April 16 (Easter Sunday)

1^st Congregational Church of Redwood City, UCC

Carol Barriger

Sunday, July 2, 2006

4^th after Pentecost, Comm= union, 4^th of July observance

Mark 5:21-43

“The Power of Believing̶= 1;

“Do not fear, only believe.” (Mark 5:36)

<= /i>

There may be too many tired sermons and graduation speeches that re= ly on sports stories as various metaphors for life – but be forewarned, = I am going to mention a couple today. Why? Because they work= . We easily reap the message from th= em that the impossible is, indeed, possible.&= nbsp; Maybe this is why retired athletes can make a living as motivational speakers after they leave the field of play. With a little help from good speechwriters, they inspire with memorable phrases and great tales of achie= vement in the face of adversity, going all the way back to their childhood, living through “the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat.” However, before I recall a few of = these sports stories, I am going to ask you to be thinking about why it is easier to hear some of these stories as examples of the power of believing … and harder to lend the same credence to the so-called miracle stori= es about Jesus, as stories of belief. What is getting in the way? Think about that.

First, there’s the story of the New York Mets. Ah, the Mets, who, throughout the = 1960s had an unparalleled reputation for ineptitude and lack of talent. In their first season they had a stellar 40-120 record. They were called the most worthless franchise in the history of baseball. But in 1969, the “amazing Mets,” as they became known, m= ade an incredible comeback and won the World Series, defeating along the way the Atlanta Braves and the great Hank Aaron.&n= bsp; It would be 17 years before they would win another Series, but they always lived with the words of their relief pitcher Tug McGraw, “Ya g= otta believe.”   And that’s the line we remember.

Then there’s the U. S. hockey team, a cobbled-together group = of amateur and collegiate players that went to the Lake Placid Olympic Games in 1980, and pulled off the “miracle on ice.” In a moment regarded= as one of the greatest in the history of American sports, they defeated the dominant and heavily-favored Soviet Union team on their way to win the gold medal.&n= bsp; Just as time ran out, sportscaster Al Michaels yelled into the mike, “Do you believe in miracles?!”= And that’s the line we remember.

And of course, there’s Lance Armstrong, diagnosed with stage 3 testicular and brain cancer and given less than a 40% chance of survival. He came back to win the grueling T= our de France bicycle race seven times – and oh yes, become the fathe= r of two children along the way. T= he sports world is full of these stories about the power of just believing in = what is possible and refusing the concept of “im possible.” Believing – the indefinable ingredient that goes beyond skill, training, or luck. We’re able to embrace that.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> At least we can understand those s= tories about athletes. They make sense. Why are we less able to make sense of stories about the power of bel= ief in the Bible? What’s so different?

The sports s= tories come out of a world that we understand.&nb= sp; The gospel stories do not. It is a world of honor and shame, of puri= ty and impurity, of rigid concepts of worth and worthlessness. Against that backdrop, Mark introd= uces two characters –actually interweaves their stories for added emphasis – two characters that are shameful, worthless, even despicable. They are women. Women would not be seen as worthy = of the attention of a great teaching rabbi like Jesus – despite the stories = of Luke. One is impoverished, ol= der woman. The other is the rich, privileged little daughter of a synagogue leader. But wealth makes no difference. Children, especially female childr= en, are not high on the social tree. Worse, both are in a condition – one presumably dead, and the other with a menstrual disorder – which make them unclean; ritually impure, and which would render anyone who touches them impure. Simply by being in contact with th= em, Jesus, under the law, becomes untouchable himself, yet he lifts up the powe= r of love and compassion over the power of blind and rigid social constructs. Who are today’s untouchables= ? Who are the untouchables in your h= eart – those from whom you recoil, with whom you feel no connection? These are your brothers and sisters.
Mark talks here about what appear to us to be medically impossible physical healings. I say that, because that is where the problem lies – the disconnect for us between the power of believing you can win against impossible odds and the gospel healing stories. We hear stor= ies like this in the medical framework of the modern world we understand. We know what causes many condition= s; we know how medical interventions work. Mark didn’t have that framework and did not write with that intention, so we cannot impose it on him.&= nbsp; Regularly, we impose post-Enlightenment science on the Bible and you simply can’t do that. We can’t impose this on Mark. Both of these women were “dead,” after a fashion, and therefore beyond help or healing. The little girl was seriously ill, perhaps in a coma, perhaps actual= ly expired. The woman was social= ly dead and rejected in multiple ways – no man, no children, no money, a= nd religiously outcast. What Mar= k is presenting is Jesus’ message that death does not matter; in fact none= of those demeaning cultural constructs matter, if one embraces belief in the goodness of God as having the power to change a life. Life matters, and how we live our lives. In the description of ourselves as progressive Christians we say that it does not matter to us whether the Bible is literally factual in a provable, historical sense. Truth and fact are not the same thing. Truth lies only in wha= t it means. That’s what matters.

The important part of the older woman’s story is this: Now there was a woman who had b= een suffering … for twelve years. She had endured much. It doesn’t matter what she suffered from. She was a human being in pain for = a long time – physical, emotional, or psychological. And what she believed about Jesus = was … If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well. It will change my life. She wanted to get close, and she believed it would make a difference. She reaches out and … she felt in her body that she was hea= led of her disease. As a resu= lt of the action she chose to take, she felt something shift; something ab= out her was different than it had been all those years. As a result of her believing action. And Jesus confirmed it … Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be heal= ed of your disease. What = was her disease? Was it really a mens= trual disorder? Or something else?<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> We all have diseases … di= s-eases … in our lives.   M= ight not we all be healed?

The little girl is at the point of death. Perhaps she was in a coma. Because of the artificial delay Ma= rk creates by inserting one story inside the other, he is able to have frantic, probably uninformed people rush up to Jesus and say, “You’re too late. She’s dead.”= ; But how can we know that? This isn’t a taped medical T= V show after all. The first thing Je= sus says is, Do not fear; only believe.&nbs= p; Believe what? Beli= eve change is possible. Believe t= hat something other than your preconceived notion is possible. He approaches the house to find it surrounded with the paid mourners, the “oh, woe is us” crew, wailing their hearts out. He silences them, enters the house, touches the child’s hand, and lo and behold, those assembled see that she is not dead after all. For these two women, the power of = love and belief overcame a cultural setting which classified both of them as worthless and rejected. Jesus’ message was that no human construction of honor or sham= e, or judgment or worth, could withstand the healing power of God’s Spir= it.

What does it= mean to “believe?” There = is an element of this kind of faith which defies logic. This is what enables one to embrac= e the beautiful language of Psalm 30: I will extol you, O LORD, for you have d= rawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me (30:1) You have turne= d my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with = joy, so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.. (30:11-12) Let us br= ing this message up to the 21^st century. None of us will “get out alive,” as the conventional wisdom goes. We were born, We will die.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> The fundamental, self-referent and existential question always in our heads (if subconsciously) is, “Wil= l I live through this day, or will I die today? It’s a question we ask ourse= lves as individuals, and a question we have asked ourselves as a church. Jesus is saying, “Get outsid= e that question!” The real<= /b> question is, “How can I be most alive today?”=

How can I be= most alive today? Are we are sleep= ing our lives away, like that little girl.&nbs= p; Or feeling our lives and powers leaching out of us like the woman lo= sing blood? We have to ask that qu= estion as a church, as well as individuals. How has the church been sleeping?<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> How has the church felt its vital = force leaching away? How can we be = most alive today? We can be most a= live today by believing against presumed odds, rigid preconceptions, but most critically, believing against fear that we can be a channel of God’s grace – and what that means in the 21^st c. = 211; to others. Touching Jesus, an= d what Jesus truly stands for, will heal us and open us to be that channel –= a channel to share courage, compassion, peace, justice, love, hope. Or just to share our stories. And when we believe in the power o= f that touch, the touch of Jesus, we are able to bring it to others… Where d= oes it start? Here at the table, = with the touch on our lips of the bread and the contents of the cup.   Just bread. Just grape juice. Simple nourishment taken in commun= ity, but a meal taken with the sacred intention to nourish the soul, feed the community, and make the im-possible … possible. Today we will be touched, and unde= rstand the power of believing. Amen.=

The scripture reading is= from the gospel of Mark. There are= two intertwined healing stories – one is inserted in between two halves of the other. But the real empha= sis of both stories is on the power of whole-hearted belief in something.

Mark 5:21-43

When Jesus had crossed agai= n 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 begg= ed 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 c= rowd followed him and pressed in on him.

Now there was a woman who h= ad been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rath= er grew worse. She had heard abo= ut Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she s= aid, "If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well."

Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.<= /o:p>

Immediately aware that powe= r had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?"

And his disciples said to h= im, "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, k= nowing 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?"&nbs= p; But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe."<= /span>

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. Th= en 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,&q= uot; which means, "Little girl, get up!"

And immediately the girl go= t up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement.

He strictly ordered them th= at no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat=

Here ends the reading for today.&n= bsp;

May God add new understanding to our hearing of these words.=