Sermon for June 28, 2015: Mark 15: 21-34
This week’s Gospel brings us the story of the healing of two women. We begin with Jarius, leader of the temple, meeting Jesus immediately because his daughter is sick. Jarius’ fear for his daughter outweighs his own needs. His sets aside his decorum and rules as a leader of the temple to reach out to this healer, even if it may cause him problems later. He is willing to take Jesus into his homes because he believes that Jesus can heal his daughter.
Well, as they are walking to Jarius’ home, the other sick women reaches out to Jesus on the mere chance that she might be healed also. This unnamed woman has been sick for 12 years. In fact she has been bleeding for 12 years. The bleeding makes her unable to enter the temple because she is considered impure, so during the past 12 years she has been considered ritually unclean. She has spent all of her money trying to be healed. She is starving both physically and spiritually and she has no means to care for herself financially. She takes this opportunity to brave and daring in the hopes that she may be healed by touching Jesus. She is able to be this brave because she doesn’t have the luxury of fear. She’s already lost everything. So she takes the chance at being made whole by reaching out and touching Jesus as he walks by.
Jesus is aware that he has been touched the very instant that she is healed. What always amazes me about these stories of healing is that is each instance Jesus wants to engage with those who believe in his ability to heal. He calls out to the crowd to discover who touched him for healing. Now this anonymous woman was already healed and she had no reason to return. Of course now that she knows she is healed, she begins to be afraid but she knows that the truth must be told. She know that this relationship that Jesus is asking for require that she set aside her new found fear and reveal that she was the one who reached out to him for healing. To her surprise, her admission is met with love and affirmation that her faith is how she was healed.
In the meantime, someone arrives to tell Jarius that his daughter has died. Instead of being dissuaded by this news, Jesus reminds Jarius not to give into fear but to continue to believe. Jesus arrives at Jarius’ home at exactly the right moment to save the young girl. Jesus arrives at the right time for both these women and I can’t help but think about when Jesus has shown up for me at exactly the right time. Often I didn’t realize that Jesus was there or that it was the right moment until much later.
The events in Charleston, this last week gave me an opportunity to reflect on how Jesus had been revealed to me. Most of you know that I grew up in Charleston so this week has been extremely difficult. I know that this congregation understands how deeply a tragedy like the shootings at Emmanuel AME or like the ones here in the past few years can affect a community. I have been thinking of the women of Emmanuel that I know and love.
My middle school is across the street from Emmanuel AME church. I spent 6th, 7th and 8th grade gazing out the window at the huge white edifice of the church. When we learned about Denmark Vesey in Ms. Fike’s history class, we didn’t need to look at the pictures in the book because we just walked across the street. Emmanuel opened their doors to us when the school received bomb threats so that the students were not in the rain and we could continue our lessons in the pews. One of my closest friends in middle school was a member of Emmanuel. K’Lani’s mother was an elder and a deacon in the church and I thought that was the coolest thing. We talked about church a lot because we had that in common. I remember asking K’lani about when she thought we should pray and she said “when we breathe.
After college, I returned to Charleston and worked in hotel management. Many of the women who worked with me were members of Emmanuel. These women taught me so much and in looking back I realize that in them Jesus was there at exactly the right moment.
Though their actions, these women taught me that I am a blessed child of God. They taught me that we are each a blessed child of God.
These women taught me to take pride in what I was doing no matter the task. They taught me this not only with the questions they asked me but also in their own actions. Whether it was making beds, cleaning bathrooms, writing the schedule or balancing the department budget, I learned quickly that I was to give my best effort at each and every task.
They taught me what it means to be a Christian in my everyday life. I learned about God in my own church but it was easy to keep those lessons confined to Sunday morning. The women of Emmanuel with whom I worked, carried Jesus with them every day. They showed me how to carry Jesus with me out into the world every minute of every day. The halls and offices of the Mills House were filled with singing, praying and talking to Jesus.
It is because of these women that I came to truly understand my Baptismal Convenant. You see the promise we make or that are made on our behalf are not meant for large gesture but it is about how we live out our daily lives. I began working at the Mills House when I was 22 and like most 22 year olds, I made some unwise decision. I would sometimes stay out way too late one night and then have to be at work by 7am the next morning. Not sleeping enough made me grumpy and not quite ready to say good morning or speak to anyone when I arrived. I quickly learned that my moods were not an excuse to ignore another person. I learned that it is in the smallest actions such saying good morning to each person I saw and listening to how their day was that I was honoring them as a child of God. Every interaction with another person was an opportunity to honor their dignity and an opportunity to see god reveal through them.
I learned to apologize when I had offended someone. I was taught that children say they are sorry but don’t change their behavior but Christians apologize and change. I learned that intention do not matter when you have hurt someone or sinned against them because the offence belongs to the offended. More importantly, these women never allowed me to remain in the dark about how I had offended. They were honest and forth right with me so that I could change how I interacted with each of them. They also expected the same respect from me. They expected me to be honest and forthright with them so that hurts did not grow in the dark. By bringing our hurts forward into the light, we were able to address them and forgive one another.
Forgiveness and Grace are the most important thing I learned about from the group of women. They forgave me often and taught me well. They forgave me of the smallest missteps and the offensive things that I unknowingly said and did.
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| Photo taken from: http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150622181014-unity-march-charleston-0621-super-169.jpg |
Finally, they taught me not to be afraid. They trusted me in the position I was given regardless of my age. They honor the authority of my position and yet kept me humble. They taught me never to be afraid of my faith or my relationship with Jesus because he is the source of my strength.
I was privileged to learn from the women of faith but I must be honest with you today. These women would never have engaged me in the discussion we had, if we hadn’t taken the time to build a relationship. It is because they knew I was a Christian that they held me to a higher standard. It is because we shared a faith in Jesus Christ that we were able to reach a point where we trusted one another enough to hold each other accountable for our actions, to tell one another the truth, and to forgive one another even the smallest infractions.
I am not surprised by the response of the families of those killed or by the support and love the city of Charleston has demonstrated. The women of Emmanuel AME have taught the children of Charleston of all ages, whether it is in their homes as nannies, around the table as friends or even as co-workers with shared experiences.
I pray that as a country we can begin to build relationships with one another that are built on the truth. You see just as the anonymous woman who was healed in Gospel today, we will never be made whole until we are willing to engage in honest, loving and truth filled discussions about our brokenness. I don’t mean force conferences were we “discuss” race. They required events so often lead to anger and misunderstanding rather than listening and enlightenment. It is only when the truth is spoken and heard that we will be able to be made whole. We have always been a broken country and until our personal relationship are founded on truth, forgiveness and love. We must be prepared that the truth will be painful and uncomfortable but necessary.
So I know that none of this healing happens without Jesus and the Grace we have already been given. It is only when we breathe that we can begin to be made whole.
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