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Give God a chance!
Sermon preached by the Rector in Street Mission and Parish Church
2 July 2006
The readings were:
2Cor. 8:7-end; Mark 5:21-end
In last Sunday's gospel Mark taught that Jesus is Lord of creation by stilling a storm on the lake.
In today's gospel Mark clearly teaches that Jesus is not only Lord of creation but He is also Lord of life.
Today's gospel contains two wonderful encounters that people had with Jesus, encounters that restored the woman's life and literally gave Jairus's daughter, her life back.
As well as teaching us that Jesus is Lord of life, and therefore divine, there is a great deal more for us to learn for our own faith walk from these two encounters with Jesus.
Being a sound preacher I have three points for you. They are:-
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Give God a chance
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Listen to your heart and act in faith
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Don't lose hope.
Mark tells us that the woman had suffered for 12 years and that she had spent all she had on doctors. Not only that, but she had suffered a great deal under their care. She had journeyed the normal route, that most of us will today if we are unwell.
Now Jairus as a ruler of the synagogue was not without influence and maybe money, so I am sure he also had tried everything humanly possible for his daughter, but to no avail.
So by the time we get to this point in time Jairus is beside himself with concern for his daughter. He will do anything, and so he turns to Jesus as his last hope.
Likewise the woman, she must have felt wretched, she had tried everything humanly possible, so now it was time to look beyond earthly answers.
Now was the time to give God a chance.
She had heard about the young teacher/prophet. When she had the chance to reach out to Him, she risked it, and in faith believed that if she could stretch out and touch Him, or even His clothes, He could heal her. In this simple act of faith, in which she gives God a chance, she is healed.
Jairus also as a synagogue ruler risks a great deal as He kneels before Jesus in the Street, in the glare of the eyes of all those passing by, and begs for help. For Jairus this was the time to give God a chance for His words tell us that in Jesus he sees one who can give life.
This is a lesson for us to take to heart.
A few years ago I was visiting a person who was suffering from cancer. He had put his faith and trust in the skill of the surgeons and radio- and chemotherapy treatments. Sadly, after several operations and several courses of treatment the cancer continued.
At this time, on one of my visits I suggested that perhaps it was now time for him to give God a try. Together with his wife I led him to make a prayer of commitment to Jesus, entrusting himself completely to God with out any conditions of healing.
Now I would love to tell you that God cured the cancer, but He did not.
But I can tell you that God gave him a new life from that moment to eternity.
A couple of months later the cancer won the physical battle, but from the moment God was given a chance, peace and a glorious new life filled body, mind and spirit. Another priest who was a friend brought him communion which brought him closer to God.
Our God is a God of surprises. Give Him a chance and He is able to amaze us.
Most of us have been brought up to trust our reason, and most of the time it is right to rely on our knowledge, flavoured with common sense.
But, as the woman in the reading teaches us, there are times when we need to listen to our heart and act in faith.
In verse 28 we find the woman thinking
"If I just touch His cloak I will be healed"
Now stop and think about this for a moment. This thought is not rational. How can touching someone's clothes bring healing?
So where did the thought come from?
We do not know for sure, but maybe it is what I would call a heart thought.
Do you understand? Have you ever experienced one of those heart thoughts, where our rational mind is overruled?
I think this is where our woman in the story is at.
But like her, when these hearts thoughts come our way only have a moment to respond before our rational mind kicks in and overrules.
When we act on a heart thought we are acting in faith, we don't think about all the consequences, we trust and act in faith. This is the simple truth that we find here in our gospel.
When she acts, she does not realize that Jesus will know, will find her out. Yet faith leads to grace; and as she admits her faith act to Jesus, so she is healed.
I am sure many of us miss opportunities to respond to heart thoughts and prompts.
Why?
Because to the mind, to step out and take a risk seems so foolish. But I, and all of you, need to learn to spell faith in this way: R.I.S.K.
There are times, even when we have gone out on a limb and acted in faith, that bad news can cause us to lose hope.
Can you imagine what it must have been like for Jairus, waiting as Jesus stops and speaks to a woman in the crowd, as he listens to her tell her story?
Can you imagine His impatience, desperately wanting Jesus to hurry with him back to his daughter?
Then as he listened to Jesus' words to the woman, people came with the news he dreaded:
It's to late, don't bother the teacher, your daughter has died. Those words must have sucked all hope from Jairus.
There he was; after giving God a chance, time had intervened. There was nothing left but despair. But God is a real Time Lord. He is Lord of time, and Jesus says:
"Don't be afraid - don't loose hope, but believe. You have stepped out in faith, you have given - me - God a chance, go on believing and take me to your daughter.
I believe it was in the action of taking Jesus to his home and to his daughter that we see Jairus' faith rekindled.
Often it is in actions that our faith is lifted.
Faith is not simply a matter of will. It is a matter of body, mind and spirit. Often the physical helps the spiritual. The story unfolds before us, and Jesus the Lord of life restores life. Jesus takes the girl by the hand and says to her:
"Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!").
So, before the eyes of Mum and Dad, Jesus takes the girl by the hand and she stands and walks around. Mark goes on to tell us that at this they were completely astonished.
Through out our pilgrimage the world and the devil will seek to discourage us, to kick us in the teeth and to take away our hope. The story of Jairus teaches us not to lose hope but keep trusting no matter what.
Mark wants us to learn to--
Give God a chance
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Listen to your heart and act in faith
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Don't lose hope.
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Thursday 28th of August 2008
