Sermon from the 4th Sunday after Pentecost

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Blackstone, VA
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 8[B] RCL), June 28, 2009
Leslie Ferguson, Seminarian
2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27; Psalm 130; 2 Corinthians 8:7-15; Mark 5:21-43

May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be always acceptable in your sight O Lord our strength and our Redeemer. Amen.

Healing… what a perfect topic for a church like St. Luke’s. You have a tradition of healing ministry in this church; your Rector has a reputation within the larger Christian community regarding her profession of God’s healing power in her and others’ lives; and you are partnering with other churches in your community to carry forward God’s words of healing to a world that is desperately in need of healing.

So let me share an account of a recent story of healing I observed. A younger person, in good health, with no history of early heart issues in their family ended up visiting the emergency room on a Friday evening. Their visit was spurred on by recurrent chest pains that didn’t really fit the mold for a heart attack but were still present. After an overnight stay and a full battery of tests, including a stress test, the person was discharged in excellent health. While following up, the person admitted to their doctor and their spiritual director that they were feeling anxiety and stress from fear of failing in their chosen field. After an intervention, they admitted that most of their anxiety was caused by grading themselves against a standard of perfection that they held no other person to. The short conclusion to this story is that person began to heal their heart and their life by being forgiven and healed of their fear by prayer and their community’s action. How is this story related to the healing story from today’s gospel? You’ll probably have to bear with me for a few moments to see the connection.

The healing story from today’s gospel is one of the more recognizable stories heard in Jesus’ healing ministry. Sadly, we hear the story so often that we may not look at it critically. But that’s what I propose today, to step back from “regular” story and look at a message that I see hidden in Mark’s Gospel.

In today’s gospel we see two apparently different stories. The woman was an outsider, a person who was unclean and excluded by society because of her medical condition; contrasted with Jairus who was a prominent leader in the synagogue. But hidden in today’s account is something that ties the woman and Jairus together. What is it? We hear the Evangelist say that “the woman came to Jesus in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told the whole truth (about her healing).” Later, we hear Jesus tell Jairus, “Do not fear, only believe.” Fear was the thing they shared besides being healed by Jesus. Both people lived lives ruled by fear in one shape or another. The woman was rightly fearful that she would be caught but before her healing she also feared that she would continue to be unclean, that she would become wholly destitute, and that in reality no one would be able to help her be made whole again. In contrast, Jairus was fearful that he would lose his daughter to some unnamed illness. Each of them came to Jesus with fear and trembling, not because they were in awe of his power but because they were truly afraid that their worst fear may actually become the reality of their life.

I will have to admit that fear can be both good and bad. Bad fear is one like I described; one not based in fact but based in insecurity. While good fear is one that has foundation and justification, like ultimate death from a terminal illness like cancer or heart disease. So which type of fear do we hear about in today’s gospel? I’d say in one case bad and the other – you’ll have to answer that one for yourself.

I think the woman may have had a bad but justifiable fear. She had spent all her money without avail and there was little hope that she would be made clean or whole again. And yet her worst fear wasn’t realized. Even in that fear, the woman came to Jesus hoping beyond hope that she would be healed. It doesn’t seem that she was all that confident about her possible healing because she silently slipped in from the edge of the crowd and “stole” the healing power from Jesus. However, when she was confronted by Jesus she admitted that she had been healed by him. But she had to overcome her fear, or better yet, she had to let Jesus’ presence overcome her fear of being a social outcast. She had to let her true illness be healed by Jesus’ touch.

But what about Jairus, it certainly looks like he was possessed with good fear. The loss of his daughter to illness should be considered a good fear but what other fear might he be holding onto? In his case, the commentators believe that he had to risk his personal capital as a leader in the synagogue to go to Jesus for healing because Jesus was not “acceptable” to the other leaders of the synagogue. And yet again, Jesus works to heal his real and unspoken fear to make his life whole again, this time through the healing of his daughter. Jesus overcame Jairus’ fear that his family would be broken by the death of his daughter. And Jesus healed Jairus’ fear of being outcast for believing and trusting in him and the truthfulness of his ministry.

What is it about fear that needs healing in this gospel story? What about in our lives today? It has been said that our greatest sin, the place where we need healing in our lives most frequently is in our fear and anxiety of the unknown, those things that we try to control, like our image or our imagined failings. This fear and anxiety is the biggest thing that separates us from God’s grace. But this kind of healing is almost as important if not more important than the physical healing we hear about in today’s lessons. In today’s society we live in fear, sometimes it is a good and healthy fear while often it isn’t. What fears do we have that need to be healed? I can think of a few that we hear about in our daily lives: financial concerns; not being “better than the rest;” not comparing to the standards set by our society to name a few.

Even though the church doesn’t view healing as a sacrament, healing can be sacramental: a token of God’s sacred relationship with each of us. The obvious healing in today’s Gospel is the physical healing of the woman and Jairus’ daughter, an outward and visible sign of God’s action in the lives of these two people. But I believe the healing missed in today’s Gospel is the inward and spiritual grace: the healing of the fear and anxiety impacting their relationship with God. Likewise, the healing we crave is relief of fear and anxiety in our relationship with God, with our self, and with each other. And this is the story of grace and redemption for our lives today, the active and vital participation in our lives by a loving and caring God.

How do we find our path to reach out to God for this sacrament of healing in our lives? There are many things we can do but first and foremost we need to be open to the desire for God to heal us, not only of our physical infirmities but also of our internal and emotional hurts. We can only do this by sharing our fears and anxieties with God and Christ and with our community. Second, we need to be faithful in asking for physical and emotional healing, especially in the hidden areas of our lives. Our openness will come from sharing our deepest concerns with others and coming clean with God in that community. Last, we need to be faithful in asking for healing for others, not just the things we see or the things they ask for; but for the hidden things that only God knows and only God can heal. It is from this place that we can begin to reconcile ourselves to God and to be healed of the things that separate us from fully participating in God’s family.

As we become more aware of the Holy Spirit moving in our lives and our community we will become more attuned to opportunities to share the healing power of God in Christ. We need not come to God in fear that we may not be healed, we just need to come to God in the assurance that God will truly heal the things that need to be healed in our lives… at the right time… for the greater purpose of God.
Amen!