On the Way to Wonder

7th Sunday after Pentecost

First Reading: Ezekiel 2:1-5

1 [A voice] said to me: O mortal, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you.2 And when he spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me on my feet; and I heard him speaking to me. 3 He said to me, Mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day. 4 The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, “Thus says the Lord God.” 5 Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.

Psalm: Psalm 123

Our eyes look to you, O God, until you show us your mercy. (Ps. 123:2)

 1 To you I lift up my eyes,

  to you enthroned in the heavens.

 2 As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, and the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,

  so our eyes look to you, O Lord our God, until you show us your mercy. 

 3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy,

  for we have had more than enough of contempt,

 4 too much of the scorn of the indolent rich,

  and of the derision of the proud. 

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:2-10

2 I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. 3 And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows—4 was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat. 5 On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. 6 But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me, 7 even considering the exceptional character of the revelations. Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. 8 Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, 9 but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I  am weak, then I am strong.

Gospel: Mark 6:1-13

1 [Jesus] 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.

CHILDREN’S SERMON:   This week we celebrated July 4th.  We call it Independence Day.  Freedom is one of our big words Americans value.  The First Amendment to the Constitution lists five basic freedoms guaranteed to all Americans.  Can you list them?

First Amendment protects the right of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition.  Actually, the second amendment protects the right to carry arms.

It is in the Declaration of Independence signed on July 4th that penned those famous words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Prayer:  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight my Rock and my Redeemer!

SERMON 

If we were to share some “high” and “low” moments as we look at the life of Jesus seen through the eyes of Mark, certainly the last two Sundays have been highs.  Jesus, calmed a storm on the sea of Galilee. Jesus had been asleep in the disciples’ boat when the disciples had cried,  “Don’t you care that we drown?”  He did care and he calmed the sea.  Last week he healed two women, well, a girl and an elderly lady, who were at the point of death.  Jairus had received the news that his daughter had died but Jesus responded, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”  Mark has built our expectations.  Our text continues and we read that Jesus next walks into his hometown, Nazareth, and into the synagogue and teaches.  But Jesus did not receive the conquering hero welcome.  He was not hoisted onto shoulders and cheered.  Something blocked his power to care and their faith in him.

“And they took offense at him.”

Today we as American Christians live in tension. Last Thursday we celebrated Independence Day, July 4th, and honored the signing of the Declaration of Independence that declared our separation from Great Britain. Every year we celebrate our freedoms and our right to not be bossed around by a distant authority.  But today’s Gospel text seems to contradict independence cries and calls us to the reality of a life of faith, dependence on a God, whom many experience as distant and unseen, just like King George III back in the day.  While we, as Christians, celebrate independence in our country, we also come here today to acknowledge our total dependence on our God.

 We read that Jesus, after the amazing miracles, returned to his hometown but there were no parades, no fireworks, no parties, and no holiday.  It would seem the hometown folks were willing to reject Jesus. What was the problem?  Their past experience with Jesus and their expectations of what a Messiah would look like stood in the way.  They knew Jesus as a carpenter, son of Mary, an illegitimate child.  He did not fit their idea of a Messiah.  Only a few begged him for help.   Perhaps we like the people of Nazareth have some blinder that blocks our faith and that we need to remove.

The people of Nazareth may well have remembered the circumstances around Jesus’ birth.  We think of beautiful creche scenes but they may well have thought about all the questions being gossiped when Mary became pregnant.  Jesus is called the son of Mary and Joseph is conspicuously missing.  I wonder if King George III did not also scorn the pilgrims who rejected his authority and who had formed a new identity in the new world.  Perhaps he questioned how they could have any understanding of government and how could they question his kingly authority from way over in the New World.  I would guess that King George III felt the people in the New World had forgotten who they were and were rejecting their roots and him! 

      Jesus, the carpenter, the son of Mary, returned home but the town-folks closed their hearts to his “wisdom” and power.  Jesus had grown up and become a known healer and teacher but they could not let go of the past.  Overcoming our past stereotypes, modifying the way we have always experienced someone  is more than challenging.  It is sometimes impossible to break down those walls.  Nazareth was unable to hear Jesus.  King George III was unable to work with the Colonies.  In both cases, leaders of both sides thought they knew “the other” based on old experiences. 

      We might ask ourselves, “How are we closed to new works of the Holy Spirit?”  Is our faith the same as when we finished confirmation — are we growing in our relationship with God?  Are we locked in the past or are we walking into the future?  Often we have ideas on how we think God ought to be handling situations and miss seeing how he is working.

      This text today warns us about becoming inflexible in our relationship with God.  We are also reminded today by our own historical equivalent.  The pilgrims and England grew further and further apart.  The relationship with England needed to transform and grow as the pilgrims transformed and grew in their new reality in the new world.  The colonies came to the point of fighting for independence as they demanded adulthood.  Ouch.  We are in the same danger spiritually as we can grow socially, economically, or physically and outgrow confirmation vows.  We can deceive ourselves into thinking we no longer need Jesus.  It is true.  We don’t need childhood faith; we need adult faith.  Jesus is not the little babe in the manger and we are no longer children in the Christmas play.  Pentecost is talking about that growth.  Clinging to the past can blind us to our future.

“Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, 

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

    Jesus tries to revise the homefolk’s understanding.  He is not the illegitimate son of Mary but is actually walking in the steps of the Prophets of the Old Testament.  Prophets arose in Israel with a message from God that confronted culture and called for a return to God.  That is different from a return to religion.  Prophets call people back to relationship with God and away from empty rituals.  Just going to church achieves nothing if our hearts are not right with God.  Jesus “could do no deed of power there.”  Being frozen in the past blocked the faith to allow Jesus to work in the present. Relationship with God is a partnership.  We are not his drones.  In the same way, King George III clung to old ideas about government and was unable to forge a new working relationship with his new colonies.  War became inevitable.  Spiritual struggles are inevitable as we outgrow old disciplines that don’t serve us any more.  Hopefully as we mature our faith matures. 

      Historically the colonies called the result of that war “independence.”  For the people of Nazareth, the outcome of the lack of faith was that Jesus could only do a few miracles.  They rejected this grownup Jesus and faith in him that acknowledges dependence on him.  And here the analogy breaks down.  We do not know what would have happened if the colonies had stayed a protectorate of England.  It was a changing point in the history of the world.  When we choose dependence on God, we change our history and the history of the world changes. Faith connects us to God and when we declare independence, we become disconnected from our power source.

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

 and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 

      The followers of Jesus were watching all this take place.  They saw the truth that not all people will want to listen to Jesus and not all sharing ends in faith and trust in Jesus.  Not all people will choose to be part of the kingdom of heaven. The disciples also see that the rejection of Jesus by his hometown people does not stop Jesus from sharing.  Jesus is not trying to build popularity but is trying to build a kingdom.  I suspect there is a lesson here for those of us who like to be liked.   Popularity and success are not necessarily good criteria of whether we are in God’s will.  We tend to think that the big popular churches have the right message with the right programs and indeed that may help many but there is also a place for the small church. People in Nazareth were not open to  Jesus but Jesus did not quit but moved on to the surrounding villages and sent his disciples out to share.

     The colonies did not want to stay connected to England.  War and soldiers could not resolve that split.  Sometimes we need to honor that it is not the right time nor the right place and perhaps we are not the right person to be sharing truth with another.  It does not mean we must stop loving, stop reaching out, or stop praying for those resistant to the message of Christ.  It makes me think of our saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.”  I may not be the person who can reach my child as the child struggles with my authority and faith but my sister, her aunt might, or a person at church. Jesus may not be accepted in his hometown but perhaps a disciple would be listened to. 

       Jesus then moved on to the surrounding villages teaching and did not waste emotional energy on this rejection, as painful as it may have been.  We see a shift in Jesus’ approach now.  Jesus starts sending out the disciples two by two.  Jesus now is teaching his disciples to disciple!  They are sent out, not as independent from him, but as his representatives, dependent on him and each other.  We are making a subtle shift today from stories that involve Jesus as a key figure to a community that represents him.  God is laying the seeds for the Book of Acts.  

Jesus gives the disciples authority over unclean spirits and tells them not to worry about provisions for the journey.  The colonies too came to a point where they stopped trying to develop relationship with England for their needs and stepped into their future.  They would no longer be tied to England.  Of course we see ourselves as the good guys and identify with the disciples and the colonies.  That may be stretching this analogy too far but Jesus changes his approach and the colonies change their approach.  They gradually become willing to face the challenges before them. Perhaps this is not spiritual truth but the colonists chose to forge a new future.  As we accept our dependence on Jesus we choose to forge a future shaped by that relationship. The colonies would forge a nation but the disciples would forge a church eventually. And we are charged to continue reaching out beyond our comfort zone, using new skills and being the means of growing the Kingdom of Heaven.

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

    Our text this morning now becomes a lesson about dependence, not independence.  Faith grows when we depend on God.  I do not think that means we should all stop working and go door to door sharing the Gospel.  For us I think dependence on God means not needing to worry about my daily needs because God will provide.  It speaks to the priorities of our values.  Jesus sends the disciples out with instructions about not worrying about shoes, cloaks, food and money.  They are not to worry if they are rejected.  This is easier said than done for us.  We love our “stuff” and we worry about our security.  All we need to do is listen to commercials about insurance for all the unpredictable events of life!  Finding the emotional balance between independence and dependence is a continual battle. We need wisdom to find the right balance.

      In the Sermon on the Mount, the example of the lilies of the valley that neither toil nor work but are clothed in glory, encourages us.  Worry cannot add a minute to our lives for our lives are in God’s hands.  We can depend on God.  Likewise, when people reject us or our faith we can shake the dust from our feet and move on because our security does not depend on their approval of us.  Our dependency on God changes our whole approach to life and our relationships.  That does not mean we can be arrogant and not care about people but it does mean our security is in God and our concerns for the other.  We are dependent on him for our life and our security.

      So where does this leave us today?  We celebrate our independence and freedoms as Americans and we can thank God for the many blessing we have from living in the United States.  We celebrate our dependence as Christians on a God who is trustworthy and aware of our needs.  We are not bound to unfair laws imposed by authorities that do not know us and respect us, at least theoretically.  We are bound to a God who travels with us unseen but caring.  May we never forget that we are dependent on the God who incarnated, who walked in our shoes and who knows our world and our weaknesses and challenges.  God is not sitting across an ocean or far away up in the heavenlies. He is present and he sees us.  God is not working for the economic profit of his empire but for the good of his church.   We must never think we can be independent of his love, his guidance, and his care.  Our country celebrated independence today but our church celebrates a God we can depend on.  We are dependent and proud of it!  

Let the people of God say, “AMEN.”

by Maranatha Singers

Maranatha Singers – Unto Thee O Lord [with lyrics]

This has been a rocky week for some of us.  Thursday many celebrated July 4th and Independence Day while others braced for Hurricane  Beryl and still others sweltered under extreme heat conditions.  We won’t mention those racking their brains trying to sort their thoughts on who should run for which party in the elections this Fall.  Independence seems like a dream as we are tossed and turned by the challenges of life.  Tomorrow we will look at a Gospel text.  Some will openly reject Jesus while others will be cured of demons and illness.  With all the of independence politically we still bow our heads and cry to God for help.  We are dependent on his aide.  So this Maranatha song seems appropriate for now.  Unto thee O Lord….we turn our eyes and lift our hands.

10 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,  so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.

3 Even as fools walk along the road, they lack senseand show everyone how stupid they are.

Ecclesiastes 10:1-3

The Teacher now uses some images to talk about wisdom that are not so familiar.  I am guessing not many of us have had perfume where flies get stuck, die and decay.  Perhaps honey would be our equivalent.  When we lived in a famine relief camp with people living in cardboard houses, manure piles from animal dung piled around the village, and no local refrigeration, flies were a continual nuisance.  The leg of cow hung in the butcher’s shop and we bought meat without bone or with bone.  Both had flies.  We tried hanging a sticky tape from the ceiling in the kitchen over our pet turtle and flies were its protein.  My take-away is that flies alert the observer that there is possible contamination.

Likewise we are told to walk or ride our bicycle facing traffic.  When I see someone walking in the same direction as my car is moving and if the person is in my lane, or even worse weaving as the person walks, or walking in a group, I am immediately aware that they are not paying attention to me coming up behind.  Even as with the flies, I slow down and think twice before I act – buy food or drive past.

So how do we contaminate our faith and how do we become careless and get distracted as we walk through our lives?  Perhaps one answer is that flies do not belong in perfume and pedestrians do not belong walking in the same lane as cars.  Both are out of place.  Let us ask the Holy Spirit to shine its flashlight on our lives and consciences and show us if there are any places in our life where we are contaminating or compromising our faith walk or if there are ways we are getting sloppy in our spiritual disciplines.  Perhaps we need to pull up our socks.  Lord, speak to me as I wait and listen.  

13-15 One day as I was observing how wisdom fares on this earth, I saw something that made me sit up and take notice. There was a small town with only a few people in it. A strong king came and mounted an attack, building trenches and attack posts around it. There was a poor but wise man in that town whose wisdom saved the town, but he was promptly forgotten. (He was only a poor man, after all.)

16 All the same, I still say that wisdom is better than muscle, even though the wise poor man was treated with contempt and soon forgotten.

17 The quiet words of the wise are more effective
Than the ranting of a king of fools.

18 Wisdom is better than warheads,
But one hothead can ruin the good earth.

Ecclesiastes 9:13-18 (The Message)

These verses remind me of the story found in 2 Samuel 20.  After King David returns from the attempted coup by his son Absolum, he has to deal with Sheba, son of Bikri, who leads a rebellion against David.  Sheba runs and hides in a town that is attacked by Joab leading David’s army.  A small town is besieged by an army.  A wise woman goes to the wall of the town and calls for Joab, declare’s the town’s loyalty to David and asks what must be done.  Joab says they are only after Sheba.  The next morning the head of Sheba is thrown down to the army and the town is saved.  The woman is only remembered as “a wise woman.”

Many times we face what seems to be a big problem that is overwhelming us.  We are overwhelmed with waves of doubt and visions of all the terrible repercussions that might happen.  At those times it often helps to find a faithful friend whom you consider wise, to sit and discuss your dilemma with. .Take time to breath, pray, and talk with a friend to figure out the key issue in the midst of the dilemma.  Finding that key detail helps us cope with the bigger picture.  The Teacher advocate wisdom rather than trying to muscle our way out of a big problem in our own power.

Today we celebrate July 4th when we signed the Declaration of Independence.  This is certainly an example of a small group standing up to the larger, more powerful.  I am not prepared to say if that was wisdom but it certainly changed the history for us.  Lord, give us the wisdom we need for the battles we fight.

“Though one may be overpowered, 

two can defend themselves. 

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.  

(Ecclesiastes 4:12)”

11 I have seen something else under the sun:

The race is not to the swift
    or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
    or wealth to the brilliant
    or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.

12 Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:

As fish are caught in a cruel net,
    or birds are taken in a snare,
so people are trapped by evil times
    that fall unexpectedly upon them.

Ecclesiastes 9:11-12

How interesting that we come onto these verses right now when all the pretrials for the Olympics are being played on social media. The best of the best compete against each other and we think we know who the favored winner is but there is always a chance that someone has a bad day.  The judges don’t always score the way we think.  The movie “Cool Runnings” featuring the Jamaican bobsled team is great fun.  We cheer for the underdog.

The Teacher goes on to point out other “twists of fate.”  A clever general may win a battle over a stronger opponent.  The recession saw many college grads without work.  Education no longer guarantees a better paying job.  Talent and trade skills are also good jobs.  Life is just not always predictable.  One of the idioms I like is when we talk about “going down a rabbit hole” that calls to mind Alice falling down a rabbit hole that leads her to an unexpected place.  We might talk about going on “a wild goose chase.”  Sometimes we end up in places we had not planned on.

The Biblical story that we learned about as children is David and Goliath.  Goliath thinks he is the best warrior and challenges the army of Saul to send out someone to decide the battle by those two fighting. The army of the winner will serve the country of the other.   Goliath is 7 feet tall and is the apparent stronger.  Saul’s army is terrified.   David comes in from tending the sheep and offers to fight.  With his sling shot and five smooth stones he falls the giant.  But what we remember is his cry, 

“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 1 Samuel 17:45”

As we deal with the unpredictability in the midst of life’s battles, it is a great comfort that we have an unseen Savior fighting with us.  Blessings as you tackle your challenges today.

10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

Ecclesiastes 9:10

Verses 7-9 in chapter 9 of Ecclessiastes summarizes the thinking of the Teacher about the goodness of life.  Epicurus, the Greek philosopher, had a very similar philosophy about life.  Sometimes we call it hedonism.  Hedonism is the theory that seeking pleasure and satisfaction of our desires is the highest good and goal of human life.  I note there are some differences in the two theories.

  The Teacher is not advocating chasing pleasure as much as doing “whatever” you might be called to do, the task in front of you.  So teaching young minds and forming them is as important as teaching Bible school.  The mailman who faithfully delivers the mail each day or the person serving meals to people rushing off to work are both important.  Finding the joy and pleasure in our daily   tasks is not the same as chasing my desires and serving self.  The Teacher is focused on serving others and Hedonism is focused on self.  The Teacher also sets his advice opposite death when we will no longer be working, he reasons.

So let’s think of a few things that will face us today.  Perhaps divide the paper in half and think of three tasks you look forward to and three tasks that will be more like challenging.  Try to think of one way you could tackle each item on the challenging list with a more positive attitude.  Lord, help us to see the challenges facing us today as scenarios you will be walking through with us and as opportunities to do our best.  May we not be found just enduring life but may we tackle our tasks with all our might and with your help.

“Even a live dog is better than a dead lion.”

Ecclesiastes 9: 4

We start the ninth chapter of Ecclesiastes today and the writer, “the Teacher, whom many think is King Solomon, son of King David, seems to be stepping back for focus.  What has he discovered as he has applied his wisdom to understand life?  It would seem logical that the “good guys” should be rewarded for their goodness and the “bad guys” should suffer trouble.  That’s the way we think God should act and it would be a good indicator of knowing we are doing life right.  But God’s sun shines on the good and the bad.  The righteous suffer with the foolish and the foolish may well be successful in their folly.  There is a kind of underlying equality that unsettles us.  We cannot guarantee tomorrow.  Not only can we not guarantee tomorrow, we will all die eventually.  He concludes with a proverb, “even a live dog is better than a dead lion.”

As Americans, we might think of a dog as some cute little house pet that is loved, fed, and trained.  I suspect the Teacher was thinking of dogs who at that time were more scavengers, the ones that licked the wounds of Lazarus who sat begging for scraps at the gate of the rich man.  Lions on the other hand were symbols of  regal authority.  We think of lions as “king of the jungle.”  Even the concrete jungle.  The Teacher decides that, “anyone who is among the living has hope. v.4”. And as far as he knew, death was the end of the road and the end of hope.  All the lion had worked for will be evaluated by history but the dog can hope that its life will change.  Perhaps someone will throw it a scap.

So what does hope mean to us?  That is a great question right now as we debrief the Presidential debates from last week and as we celebrate July 4th this week, reflect on history, and ponder the freedom people fought for.  What is the hope that sustains you during rough times?  See if you can put some flesh on it with an acrostic.

H is for _____

O is for _____

P is for _____

E is for _____

Romans 5: 3-5 shares,   “3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings,because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the “Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”  Lord, help us persevere in hard times that we might develop character and be filled with hope.

First Reading: Lamentations 3:22-33

 22The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;

 23they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

 24“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

 25The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.

 26It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

 27It is good for one to bear the yoke in youth,

 28to sit alone in silence when the Lord has imposed it,

 29to put one’s mouth to the dust (there may yet be hope),

 30to give one’s cheek to the smiter, and be filled with insults.

 31For the Lord will not reject forever.

 32Although he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;

 33for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone.

Psalm: Psalm 30

I will exalt you, O Lord, because you have lifted me up. (Ps. 30:1)

 1I will exalt you, O Lord, because you have lifted me up

  and have not let my enemies triumph over me.

 2O Lord my God, I cried out to you, and you restored me to health.

 3You brought me up, O Lord, from the dead; you restored my life as I was going down to the grave.

 4Sing praise to the Lord, all you faithful; give thanks in holy remembrance. 

 5God’s wrath is short; God’s favor lasts a lifetime.

Weeping spends the night, but joy comes in the morning.

 6While I felt secure, I said, “I shall never be disturbed.

 7You, Lord, with your favor, made me as strong as the mountains.”

  Then you hid your face, and I was filled with fear.

 8I cried to you, O Lord; I pleaded with my Lord, saying,

 9“What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit?

  Will the dust praise you or declare your faithfulness?

 10Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me; O Lord, be my helper.” 

 11You have turned my wailing into dancing;

  you have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.

 12Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing;

  O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever. 

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15

7Now 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.

 8I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. 9For 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. 10And 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—11now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. 12For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have. 13I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between 14your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. 15As 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

21When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. 22Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 23and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” 24So he went with him.

  And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. 25Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. 26She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. 27She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” 29Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” 31And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32He looked all around to see who had done it. 33But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

 35While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” 36But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. 38When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” 42And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. 43He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  In Mark 8 the apostle Mark tells us of a group of people who brought their blind friend to Jesus to touch.  Jesus took the man outside the village and spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him.  He touched him.  The man could see people but they looked like trees walking.  Jesus touched the man’s eyes again and they were opened and his vision restored. Many of us struggle with wearing glasses or decreasing vision as we age.  How does vision impact our ability to drive safely?

Let us pray:  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

Last Sunday Jesus and the disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee by night and got caught in a storm.  The disciples woke Jesus who was asleep in their boat, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”  That question hangs in the air for all of chapter 5 of Mark.  Let’s be honest, even we are prone to ask Jesus in times of crisis, “Lord, don’t you care?”  Somehow we think he is asleep in the boat of our life.  With a word, he calmed the storm but they still had to row to shore.  The disciples were still catching their breath when they reached the other side and immediately encountered a man possessed by a Legion of demons.  Some days are like that.  While we are reeling from a surprise bill we had forgotten in our budgeting of our finances, we get the news that another major challenge is facing us.  We feel like “the chosen people ” but wishing God would choose someone else for a trial.  My mother used to say that bad news comes in threes.  After two gasps, I start anticipating the third.  I sometimes wonder if Satan is talking with God as in the first chapter of Job, “But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” In retrospect I realize I have taken my focus off God and have focused on how I would cope with one more thing.

 Today’s text is something like that.  Mark has moved from the challenge of a storm to a new level of challenge.  A 12 year old girl and a woman are sick, perhaps dying.  Whom will Jesus deal with? The text is moving closer to home, more personal.  Yes, we know about storms but when problems touch those we love, God has our attention.  We know about illness and medical problems the system can’t cure.  Stop for a moment and think if there is someone you know and care about who is facing a serious, life threatening diagnosis.  Thanks to FaceBook, cell phones and TV we are aware of many who face terrible terminal diagnoses. 

 “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come…”

      Our text this morning speaks of two “daughters,” two children of God, two people at the point of death.  Does it matter if they are male or female? I doubt it.  Gender is not the focus of our text.  I do note though that Jairus is a leader in the synagogue.  Jesus did not just deal with outcasts but he cared about all people. Jairus valued his daughter enough to go against Jewish leadership and seek help from Jesus, the healer.  I gather that Jairus was desperate.  His little daughter is 12 years old, enfolded in a loving family, valued, and cared for.  He pleads for her life.

Meanwhile another “daughter” from the opposite end of the social spectrum approached Jesus.  Jesus also calls her “daughter.”   She too is a daughter of Abraham but is invisible and seemingly has no man to speak for her. She has been sick for 12 years.  She is a social outcast as her continued bleeding made her “untouchable.”  Her resources are spent and I am guessing her social capital is spent too.  She dare not touch Jesus but only hopes to touch the hem of his cloak.

Where were you in 2012?  Now imagine that you had not experienced a human touch or hug up to today.  That is a kind of starvation that most of us do not know.  That is the kind of starvation that girls sold into human trafficking and people caught in addictions might know.  It is the objectification of your body so that you are only touched to satisfy someone else’s desire.  This second daughter is as close to death as the daughter of Jairus who fights illness in a loving environment.

      Let me repeat, Jesus addresses the bleeding woman as “daughter.”  In her helplessness, she actually is not alone, and it would seem that God has interceded for her.  Power has flowed from Jesus, not because of a plea like Jairus’ but because he knows and sees this woman in her social invisibility, in her helplessness, and God’s power flows out to her. Both women, the young and the old, are dying, in fact are “at the point of death.” One is embedded in a loving family and one is “untouchable.”

Few of us realize how close we are to death in all its forms. 

      The healing of the elder woman is described as “power has gone forth from Jesus.”  No mud is used as with the blind man. Jesus does not spit on her or touch her. No word of command is given as with the guy brought by his friends and lowered through the ceiling. No direct confrontation as with the wind and waves of last week.  God’s power flows from Jesus, even when Jesus doesn’t seem to be paying attention.  Sometimes he seems to be asleep in our boat or busy with important people like Jairus or focused on Ukraine or the Middle East, but he is aware of all that is going on.

Jesus knows what has happened but he also knows the woman is not totally healed. She is like the blind man who sees people walking like trees. She may be physically healed but is still socially invisible and condemned.  Jesus draws this shamed woman into speech and draws her back from social death into social life.  “Who touched me?”  Jesus asked and the woman spoke and became alive socially.  The woman became visible and important as Jesus called her forward.  It is good that we believe in the work God is doing in our lives but as we share our experiences something else happens.  But that is another sermon.

      Jairus’ daughter, on the other hand, is very visible, very visibly dead to all the people in the house.  They are wailing and weeping.  Jesus sends them away and has his disciples and the mother and father go into the room of their dead daughter.  Please note that the mother is included and not treated as a second-class citizen even though her husband is socially important.  Jesus speaks, “Little girl, get up!” and she does.

      Mark has gone from parables and the teachings of Jesus that the religious leaders question to experiences that demonstrate the reality of the power of Jesus and the presence of the kingdom of heaven in our midst.  Jesus is pushing the envelope of our understanding of the implication of the presence of God in our world.  God is not just up in heaven waiting for us to arrive.  We are not the victims of fate, of bad luck, of bad karma nor as Christians can evil touch us without God’s presence and awareness.  As Christians we are not alone in the midst of our trials. Our Savior, God, has power.  He is not just a teacher to be obeyed and followed.  He is God who reaches into our lives and circumstances and walks with us. Jesus walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death.

      Whether we have someone to stand with us in prayer as with Jairus’ daughter or whether we feel alone and abandoned by others as with the older woman, we have the God of the universe watching and caring for us.  Yes, God does not resolve all illness at the point of death by calling the person back from the brink but that is the truth about life.   For this sermon I want to affirm that we believe in a God who sees our plight and can act without an intermediary like Jairus.  Likewise whether in crisis illness or long drawn out draining circumstances, we are all at the point of death and on God’s radar screen.

“…lay your hands on her…”

         “Come and lay your hands on her” is Jairus’ plea.  We Lutherans might be a bit challenged here.  We use laying on of hands for rituals like baptisms and ordinations.  The calling together of the elders to lay hands on the sick is probably considered more a spiritual disciple Pentecostals practice that we don’t talk about too much.  In any case, I do think we are looking at the power of prayer.  Remember we are at the beginning of Mark and so Jairus probably did not acknowledge Jesus as God but he did know Old Testament stories of his faith tradition about the power of prayer to heal.  The Old Testament is full of God’s prophets healing the sick. 

      Elijah healed the widow of Zarephath’s son who died.

      Elisha healed the Shunaminte’s son who died.

      Naaman was healed of leprosy.

      The Israelites were healed by looking at the snake on the pole.

Prophets of God often healed people and so Jairus pleads, “Come.”  

      I note that this request is a bit open ended.  He wants his daughter to live and he looks to God for how that might look after the healing.  Faith seems to be a key element as Jesus commands them to keep believing.  “Don’t fear but believe.” I also note the faith of the little girl, unlike the older woman, is not an issue.  This text speaks to the importance of holding others in prayer.  James chapter 5 also speaks of calling the elders together to pray for the sick but James also links it with confession of sin.

      God’s presence makes a difference in any dilemma.  His presence does not guarantee the outcome we want but we call on him to enter the process of healing and often that calms our fear and gives faith room to breathe.  I do not know what situation is challenging your faith today, but may we take a moment and bow our heads and silently pray, “Come Lord Jesus!  Lay your hands on my life.  I leave it in your hands.”

“…so that she may be made well, and live.”

      Jairus continues, “so that she may be made well, and live.”  Jesus called the older woman out of invisibility, out of rejection, out of her illness and back into society and relationship.  I suspect that “living” is more than just being alive.  “Wellness” is more than the absence of disease.  The desire of Jairus’ heart for his daughter is here expressed.  He wants her to be well and live.  The elder woman is alive but she is not living.  She is somehow only existing.  The apostle John in John 10:10 quotes Jesus as saying, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”  Wellness is more than the absence of disease, it is maximizing our total potential as we are able.  I receive wellness checks for diabetes, not because it is out of control but to help me keep it in control.  Silver Sneakers gives us the privilege of exercising to stay well.  Jairus’ plea for his daughter is that she will be “well”, maximizing her life potential as she is able and that she will “live,” not just be alive.

So, let’s summarize.  All of us are somehow near death. We are all aging and our vision is not as good as when we were kids. We might be like our healed blind man seeing people walking like trees.  We just don’t know what tomorrow or the next hour will bring.  We all need Jesus to come and lay his hands on us that we might be well and ”live.”  That was Jairus’ request.  Perhaps you are like Jairus and have the confidence or desperation to go right up to Jesus and ask.  It may not be your daughter dying but we all have a friend who needs God’s help.  But then again you might be like the older woman who thought, if only I can get close enough to touch his clothes.  She would have been happy to see people walking like trees…but Jesus was not. He wanted her healed physically and socially. She did not believe anyone would care enough to intercede for her. But Jesus did. Bethany stands like Jairus, bringing the needs of our friends, our family and our world to the Lord in prayer.  But then sometimes Bethany is like the older woman, thinking if we can only be close enough to touch the hem of his gown, perhaps a miracle will happen.  It’s easy to think God is asleep in our boat or busy with important issues.  The lives of all at Bethany are seen by God and God cares.  Jesus’ word calmed the chaos of the seas and winds last week and this week his touch restores to wellness and life.  May we be faithful as we pray for the seen and unseen crises surrounding us.  When we cry, “Lord, don’t you care?” Let us remember he said,  “Do not fear, only believe.” 

Let the people of God say, “Amen!”

I Will Praise You Lord For You Have Rescued Me Psalm 30

Last Sunday our Gospel texts shared about the disciples waking Jesus asleep in their boat in the midst of a storm they thought would kill them all.  This Sunday, tomorrow, we will read about two women at the point of death, a 12 year old girl whose father Jairus pleads with Jesus to come, and an older woman who has been bleeding for 12 years, is untouchable, and has no one to plead her case.  Jesus, seeming asleep in the first reading, seeming involved with the known problems confronting people, still sees the older woman and heals her.  Our Psalm reading appropriately talks about the psalmist’s response of praise.  Whether it is the social protests in Kenya, the problems in Bolivia, the Presidential debates – God is there and with us in our challenges.  He sees and cares even when we are unsure of his awareness.  Thank you, Lord.  Have mercy on those in the grips of fear.

14 There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. 15 So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.

16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night— 17 then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.

Ecclesiastes 8:14-17

One of the very impacting events in my life was as a young single, hitchhiking through Europe, visiting sites I had only read about in books.  I was running from a broken heart feeling betrayed by someone I thought I loved and facing a future that was yet to unfold.  One of the places I visited was the Holocaust encampment at Dachau and a museum attempting to answer the question, “How could this have happened?”  Evil seemed to have run havoc for years and how many innocent people cruelly lost their lives as victims of hate, victims of ignorance, and victims of the government that sent them to war.  It was a lose-lose time.  It is hard to see any good coming out of hate and war.  The Teacher sums it up with the word, “meaningless” in v. 14 of chapter 8 of Ecclesiastes.  We go through events when we feel like life has flip flopped and makes no sense.  A child dies while an elder holds on to life racked with pain and deterioration.  Life does not make sense.  Our sense of justice is that good guys should be rewarded and bad guys should be punished.

The Teacher concludes that enjoying each day, seeing its beauty and giftedness is the best way to live.  There is always someone else who seems to have more goodies of life than ourselves and then we wonder if somehow they are better than us. Those rabbit holes are easy to slide down and we end up in depression, questioning our value.  I have experienced great love and laughter in famine relief camps where we shared our corn and beans and I have also felt the emptiness of being present with glittery crowds and feeling invisible.

So the question worth meditating on today might be to ask ourselves what brings us “enjoyment” and secondly whom might we bless today with love.  Take a moment and list as many memories as you can of times that have brought you joy.  Thank God for those people and those times.  Lord, help us to be a blessing to someone else today.