July 12, 2015
Pentecost 7
Psalm 130
Mark 5:21-43
(prayer)
In our society, we are seldom of one
mind - I know when I scroll down my facebook wall, even among people I identify
as ‘friends’, our opinions vary.
In some cases, it is obvious to me that some of my (so-called cyber
friends) have worldviews that seem to be markedly different from mine. That’s
the diversity of our human experience in a nutshell.
//
Sometimes, when we find ‘our’ particular way of looking at things is not being honoured
by those in power, we can become part of a protest. And sometimes, these small protests events
can blossom into a movement - sometimes, they eventually become new societal
norms.
//
As United Church people, we are part of
a large branch of Christianity called Protestantism - it grew out of a
realization in the western European church in the 16th century that
not all church leaders viewed authority the same way. Prior to the 1500s, virtually all Christians
in western Europe recognized the authority of the Bishop of Rome - a as leader
of the Church. Papal authority was
paramount in terms of theology, scriptural interpretations, the role of clergy,
etc.
The Protestant movement was directly
influenced by the fact that less than 100 years early, Johannes Gutenberg
invented the printing press. Along with
that, the 15th century saw a rise in nationalism in western
Europe. Nationalism in areas like
Germany and Gaul/France and England had people challenge the notion that
leaders in Italy should govern their affairs - even in the church. When you add to that the increased literacy
rates that more books created and the fact that bibles were being translated
into languages other than Latin or Greek, A religious “protest”
movement (Protestantism) was an obvious outcome.
//
//
I’m sure most of you were watching the news over the last
several weeks from South Carolina. After
Dylan Roof chose to kill nine people in the Emanuel Church in Charleston based
on the colour of their skin - there have been colliding worldviews over the
impact of displaying the Confederate Battle Flag at the SC State Capital - a
flag which, regardless of its history from 150 years ago, is the chosen flag of
identity of modern white supremacists.
I suspect that most of you were like
me: amazed at how quickly this
protest movement changed the societal norm.
The momentum was simply too great - the time was right and change
emerged.
//
I’ve quoted Margaret Mead before, but her words bear repeating
again: Never
doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the
world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
//
It doesn’t always work that way.
So many of us thought that when 20 six and seven year olds were killed
in Sandy Hook School in 2012 that common
sense gun laws would become the norm in the US. That didn’t happen.
In Canada, the
Idle No More Movement and the wide publicity of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission, have not been enough to convince the powers that be that the large
number of missing and murdered aboriginal women deserves a closer
examination.
In fact, if
there was a July photo that I saw trending almost as much as the flag coming
down in SC, it was of Aboriginal Affairs Minister, Bernard Valcourt sitting as everyone around him gave a
standing ovation when Justice Murray Sinclair called for a National Inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women.
I could go on... Bill Cosby and the
impact of his own admissions in court documents; Taylor Swift getting Apple
music to change their minds of paying artists when their music is streamed.
Public opinion is often challenged by
the voices of protest.
//
//
Our gospel reading today from Mark
chapter five is a classic Marken Sandwich.
Those of you who have taken some bible studies or confirmation classes
with me might recall that (in the gospel of Mark) several times, the author
uses a writing technique of combining stories to emphasize a wider them.
As with Mark 5, the pattern is to start
one story - interrupt it in the middle to tell a different story - and then go
back and finish story number one.
Today, Mark tells us about Jesus being
asked to heal Jairus’ 12 year old dying daughter and about a
bleeding women who sneaks up to Jesus in a crowd and tries to secretly touch
his robe as he walked by.
Mark’s sandwich in this case is based on a chronogical sequence
of events: Jairus invites Jesus to come
to his house to see his daughter - on the way there, the woman touches Jesus
creating a stir (even delaying Jesus’
rush to see the sick girl) - finally after talking with and healing the woman,
Jesus goes to visit the girl - healing her beyond anyone’s expectations.
//
Jairus is
described as a leader of the local synagogue.
It is unclear (from the text) whether this was a town where Jesus spent
a lot of time or whether it was one of various villages, he visited around the
Sea of Galilee. Earlier in chapter five,
it had said that Jesus had crossed to the other side of the sea to Gerasenes (south east part of sea); Capernaum (where
Jesus met Simon Peter) is on the north shore).
In verse 21 (where today’s passage starts), it says they crossed the sea
again, but it doesn’t say if they were back in Capernaum or if this was a new
mission field.
Either
way, Jairus was an important, respected local figure who was probably used to
getting what he asked for in a timely manner.
You
can see the obviousness of the conflict that arises when Jesus stops his walk
to Jairus’ house to talk to the woman in the crowd. She is a social outcast. Hebrew laws dictated that while a woman was
experiencing her menstrual cycle, she was considered ritually unclean. Leviticus chapter 15, verse 19 and 20 read: When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of
her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be
unclean till evening. Everything also on
which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean, and everything
on which she sits shall be unclean.
Let’s
set aside the sexists issue of why a natural (read: god-given) aspect of
womanhood should be viewed as impure in the first place and accept that for one
week every month month, those who were concerned with ritual impurity would
have to avoid menstruating women. And
women on their cycle would be
expected to restrict their public involvements.
But
the woman in Mark five had a serious medical condition that resulted in her
having pretty much constant menstrual bleeding - a pattern that had persisted
for a dozen years. She has had to spend
more than a decade avoiding contact and isolating herself. We can only guess, but I suspect that she had
literally on the edges of her society for 12 years.
//
Jairus,
as a leader in the synagogue was very aware of his ritual purity - on a normal
day, he would have avoided the unnamed women in the middle of today’s Marken
sandwich.
But
she no longer wants to be ignored. She
tried to do it quietly so no one would notice, but Jesus noticed and he chose
NOT to ignore her - even though the fact that the healing of Jairus’ daughter
was being threatened by this known outcast must have shocked the crowd. In everyone's eyes, her touching Jesus made
him ‘unclean’ - how could be go into the synagogues leader like that!?
But
the societal norm was challenged: the
law said that the touch was to transfer impurity - but, with Jesus, there was a
reverse transfer - the woman was healed.
Regardless of whether her touching of Jesus made him unclean, that same
touch, cleansed her! "Go in peace; know you are healed"
This
act of Jesus did more than heal her ailment, it ended a dozen years of
isolation. The woman could now be a
fuller member of her community - she would no longer be an untouchable.
This
was a healing with depth.
//
As
we come back to the top slice of bread in this Market sandwich, while Jesus is
still talking with the woman, word comes from Jairus' house: his daughter has
died.
//
Have
you seen the Will Smith movie, "I, Robot"? Part of the back story is that Will Smith
plays a police officer who was involved in a car accident that sent his and
another car into the river. A robot came
to the rescue and chose to save Will Smith and not the young girl in the other
car. The robot had calculated that Will
Smith had a 45% chance of survival and the child had only an 11% chance and so
it ignored her. "Eleven percent is
more than enough. A human being would
have known that."
//
The
text doesn't give us details, but I am sure that there were those in the crowd
that were upset with Jesus for wasting time on the outcast woman, when his
priority should have been the leader's child.
//
By
the time Jesus and the crowd arrive at the house, the customary mourning rituals
had begun.
The
societal norms dictated that the time for vigil had ended and the time of
mourning had begun. But Jesus had more
healing to offer and he would not be ignored.
He sent the mourners outside - the text tells us that they broke
character and laughed at Jesus when he claimed that the child could still be
woken up.
In
a contrast to the very public healing display on the street with the bleeding
woman, only Jesus, his disciples and the girl's parents were present this
time. The deep loss of Jairus and is
wife were not to be ignored either.
"Talia
Cum"
"Little
girl. Get up."
And
she did. No doubt to the amazement and
joy of her parents.
Jesus'
next concern was for the child - she was given something to eat.
//
//
What
lessons can we glean from Jesus' actions and choices?
Well,
he refused to play favorites.
He
was not going to let power, or status, or age, or any factor deter him from
helping the woman in the street.
Jesus
was not so set in his agenda for the day that he would ignore a spontaneous
opportunity.
He
could have said: I'm too busy right now.
Maybe later.
He
could have said: Jairus is a very important person - he deserves immediate
attention.
But
part of the nature of Jesus in this story is that he appreciates the grace that
exists in each moment.
//
//
It
is hard to follow Jesus' example here. I
know it is for me.
I
don't always like to change my plans - to take on a new project.
But
I take from this passage the message to strive to be a bit more open to
Grace. To appreciate the opportunities
to share in the compassionate work of God.
//
And
so I applaud those who refused to be silent or idle, just because someone in
power has decided that their voice has no priority.
I
long for true and honest equality in our world - where the divisions of flesh
and wallet are not determining factors.
//
//
[From
Seasons of the Spirit, June 28, 2015]
In
Mark this week, healing comes both to a woman on the margins of community and
to the daughter of a community leader.
Neither can save themselves. But
both the woman and the father of the girl risk reaching out beyond themselves
and find healing in God.
The
risk is in reaching out with a desire, so strong for renewal and justice, that
it simply refuses to be ignore.
//
May
we all be open to the opportunities to let Grace emerge into this world.
Let us pray:
Holy God, stir within us a desire to
seek healing and community. It is in
those times and places when you are easily known. Amen.
#88MV
“Over My Head”
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