In the Presence of Sin

2 Samuel 11:1-15 John 6:1-21 July 29, 2012 Ninth Sunday of Pentecost Year B “In the Presence of Sin” The church has a responsibility to address the needs of others A few years ago in the city of Chicago, a crowd of community residents did something unusual. They picketed the churches in their community to do something other than have church. They picketed them to be church. They seemed to say the Christ you claim and proclaim each Sunday seems more than enough in the sanctuary, but never seems to get out in our neighbor-hoods. Why are you open only on Sunday? Need happens 24/7. There are six other days in the week, but you're closed. I don’t know if that is true or not, I don’t remember hearing that story. But it is important for us to think about during this time, as we hear of so many people taking to the streets, like the nation of islam, and the coalition of Chicago pastors who were out on the street corners to address the violence that happens this summer. But I want to start where we left off last week – we have to remember that need is a 24/7 situation. It never goes away, there is always someone in need, in need of even the most basic things in life. God created us to have needs God created us to have needs, we have to eat, we have to drink water, we have to sleep. And those are basic needs that we have to tend to each and every day. Eat, drink, sleep, those things can even take control of our lives. The importance of fasting For the muslims, the month of Ramadan is a month of fasting. A month to step out of the day to day routine of needing to spend so much time in our lives, trying to satisfy our most basic needs. I thought of the importance of a time of spiritual cleansing on Friday as I had to take a blood test. I was supposed to fast for at least 12 hours before the test. But for some reason I did not schedule the test until 2:30 pm. I spent most of the morning, literally 3 hours – staring at the clock waiting for 2:30 to come so that I could get something to eat. But was I hungry because my body needed nutrients, or out of the habit of needing something to eat. And what does it mean to satisfy the hunger? Had I not gotten hungry, I would never have thought about what hunger really means. When I was a little girl, I used to wonder why I had to eat today, when I had something to eat yesterday. It has been a long time in life since I had that problem. Natural hunger the beginning of sin We all get hungry, we all need to eat – God created the human body that way. But in reality we run into another problem. God gave us all certain needs. But there are days when we cross the lines. We no longer think about whether those needs are satisfied, we just continue to want more and more and more. It is when we cross that line from hunger into greediness that we have turned to sin. It is easy for any of us to cross that line. And it is usually not until we have gone too far, that we even become aware that we have crossed that line. The importance of this story The Hebrew bible lesson is one of the most famous stories in the bible. It is also one of the most graphic stories in the bible. It is designed for us to gasp, for us to get mad at the participants, for us to hear the story and place judgement on what a horrible person King David was for committing adultery with the wife of his most faithful servant. It is clear for us to see how David was wrong, and should have known better. We don’t think about why this story is here, why we are reading it now. For is to realize that David wanted to make an example if his life and his story in hopes that we would do differently. It happened late one afternoon The story starts out – that it happened late one afternoon. David was just out on his balcony, he just happened to see a woman, he just happened to commit adultery, she just happened to get pregnant, he just happened to have to kill her husband, he just happened to marry her, they just happened to have a boy, that boy just happened to become the heir to his throne. Nice story, but one problem. Sin does not just happen. There is always a moment when we could have turned away and avoided the consequences. And panic and hiding the sin doesn’t make it go away. They usually get us into more trouble. And even after God has forgiven us, we still live with the consequences of our sin. The bible makes it clear that David was one of God’s favorite persons. There is story after story of how God was with David, and God brought David through some tough times. God made an eternal promise to David. And yet the one thing that always sticks out to me, is that david spent most of his adult life as a very unhappy person. He was very sick, there was chaos in his family, the threats to his leadership came from his own sons. This was the point where things seemed all down hill. In his story one thing led to another because of the consequences of his life. He repented and he asked for forgiveness – but what good did it do. Cleaning lady cleaning up after her own party A lady had been the cleaning lady for one company for over 70 years. When the new managers of the company found out about their most loyal employee, they wanted to give her an appreciation party. When she found out, she asked her supervisor to please not do her any favors. The managers thought she was just being modest and insisted. She insisted also, please no party. I am still the cleaning lady, and it will be my responsibility to clean up the mess that you all make from this party. So please don’t do me any favors. That must be how God felt about David, and how he feels about us most days. We are the ones who commit the sin, and we expect God to clean up the mess. It is one thing for us to be hungry, it is another for us to be hungry for other peoples things. God says thou shalt not covet. It is one thing for us to be hungry, but it is another for us to get greedy. When we are hungry, we have to depend upon God to supply all of our needs, and to be satisfied with what God gives us. David’s sin not living up to his responsibility David’s sin did not start with adultery, it started with him not honoring his responsibilities to others. The king was expected to lead his people in battle. His people were in battle, but david decided that as king he needed to stay at home. Not only was Bathsheba married, but David was married also. But he had decided that rules were for other people, he had the freedom to do what he wanted. We will hear more about this story next week, but David had to realize that no matter how many other people who had hurt with his actions, that he also hurt God. He needed to ask for God’s forgiveness in the midst of this. Jesus 4th temptation There is an old African American story that the devil tempted Jesus Christ not three times, but 4. When jesus was in the wilderness, the devil tempted Jesus to trust himself to take care of his needs and not God, the take power over the world, and to save himself. As Jesus was in agony on the cross, in pain for all of our sins, the devil whispered in his ear – they are not worth it, they will continue to sin again and again, your death is a waste, because these people are not worth it. It was at that moment that Jesus cried out for all to hear – Father forgive them for they know not what they do. David was highly favored by God, David confessed his sins, and yet David himself realized that he would have to live the consequences of his sin forever. He never saw God’s promise for us- Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for truly taking away the effects of our sin on our lives. Sin is rooted in love, love of money, love of pleasure, love of the things of this world. Salvation is rooted in the understanding that God loves us more. Jesus Christ has the power to satisfy all of our hungers and all of our needs. The feeding of the 5000 is so important that it is the only miracle in all five gospels. Jesus understand that the need to eat is given to all of us. Jesus understands that we live in a world that does not provide for everyone, so people are hungry. People need to eat. Sometimes, you cant address the spiritual needs of a person, until you address the physical needs. You have to feed them food before you feed them the Word. John tells this story – helping us understand why Jesus sacrificed himself so that we would not have to be hungry forever. Jesus says that man cannot live by bread alone, when we just seek bread, we are on the road to sin. Sin is an outward expression of the rebellion in our hearts. A refusal to let God take care of all of our needs. John is the only version of the feeding story that ends with Jesus walking on water, in order to calm the fears of his disciples. John wants us to remember that even as disciples we have needs, we have fears, but we have to believe that Jesus has the power to overcome all of our circumstances. Sin happens in the circumstance of life, but Christ has shown us time and time again, that he is Lord of circumstance. There is always a way to rise above our circumstance, if we are willing to follow Jesus. Sailing the see according to the waves In Plato’s Republic, there is a story of a ship sailing the seas. The captain directed the ship through the sea by looking at the stars. Yet the crew felt that he should have been looking at the water and the waves in front of him. They were more responsible for the direction of the boat than the stars. They locked him in his cabin and navigated the ship themselves, according to what they could see of the waves and the water. By navigated according to what was happening in front of them, they were headed for a wreck. When we live our lives according to what we see in front of us, we are headed for disaster, because we are headed for sin. When we live in a world where things happen one late afternoon, - sin will prevail. That is the natural course of human nature. Jesus overcame human nature, Jesus overcame circumstance, Jesus died for our sins, so that we could understand to power of forgiveness and a right relationship with God. Keep you head up, looking at the stars, the heavens, to God. Then we can always steer our way clear. Let us pray…..

A Holy Place, A Holy People, A Holy God

July 22, 2012 Eighth Sunday after Pentecost 2 Samuel 7:1-14 Mark 6:30-34; 53-56 A Holy Place, a Holy People, a Holy God Year B There is something going on in the world I know that I have said this before, but with the events within the last days, I feel that I need to say it again. There is something going on in the world today. There is a very strange spirit at work in the world. It just seems that people are anxious and doing some strange things out of desperation. I have just never seen so many people doing so many things that don’t make no sense. Thing that seem to have no regard for a sense of humanity in others. It seems that they are in pain, so they just don’t care what they do to others, or how others are affected by their actions. We are definitely a world at war on a lot of different fronts. People only care about what they care about. And as long as they win, they don’t care who has to lose, or what they have to lose, even if it is their own life. You know there was a time a few years ago, when I would have thought that we were living in peace times, where everything was going fairly well, people were fairly happy, situations were fairly manageable, but that was a long time ago. And this is just not peace time. King David at rest This is nothing like King David must have been experiencing in the Hebrew bible lesson for today. Scripture says that this was a time of rest and stability for David. He was settled in his house, he was not being attacked by his enemies, and it seemed that this kingdom was well taken care of. Now David had been a warrior most of his adult life. He spent most of his life at war. As a matter of fact, back on those days, people worshipped God because they believed that God was what made them conquer all of their enemies. Yahweh was believed to be the God of victory in war. The Israelites believed that if we united together under one God, then no one could defeat us. David was a war hero, he knew battle very well. As a matter of fact, the word rest means someone who is able to take a break from all of their hard work. David was someone who had been at war, and now he was finally able in his life to take a break. You can only rest from hard work. Someone who takes a rest from rest is just plain lazy. David was settled down in his life, so he sent a message to God that it was time for God to do the same. To take a rest from the war. Scripture says that David told his plans to the prophet Nathan, who told talked with God. God has to remind David, that he was not the God of rest, but the God of work. He had always been on the move with his people, and that if his people were on the battlefield of life, then God needed to be present among them. Rest for God was not in a place. Isaiah 66:1 says – heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. Where then is a house that you can build for me, where is a place that I can rest. God is always working As long as there are people in need, God’s work is never done. There is no rest of God. And yet we live in a notion that the church is the place that we come to meet God, and that we should be able to come here and find rest. God is not a God of rest. And there is no rest in the church. There is always work to be done. Mother goes to jail to rest There was a family, two parents and five children. The husband did not work, and the mother had to do everything to support her young family. The husband did not work, but he still drove the car. He managed to accumulate over $5000 in parking tickets. He didn’t car, the car was not in his name, but his wife’s. So the city came after her for the money to pay the tickets. She told them she did not create the tickets, and that she just didn’t have the money to pay. The city told her that they would have to put her in jail for three months to settle her debt. The city thought that would make her pay, but the wife was happy. She said that as long as she had a bed, three meals a day and she did not have to deal with her family, jail would be a nice vacation. A time for her to get some rest. My point is, jail might be a place of rest, the church, not so much. The world is not at peace, and the church cannot afford to be at peace either. When we get settled, and restful, then we die. And we are not living the presence of God, who is always moving and working. We don’t get to rest in church, we rest in Jesus The good news of a God of no rest, is that we worship a God who always keeps his promises. When David wanted to build a house for the Lord, he told David that it was the other way around. He would build a house for him. He promised that there would always be a son of David on the throne. God fulfilled his promise by keeping a son of David on the throne for 400 years. He surpassed his promise when he bought Jesus Christ into the world. Jesus is known as the son of David. And he reigns on the throne forever. The disciples and Jesus look for rest Interestingly enough, the gospel lesson is also about rest. It seems that once people realized that Jesus was the messiah, they flocked to him constantly. Need never stopped. Not only did the need wear out Jesus, but it wore out the disciples. Jesus realized that he needed to take them all to what scripture calls a deserted place, a lonely place, a place to rest and get away from the crowds. And yet the crowd still followed him. It didn’t take Jesus long to realize that rest is not a place on earth as long as there are people in need. Jesus had compassion on them, as sheep without a shepherd. Feeding of 5000 We don’t hear the story of the feeding of the 5000 in Mark, but we will hear it next week in John. That was the most important story of Christ mission in the bible. But I want to point out that in the Mark version of the story, Jesus tells the disciples to give what they have to feed the people. And the disciples respond that they don’t have enough to help others. Jesus tells them to use that they have and the Holy Spirit will do the rest. This is the one time in the gospel where the 12 followers are called apostles and not disciples. They went from following the son of David, to doing his will. They were being Christ for the world. Christ calls the church to do the same. We have a chance to be called apostles, those who witness to the true good news of Jesus Christ. We have to realize that rest is in Jesus Christ, not in a seat in the world. Jesus has compassion on the people, and we have to do the same. We are called to show compassion to those in need That is what the world so lacks today – is the ability to have compassion on others. To genuinely care how others are being affected by our actions. And for us to realize, that just because the world is cruel, if we love Jesus, we don’t have to be cruel with the world. Zachary restored Wednesday, at the food pantry, I met a veteran named Zachary. As we talked, he said that it was not really food that he needed, but that he was in emotional pain because of a lot of things. He had just moved to Englewood. I invited him to church and he said, he did not know. He found that people were really cruel and heartless in this neighborhood. They seemed to like to beat up older men. He didn’t like to come out. We talked and we prayed. And as he left, he held the door open for a group of women. If I had not shown kindness to him, he would not have shown kindness to them. At that moment, whether Zachary comes to church or not, I felt that he was on the road the healing, wholeness and salvation. That was all Jesus was trying to do – not so much to give us rest, but to give us restoration. Salvation, and wholeness. He wanted to most give the ability to be human, in a very inhumane world. We are the ones to show compassion, when no one else is willing to. If we are to be more than disciples, but apostles, we have to realize that there is not rest here in the walls of this church. Our rest is in Christ Jesus. This is not the box that contains the fullness of God. And no matter how hard you try- you cannot keep God contained. God is always bigger than anything that w can imagine. Lady with dream of becoming a missionary There was a lady who had a dream of one day becoming a missionary and moving far away from home. Just as she was ready to graduate from college and step out on her own, her sister and brother in law were involved in an accident. The left 4 small children, with no one to take care of them. She had compassion on the children and raised them. By the time the children were grown and out of the house, she was too told to be a missionary. It seemed that she never got to fulfill her dream. God must have denied her dream. It turned out that all 4 of her nieces and nephews became missionaries themselves. They had been raised in a Christian household, where they clearly understood what it meant to serve God. It turns out that the woman had been a missionary after all. So there were 5 missionaries produced in that household. You might have plans of what you want to do for God, but God has bigger plans of what he wants to do for you and your household. What healing, wholeness and salvation looks like in your life is up to God, not you. Find your rest, not in the anything in the world – but in the eternal son of David – Jesus Christ. Let us pray.

Children Go Where I Send Thee

Sixth Sunday After Pentecost July 8, 2012 2 Corinthians 12:2-10 Mark 6:1-13 Year B Children Go Where I Send Thee Five Doubts There are five doubts that lurk in the shadows of the human mind and tend to rob us of our faith. First there is doubt in God’s wisdom, there is doubt in God’s teachings, second there is doubt in the person who takes the time to teach God’s wisdom, there is doubt as to whether the ways and methods suggested for following God is reliable, and finally – there is always the person, who because of his arrogant and impatient mind, may doubt the sincerity of the others who understand and follow God’s teachings. In other words there is always going to be someone who doubts the sender of the message, the message, and the messenger. The world we live in – doubtful We live in a world where people do indeed say that there is no God, and if there is a God, there is nothing that I can learn from the creator. There are people who question the bible. There are people who constantly question the credentials of the people who interpret God’s word for us today. Jesus rejection in the synagogue You get that wherever you go. It is always lurking in the human mind. God sent his only son to a people as a gift the teach them the true word. Even he experienced rejection. Jesus had been all over the countryside teaching, healing, performing miracles, transforming the world. If anyone was going to accept him, surely it would be the community that raised him. And sure enough, they allowed him to speak in the synagogue, they were astounded at his teaching. They seemed to have faith in what he said, but they doubted who it was that was talking to them. Isnt this Mary’s son? Isn’t this James brother, isn’t this the carpenter, didn’t we know him? The bible says that they took offense at him. How dare he try to teach us something. Glued to our faults James S. Hewett once gave an apt example of people not getting the respect they deserve. Especially young people. He tells about his son, who was using one of those super-adhesive glues on a model airplane he was building. "In less than three minutes," says James Hewett, "his right index finger was bonded to a shiny blue wing of his DC-10. He tried to free it. He tugged it, pulled it, waved it frantically, but he couldn't budge his finger free." Soon, they located a solvent that did the job and ended their moment of crisis. Then James Hewitt writes this: "Last night I remembered that scene when I visited a new family in our neighborhood. The father of the family introduced his children: 'This is Pete. He's the clumsy one of the lot.' 'That's Kathy coming in with mud on her shoes. She's the sloppy one.' 'As always, Mike is last. He'll be late for his own funeral, I promise you.'" James Hewett goes on to say, "The dad did a thorough job of gluing his children to their faults and mistakes. People do it to us all the time. They remind us of our failures, our errors, our sins, and they won't let us live them down. Like my son trying frantically to free his finger from the plane, there are people who try, sometimes desperately, to free themselves from their past. They would love a chance to begin again. When we don't let people forget their past, when we don't forgive, we glue them to their mistakes and refuse to see them as more than something they have done. However, when we forgive, we gently pry the doer of the hurtful deed from the deed itself, and we say that the past is just that--the past--over and done with . . ." King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com He is “just” a carpenter Some say that they were offended, because he was “just” the carpenter, he was just a child that they grew up with. In doubting Jesus, the didn’t realize that they also doubted message of God. God’s message was that even the carpenter could be used by God. The message was that indeed Mary’s son had something to teach the world. The wisdom of God came into the world in the form a carpenter, so that God could relate and speak to the ordinary person. So that we could understand his message. And understand that the message does indeed apply to us. Mark is working hard to help people overcome those five doubts that rob us of our faith. So that we can receive the message of the messiah and be saved. Mark is working hard to give us the stories of the messiah, so that we can see for ourselves that Jesus is indeed our Christ and our Lord. Scripture says that Jesus was amazed, absolutely astounded at their unbelief. He didn’t bad mouthed them, he didn’t threaten them, he didn’t curse them. Scripture says the he didn’t do too much else to prove himself to him. He healed a few people and went on about his business. But what he does do says it all – he calls his disciples to him and sends them out two by two. To continue to go out into the world and to continue to spread God’s word. Three gifts of advice As Christ disciples, he gave us three gifts in the form of advice as we go out: travel together, trust God to work wonders, and to travel light. God entrusted not just the carpenters, but the plumbers, the teachers, even the preachers to go and to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. The atmosphere in which we receive is important But the most important lesson that Jesus wanted to teach us in the story. Is that the gospel truth is not always so much in the person who is speaking. If they are speaking what God gave them, then it doesn’t matter who they are. If they are teaching the truth of what the bible says – it doesn’t matter what their profession, and it is not always our place to try and judge their character. God can use anyone to teach truth. What really does matter is not who speaks – but who hears. A friend of mine recently said, half of the sermon is not in what I say, it is in what you heard. And it is not so much in what you heard. It is in how you heard it. Ears that are receptive and listening for God’s word can hear the truth and believe. Ears that are cold and doubtful – will always question what was said. People who come together to criticize and find fault – will criticize and find fault. People who come together seeking God, seeking truth, seeking love, will find it and respond to it. And the world will be changed because of it. God has given us all an awesome responsibility. We as the church can either help or hinder the word. We can open the door wide to Jesus, or we can slam it in our face. In how we hear the word, but also in how we spread the word. Ignoring the Play When I was in elementary school, I remember when all the kids in the neighborhood got together and put on a show. We rigged up a curtain of sorts by hanging an old bedspread in a screened porch, and arranged folding chairs for the audience. Then we practiced a small play, and added in a few musical solos, for which I played the piano. (Because we couldn’t move the piano closer to the play, I had to play it very loud, and even then it was barely audible.) As I remember it, it was a prodigious feat for little kids like us. We invited all our mothers to come to our performance. (That was back in the days when housewives were not an endangered species and most mothers were home all day.) Although we did not charge admission, we went through the motions of collecting tickets and ushering our guests to their seats. Our audience was charmed by how cute that was. Then we put on our play. We put a lot of work into our play. We had to invent everything from scratch and improvise sets and costumes from things our mothers reluctantly loaned us, and yet they didn’t pay attention! They sat there and gossiped with each other, commenting on whether this kid was a natural singer or that kid was terminally shy. At the end, they retained nothing of the plot or the story of our play; they just told us how cute we were. Cute! The word stung! We wanted them to take us seriously, as if we were adults putting on a play. But they were so well acquainted with us that all they saw were cute little kids, and no play at all. Well, that is pretty much what happened to Jesus in today’s reading The Church is cute It is the atmosphere in which things are received that make the difference. In a world where people are prone to doubt and to question. To stay attached to their assumptions. And to not take the fact that god works in ordinary situations, with ordinary people. I think that this story represents the biggest challenge of the church today. We are taken as cute, but not relavant. The word of God is interesting but not important. Being in mission is good, but not transforming. We have to think seriously about how we represent the gospel to a doubting world. We have to be faithful in our task. We have to preach not our words, but the word in the bible that are given to us. Jesus says that if people still don’t listen, shake the dust off of your feet and keep stepping, keep spreading the word. We might have to give up on people, but we never give up on the message. That seems a little harsh. I think that if we are faithful, and determined, that people will eventually hear that message. Even Jesus hometown will eventually hear what is being said to them. Paul was doubted also But I want to leave you with the words of Paul. Paul had the same problem that Jesus had. He was among strangers, and yet there was doubt. Paul spent all of 2 Corinthians explaining his value in preaching God’s word. He didn’t feel he should have to prove himself. But there are five doubts that plague the human mind – those doubts are universal. God’s grace is sufficient Paul says that God gave him a thorn in his side – in order to keep him humble and focused on God’s task and not his. He says that he asked God to take the thorn away – I want to leave you with God’s response to Paul. My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. We are just the bearers of God’s truth. God works best, when we are vulnerable and broken, relying on God’s strength because we don’t have any. Fred Craddock, whom is a preaching professor said that grace only comes in empty spaces. When we are full of ourselves, and think that we are in control and have the answers, Grace can’t do its work. But when we are dependent on God’s grace, and we genuinely pass it on in everything we do – God fills our cup. And God helps the world overcome doubt. There is a song – children go where I send thee – spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Don’t ever give up on the power of God’s word, God has not given up on you. Amen. Not a part of the sermon…… As a conclusion to this sermon we might seek to set up a dialogue between the questions of identity raised yesterday and today „ and Jesus' word of promise. "Where did this man get all this?" Jesus: "I am the Son of God." "What is the wisdom that has been given to him?" Jesus: "I come with the wisdom of the kingdom of God." "Who are you for us today anyway?" Jesus: "I am the Sower. I have come to sow the Word." "What if I just can't believe in you?" Jesus: "I just keep on sowing." "Where can I turn for assurance?" Jesus: "Read my Word. Listen to my Word. I sow the Word to call you to faith." "What can I do about you?" Jesus: "Just keep on coming with a receptive heart. You keep coming. I'll keep sowing. I will never give up on you. I'll be sowing the word of life on the soil of your heart for all eternity. Amen." . Ken Collins, No Honor in His Own Country Glued to Our Faults

Jesus Cures it All

Year B 2 Samuel 1:1,17-27 Mark 5:21-43 “Jesus Cures it All” Fifth Sunday after Pentecost Our clothes are important Every morning all humans do the same thing. We get up, take a shower, brush our teeth, and then decide what we are going to wear. Generally in western culture it remains true that “Clothes make the man,” or in the name of a popular website, “Clothes make the girl.” Got a teenager? Then you know what I’m talking about. Then you know oh-so-purse-painfully how important it is to have the “right look.” To wear the “right duds” so you can be the “right dudes.” Even if you are not a “fashionista,” it is almost impossible not to be influenced by what the current culture says is “cool” (or “hot”). Who doesn’t want to “look good” and so “feel good” about themselves? Every week the tabloids are filled with planted or paparazzi celebrity photos — either looking their best or revealing their worst. But whatever shape they are in, what those celebrities are sporting influences the fashion choices of thousands. Designers count on it. In fact they literally “bank” on it. If someone fabulous and famous wears something, it will sell. The “knock ‘em dead” designs on red carpet runways are immediately copied into much cheaper “knock-offs” so that those with a bit of disposable income can outfit themselves like royalty. Even countries without “royal families” have their “royalty.” But while all of us — whether teenager or ladder climbing corporate bureaucrat — think that our clothes lend use power and prestige. People believed that clothes were an extension of who you are It was the same in Jesus day. It was believed that your clothes were an extension of who you were. It was believed that your clothes contained the essence of who you were. If you were a holy man or woman, then your clothes were holy also. If I can just touch the hem of his garment Perhaps that is why the woman felt that if I can just touch the hem of his garment, then everything will be okay for me. The holiness that he has inside will rub off on me. Jewish mean wore tassels of faith Not just Jesus, but all jewish men were expected to wear a tassel on each corner of their outer garment. That represented their faith in God. I had a woman make a robe for me, I cant wear the robe anymore, but she explained that the tassel represented spiritual power, and that the spirit had told her that I needed a tassel on my robe. The woman felt that if she could just touch the tassel, then everything would be okay. This woman had been suffering for a long time That woman is like a lot of us- she went through 12 year of suffering in silence. 12 years of dealing with life, even though no one really knew what was going on inside of her. Whenever she heard of a cure – she didn’t discuss it with others, but she tried it. The literature of the day gives 10 different cures for her problem, such as carrying the ashes of an ostrich egg in a rag. Nothing seemed to work. Scripture says that even back then, she went to the doctor, doctor after doctor. They took her money, but could do nothing to help her. I heard someone say the other day that God is the only doctor that will not send you a bill. She had heard that maybe this man Jesus could help her with her problem. She has tried everything else, she might as well try him. The messiah can take care of our deep need The lesson that Mark is teaching us in these miracle stories, is that Jesus is not ordinary man of faith. He has power that the others don’t have. He has access to God, he is the messiah. Last week as Jesus calmed the storm, the question was who is this that the wind and the waves obey. Today the question is who is this that can take care of my deepest need, my most taxing problem? This woman’s problem was so deep, that she couldn’t even talk about it in public. Yet Jesus was able to take care of it. Because Jesus has the power to reach to heaven and bring that peace to earth. The power of faith to overcome a 3% chance There was a man who woke up in the hospital after a horrible accident. The doctor told him that he had a 3% chance of ever walking again. I will take it said the man, God has worked against greater odds. He asked if he would be able to play the violin. The doctor told him the if he would walk out of the hospital, then he could play the violin. The man said he never played the violin, but if God could make him walk, then we would play. That man is walking well, and living happily ever after. All because he believed in the power of God. Jesus has the power to make the power of God real in our lives. Some say that you have to see it to believe it. When you have faith in God you have to believe it in order to see it. Our power comes from something bigger than anything in this world. Jesus gives her more than she expects This woman went through 12 years of pain, 12 years of being locked in a personal prison. Because of her problem, she was not allowed to be around people, she was to live in isolation. She was smiling on the outside, but on the inside she was suffering. She just wanted to get better. She didn’t want anything else from Jesus, she didn’t expect anything else. As a matter of fact, she was planning on walking away as soon as she touched him. She got what she wanted, now she needed to go on with her life. We are all just the same. We hang around Jesus, we pray, we have faith, we are waiting for a change. But if that change were to come tomorrow, would we still be faithful? 12 years this woman was waiting for a cure, If everything in life was given to us as we wanted it, would we even bother to pray? Jesus taught the woman that touching is a 2way street. We can touch, but we also have to be prepared to be touched. We can be transformed, but we are transformed in order to transform. Compassion is Jesus showed her compassion. Compassion literally means coming with passion. Compassion means to suffer along side of someone. When you show pity- you can remain at a distance. When you show sympathy it means that you are somehow better than the person. Charity is what the rich do for the poor. Compassion means to genuinely care for someone. Jesus genuinely cared for this woman. She got more than she bargained for – she was expecting to get her healing and to just walk away. If Jesus was an ordinary faithful man – he could have just observed what she was doing and let her walk away. But Jesus wants her to know who healed her, and how deep her healing really was. He wanted her to know that God had truly healed her. He stopped, looked her in the eye, introduced himself, and told her that she does not get to just walk away and go on with her life. She had been touched by the soul of God. Have you had the deep personal moment when God has touched your soul and said it is not okay to just walk away. I feel your pain, I have made you whole, walk with me. 12 connection to Jairus’ daughter 12 years this woman has been suffering. 12 years a little girl had been growing and living, and now she lay close to death. This is a story within a story. Because as Jesus is healing this woman, he has been asked to come and heal this little girl. 12 years old and near death. Once the woman is healed, they tell him that it is too late. She is dead. We give up so easily, when God never does. In order to be resurrected, we have to experience death. I am not hugging you to death, hugging youto life A business executive became depressed. Things were not going well at work, and he was bringing his problems home with him every night. Every evening he would eat his dinner in silence, shutting out his wife and five-year-old daughter. Then he would go into the den and read the paper using the newspaper to wall his family out of his life. After several nights of this, one evening his daughter took her little hand and pushed the newspaper down. She then jumped into her father’s lap, wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him strongly. The father said abruptly, “Honey, you are hugging me to death!” “No, Daddy,” the little girl said, “I’m hugging you to life!” about human nature that makes us put off the most important things until a crisis Then, one day it is too late, we have waited too long. We are like the Rabbi who did not run to Jesus until his daughter was “at the point of death .” Take a moment to examine your life today. What is at the “eschatos” — the point of death — in your life right now? What part of your spiritual or relational life is barely breathing? Find ways to make those areas (family, friendships and faith) a higher priority than career and income. Do something different this week. Before scheduling anything else, book time with God, schedule an appointment with those in your own family. Then, after prioritizing God and your family, then set up the rest of the week. Where are the dead spots in our life? The good news is that it is in those dead spots that God will show up. There are some things in our life that are dead for a reason, and some that are dead for a season. Some of those places are where God will show up in touch us in an unexpected way. Jesus was not ordinary man of faith, God’s love for us is no ordinary love. When you are touched by God, you can walk again. Compassion brings new life. Talitha cumi – it is time for us to arise When Jesus bought Jairus’ daughter back to life he said – Talitha Cumi – little lambkin, get up and arise. What is Jesus calling you out of , and telling you it is time to come to live and move one. The last words that Jesus said to the woman with a deep personal problem – go in peace and take good care of yourself, your faith has made you whole. Jesus is calling… do you believe in his words? Let us pray….