Being Made Well

This past Sunday, I found myself back in the pulpit, leading worship and preaching the Word of God. My friend Emily asked me to supply preach while she was on vacation, and though I've about had it with the church in some ways, being with this particular congregation, at this particular time with this particular text was wonderful. Just what I needed to keep me going. I had a grand time back at the art of crafting a sermon even after discovering just what the lectionary text would be. See there's this certain story in scripture that keeps "randomly" finding it's way into my preaching life. Those who know me best will know why this "random" occurrence is such a magnificent display of God's handiwork, and odd sense of humor.



Being Made Well
Mark 5:21-43

Have you ever known Jesus to be easily distracted? Here he is, on his way to save Jairus’ daughter from death, and suddenly, Jesus has time to stop to help some no-name woman. I hardly imagine that Jairus approved of the delay. After all, he has just told Jesus over and over that his precious little girl is at the point of death. She is not someone who can wait for healing. Jesus must hurry before it is too late. Think about how Jairus may have been feeling…possibly anxious or irritated or impatiently tapping his foot, arms crossed, as he waits for Jesus to attend to an outcast. Maybe Jairus was thinking, “Come on Jesus! My daughter is at the point of death and I can see nothing wrong with this woman. Plus she didn’t even ask for your help. I have nothing in common with this, this misfit, and besides, my problem is much more urgent than hers. Let’s go already!” Jairus likely had little patience for this woman so different from himself.

The truth is, however, that Jairus has much more in common with the hemorrhaging woman than he could ever imagine. Perhaps we all do.

Consider the two major players vying for Jesus’ attention…When we first read through the story of Jairus sandwiching the story of the hemorrhaging woman, it does seem as if the two main characters are unrelated. They have little in common, and our tendency may be to point out the differences. For one thing, Jairus is a leader of the synagogue. He has a name and he has social status. He has easy access to folks like Jesus because Jairus has high standing in the community. When he comes to a crowd on his black SUV like donkey with full security detail in tow, people make room. Jairus can get to Jesus and he knows it. The woman, on the other hand, is an outcast. Her condition of hemorrhages would have in her time, given her the status of a leper. This woman is not welcome anywhere, especially in crowds, and she has only dreamed of social acceptance. She has simply heard of Jesus and does not know if she can get near him. Jairus has a family and friends who help him get Jesus to come, and who also grieve the loss of his daughter. The woman, however, is seemingly all alone. She doesn’t even have a name. And quite obviously, Jairus is a man while the woman is, well, a woman. In some venues, the idea of man’s superiority over women is still prevalent even today. Yet with all of these differences, Jairus and the hemorrhaging woman are really quite similar. Their differences end at the heart.

At the heart, both Jairus and the woman are coming to Jesus with a sense of urgency, out of shear desperation, because someone is suffering deeply and nothing else exists in that moment except the effort to end that suffering. Both of them seek healing, the healing touch of Jesus – Jairus believes simply the touch of Jesus’ hand will heal his daughter, and the woman thinks just maybe if she can touch the cloak of Jesus, she will be healed. Both of them seek life – Jairus wants his young daughter to live; the woman wants to live a new life free from suffering and exile. Both Jairus and the woman seek to be made well.

And isn’t that what we all want? To be made well?

How many of you have ever said to yourself, or a loved one, or even to God some version of, If I could just…If I could just sell my house, I would be made well. If I could just get my son or daughter home from war, I would be made well. If I could just find a job, I would be made well. If I could just, pay off my debt, receive physical healing, walk as fast as I used to, lose some weight, win the lottery…If I could just…I would be made well. What would it take for you to be made well? What is it that eats at your heart and burns in your soul?

To be made well is a rather basic human need. Even one who has all the other basics covered – food, water, shelter, clothing – even that one, without companionship, without love, without God…even that one has an ache in their heart to be made well.

I’ve heard a misguided conclusion about this text that says if we only have enough faith, we will be healed. Jesus provides physical healing to the hemorrhaging woman and declares it is her faith that made her well. He then urges Jairus to only believe, and brings Jairus’ daughter back from the dead. So, if we have faith, everything will be great, right? No disease, no death, no poverty…wrong. Faith does not take away the reality of our humanity, or our existence as a fallen and sinful people. Our faith cannot cure cancer or end a war or provide economic stability.

What our faith can do is fill us with hope. Hope for remission, hope for the scientists who will find a cure, hope for peace and the peacemakers, hope for a viable community. Jesus is not concerned with us having enough faith; faith cannot be measured like the miles in a drive, ingredients in a recipe or the minutes in this sermon; Jesus is not concerned we have enough faith, Jesus is leading us in the way of lasting faith.

The hemorrhaging woman had a lasting faith, a faith full of hope. The woman’s faith gave her hope that Jesus could provide her with the healing she needed to be a full member of society. Her physical ailment was healed yes, but the greater healing was to the ache in her heart. Her hope and her faith filled the empty hole in her heart that no medicine, no doctor, no money could even touch.

And as for Jairus? Well that distracting, inconvenient delay of the woman who stopped Jesus in his tracks is there precisely so Jairus might know what faith looks like. Jesus tells Jairus, “Do not fear, only believe.” Believe like this woman whose hope-filled faith was so profound that she risked her life to be healed. Believe like this woman who did not run when confronted, but told Jesus the whole truth. Believe like this woman, and you will see Jesus is the one, the only one, who can bring life out of death.

Do not fear. Only believe.

Easier said than done, huh? When the world seems to be falling apart around us…the economy is failing, we are a country fighting multiple wars, and patients with no cure fill the rooms of our hospitals, job layoffs continue to cover the pages of our newspapers…in times like this faith can be a difficult thing to find.

But we must. We must believe in what is to come. We must have faith in the God who gave his only son’s life for us. We must hope in the future of God’s kingdom. We must believe.

So whatever it is you think will make you well, I encourage you to give it to God. Over and over again, find your way through the crowd and grab a hold of Jesus’ cloak. Abandon your hesitation. Defy your fear. For you need only believe. Only believe, and God in infinite wisdom, strength, and love, by your faith, God will make you well.

Glory be to God. Amen.