CanonRonBlog

Sunday 1st July, 2012 Fifth Sunday after Pentecost Sentence The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22 Collect O Christ for Whom we search, our help when help has failed; give us courage to expose our need and ask to be made whole, that, being touched by You, we may be raised to new life, in the power of Your Name. Amen Old Testament Lesson 2 Samuel 1: 17 – 27 David intoned this lamentation over Saul and his son Jonathan. (He ordered that The Song of the Bow be taught to the people of Judah; it is written in the Book of Jashar.) He said: Your glory, O Israel, lies slain upon your high places! How the mighty have fallen! Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon; or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, the daughters of the uncircumcised will exult. You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor bounteous fields! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, anointed with oil no more. From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, nor the sword of Saul return empty. Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with crimson, in luxury, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan lies slain upon your high places. I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; greatly beloved were you to me; your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women. How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished! Psalm 130 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared. I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins. Epistle 2 Corinthians 8: 1 – 15 We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints-- and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us, so that we might urge Titus that, as he had already made a beginning, so he should also complete this generous undertaking among you. Now as you excel in everything--in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you --so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking. I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something--now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has--not according to what one does not have. I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. As it is written, "The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little." GOSPEL Mark 5: 21 – 43 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, "My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live." So he went with him. And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages 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 haemorrhage 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. © New Revised Standard Version of the Bible Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. All rights reserved NOTES ON THE READINGS ............ Old Testament If you are unfamiliar with the Old Testament, here is one of the most passionate passages to be found. David and Saul’s son Jonathan had long been the greatest of mates, but both the King and his son were killed in battle. Somehow David managed to retain some sense of loyalty to the errant king, perhaps because of his closeness to Jonathan. To lose them both together was an almost paralysing experience. Life is often quite unfair, and that is one of the things that Israel long recognized – and perhaps we need to do the same. Psalm For some reason many people do not see past ‘forgiveness’ as that which cleanses their souls somewhat. I doubt if this ancient psalmist understood things that way, but rather was aware of the remarkable flexibility it gave to life. If there is no forgiveness, I am held – bound! - to my past mistakes and errors and likewise hold others to their faults. Forgiveness offers the unique opportunity to face those issues and to learn from them. This brings enormous freedom, not to repeat the mistakes, but to learn from the, and to grow and mature. Never lose sight of that reality, either for yourself or for others. Epistle If there is one thing that holds up a lot of people from growing and maturing, it is the hip-pocket nerve. Oddly enough, in a time when money is more freely available, that hang-up tends to increase geometrically. So both thrift and sharing goes out the window. (Ironically, recent economists’ complaints about people are that there are more people are working to reduce debt! Whose side are they on?) Any reading of the New Testament indicates fairly clearly how the Jerusalem Church long operates under great duress, much of which was financial. This may have stemmed from that rather odd attempt at ‘communism’ as described in the Acts. Whatever the case, Paul is often heard of, asking other congregations to offer their financial support for the people in Judaea. Notice the way he does this, and then – dare I say it – give considerable thought to offering support both to your own Church and to its various ministries to others. GOSPEL Mark had a great capacity offering what may be described as ‘sandwich incidents.’ And this is one of them. Two incidents remarkably similar and yet also quite contrasting. The first ‘patient’ could have expected preferential treatment, being the child of an important synagogue official. The second person could have been consigned to outer darkness if Jewish Law was heeded, for she was a nobody and an outcast because of her ailment. So notice the sequence of events. When the call came from Jairus, Jesus attended to it. A twelve-year-old girl, on the point of reaching maturity then, was dying. And yet a hold-up came from a woman who had been suffering menstrual problems of enormous scope, for the same period that the young lass had been alive. This woman was outcast because of those woes, being disqualified from synagogue and from society generally. This points up the reason that she attempted to find her answers in secret. While she knew Jesus had substantial answers for her, she would have wondered whether He would have followed the ‘party line’ and disqualified her. Jesus’ action in removing the secrecy was not some sort of attempt to unmask the interloper. Jesus knew that the only chance she had for rehabilitation back into society was for everyone to know that her disability had been overcome. It was yet another measure of the sensitivity our Lord had for people in lousy circumstances. This poses the challenge for modern Christians to be as sensitive and aware in contact with people, especially those disadvantaged. Only after the disqualified person had been assisted was the qualified person given attention. Rather too late for some, as the lass had died. This created no hassle for Jesus, and maybe – in contrast to the first situation – made the synagogue president feel something of the pain the haemorrhaging lady. There is always truth behind the image of the ‘wounded healer.’ One who has suffered nothing much is small help to someone who has suffered a lot. NOTES FOR A SERMON I have long been concerned at the extent to which so many people, reading incidents such as this, become quite hung up on the ‘miracle’ element of the story. Not only does that lead people into expectations of similar healings for themselves, but there is also the resultant failure to stop and see what is really happening. Mind you, part of that short-circuit stems from unfamiliarity with the Biblical mores, and the situation at the time. So what follows is an attempt to ask you to go past the easy perception and to look rather more significantly at what Mark was reporting. Remember that Jesus lived in a world where the best religion available at the time regarded women as, at the very least, second class citizens. Actually it was not the religion that had them follow that path, but their tradition. (Whoever wrote Genesis 2 and 3 did his best to abolish that practice, still held amongst some Eastern faiths. Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, and all that!) So it was small wonder that the woman in the second part of this incident was scared witless at being found out as having touched Jesus. What was worse for her, poor discarded human being, was her perpetual periods, rendering her totally unclean as far as the male population (and the priests) were concerned. Her situation was almost as isolating as leprosy, fear of that disease being parallel to the fear of this woman. On the other hand, there was the daughter of the leader of the synagogue: that young girl had everything going for her, at least up to that stage. Her Dad was important, religion-wise, and her age would indicate not having reached puberty, so even periodic uncleanness was not an issue. Mind you, she was still female, but we have noticed already that such was not an issue with our Lord. And then the interruption – that discard had the temerity to try and get healed on the quiet. Sneaking up behind Jesus, ‘she only touched the hem of His garment,’ but still, Jesus’ reaction surprised the Disciples. ‘How the hell could we know who touched You, with all this mob hanging around?’ Do not mistake Jesus’ question as indicating He was not aware of who touched Him. His concern was not that someone was sneaky, or tried to get away without being noticed. His concern for that lady was for the rest of her life. He would have been painfully aware of the extent of her isolation, and the continuation of it if she did not follow the required pattern. (It was not patterns or protocols that concerned Jesus, but the effect of the lack of if for her future.) It is the total care and concern shown by our Lord that I wish to underline. Please take care to notice, ALWAYS, how Jesus took the long-range view when He healed people. Forget miracle, look at the careful process. If there is one thing for which Christians, ever the centuries, have been condemned for doing good, it has been the practice of being more concerned that people see what they do, instead of being concerned about the effect on the person concerned. ‘Do-gooders’ has been the resultant epithet, and the despising has very good reason. Such an approach is little other than self-gratification. ‘Look what I have done!’ And there lies the destruction of what could have been beneficial. Please watch our Lord carefully – more often than not He refused to be focus, as He refused miracle as a means of gaining a following. What was far more important was for that poor almost destroyed lady to be able to live life far more fully – for her own benefit let alone anyone else’s. The change for her was not just her body being healed, but her life being opened up to all manner of possibility. It was only after that encounter that the younger lass was attended to, in spite of her better credentials, so to speak. That alone speaks volumes about Jesus’ attitudes and perceptions of who and what is important. It is a tightrope to walk, and while most mortals remain stuck with the consequences of their choices, Jesus was not. But it is a fascinating thing to note how Mark, in his Gospel, compares and contrasts a woman who personal issues lasted as long as the whole life of the younger lass. So this girl had passed away before Jesus arrived, met with the thanks of the ruler of the synagogue that He had got that far. But the story was not yet complete. In His own inimical way, Jesus responded to this greater need, and did it in a quiet, unassuming way. He even requested that there be no fan-fare post eventum, so no attention was drawn to Himself. There was a need and He was able to meet it, and did. Full stop. The whole business of Jesus’ ministry and especially His healing ministry operated at a level oh! So very differently from those who claim to follow Him today. The whole point of Jesus’ ministry was either to help people move the next step forward, or to offer a way that they could be accepted back into ordinary life as experienced by other, ordinary people. Most of all, He did it in such a way that showed so very clearly how our Lord pondered the whole business from the point of view of the recipient, balancing needs, directions and outcomes for the patient. This strikes me as being a most salutary message for all who follow Him these days. It is not easy to be the same caring, thoughtful sort of person these days, of brash advertising and demanding self-advertisement and glorification. Nor is there the slightest evidence of Jesus attempting to manipulate situations or people even to the very slightest extent. Pondering this significant and important passage, and the people and actions involved, should lead us to see how desperately far modern people have moved from any sort of altruistic self-giving to the most ugly self-aggrandizement.