Not Comfort But Salvation

Sermon-Year B Proper 16-August 23, 2009
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
We started 4 weeks ago with Jesus at his highest point in his ministry. 5000 gathered around him, and were filled. It is the peak of his popularity. John Dominic Crossan in “The Essential Jesus, points out that one of the most popular visual representations of Jesus in the early years of the Christian movement was the feeding of the multitude.” Jesus had arrived. Thousands of people were following him, surrounding him, listening to him. HE. COULD. DO. ANYTHING. Except give them what they wanted.
In Medieval England, the person in charge of bread was called the “loafward” (sort of like our senior or junior warden). Over time Loafward was abbreviated until it became the word “lord”. The “lord” was the person in charge of distributing bread-in other words, of keeping people alive.
So here are thousands of people who are looking to Jesus as the Lord, the loafward, the one who gives them bread. And throughout the 6th chapter of John Jesus offends, disturbs, and alienates all these people. We are now at the end of the chapter, and almost all the people have left. Jesus has told them that he is not just the loafward-he is the loaf, the bread of heaven, and unless they eat his flesh and drink his blood, they will never be a part of him. For a good Jew, a faithful Jew who lived and died by observing strict dietary laws, Jesus’ words were so scandalous, so disgraceful, that they could not stay and listen to him.
The Rev. Dr. David Lose professor of Biblical Preaching at Luther Seminary writes
“No wonder, then, that many of those following Jesus now desert him. And at this point we need to be careful, for it's always tempting to write off those who gave up on Jesus as people too stupid or lazy or unfaithful to believe. But note that John calls these folks not simply "the crowds," as in earlier passages, but rather "disciples." The people in today's reading who now desert Jesus are precisely those who had, in fact, believed in Jesus, those who had followed him and had given up much to do so. But now, finally, after all their waiting and watching and wondering and worrying, they have grown tired, and they can no longer see clearly what it was about Jesus that attracted them to him in the first place, and so they leave...and who can blame them?”
Jesus goes from being the most popular person in the land, to the loneliest in just a few verses. And Jesus is surrounded now, not by thousands-but by a few. And not necessarily the best few. Just the 12 who are left. And, “So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Do you realize how close Jesus was to being finished? What if those last 12 had said, “uh, we just have to go out for a pack of cigarettes, we’ll be back in a little while?” What if they had said, “we just need to reassess our options.” What if they, too, had left?
Jesus is at the crossroads, literally. He has just said that living in him will be the most demanding, most difficult, hardest thing that anyone ever does. And people who had liked him, and followed him up til then, suddenly couldn’t get away fast enough. And he asks the last 12 still standing if they want to leave also.
And you know what, they must have been dying to go. Everything Jesus has been teaching is so difficult to understand, so painfully obscure and incomprehensible. They must have wanted desperately to run after all those other people who were slipping away.
And Jesus, who could have told them thanks for staying, or praised them or given them gifts, SOMETHING, ANYTHING to keep the few remaining, simply turns to them and asks, “Do you also wish to go away?” Haven’t you ever felt that way? Haven’t you ever been to a point in your faith when you just wanted to walk away, when you were tired of being a follower?
You know how they felt, don’t you? Maybe you just didn’t have a convincing answer to a tough question someone asked you about being a Christian. Maybe you felt angry at God, or confused, or unsure, or worst of all-maybe there have been many times in your faith when you felt nothing at all about God.
Peter, the spokesman for the 12 who remained, says the famous question, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. Peter doesn’t say he wants to stay, he doesn’t say that he is happy, he doesn’t say that he’s going to lead a successful life now. Peter has no choice. He knows that he is in the presence of truth, and regardless of how he feels, he has to give this answer-where else can we go?
“In the Preface to her book Amazing Grace, subtitled “A Vocabulary of Faith,” Kathleen Norris tells of an evening when she was making a presentation on this “vocabulary of faith” when a question was addressed to her concerning the real value of these “words of faith.” I don’t mean to be offensive,” her questioner said, “but I just don’t understand how you can get so much comfort from a religion whose language does so much harm.” Taken aback momentarily (Ms. Norris understood the question all too well, for she had, herself, been distanced from faith and its vocabulary for many years), she struggled to respond when in a moment of inspiration it came to her that the problem lay in the word “comfort.” “I said that I didn’t think it was comfort I was seeking,” Ms. Norris said, “or comfort that I’d found. Look, I said to her, as a rush of words came to me. As far as I’m concerned, this religion has saved my life, my husband’s life, and our marriage. So it’s not comfort that I’m talking about-but salvation.” (pp. 3 and 4)
We have listened for five weeks as Jesus went from giving people what they want, being the loafward, to being almost alone. It was short journey. We, too, struggle with difficult words, with Jesus talking about his body as a metaphor for living in him. It has not been an easy 5 weeks. And now it ends with Peter’s simple statement of faith, “69We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” These were words that did not come easily. And they would certainly cost Peter a lot in the days ahead. But for Peter, all of Jesus tough words weren’t about comfort, they were about salvation. He couldn’t turn away, he couldn’t leave. This morning’s gospel is about choice, and Peter doesn’t feel that he has a choice. Neither is there a choice in the first reading
“choose this day whom you will serve” Joshua says to the Hebrew people. “Lord, to whom can we go? Peter says to Jesus.
For Joshua, for Peter, for me. “Choose this day whom you will serve”. But there is no choice, no decision involved. Once the truth is clear, once the bread is presented, once I stick out my hands to receive the gift of life, how can I say “no”? How can I follow something, someone else? I cannot.
I have 2 granddaughters, you may have heard. And when we talk to our kids they will put them on the phone. Lauren, the 6 year old, will talk to us and we actually carry on a conversation. But when Danielle, the 4 year old is on the phone. We get about every 5th word. It makes for some very strange discussions. Finally I will yell into the phone, “KYLE, what did she say???” I don’t always understand her, but I have no doubt about my love for her, or what I am willing to do for her. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. I am not always sure what that means, but I know that I choose him. Amen.
John 6:56-69
56Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” 59He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.
60When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?9 D 61But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? 62Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. 65And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.” 66Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. 67So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” 68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Joshua 24:1-2a,14-18
Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: "Now therefore revere the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Then the people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods; for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; and the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God."

Flesh And Blood

Sermon-Year B Proper 13-August 16, 2009
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Two quick personal stories. Most of you know Kyle, our kid. From time to time someone will say to me, “Debby was married before-so Kyle’s not your flesh and blood is he?” And I always try to remember to say what I believe is the truth, “no, he’s more than flesh and blood, he’s my son.”
It was 1971. I was taking confirmation classes. Again. The first time I didn’t feel “ready”. In those days you couldn’t take communion until you were confirmed. And when I didn’t get confirmed the first time, a year later, I couldn’t stop thinking about communion. I would never receive, I kept thinking. And then the day came, I was confirmed, but most of all what I remember is this place in the palm of my left hand where the wafer was put by the bishop. I thought to myself, “I’ll never forget this moment, when I first felt the body of Christ in my hands.” I probably will some day. But so far… I thought I knew what communion was back then. But almost 40 years later, I am less confident, less positive. I know that it is sacred, I know that it’s holy. I can talk all day about the Doctrine of the “Real Presence” which is how we define what happens at the Eucharist. But what words can describe a spot in your hand, a place in your heart that you still remember?
Jesus is STILL in chapter 6 of the gospel of John (this is the 4th week of this lectionary), and we are STILL listening to him tick off people by telling them that he is the Bread of Life. I told you last week that theologian William Countryman calls this “obnoxious discourse” (something I’m familiar with) because everything Jesus says seems designed to irritate the people listening. Jesus went from having a crowd of thousands following him early in this chapter, to having just a few at the end. Increasingly as he describes who he is and what he is, he is offending and scandalizing those listening. He tells them that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood! Do you have any idea how upsetting this had to be to good Jews? Judaism was the first near eastern religion to ban the eating of any meat with blood still in it. They were the first religion to go out of their way to forbid the consuming of certain foods because they were unclean. And here is Jesus telling people to devour his body and blood, teaching people that they HAD to eat his body, drink his blood in order to live.
It is a scary passage today, with Jesus saying that he has to come into us, if we are to come into him. In the earliest days of the church (and even still today) Christians were constantly accused of cannibalism in the Eucharist. How can Jesus talk like this? And what does he mean telling people that they have to eat his flesh and drink his blood if they are to live forever? It is shocking and offensive.
There is a great story from World War II. A wounded soldier is captured. the doctor attending him, tells him that he must receive a blood transfusion in order to survive. The soldier demands to know whose blood is it. the doctor tells him there is no way of knowing, that it’s just blood. the soldier responds, “I would rather die than receive the tainted blood.” And so he did.
Did you know that the Gospel of John is the only gospel without the story of the last supper? Matthew, Mark, and Luke all have accounts of Jesus eating with his friends the night before he dies, but in John, Jesus washes their feet. I bring this up every year at the Maundy Thursday service. Scholars think that John the writer didn’t want to put it in his story of Jesus because Jesus devoted so much teaching about it here in chapter 6. Jesus spends this whole chapter, as you have been hearing, actually trying to shoo people away, trying to explain how followers are supposed to connect with him-in the days to come. It drove people away. It was too hard, too difficult a teaching. John is dealing with the issue of how people will connect with Jesus when he is no longer physically present. How will we do it? How will we know him, when we no longer see him? Remember it’s at the end of the gospel of John, that we hear the story of Thomas saying, “Unless I see and touch the risen Lord, I will not believe…” John knows how hard this is for the early church. How do we believe when we can no longer see and touch? How do we believe when Jesus is gone?
And so we have this long teaching with Jesus saying, my body will live in you, and you will live in me-through this meal. It horrified the Jews. It outraged Jesus’ followers. How can a meal keep someone real? Another war story.
Psychologist Robert B. Cialdini once told about a German soldier during World War I whose job it was to capture enemy soldiers for interrogation. Because of the nature of trench warfare at that time, it was extremely difficult for armies to cross the no-man's land between opposing front lines; but it was not so difficult for a single soldier to crawl across and slip into an enemy trench position. The armies had experts who regularly did so to capture an enemy soldier, who would then be brought back for questioning. One particular German expert had successfully completed such missions. He was sent out one day to cross the distance, slip into the enemy trench, kidnap a British soldier, and bring him back to the German interrogators. As he entered the British trench, the unsuspecting soldier, who had been eating at the time, was easily disarmed. The frightened captive with only a piece of bread in his hand then performed what may have been the most important act of his life. He gave his enemy some of the bread. So affected was the German by this gift that he could not complete his mission. He turned from the British soldier and re-crossed the no-man's land empty-handed to face the wrath of his superior officers.
John the gospel writer recorded today’s words trying to help Christians long into the future understand how Jesus could be in them, and they in him, when they could not see him or touch him.
We describe the Eucharist as a sacrament, an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. We teach that it is our way, at every service of worship, in which we can be joined again to someone who lived 2000 years ago and thousands of miles away. It is not easy to explain, it is difficult to put into words. All we can do is tell the story of the connection we experience, the life we feel, the reality we live. Is Jesus alive in us? Are we alive in Him? We may have difficulty describing how it happens, but the key is what it means in our lives. Because of taking this bread and wine, do we believe that Jesus lives in us? Because we receive this meal do we live in him? This is our challenge. Can a simple meal of a crumb of bread and a sip of wine grow life in us, and us in Christ? Is this flesh and blood? Yes, and it is more than that-it is a spot that stays in our hearts forever. A Baptist once asked an Episcopalian, “Why don’t you have altar calls, where people are invited to come forward and accept Jesus into their lives?” The Episcopalian replied, “We do. It’s called, the Eucharist.”
John 6:51-58
6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
6:52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
6:53 So Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
6:54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day;
6:55 for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.
6:56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.
6:57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me.
6:58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever."

Do You Think My Life Is Getting Easier Or Longer?

Sermon-Year B 10 Pentecost-Proper 14-August 9, 2009
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."
I hadn’t been at Trinity too long, back in the mid 80s. I was trying to get around and visit some of the older people of the parish who couldn’t get to church very often. So I call up this woman who is in her 90s and ask if I can visit. “Sure,” she says, “come on over anytime.” “Ok,” I answer, “I’ll be over later today- and I’ll bring communion with me.” There’s this long pause, then she says, “Why are you doing that-I’m not dying.” I splutter, and try to explain that communion isn’t just for those who are dying, but I can tell that I’m not making any headway. A few minutes later, her son who was in his 60s calls me up and wants to know where do I get off telling his mother that she’s going to die. A few months later I call up a different older woman who was a long time member of Trinity and ask if I can visit. She says “yes”, and with great trepidation I asked if she would like me to bring communion with me. “Hell yes!” she shouts into the phone, “what took you so long? Do you think my life is easy-or getting longer!?”
We have been reading every Sunday this year from the Gospel of Mark, but Mark is short. S o when Mark reaches the story about the feeding of the 5000 by Jesus, the only miracle story in all four gospels, the lectionary switches us to the Gospel of John for 5 weeks. In this gospel Jesus always explains what his miracles mean. So for 5 weeks after the feeding of the 5000 we have several verses, a whole chapter, of Jesus teaching. This teaching can be confusing-and difficult. Jesus wants people to understand that he doesn’t do magic tricks, that feeding a large group of hungry people isn’t his purpose. He has come into the world to save it. Each week Jesus engages a different set of people to help them understand. Two weeks ago it was a large crowd. Last week and this week it is “the Jews” (by which John the evangelist means the religious authorities). So Jesus is trying to make sense to them of who he is-and why he’s here.
It was not easy for “the Jews” to understand how he was the bread from heaven. It is not easy for us, and we have had 2000 years and are on the other side of the story. How is Jesus the Bread of Life and what does that mean?
I’m going to read a short piece by Brian Peterson, Professor of New TestamentLutheran Theological Southern Seminary Columbia, SC , about today’s gospel.
" A diet of bread, week after week, may get rather tiresome and stale – unless careful attention is paid to the movement of John 6. … In last Sunday's text, the center of attention was upon Jesus as the gift from the Father for the life of the world. Building on that claim, this Sunday's text focuses on Jesus as the center of faith to which the Father draws people. The movements within chapter 6 for these two Sundays, and for the one that will follow, are certainly interconnected, but they are not identical. Jesus is not simply repeating himself, and John is not writing in circles…. The crowd concludes that Jesus has not come from Heaven, because they know his parents. Familiarity is breeding contempt. One who has been among them cannot possibly be what Jesus claims to be. …The truth is not found in knowing the human parents who have nurtured Jesus' childhood. Rather, the truth is found in knowing that Jesus has come from the Father in Heaven. The crowd's self-assured "knowledge" stands in their way of seeing the truth. ….The only way out of such deadly unbelief is to be drawn into faith by the Father, and this activity of the Father is a major focus of today's text. …. Faith is not simply a human choice to be made, but is the activity of the Father drawing people to Jesus. The word used in verse 44 is the same word used to describe fishing nets being hauled into the boat (21:6). We must be dragged into faith by God; there is no other way to come. …. there is promise and hope in this text's declaration that God does in fact draw people to faith in Jesus. God is busy doing that right now ("the work of God", verse 28) through the words of Jesus read in this text ….Even to the grumblers, Jesus comes as the bread of life, opening our eyes and hearts to new possibilities. …..Jesus seems intent on making his claims as difficult and offensive as possible. As conversations go on and objections are raised, Jesus does not seem interested in making it easier to swallow. ….If the crowds have been offended by trying to reconcile Jesus' heavenly claims with Jesus' familiar parents, what will happen when they are faced with the brutal reality of the cross? The bread from Heaven will give life to the world, astonishingly, by dying for it. This bread of life from Heaven is no "free lunch;" it will cost Jesus his life. Feeding on this bread will bring us as well to the cross (12:32).”
This is not an easy teaching. One theologian called this “obnoxious discourse” and Jesus uses it often in John. It means that faith is not easy (we’re dragged into it!), understanding can be difficult, and following Jesus as the bread of life will be costly. Here is a story I found helpful.
At the foot of a great mountain in China lived a father and his three sons. They were a simple and loving family, whose great joy was sitting, eating a meal together and sharing their lives. The father noticed that travelers came from great distances eager to climb the dangerous mountain. But not one of the travelers ever returned. The three sons heard stories about the mountain, how it was made of gold and silver at the top. Despite their father’s warnings, they could not resist venturing up the mountain. Along the way, under a tree, sat a beggar, but the sons, ignoring him, did not speak to him or give him anything. One by one, the sons disappeared up the mountain, the first to a house of rich food. The second to a house of rich wine. The third to a house of gambling. Each became a slave to his desire, and forgot his home. Meanwhile, their father, more and more depressed at his sons’ absences, missed them terribly. “Danger aside, “ he thought, “I must risk everything and find my sons.”
As he climbed the mountain he reached the summit, he found indeed that the rocks were gold, and the rivers ran with silver. But he hardly noticed, so intent was he on recovering his sons. He only wanted to find them and help them remember the love they had once shared. On the way down the mountain having failed to discover them, the father encountered the beggar under a tree. He asked the beggar’s advice. “The mountain will give you your son’s back,” the beggar advised, “only if you can bring something from home that will cause them to remember their father’s love.” The father raced home, grabbed a bowl of rice. He returned up the mountain, and gave some to the beggar. He then found the three houses where his sons were living. Carefully he placed a single grain of rice in the mouth of each son. And as the rice touched each boy’s tongue, each son20realized how stupid he had been, how empty his life truly was, and that he wanted only to return to his father’s home. One by one the sons and the father walked down the mountain, and returned to their house.
The simple piece of bread that we receive each week in the Eucharist is but a taste of love, an invitation to come home, a reminder that a loving parent is waiting. These morsels we pass out at each service, are supposed to bring us to our senses. This is the Bread of heaven dragging us into faith-and keeping us there. This is both the reminder, and the reality, that Jesus is with us, and in us, as we move forward in faith. In the Catholic tradition, when someone is dying, communion is brought to them. It is called, the Viaticum. It is from the Latin, meaning, “bread for the journey”. Life is not easy. And it isn’t getting longer. And this small piece of heaven we receive each week, reminds us that we need bread for our journey, that we need Jesus in us, and with us as we move through life. Quite often we don’t understand, and even more often we are dragged into faith. But that is ok. The father is always climbing the mountain to find us. Amen.

God Help Us

Sermon-year B-proper 12-July 26, 2009
In seminary we had Eucharists every day of the week. Usually there is a saints day at least every other day, so the readings and theme for the sermon would change regularly. But one week, for some reason, there were no saints days, no changes. So every sermon that week had to be on the same 3 lessons. By Friday we all were dreading ONE MORE SERMON. We’d just heard 4 already on the same lessons in 4 days. The preacher on the 5th day stood up and started off saying, “ some day YOU will have to preach a sermon 5 times on the same lessons. God help you.”
This year the gospel every week is from Mark. But the year that we read from Mark, the lectionary stops just when Mark gets to the story about the feeding of the 5000, and instead the people in charge insert a chapter from the gospel of John. And they don’t just use the gospel of John for one week. You will hear the 6th chapter of the gospel of John for 5 weeks. This whole chapter is essentially devoted to one saying by Jesus, “I am the _____________(Bread of Life)”.You get to hear all about this saying for the 5 weeks. God help you.
Let me set up the story for you. John the evangelist is a lot different than Mark the evangelist. You won’t hear this story in the same way as you have been hearing Mark. No sandwiches here. One important way you k now that it’s the gospel of John is because he points out the “signs” of Jesus. “Signs” are miracles that John says show the true nature of Jesus. John says that Jesus does seven signs that point to his being the Son of God, and by chapter 5 he has already done 3 (water into wine, raising the official’s son, and healing the paralyzed man) . Notice how John points this out in verse 2: 2A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick.
Ok, so now you’re looking for signs, miracles that show who Jesus really is. So we hear the only story that is told in all four gospels-(not Jesus’ birth, not the Good Samaritan, not the raising of Lazarus). The only story that is told in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is____(the feeding of the 5000). Do you think it’s important?
So you know that this is going to be a miracle story. You know it’s going to be one of the seven signs. And you know that this story is so important that all the writers chose to include it in their gospels.
Here’s one more thing that you need to know. JOHN WILL HAVE LOTS OF OLD TESTAMENT REFERENCES IN THE STORY. That’s what John the evangelist likes to do. Here are a couple of clues. Who was the greatest leader in Jewish history? (Moses). What was Moses greatest claim to fame? ; (He led the Hebrew people out of captivity into freedom). As they fled from Egypt, what great miracle had to happen so they could escape? (the parting of the Red Sea). And when they were stuck in the wilderness what did they do (they grumbled). And what miracle was given the Hebrew people so they could survive? (manna/bread from heaven). (12 baskets of crumbs, THE mountain)
Greatest leader in Jewish history, Moses, listen: 14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”
As Moses led the people out of Egypt he showed God’s power over the sea-. 18The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19When the disciples had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. 20But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”
What did the Hebrew people do in the wilderness? They complained. 7Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?”
And finally, what miracle occurred so the Hebrew people could survive in the wilderness? 11Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.
Ok, I’ve spent a lot of time proving a small point. John the evangelist wants his hearers to see Jesus as the new Moses, the new leader, the new king. Only there is a difference. Jesus wasn’t Moses. He wasn’t going to be their new king, he wasn’t going to spend his life healing the sick-or raising the dead-or feeding the hungry. He wasn’t going to spend his life doing miracles. John wants us to see very clearly who Jesus WASN’T: ”15When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.”
Jesus wasn’t going to give people what they wanted. He wasn’t going to be the answer to their prayer. He wasn’t what they expected. And that is why John tells this story. Jesus could do miracles, but that’s not why he came. He could do wonders. But that’s not why he came. He could turn water into20wine, heal the sick, raise the dead, feed the hungry, calm the waters. But_____________ (that’s not why he came).
And that’s how the 6th chapter of the gospel of John begins: with 2 miracles, 2 signs- the feeding of the 5000 and the rescue of the disciples in the storm. But John takes great pains to say that Jesus didn’t do these to show that he was a wonder worker. He had something more important that he wanted to show the crowds that followed him-and us. And so begins the 6th chapter of the Gospel of John, the story of the feeding of the 5000. John is going to reveal to us that Jesus does more than just answer our wants-he also gives us life. But John is going to do this slowly, carefully, as he peels back layer after layer of this wonderful story to uncover who Jesus really is-and what he is really about. So get ready, we have 4 more weeks of listening and learning to understand what this simple miracle is really about. Let’s enjoy this story. For John the evangelist, it’s not JUST a miracle. It’s sign. It’s pointing to something greater than just multiplying a few loaves of bread for hungry people. Man does not live by bread alone. The 4 evangelists all included this story because it was more than “just” a miracle. It is supposed to show us how Jesus can live in us, and we in him. God help us.
John 6:1-21
6After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. 3Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” 6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9“There is a boy here who has five ba rley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” 10Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. 11Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” 13So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”
15When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. 16When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. 20But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

Seven Signs
This section recounts Jesus' public ministry.[2] It consists of seven miracles or "signs," interspersed with long dialogues and discourses, including several "I am" sayings.[3] The miracles culminate with his most potent, raising Lazarus from the dead.[3] In John, it is this last miracle, and not the temple incident, that prompts the authorities to have Jesus executed.[3] Jesus' discourses identify him with symbols of major significance, "the bread of life" (John 6:35), "the light of the world" (John 8:12), "the door of the sheep" (John 10:7), "the good shepherd" (John 10:11), "the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25), "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), and "the real vine" (John 15:1).[3] Critical scholars think that these claims represent the Christian community's faith in Jesus' divine authority but doubt that the historical Jesus actually made these sweeping claims.[3] The teachings of Jesus are so different in John from those found in the synoptic gospels, that since the 1800s scholars have understood that only one of the two traditions could be authentic, and they have unanimously chosen the synoptics as the source for the teachings of historical Jesus.[11]
The Seven Signs of Jesus' Deity in John's Gospel:
Turning water into wine at Cana (2.1-11)
Healing an official’s son in Capernaum (4.46-54)
Healing an invalid at the Pool of Bethesda (or Bethsaida) in Jerusalem (5.1-18)
Feeding the 5,000 near the Sea of Galilee (6.5-14)
Walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee (6.16-21)
Healing a blind man in Jerusalem (9.1-7)
Raising dead Lazarus in Bethany (11.1-45)

An Admirer Or A Follower

Sermon-Year B-Proper 10-6thPentecost July 12, 2009
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."
Did you know that Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t celebrate birthdays? How many of you DID NOT know that? Do you know why? Because of today’s gospel. Two times birthday parties are noted in the Bible, once in the Old Testament (with Pharaoh) and once in the New Testament (with Herod) and both times they are bad for people of faith. So Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t celebrate birthdays. In this case, it’s at Herod’s birthday party that John the Baptist is beheaded. It’s the only story in the New Testament that’s also confirmed by non Biblical sources. Josephus the historian also tells the story of Herod killing John the Baptist.
Remember a couple of weeks ago, when I told you that Mark the gospel writer likes to make “sandwich” stories, where he puts one story inside of another to reveal a deeper layer of it? He did that 2 weeks ago with the story of Jesus on the way to see Jairus’ daughter, and then he ran into the woman who had been bleeding. Well, today’s story is another sandwich. Here goes. Last week’s gospel ended with Jesus sending out the 12 disciples He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. Remember that? Well Jesus has just sent the disciples out to “proclaim[ed] that all should repent. [13They] cast out many demons, and anoint[ed] with oil many who were sick and cured them, when this story of the disciples is interrupted. That’s the bread, here’s the meat. People are hearing about Jesus and his disciples. He has come out of nowhere, and the people surrounding Herod are scared and uncertain of who he is-the great prophet Elijah, they wonder? A different or new prophet? No, Herod says, it’s John the Baptist! (Try to remember this because in mid September this will come up again-who Jesus is). Herod is afraid that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead, and then we hear the story of how Herod had him killed.. Mark wants everyone hearing this story to see the connection between John the Baptist and Jesus. They were so much alike that even Herod thought Jesus was John. It becomes an “identity sandwich”. John said terribly honest, painful things to Herod-and still Herod liked him. But he killed John anyway. And do you remember at the end of Mark’s gospel Herod keeps asking the crowd about Jesus, “are you sure you want me to do this?” and then he says, “oh go ahead- crucify him.” It’s the story of John all over again. Did you notice how the story of John ends, “29When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.” Sound familiar?
Mark the evangelist is giving us a foreshadowing, a warning of what Jesus’ death will be like in this story of John. And he squeezes all this in while the disciples are being sent out on a trial basis to carry the good news to the world, on their first missionary trip.
Meanwhile the disciples are going to come back and tell Jesus how well their mission went. But we’re supposed to understand that story with this story.
So, do we get it? Jesus sends his followers, his students out, to see if they can do it, can they be little Jesus’s. They’re filled with power. And emotion. And excitement. They are going to cast out evil, heal the sick, be utterly dependent on others for their livelihood. Do you think they’re energized? Have you ever felt like this? You’re so full of hope and power and excitement, you feel as though you can climb mountains, leap rivers, swim oceans. And then the story of John. Why would Mark the gospel writer do this? What is he trying to show us? What does he want us to see?
The disciples are out carrying the good news, and John, like Jesus, is killed almost on a whim, by the king. What do you learn from that? What would the early Christians, hearing the story of the disciples and John the Baptist, understand with this “sandwich”? What do you learn? I have set it up for you. Mark goes into real depth describing John the Baptist’s painful death in between telling us about the disciples being sent out as ministers and missionaries. So what is Mark trying to tell us about Jesus?
Lutheran pastor Brian Stoffregen of Faith Lutheran Church tells this story:
There were two brothers in Georgia during the 1950's. One decided that ….he was going to support and participate in the formation of a multi-ethnic multi-cultural community. The other worked as an attorney for a prominent law firm. Both were Christians and attended church regularly. As the integrated Christian community formed social pressure forced them into court proceedings, the one brother asked his attorney brother to help them with the legal work. The attorney refused, saying that he could lose his job. The pressure increased to help with a reminder from one brother to the other, that he was a Christian. The lawyer responded, "I will follow Jesus to his cross, but it is his cross. I have no need to be crucified." To this his brother replied, "Then you are an admirer of Jesus, but not his disciple."
Why does Mark the evangelist fill the sandwich with this story of the death of John?
Stoffregen says “Herod can throw a large party for important people. The twelve are sent out with no bread, no bag, and no money. [But]Herod has everything. The disciples have nothing.”
I think Mark wants us to understand that the story isn’t always clear, that the gospel is a sandwich. He loves to show both sides of discipleship, the glory-and the fear; the joy and the cost. I think Mark tempers every victory with a shadow, and every defeat with a sense of hope. I think we’re supposed to realize that the world is tough, and life is uncertain. Rulers and people of power can act whimsically and brutally. Disciples can be courageous and cowardly. The gospel isn’t a black and white story. Not in Mark’s gospel. It’s full of nuance and shadings. And Mark likes to show us how dangerous the gospel is. We’ll see every story with these two sides. The disciples are sent out with power to change the world-and back home prophets are being beheaded. And in the midst of all this we are called to make a decision-do we want to be an admirer of Jesus-or a follower. It’s not an easy sandwich to swallow. Over and over Mark will challenge his hearers with this-do you want to marvel at Jesus-or do you want to walk with him.


Mark 6:14-29
14King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” 15But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
17For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. 18For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. 21But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and of ficers and for the leaders of Galilee. 22When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.” 23And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” 24She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.” 25Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. 29When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

Lighting A Pile Of Wet Sticks

Sermon-Year B-Proper 9-5thPentecost July 5, 2009
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."
So we’re at my high school reunion, sitting at a table with three other people. We were at one of the few tables available and every once in a while someone would come over to sit with us. Just as they were about to sit down, one of the people at the table would teasingly say to them, “You better be careful what you say, HE (pointing at me) IS A PRIEST!” And the person would sit with us for about 30 uncomfortable seconds and then move on. I think they may have been a little um, “intimidated”. I was tempted to swear or say something rotten just so people would stay and talk.

Always, always, we should begin every gospel (in year B) with this question, “what did Mark want us to see?” Because he is always, always is trying to get us to see connections, associations, links between every set of stories. For instance, Jesus is ignored in his home town, and then he commissions his disciples to go out 2 by 2 into the world. Doesn’t appear to be a connection, right?
Jesus has calmed storms on the sea, healed people, cast out demons, and he goes to his home town, and, as one commentator writes, Someone surely left Capernaum that day saying, “I’m sorry, that new preacher just didn’t do a thing for me.” Jesus comes home and people are not happy. They knew him! Where does he get off pretending to be someone special? Preachers, me, are always talking about accepting the stranger, but here we see that the hardest person for us to tolerate isn’t the person we don’t know-it’s the person we have known all our lives. 5And he could do no deed of power there…
Listen to this quote: Barbara Brown Taylor employs a wonderful metaphor in her sermon on this text to illustrate why Jesus couldn't work the same "deeds of power" in his hometown, where the people refused to respond to him. Jesus was still Jesus, she says, and "still had power to share with them, only he could not do anything with it because they would not let him." She compares it to the experience of trying to light a match to a pile of wet sticks: "It does not matter how strong your flame is: what you need is something that will catch fire. So call this an 'un-miracle' story, in which Jesus held the match until it burned out in his hand, while his family and friends sat shaking their heads a safe distance away."
That’s a great image to describe Jesus at his home town synagogue: trying to light a match to a pile of wet sticks.
And then Mark follows this seeming defeat with the sending out of the 12. Jesus finds that he is almost powerless with people who won’t believe in him, and yet he decides at this time to send out his followers 2 by 2 to do wondrous things. Does that seem odd to you? The timing is all wrong. You don’t send these guys out AFTER your most recent defeat. You have just failed in front of your friends, your family! They’ve seen Jesus with limitations and powerless, and now, now he sends them out? -not after the calming of the storm, not after the healing of the woman, nortafter the raising of Jairus’ daughter-but NOW. It makes no sense why he would do this, now.
Except. They see what the good news cannot do. The gospel does not win over everyone. Jesus cannot change people who do not want to be changed. They have just seen the boundaries, the limitations. And yet Jesus sends them out. Did you ever wonder why Jesus chose 12 people to teach, to walk with him, to be his disciples and later apostles? Why didn’t Jesus do everything on his own? Why use these other people, Peter, James, John, all the rest? especially considering how often they failed? It is after they see how Jesus can’t or won’t do it all, that he sends them out. And he sends them out with so little: a staff. Period. No food, water, clothes, money. It’s as if he wants them to realize that the gospel, the good news is utterly dependent on others. These disciples aren’t so strong, so independent, so autonomous that they can live without people. And neither is the gospel. Everything in today’s teaching is about how much the good news needs open ears to exist, and other people to flourish. In the ancient near east there was a philosophical movement called Cynicism. The cynic believed in total self-sufficiency. They carried a staff-like the disciples, and then they carried everything else that they needed in a bag over their shoulders. They never wanted to be reliant on anyone. Their goal was to live completely self-reliant-without the help or assistance of others. Contrast that to what the disciples are told- they were told to be COMPLETELY dependent on others. And it’s after Jesus showed this side of himself in his home town that he sends them out. After Jesus sees that the gospel cannot work, cannot shine, cannot exist-unless people are willing to listen, does he send them out.
It’s as if he wanted them to know that the gospel, the good news, wasn’t just something that was dumped on people-take it or leave it. It is only as powerful as people allow it to be in their lives.
We are tempted to believe that the gospel is about the teller, only, the person who shares the good news, but it’s also about the listener, too. Matches don’t light wet sticks. First the disciples see Jesus fail at home, and then they are given their walking papers. They are sent out to do deeds of great power-cast out evil, heal the sick -and at the same time they are told to be totally dependent on others for food, and shelter.
The good news is a powerful message, a life saving message, an invitation to come into relationship with God through his Son. But it can’t light wet sticks. For those who refuse to hear it, those who don’t want to be touched by it, Jesus says, just move on.
What a strange turn the Gospel takes this week. Jesus seems powerless, and the disciples are told to be needy. It’s a good lesson for us who always see the Gospel as just the opposite-Jesus as all powerful, the disciples as completely self-sufficient. Good lessons for us to hear about two stories that do not seem at all related. And a good thing for us to learn about the good news-if people don’t listen, no good news is told. And if we appear so holy and independent, no one will ever want to sit at the table with us. Matches can’t light wet sticks. If people don’t sit down at the table, there is no reunion. If people are afraid, no good news is heard. The world needs the gospel. And the Good News needs the world. Amen.

Amen.

6He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2On 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! 3Is 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. 4Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” 5And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6And he was amazed at their unbelief.
Then he went about among the villages teaching. 7He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11If 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.” 12So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

Faith Is What Happens On Our Way TO Somewhere Else

Sermon-Year B-Proper 8-4thPentecost June 28, 2009
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."
When I was 15, I got sick with a mysterious illness. I spent a year not feeling well, and finally wound up having surgery. But it meant that I missed a good sized chunk of high school. Also, I was pretty shy. So when we went back for my 40th class reunion last week in Kansas City, I didn’t feel like I knew very many people from “the old days”. We went to t wo reunion events , and both times I felt pretty disconnected from my class. Some pictures were posted online after the reunion, I am not making this up, and Debby and I were shown seated at a table with this caption underneath the picture: “Debby Hagan”. Period. No mention of the guy with her. Thank God she was there.
But besides the reunion, we had a chance to spend time with cousins and friends that I hadn’t seen in many many years. We stopped along the way and I was reconnected with a lot of people that were from a long time ago. It was a very good vacation, but not because of the reunion. But I’ll get back to that. This is my point today, Faith is what happens on our way to somewhere else, to do something important.
If you remember from last week, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee in a terrible wind, into the land of the Gentiles. He and his disciples went through the storms and faced a crisis of faith before they could get to the people who were foreigners to them.
This week they have come back to the Jewish side of the lake. But the same problems persist. People are in trouble, people are sick, people are struggling- unable to find God. People keep getting in the way of the gospel.
Jesus gets out of the boat and is immediately beset by a father with a sick daughter. This father, Jairus, (whose name means, "he who will be awakened or he is enlightened") is desperate. He does not come to Jesus in faith-he comes in anguish. Have you ever had someone who is near you who is near death. YOU WILL TRY ANYTHING, ANYONE if they have a chance to help. This is Jairus. My daughter is dying, HELP HER. And so Jesus starts towards the ruler’s house. Then, the story takes a detour. Jesus gets distracted, The crowds around Jesus are growing, and yet suddenly he feels someone touch his robe. A woman has been hemorrhaging for years, suffering. And now a second person is in trouble. Jesus is on his way to help one person, and now someone else has reached out to him. How old is the little girl? The woman who touches Jesus, how long has she been bleeding? Both are women, both associated with the number 12, both “contagious” in Jewish law. The woman had been using physicians for many years, the little girl’s father was the leader of the synagogue. In other words, people of authority and power had tried and failed to help. Both the woman and the little girl, are anonymous-we never know their names. Jesus simply calls the woman, “daughter, and Jairus’ daughter he calls, 8 0little girl”. So many things tie these two females together in this story. Jesus heals the woman who had been bleeding, and then hurries to the child. When he arrives at the house, he is told that the young woman is dead-perhaps if he hadn’t been held up on the way, been “distracted” , things might have been different. But he goes in, takes her by the hand, and bids her to rise. And she is revived. “According to theologian Barbara Brown Taylor, Jesus then preaches the "shortest sermon of his career: 'Do not fear,' he says to the grief-besotted man, 'only believe.'" Do not fear; only believe. Taylor says this sermon was not just for Jairus' benefit, and not just for the early church Mark addressed, but for "all of us who suffer from the human condition, who are up against things we cannot control." "Healing Powers," Kate Huey, Weekly Seeds, i.UCC.org, 2009. Faith is what happens on our way to somewhere else, to do something important.
All the stories in this section of Mark are about the Kingdom of God, and they revolve around the things that separate us or drive us from that kingdom. Today’s stories are about fear. So were last week’s. And the week before that. This part of Mark’s gospel recounts stories about the things that get in the way of our faith, that undermine us, and divert us while we’re on the way to someplace else, preparing to do something important. John Lennon had a famous quote once, “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.” That line jumped out at me more than once over the last couple of weeks.
On the way to our reunion, we stopped one night to see a cousin and his wife that we hadn’t seen in years. We had a great time, and in many ways it was like we had never been apart. The next night we drove 150 miles farther and again stopped to see a different cousin and his wife that we hadn’t connected with, we guessed, since the last family funeral many years earlier. Again, we had a lot of fun. After a few days we went and stayed with an old buddy of mine and his wife. At one time he and I had been very close, but then I had let the friendship lapse. We picked up where we had left off over 25 years ago. Again, it was wonderful. But none of these had to do with my school reunion. I was on my way somewhere else, and these things just happened.
Jesus is on his way to preach the good news to his own people. But a little girl is sick and he is detoured. And on his way to see her, a woman in distress reaches out to him. And his visit to the little girl is delayed. We hear this over and over, while Jesus is on his way to do something important, life gets in the way and it always feels like the gospel is diverted. Except it’s not. “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.”
Today’s gospel is called sandwiching, a story within a story. We hear of a story, it’s interrupted, and we hear of a second story. And Mark does this to make a point. It can get a little frustrating. But it always turns out that the goal is achieved “in spite” of the deflections. In other words, the gospel happens. The good news is preached, the kingdom is moved closer. After awhile it20starts to dawn on us that the gospel doesn’t happen regardless of the distractions-maybe the gospel IS the distractions.
I have found this to be so true in my life that whenever I have something really big coming up, like say, a 40th high school reunion, I start looking for the diversions, the distractions-and watching for them. You know we’re always on our way to something important, and something else gets in the way? Maybe that thing that gets in the way was the lesson the whole time. I went for a reunion with classmates, and instead was reunited in a wonderful way with friends and family. And because I was pondering this gospel, I knew something like this would probably happen. Faith is what happens on our way to somewhere else, to do something important.
Listen for how often Jesus teaches that the opposite of faith isn’t doubt, but fear. Fear gets in our heads when we believe that what we want and what is happening, are two different things. Like our health or the health of someone we love. Or a reunion. Or being separated from those we love. Or losing someone. We become afraid that life is spinning out of control. And our faith and trust in God is undermined. We start out on a road of faith, and life gets in the way. And we become afraid. We might not reach our goal, we may lose the thing, the person, whose important.
Life is a sandwich. We have a purpose, and other things get in the way. If we listen, and watch closely enough, I think, we learn that it’s the things that get in the way that turn ou t to be our real purpose, our real goal. I went to a reunion and wound up being reconnected with old friends. Jesus was on his way to preach the gospel, and wound up preaching the gospel. A child dies, and two people get healed. We are working on something that is crucial, maybe even something holy, and life gets in the way. Faith is what happens on our way to somewhere else, to do something important.


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.” 40 And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. 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.