Sermon for June 30, 2024 6th Sunday after Pentecost

Mark 5 Jesus heals the woman with the bleed and Jairus’ daughter I am the youngest of five siblings. That means I was sometimes the victim of certain shenanigans. I remember one

time my older brother and his friends were grabbing the electric fence. We had two horses on the back acre and you only had to learn the lesson once not to brush up against the

electric fence. So my brother’s friend was grabbing the fence and going, “It’s not on! Look, it’s not shocking me!” I watched as he fully grabbed the fence for several seconds. “It must

not be on,” I thought. So I too reached out to test the fence by grabbing it. Unbeknownst to me, my older brother was at the switch-box watching; he had turned the power off for his

friend and now that his little brother was reaching for the fence he threw the power back on. Such is my deep mistrust of allyou older siblings out there. When the woman with the

bleed reached out and touched Jesus’ cloak I don’t think there was an electrical shock or current passing into her.Neither do I think there was a visible spark like the artwork on our

bulletin cover this morning. But there was an exchange of power! It says that the moment the womantouched Jesus’ cloak she felt in herself that she was healed. And what more it

says that Jesus likewise felt power go out from him. He stopped in the middle of this pressing crowd and asked, “Who touched me?” I love the disciples’ reaction, “The crowd is

literally pressing in on you from every side. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” But Jesus is insistent; he is searching the crowd looking for who had touched him, he knew that

healing power had gone forth from him! The woman finally falls at Jesus’ feet, she is afraid and trembling, and tells him the truth of what had happened. She has had a menstrual

bleed these nlast twelve years. She had spent all her money on doctors but still the bleed only got worse. She thought to herself, “If I just touch his cloak I will be healed.” And so

she did. And did you hear Jesus’ next word? The very next word out of Jesus’ mouth is, “Daughter.” He calls the woman daughter. “Your faith has made you well, go in peace and be

healed from your disease.” I love this healing story. The faith the woman puts just in the hem of Jesus’ cloak reminds me of the mustard seed, or the mother asking for just a single

crumb from the master’s table. Just touching the hem of his cloak is enough; and she was healed. Power was exchanged as the healing power of Christ goes into this woman, making

her well. But the way Mark tells this story, it is beautifully woven and crafted as a story within a story. The healing of this woman with the twelve year bleed is right in the middle of

this healing story of Jairus’ daughter. Jairus was a leader in the local synagogue. As a religious leader, really he should have been opposed to Jesus, testing him and attempting to

discredit him like all the other religious leaders. Except Jairus had a daughter who was sick. And not just sick…at the point of death. The Greek is almost more of a gut-punch, it says

the little girl was, “holding at the end.” Holding at the end means the same thing of course as “at the point of death” but it has this sense of the end is here and she is barely holding

on by a thread as the end has come. It is a desperate time. She is only twelve years old; it is a tragic time. Out of this desperation, Jairus comes not as a religious leader, but as a

father, falling at Jesus’ feet and begging him again and again thathe might come and lay hands on her that she might be made well. It would have been a powerful scene, this

religious leader down in the dust begging at the feet of Jesus. A full testimony of the power and person of Jesus to heal and make well. It is a story within a story because we are

meant to see all the little similarities and parallels between Jairus and his daughter with the woman who came with the bleed. Both Jairus and the woman prostrate themselves at

Jesus feet. Both demonstrate this amazing faith that Jesus can heal. And of course how long had the woman had her bleed? (12 years) And how old was the little girl? (12 years) This

woman had had her bleed the entire length of time Jairus’ daughter had been alive. And my favorite, Jairus comes begging as a desperate father for his beloved daughter, and what

does Jesus call this grown woman who touched his cloak? He calls her daughter. Jesus sees this grown woman the same way Jairus begs for his own little girl. Now this all matters,

because as Jesus takes that extra time to search the crowd and ask who touched him, what happens? We find out the little girl has died. Jairus’ daughter who was “holding on at the

end” is holding on no more. She has lost her battle with whatever illness had plagued her and the news comes to Jairus there in the crowd, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the

teacher any further.” We aren’t told Jairus’ reaction, but can you imagine having watched Jesus “waste” time in the crowd looking for whoever touched him. Even the whole

interaction with the woman was wasting time. She had had a bleed for twelve years; surely a few more moments would not have hurt her! Again, we see that Jesus could have used a

good triage nurse. This little girl over here is at the point of death, she has priority, heal her, then you can heal whoever you want with these chronic conditions. I don’t know about

Jairus, but I would have been furious; I mean, enraged. Overhearing what they are talking about, Jesus turns to Jairus and simply says, “Do not fear. Only believe.” The same faith

that sent Jairus to Jesus in the first place, Jesus seems to be saying, “What’s death got to do with it? You trusted me when she was hanging on at the edge of death; why do you not

trust now on the other side of that same edge?” Christians have this funny thinking that somehow death is final. Weird, right? That you have until your death bed to accept Jesus but

once you’ve died, well, there’s nothing Jesus can do, it’s too late. To which the one whom broke the seal of the tomb and shattered the bonds of death asks, “What’s death got to do

with it? Do not fear. Just believe. Am I the Lord of both life and death or not?” Do not fear; only trust. Jesus enters Jairus’ house and people are loudly weeping. They have every

reason to weep, but remember this is also a culture where people hired themselves out to be professional “wailers” because they were really good at it. Not to diminish the legitimate

grief, but there was also the belief that the louder the wailing the more honor to the deceased. Jesus asks, “What is with all this commotion? The child is not dead, only sleeping.”

Now, of course she is dead. They know she’s dead. And Jesus is no fool, he knows she’s dead. But he plays their absurdity with absurdity of his own, exposing their unfaith. They even

mock him and begin laughing at him. Point made, because if they were genuinely grieving they could not have laughed. But the mocking here reminds me of the unfaith of the

disciples earlier as they too mock Jesus, “There’s crowds all around you! How can you ask who touched me?” Unfaith is swirling around Jesus. The household, the disciples openly

mocking him. In this crowd of unfaith Jesus’ words to Jairus shine like a beacon, “Do not be afraid. Only believe.” Jesus takes only his closest disciples and the girl’s mother and

father into the dark room and approaching the sick bed takes the hand of the dead girl into his hand and says to her, “Little girl, rise up.” It is the exact same verb used later in the

New Testament to speak of the resurrection. “Rise up, little girl” is the same word as rising up with Christ. Jesus has joined this little girl to his own death and his own resurrection.

This is the power of Christ’s healing. This is the power that went out from him into the woman with the bleed. Not an electrical switch thrown as the shock of the fence comes back

on, but the power of his resurrection. The power of healing is Jesus’ power over illness and disease. His power is the defeat of the devil and all his forces. Jesus’ power is the power

over death. And Jesus’ power today for you is the power of his resurrection. Jesus raises two daughters in our text today. It makes no difference that one is at death’s door and the

other has lived with a chronic 12-year bleed; in Jesus’ eyes they are both daughters, both are his precious daughters and he is a desperate father to see them made well. This is how

Jesus sees us. Jesus sees you as his dear, precious child. Jesus sees you in your suffering and desperately wants you to be made well. Enough to suffer upon the cross, enough to taste

death and decay of the grave. There in the darkest corners of the tomb Jesus speaks to you, “Do not be afraid. Only believe.” And here in these waters, in the waters of baptism, and

again and again in our confession we are joined to Christ’s dying and then, how much more, are we joined to Christ’s rising as Jesus takes you by the hand and speaks, “Dear child.

Arise. Rise with me. I have joined you to my own death and resurrection. You are forever mine.” Amen.

Sermon for June 23, 2024 5th Sunday after Pentecost

Mark 4:35 Jesus Stills the Storm

So tomorrow morning bright and early we begin Vacation Bible School; I’m super excited and

also kind of nervous. I saw this meme this week of before and after VBS, so true. As I

mentioned and by all the decorations you saw coming in this morning (and by the way, don’t

you love our yellow submarine!?) our theme is Under the Sea, and this morning’s Gospel story

where Jesus calms the storm is actually one of our Bible stories this week, I think Tuesday,

right? And anyone who is even remotely a fan of Disney movies knows of course where we

stole the theme from. (Stole? …borrowed.) Under the Sea is one of the most iconic songs from

Disney’s The Little Mermaid, but no, we won’t be singing that particular song this week. I don’t

want to hear from Disney’s lawyers. But the Gospel story this morning certainly conjures up

images from the very beginning of the Little Mermaid movie. Prince Eric is out exploring and

gallivanting on a ship when a sudden storm swoops in. There is commotion and panic as fierce

winds blow and waves begin to buffet the ship. Lightning strikes the mast, starts a fire and of

course Prince Eric ends up overboard, sinking into the depths where he is saved by, of

course…Jesus! No, he isn’t saved by Jesus, but I had to bring it back to the Gospel. You see the

same scene in your mind, don’t you, as it says Jesus and the disciples took their fishing boats

out on the lake when a great windstorm arose, (just like Prince Eric) and the waves were

beating at the boats so that they were in danger of being swamped. But here’s the best

part…where was Jesus? Asleep in the back of the boat. How do you even sleep through a

storm? I don’t know, but we’ll get back to that later. First, a little more about that storm.

The Sea of Galilee is in a valley surrounded by mountains, so it was not uncommon for sudden

winds to sweep down and cause storms. In fact, as recently as 1992 a particularly violent

storm on the Sea of Galilee recorded waves at heights of over 10 feet. And Jesus’ disciples

were veteran fishermen; so they’d seen their fair share of storms. But there they are, bailing

water, legitimately afraid for the lives. So this was no ordinary storm. It literally calls it “a great

storm of wind,” but I love some of the other translations: a furious squall; a fierce windstorm;

or my favorite, a violent wind. Have you ever lived in hurricane country? Or tornado country?

They say it sounds like a locomotive bearing down on you and it is one of the most terrifying

experiences, and that’s just the sound of the wind. Add to that the violence of the waves and

wind…I don’t know about you, but I find the thought of being swept into the deep and

drowning as I sank into the abyss utterly terrifying. And so did the ancient Hebrews. The sea in

the Bible is almost always a metaphor for chaos and terror. We see it right away in Genesis 1:1

where it says in the beginning the earth was a formless void and the spirit hovered over the

waters, or the spirit moved over the deep. This is the Hebrew’s answer to the ancient

Babylonian creation myth of Marduk and Tiamat. Do you know this one? The god Marduk slays

the chaos dragon Tiamat with his sword and out of the divided chaos-beast the world is born.

Notice in the Hebrew creation story God likewise divides the watery-chaos-beast, only unlike

Marduk who uses a sword, God needs only…his Word. “Let there be…” and the ancient foe of

darkness and watery chaos is divided and slain. In the ancient world the dark watery depths

are representative of threats of death and anything that stands against the power of life. For

example Scriptures like Psalm 18, “The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of

destruction overwhelmed me.” Or Psalm 29, “The Lord sits enthroned over the flood.” Or

again our Psalm for this morning, Psalm 107, “They mounted up to the heavens and went

down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away.   They reeled and staggered like

drunkards; they were at their wits’ end.   Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he

brought them out of their distress.   He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were

hushed.” The storm as a symbol of all the powers standing against God, all the forces working

against God’s good order and God’s gift of life. And this was no ordinary storm, but as the

translation calls it, a furious storm or a violent wind. And remember, that the word for spirit is

also the word for breath or wind. And so when Genesis says the spirit moved over the waters,

the Spirit is God’s wind, God’s breath. It is the Spirit of life, the Spirit of creation. Whereas this

wind that threatens Jesus’ disciples is described as a “violent” wind. It is not a spirit of life, but

a spirit of violence. It stands opposed to God like a blaspheming spirit, filled with arrogance

and spite as it can only threaten with violence and cause death and destruction. But it is safe

to say this violent and blasphemous wind has met its match.

Again, where is Jesus? Asleep in the back of the boat. What do the disciples do? They rebuke

him, “Teacher, wake up! Do you not care that we are perishing?” Now, some say this is

evidence of the disciples’ faith, that they woke him up believing that he could perform a

miracle and save them. I say hogwash. Since when are the disciples ever an example of faith?

Rather, I think this is sheer panic turned to outrage as they are bailing water to save their skins

and Jesus is sleeping through it?! Shouldn’t he be helping with a bucket or something? What

good is Jesus asleep in the back of the boat? Aha, I actually think that is the most important

question we can ask: What good is a sleeping Jesus, anyways? I’ll come back to that for my

grand finale. So Jesus wakes up and what does he do? He rebukes the wind, “Silence! Be still!”

And…immediately the storm was silenced and the water became dead calm. Have you ever

woken up early in the morning when you’re camping and the lake is just glassy calm, so still it

reflects everything like a mirror. Imagine going from the storm at the beginning of The Little

Mermaid to that glassy calm. It says the disciples were terrified, and can you blame them?

They ask, and I think this is the right question, “Who is this that even the wind and waves obey

him?” Who is this, indeed? Remember when God slayed the watery chaos dragon with nothing

but his word? In John chapter one it says that Word was Christ, “In the beginning was the

word and the word was with God and the word was God…and the word became flesh and

dwelt among us.” That means that Jesus was the Word God used to divide the watery depths

in the beginning, and so really, what chance did this little storm on the Sea of Galilee stand

against this one, the Word made flesh? And so the disciples ask, “Who is this?” Who is this

indeed? This is none other than the very Word of God that called and ordered all things into

being. And so the disciples are faithless and full of fear, because who can possibly comprehend

that? And I think that is how Jesus was sleeping even as the winds blew violently and spray

from the waves stung his face; he slept because this storm was no threat to him, how could it

be? He is the Word that has existed from before all things. What did Jesus have to worry or

fear?

But that is the power of the promise for us! The watery deep is still symbolic of all things that

stand against God, all the powers of death and all the forces of terror and violence, and our

lives and our world are still profligate with those! From literal storms that are increasing in

intensity, to wars that rage in Gaza and Ukraine, to threats of violence here at home and of

course death’s knocking come to our own door – we know too well what it is to fear and lose

faith as the wind and waves batter us and the depths threaten to swallow us. Where is God

when the waves threaten us? Where is God when death comes for us? Where is God, as the

hymnist famously asks, when all the wrong seems oft so strong? Are you ready for the

answer? You’re gonna love it. Where is God? God is…asleep in the back of your boat.

Remember when I asked, what use is a sleeping Jesus? What use is a Christ who is asleep in

the back of the boat? What use is a Messiah dead and lying in a grave? What use is a dead

Messiah hanging on a cross? Answer: God, in his perfectly upside down kingdom uses that

which is useless to deliver the very best gifts of his kingdom. God uses the dead guy on the

cross to forgive the sins of the world. God uses the dead Messiah rotting in the tomb to defeat

death once and for all. And so it turns out, Jesus sleeping in the back of your boat is the most

powerful thing you can have, because that one sleeping is none other than God’s eternal

Word, there from the beginning of creation and there at the end of all things to call you into

his kingdom of new life. His word is your forgiveness. His word is your salvation. Turns out

there’s nothing else you need than Jesus sleeping in the back of your boat. Amen.