(Mark 5.32.43)
A sermon preached by Dave Shull
Spirit of Peace United Church of Christ
Sammamish, Washington
The 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time – October 18, 2009

One of the reading assignments for the program I attended in North Carolina last weekend was by a young man named Shane Claiborne. He wrote the book we're going to start discussing pretty soon on Monday nights. Claiborne writes, "If you ask most people what Christians believe, they can tell you, 'Christians believe that Jesus is God's Son and that Jesus rose from the dead.' But if you ask the average person how Christians live, they are struck silent. We have not shown the world another way of doing life. Christians pretty much live like everybody else; [we] just sprinkle a little Jesus in along the way" (Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution, Zondervan, 2006, p. 117).

Even though that was how the 40-page chapter we were supposed to read started, as soon as I read it, I had to put the book down. If you ask most people what Christians believe, they can tell you….But if you ask the average person how Christians live, they are struck silent. We have not shown the world another way of doing life. I had to put the book down because I knew he was right. And I was afraid of what he was going to say next about how we Christians might show the world another way of doing life. Besides just sprinkling a little Jesus in along the way.

This morning, we conclude the gospel story we started two weeks ago. A president of the local synagogue named Jairus pleads for Jesus to come to his house to heal his gravely ill daughter. As they are going to Jairus' house, a large crowd follows them. From the middle of the crowd, an unnamed woman with an unstoppable flow of blood sneaks up behind Jesus and touches his cloak. She is certain that if she only touches his cloak, she'll be healed. But she doesn't want him to notice her. Because Jewish law names her Unclean, and anyone she touches becomes unclean as well. But as soon as she touches him, Jesus feels power drain from him. So Jesus calls out, "Who touched me?" And the woman has to make a decision as to what to do. That is where we pick up the story.

Listen for a word from God.

Jesus continued looking around to see the woman who had done this. And the woman who had been healed from the flow of blood, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be well from your scourge."
While he was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler, saying, "Your daughter has died. Why bother the teacher any more?" But Jesus, ignoring what had been said, said to the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid, just keep on believing." And he didn't let anyone follow him except Peter and James and John, James' brother.
And they went into the house of the synagogue ruler, and he saw the commotion made by the people weeping and wailing loudly. And as he entered, he said to them, "Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child hasn't died, but is sleeping." And they laughed at him. But he, throwing them all out, took with him the father of the child and the mother and his companions, and went in where the child was. And taking the child's hand, he said to her, "Talitha koum," which is translated, "Girl, I say to you: Rise!" And immediately the girl arose and began walking around – for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were greatly amazed. And Jesus commanded them urgently that no one should know this, and said that she should be given something to eat.
(translation by Joel Marcus © 2000 Doubleday)

In this story, both the unnamed woman and Jairus are afraid. And, for both of them, the love of God is stronger than anything they fear. The love of God fills and carries them. So they can show their neighbors in Capernaum another way of doing life.

The woman is afraid of going out in public. Her neighbors know she has been bleeding, and so she's unclean. She's afraid if they see her they will curse her or spit at her. And she's afraid that if Jesus realizes she has touched him, he'll become furious with her. Because by touching him, she has made him unclean. But the love of God fills this unnamed woman. The love of God carries her out of her isolation into the streets. God's love is stronger than any purity laws that define anyone as unclean. God's love is stronger than any fear she has of being shamed, or being the object of Jesus' anger at being made unclean by her.

And Jairus is afraid. Two weeks ago we read how he fell before Jesus' feet and pleaded for Jesus to heal his gravely-ill daughter. Jairus is a president of the local synagogue. Other leaders of this synagogue at that moment are plotting with others to find a legal way to kill Jesus. If they find out that Jairus has publicly acknowledged his faith in Jesus' power to heal, they will probably fire him. And Jairus will lose his honor. Which in first-century Palestine is the same as being dead. But the God's love fills Jairus. God's love carries him to come to Jesus. That love is stronger than his fear of losing his job. That love is stronger than any code of honor. That love of God is the love he feels for his daughter. And that love for her leads him to risk everything to have her healed.

Because God's love in her was stronger than any other power, this unnamed woman is free. For the first time in 12 years, she is not bleeding. But now Jesus knows someone touched him. And this woman has to decide what to do. She could have made it back home without him ever finding out. But maybe this love of God that fills and carries her also led her not to fear honesty even when that is risky. So she decides to tell the hard truth. The story says the woman approaches Jesus fearing and trembling. She falls on her knees before Jesus. And she waits for his angry, shaming response to having been made unclean by her. And the crowd's looking forward to him shaming her. That's how they do life. Shaming people when they forget who they are, when they don't play by the rules.

But the love of God is always about another way of doing life. So Jesus does not shame this woman. Instead he calls her, "Daughter." A woman whom no one has touched for the 12 years of her uncleanness hears Jesus call her Daughter. He invites her into his family. Where people practice another way of doing life. Because everyone is declared clean, everyone is welcome, everyone is cherished, everyone has a place.

We don't have time to celebrate the new life Jesus' love offers this woman. Because messengers from Jairus' home arrive with the worst possible news. "Your daughter has died. Why bother the Teacher any further?" Then Jesus says something utterly outrageous. "Don't be afraid, just keep on believing." How is this grief-stricken father not supposed to be afraid? He has risked everything for his daughter, and now it seems to have been for nothing. His life is falling apart around him. And all Jesus can say is, "Don't be afraid, just keep on believing"?

What I hear Jesus saying is that God's love is the most powerful force in the world. It is even more powerful than death. Easter's empty tomb shouts to all who will hear that God's love is stronger than any evil, any violence, any empire, any brokenness, any fear, any death. If Christians walked together through this world, confident that God's love fills us and carries us, and confident that love is the most powerful force in the world, then we can face anything. If we really believed God's love is the most powerful force in the world, then we would make Shane Claiborne a liar. Because everyone who saw us would be able to answer the question, How do Christians live? Because every day they would see us Christians showing the world another way of doing life. We'd be showing the world another way than to accept that there always will be lots of people without homes or jobs or health care or hope. We'd be showing the world another way than to accept that there should be people who fall outside the circle of those whose human rights should be protected. We'd be showing the world there is a power in this world that is so much stronger than fear.

If I really believe God's love is stronger than any power in creation, what have I to fear? What have you to fear?

When I wrote this sermon, I typed nothing.

If I really believed this, why do I water down Jesus' demands? I make all kinds of excuses as to why I can't live my life like Jesus tells me to live it. And my excuses for not walking in his way are so reasonable. Jesus, the world today is so different than it was when you were telling people how to live. There's no way I can do the hard stuff you say disciples need to do. Give me a break, Jesus. You can't expect your followers to live this way…can you?

And then in four sentences, Shane Claiborne shatters all my reasonable excuses. When you ask the average person how Christians live, they are struck silent. We have not shown the world another way of doing life.

The empty tomb promises us that the Spirit of Christ is with us. His love fills us. We live in his love. We respond to that love by showing people what it looks like when love transforms fear. We show them others ways of doing life because we are certain that the love of God is the strongest power in the world.

I like the sound of that. But to live like that? To make it real? Jesus tells us his love fills us. He says, "Make yourselves at home in my love." That part I like. That doesn't ask much of me. Then Jesus says to you and to me, "If you believe my love fills you, if you believe no matter where you go in this world, I am holding you in my love, then you will be truly free. My love is the strongest power in creation. So let it fill you. Let it carry you and your companions out into the world. To show it another way of doing life."