The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost --- 28 June 2015

Mark 5:21-43

21 When 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.

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

·        This morning, Mark tells us of two healings – one requested and one unexpected.

·        Jairus, a synagogue leader, asks Jesus to come and heal his young daughter: "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." Jesus goes off with him accompanied by a sizable crowd. On the way, a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for many years comes with the hope of touching Jesus’ clothing, believing that just that will heal her. And that is just what happens. Of course, while this is going on, messengers come to say that Jairus’ daughter has died. Jesus then says “Do not fear, only believe.”

·        The stories of healing are obvious. What is not quite so obvious is the story of restoration that underlies these two episodes.

·        Jairus’ daughter was restored to life from death due to a serious disease. The woman who touched Jesus’ garments was restored to health after a long, long illness. By contrast, Jairus’ friends take death to be the final word and tell him not to “trouble the teacher any further.” The woman who touched Jesus on the road seems to be expecting to be reprimanded or taken to task for the presumption. In both cases, nothing could be further from the truth.

·        The situation of Jairus’ daughter is actually easier to talk about. She was seriously ill and her father, as any good parent, goes to one he feels can help. Jesus responds right away and goes with him. The news of the child’s death does not faze Jesus, who gives the advice to “Do not fear, only believe.” He is mocked and laughed at when he arrives at the house, but he raises the little girl to life simply by taking her hand and saying “Little girl, get up.” The final detail may seem odd to us - Jesus tells them to give her something to eat – but his might be one of the most important points in the story, for by ordering breakfast for the girl, Jesus restores her to the family and to the entire community, so they might eat together again and be a whole family again. She was dead and now she lives and can be part of the family that loves and the community that supports and defines her.

·        The woman with the long term hemorrhage is a bit more obscure. Yes, she was losing blood all those years and the medical people of the day could find no cure. What we may not realize is this: her hemorrhage made her unclean according to the Jewish law and no one could touch her, eat with her, or have much to do with her without becoming ritually unclean themselves. She was a complete outcast because of her bleeding and anyone coming into contact with her would be unclean as well until ritually purified. Her presence in the crowd of people following Jesus put them all at risk of being unclean! When she confessed her situation to Jesus, there might have been quite a stir in the crowd!

·        Their concerns don’t appear to bother Jesus, just as touching the dead body of Jairus’ daughter didn’t seem to bother him. Touching the dead would have rendered him just as unclean as the touch of the woman.

·        His touch and the healing his touch brought would restore the young girl of 12 years and the woman who had been suffering and unclean for 12 years not only to health, but to their place in their family and the wider community. Their situations had separated them from the people of God. Jesus says to the woman "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease." In a very real sense, she is welcomed back to the family, the large family of those who believe. Jairus’ daughter is never named, but both the young girl and the older woman are daughters of God and, with a word, are restored to everything that could mean to them and to the wider community.

·        The point of meeting in these incidents is the touch of Jesus and the presence of faith. Jairus asks Jesus to come and lay his hand of his daughter. The suffering woman wishes to touch the edge of Jesus’ garments in the hope of healing. Despite the reports of the child’s death, Jesus counsels faith and carries on with his intent – that is, to touch and heal.

·        In these related stories, Jesus is the one who is the connection. In touch, health and the fullness of community is restored. In his salutation, in calling the suffering woman “daughter”, suffering and isolation are ended and a life-giving connection is restored. In the simple invitation to eat, family and community are renewed.

·        When we gather as sisters and brothers in Christ, we can know again our community in Christ. When we remind each other and call each other to be the family in Christ that we are all called to be, we know Christ present among us. When we eat the Lord’s Supper together –as we will next week- our unity is refreshed, and not just our unity with one another in Christ, but our unity with Christ. Once again, the touch and presence of Christ heals us, restores us, unites us, and nourishes us.

·        With Christ present here and in each one of us, faith is renewed and fear is driven out. Death itself cannot stand, and things less than death can be overcome in faith.

But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe."

The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost ---- 21 June 2015

(I prefaced my sermon during the announcements with a brief discussion of both the shootings in North Carolina and Pope Francis's encyclical on climate change and the political reactions to both.)

 Mark 4:35-41

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" 39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" 41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

…they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

·        The crossing of the lake was rougher than expected and the disciples on the boat were quite scared. Any of us might be, especially with the boat in danger of being swamped. Remember that a number of the men involved in this were fishermen and because of that, experienced boat handlers. They would know that this body of water had a reputation of sudden storms. They would be careful.

·        Here we see that they are almost in a state of panic, calling on Jesus to do something to keep them from sinking and drowning. In their panic, they seem to question Jesus’ concern for them: "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"

·        When all this starts, Jesus is asleep on the cushion. A word of explanation is important here. Jesus is not asleep on a fluffy pillow someone brought on board for him. He is sleeping against the part of the boat there the person doing the steering sits. It’s a hard leather or wood seat or resting place by the tiller. However, Jesus really is asleep and has to be woken up by the panicky disciples.

·        Once the waters are calmed, Jesus seems to berate the disciple for a perceived lack of faith. He asks why they were afraid and then asks them where their faith was.

·        To our ears, this may sound harsh, especially considering that the situation was becoming critical with the boat well on its way to sinking. Do we wonder by Jesus seems unwilling give his disciples a break?

·        Of course, there is more to it than just this. The final statement by the disciples is quite telling, especially regarding what is known of the Gospel of Mark: "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" All through the Gospel, the disciples are unable to say who Jesus is. Even when he reveals thing about himself, he tells his disciples not to tell anyone about what he said or did. This is referred to by scholars as “the Messianic Secret.” Jesus keeps the revelation of his mission and his full self under wraps as it were, until the crucifixion.

·        What we have here is only part of the story of Jesus. The question asked by the disciple as to who Jesus is remains unanswered here. The answer comes much later. Just so we’re clear, this is the question that each of us have to answer: “Who then is this…?” Our answer will be the make-or-break question of our lives: Who is Jesus to us? The answer for our question of who Jesus is can only be answered as time goes on. It is very possible that our answer might change over time as well. We all grow in faith and the faith we had as children may not fit our adult lives even though we may long for the innocence and purity of a child-like faith.

·        In this passage, we see Jesus as he is – both human and divine. He is exhausted from all that he had been doing, teaching and working with the crowds of people who came to hear him and his message. He takes time to sleep and sleeps so deep that even the breaking storm does not wake him.

·        Still, when he is awakened, he calms that storm with a few words. He addresses the sea as a person and calls it to peace and stillness. Only the one who created all that exists knows creation so well. Then he turns and makes a remark about the storm within the hearts of the disciples: He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" The storm of the heart and spirit might be tougher to weather than the storms of the sea and sky and Jesus is concerned about this as well.

·        This Gospel passage shows Jesus as both human and divine and that is how we are to take him. It is hard for our minds and hearts to reconcile these two states that we perceive as opposites. That may well be why the disciples are without understanding at this point in the Gospel of Mark.

·        We may be without full understanding as well. We have the advantage of being able to read the Gospels as they were written through the faith of the evangelists and their communities. We read them through the lens of our own faith as well. The disciples’ question always remains before us, not to trouble or test us, but perhaps to keep us honest… and filled with awe.

·        Who is this who works so hard that he falls asleep in the middle of a troubled situation? Who is this who calms the seas with a word? Who is this who is concerned about the state of our souls and the quality of our faith?

·        These linked questions can only be answered over time. As we grow in faith and in God’s grace, we will have our answer. Were we to stay as close to God and the revelation of the Gospel as we did with a child’s faith, we’d discover that a child-like faith is the right thing for adults.

…they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

The Third Sunday after Pentecost --- 14 June 2015

(This Sunday, it rained as the service began. We also celebrated the Baptism of a little girl, Hazel.)

Mark 4:26-34

26 He also said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27 and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28 The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come." 30 He also said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade." 33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34 he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

"The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground…”

·        My friends, I am woefully unprepared to speak about this Gospel passage. It is about growing things, seed and shoot, fruit and harvest. Many of you are far better equipped to comprehend what Jesus is saying here.

·        Jesus is speaking in parables as he quite often does in the Gospels. It really is unclear whether he spoke in parables to make his message clear or to make it hidden. The examples and figures he uses were familiar to those who listened, even as they could be familiar to us today. If we look around us today, we see new growth. It can fill us with anticipation of the harvest and whatever else is to come. It could lead us to concern over how much water would be needed and when it would rain again and what else might be needed for the good growth of the crop. We might experience frustration over how much work remains to be done. If we see things a certain way, we might just take a moment of simple joy at seeing the new growth and having a hand in the sustaining of God’s own creation.

·        Jesus’ parables today – the seed sown and growing in secret and the parable of the mustard seed - both speak to what we don’t know. The sower sows, sleeps, rises, and goes on with his life, without knowledge of how or why the seed grows and without any control over what is sown and grows. The teeny-tiny mustard seed becomes a sort of shrub, a plant that some might find annoying and weed-like, but still a great bush that the birds are glad to nest in.

·        The seed grows in secret, “he does not know how” and even with science and observation, the growth is no less fascinating and might even seem miraculous in its own way. There must be some sort of both mystery and satisfaction involved in watching the growth of these plants.

·        I say mystery because what grows is somewhat beyond our control. Applying this idea to the Kingdom of God, we know that what God as planted, both in and around us, marvellously and mysteriously outside of our control.

·        The same can be said for the parable of the mustard seed. It begins as a small seed but grows far beyond what might be expected from such a small seed. There are larger trees that we know of, but these were not in the experience of Jesus’ hearers. Mustard seeds? That they knew!

·        Jesus would speak in parable to draw his hearers in, to invite them to experience what he was speaking of. Those who had ears to hear what Jesus was saying could know more by experiencing the Kingdom in Jesus. Those who could not or would not hear were faced with the hiddenness of the Kingdom, since they would not “Come and see!” as Jesus might invite them.

·        Both parables speak of the Kingdom as something beyond our understanding and expectations and quite beyond our control. God’s Kingdom will come, never fear, but we might pray that it we would be part of the Kingdom. The Small Catechism echoes this in the explanation of the Lord’s Prayer: “God’s kingdom comes on its own without our prayer, but we ask in this prayer that it may also come to us.”

·        These parables teach us that the Kingdom of God comes unexpectedly, in ways we don’t comprehend and in ways far beyond our control. The talk of growth in both the sown seed and in the mustard plant also teaches us that the Kingdom is not complete, that there is more to come, and, using the parables’ agricultural ideas, the anticipated harvest is yet to be. The Kingdom is indeed both now and yet to come.

·        This is a hard thing to swallow. We want the Kingdom to be here now, yet we see that it is not. Yet look around; Jesus’ disciples continue to work to bring the Kingdom into being, all the while knowing that it is the work of the Spirit and not the work of the hands of humans. We rejoice and we wait.

·        The Baptism we celebrate today reminds us again that our Lord has not abandoned us and works in and around us in hidden and subtle ways.

·        We know we are not complete. We know that the harvest is yet to be. The whole Church knows it and has always known it and lives it. Hear the words of Dr. Luther once again: “This life therefore is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness, not health, but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it, the process is not yet finished, but it is going on, this is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.”

·        Hear as well the words of Paul from the 3^rd chapter of 1 Corinthians:    I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth…. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.

·        In this, we rejoice. For this, we hope and wait.

The Second Sunday after Pentecost --- 7 June 2015

Mark 3:20-35

20 and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. 21 When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, "He has gone out of his mind." 22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons." 23 And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. 27 But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered. 28 "Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"— 30 for they had said, "He has an unclean spirit." 31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you." 33 And he replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."

"Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"

·        Let’s take some time and talk about sin. This isn’t a topic we want to discuss, although it is one we’re aware of… sometimes painfully so.

·        Ages ago, in one of my previous calls, a member of the congregation was concerned about the use of the Order of Confession and Forgiveness. This person said something like this to me: “Why should we confess so often? None of us really sin, do we?” I really did not know how to answer the question.

·        Having a very lively sense of my own sinfulness, or maybe just a guilt complex, this question troubled me and troubles me to this day. How often do we sin?

·        Adding to that, when I hear this passage, I wonder what exactly is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. That isn’t something that is easily understandable. We usually don’t comprehend what this is or how it’s done,

·        Blasphemy is defined as lack of reverence, contempt, or disdain for a deity or holy things. In a Christian context, it could mean cursing God and more probably and more precisely in the Christian context, refusal to accept the forgiveness and salvation offered by God to humanity.

·        It’s said that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the refusal to be forgiven. One of my teacher once said that the sin that refuses to be forgiven cannot be forgiven. There are people who despair of being forgiven, feeling that their sin or sins are too great to be forgiven, even by God.

·        This blasphemy against the Holy Spirit could also be crediting the works of God to diabolical powers. Mark’s side note in today’s Gospel reading points to this: for they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."

·        None of this is easy to understand. It might be that we have to look at sin and at what God has done for us in Jesus.

·        Sin is often said to be an offense against God or God’s law. It could also be said that sin is something that strains or breaks our relationship with God or perhaps something that draws us away from our God, which might be closer to the truth. Keeping to a series of laws might be simpler, but it could become an exercise in behavior management rather than a loving relationship. We can keep score when discussing laws, but we can’t keep score when we talk about a relationship.

·        In our understanding of relationship and sin, we also see the reality of judgement. All who sin will be judged. There’s no way around it. When we confess our sinfulness at the beginning of our worship, we are confessing our guilt and placing ourselves under the judgement of God. We are simply and plainly admitting out guilt. What follows is Good News for all: In the mercy of Almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us and, for his sake, God forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the Church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

·        There you have it in simple terms. Judgement and beyond judgement, mercy. Mercy would not be necessary if there were no offence, for mercy is applied only to the guilty. To say we have received mercy mean we have been judged and found guilty and have been given mercy. In sum, this is the Good News that Jesus proclaimed and the Church continues to proclaim to this day.

·        This mercy does not change the fact that we are sinners. It does not deny our offences; it forgives them. That is one reason for having the confession so often when we worship; we need to hear that we are forgiven each and every day despite the fact that we are sinners. We need to hear it from a source outside ourselves so we know we are not making it up for ourselves; we need it to be proclaimed to us. We need to hear the good news that our guilt is washed away and we are redeemed.

·        Personally I think that we don’t just need to hear this, but we want to hear it. To hear this proclamation of mercy may seem rather common because it is done so often, but it really is good news. It fulfills a need in our spirit and it frees us from bondage to sin. The words of forgiveness we hear actually does what they say they do.

·        What exactly the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is can continue to be controversial. The forgiveness and mercy of God is not controversial, although it will always be surprising and amazing and rather unexpected.

·        Could this be good news?

·        Yes! It is Good News. The best news yet.