you.   Go in peace and be healed of the disease that has plagued you. 

While he was still talking to the woman, the worst fears of Jairus are announced.   His daughter is dead.   Messengers come and tell Jairus to excuse Jesus because he is no longer needed.   It is too late.  But Jesus, apparently able to hear two conversations at once, something Bruce Almighty could not handle, says to Jairus and friends, “Do not be afraid, only trust/believe/have faith.”  

Taking only the three closest disciples - Peter, James, and John – Jesus approaches and challenges those who were there to support the family with their weeping and wailing, a common practice in first century times, to have people whose purpose is to express the grief, to announce it.   There were no newspaper obits or facebook messages or church bells to ring to announce the news.   Professional wailers made it clear that a grief was being observed.   Jesus tells them to hush because he says the child is not dead only sleeping.     They don’t believe him, but he proves his power once again, in this amazing way, by entering the room with parents and inviting the little girl to get up and the parents to feed her. 

A day in the life of Jesus – calming/healing/saving storm-threatened disciples, a mentally ill person, an outcast with a chronic malady, a child who has died.  In each of these stories, fear is overcome by the power of Christ and people learn to put their trust in him.   

If any of you read my faith column in the Bradenton Herald yesterday, I want to make it clearer now than I did in the newspaper that the point of this passage scripture is trust in Jesus Christ, the Healer.   I also want to make it clear that I truly respect all who have a different notion than I regarding the direction our country should go with healthcare.   But as I was studying this passage and listening to the debate that ensued from Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling, I could not help but see some connections in the power of trusting for healing even in our modern medical context where God works through professionals who are paid for their work and their expenses.   

I believe that we need to continue to move toward an economically-sound healthcare system which guarantees access and affordability to all its citizens.   I do not think we have reached the goal.  I am not intending to sound partisan, though many of you may hear me that way.   I simply want to see our broken healthcare system changed into something that will be more healing and humane for all people in this country.    

We can have a discussion about the specifics of how to achieve that, because neither the Republicans nor the Democrats ever have all the right pieces to the healthcare puzzle, but my prayer is that we can work together, not against one another.   My hope is that we can continue to build trust into our system of care so that all marginalized people with chronic medical issues and all worried parents with sick children, not to mention senior citizens, the middle class, and the very poor, can receive the healing touch of good, solid, not overly defensive medical care.   Jesus Christ is the Miracle Worker, but we are His hands and His feet.   Let us pray: 

Lord Jesus Christ we pray for a good and fair, bi-partisan process that will make healing healthcare an affordable, sensible, and enduring reality for all in this great land of the free and the brave.   Teach us to respect one another, listen to one another, and be the healing presence of Christ for one another.   Thank you for pouring your power out on your church and for calling us to be your body in the world, broken yet strong with the strength that we gain from merely touching your cloak as we gather to worship you, to be saved/healed, restored to wholeness by you.   We actively put our trust in you, even in dire circumstances, knowing that you make us new people by your love and power.   Amen.