Good
morning good people of St. Paul’s. I’m
so used to seeing Fr. Tom’s bass leaning in the corner over here, just waiting
for him to play it at the 11:30am service… perhaps some of the rest of you feel
his (and Susan’s) absence today. We’ve
shared many opportunities for farewells in the last several weeks… and, for
some of us, grief for their departure will continue for some time – over this
past decade Fr. Tom baptized some of you and your loved ones, married some of
you and your loved ones, visited members of our community when they were sick, taught
us in words and actions, and as one couple said to him last Sunday, “you helped
us raise our children.” And, yes, we
know that the community of St. Paul’s is more than any pastor… yes, some of you
have been through the tenures of at least a couple of rectors… yes, there is continued
life ahead and vibrant ministry waiting to born. For just a moment (and this is one of three
times I’ll do this), l invite you to close your eyes and see or hear Fr. Tom
and Susan as you imagine them in their new life in Colorado… with grandkids…
with Fr. Tom’s new choral group… with Susan smiling at a view of the Rocky
Mountains… offer thanks to God for what they’ve meant to you and our family
here. Ask God to bless them on their new
journey.
Indeed,
this morning’s lectionary readings have things to say to us about death,
resurrection, and our common life together.
Our first lesson is from the Wisdom of
Solomon,
a book not likely written by the king himself, but authored in his tradition as
encouragement to Jews in diaspora during the Greco-Roman period, perhaps in the
region of Egypt; Jews who were struggling with identity and acceptance in a
foreign culture with competing philosophies about life and death (E.g., dualism
and debates about resurrection of the body and immortality of the soul). In the
verses we’ve heard this morning (1:13-15; 2:23-24), we reminded that death
(both literal and figurative) is not our ultimate destiny.
We’re
told that God doesn’t delight in the death of the living (not even death of the
wicked, ref: Ezekiel 33:11). God intends wholesome, generative,
living-perpetuating existence – for us to be reconciled to and share in God’s
divine, immortal nature. We know that
biological death is inevitable, but that is not the end of us our relationship
with God and each other.
The Psalm we heard (30) echoes this idea in
celebrating that out of the darkest of our nights comes joy in the morning; as
we are headed to the grace, we’re restored to life; and through such redemption
our wailing is turned to song, dance, joy, and thanksgiving. Indeed, this is one the Psalms that we
sometimes say/sing in preparation for Holy Baptism during the Great Vigil of
Easter.
And, of course, there are the dramatic nested
stories of healing and new life in today’s Gospel lesson (Mark 5:21-43). In this
story, Jesus demonstrates what the Wisdom of Solomon is hoping for and the
Psalmist knows – resurrected life is possible through Christ, who has ultimately
overcome death for all of us.
Jesus has
been on a tour of healing – exorcizing demons, and restoring life and
health. He’s been crossing all sorts of
boundaries, including the barriers between Jew and Gentile as he’s been going
back and forth across the Galilean Sea.
In the chapter and verse for today, he’s back among his people, the
Jews, who are pressing in around him like mobs flocking a modern pop star. As
chaotic and distracting as this scene could have bee, Christ is focused on the mission
of redeeming even the ‘least of these’, those who otherwise go unnoticed,
unvalued in the crowd.
In one
case, someone socially superior to him publicly humbles himself - is literally
brought to his knees before Jesus - more likely out of desperation than
respect, seeking the healing hands of Jesus for his 12-year old daughter. This man’s name, Jairus (jare-us), in Greek means “he who will be
awakened/enlightened.” In the other case, we have a woman who has been
hemorrhaging/bleeding for 12 years do the unthinkable – she reaches out to
touch Jesus, risking extreme embarrassment as well as making him socially and
religiously unclean. We have plenty of
set-ups here for divisions that should normally keep people separated/isolated
from each other – Jew-Gentile, male-female, sick-well, clean-unclean,
nobodies-somebodies. There is death in
such divisions. Jesus will conquer it.
Neither
of the unnamed women in this story would have been valued during their time –
both might as well have been considered socially and politically dead. The
older one likely had been isolated from society for many years due to her constant
bleeding. The younger one, especially
because she was so ill right before she was able to produce offspring, wouldn’t
have been as valued as the older girls or the boys her same age. Jesus is
investing time and effort in saving a ‘less than’ who statistically might well
be dead in a few years anyway. Why?
Because, as we heard in the Wisdom of
Solomon, God doesn’t delight in the death of the living (figuratively or
literally). God created all things so
that might exist… and exist in co-creative, life generating relationships.
And,
let’s not miss some of the details of these stories that are so compelling. This story has people violating convention and
cultural expectations as they seek healing touch from Jesus, even if all they
can muster sneaking a brush with the divine through reaching out for just the
hem of his garment. That’s all it takes –
just a mustard seed of faith and a turn of our hearts toward God, however slow,
however slight. Amid the noise and haste
of this life, Christ senses our intentions, feels our reach, and is always
ready to find us in the crowd and restore us to new life with dignity and well-being
in the family of God.
I
invite you to close your eyes again and imagine you’re witnessing the bleeding
woman crawling through the throngs of people, straining and stretching to reach
out for even just a brief connection with our Lord in desperate hope, but
faithful hope nonetheless, that even a brush with Christ’s love will heal. Notice how, amid all the chaos, Jesus notices
her touch and stops the action for a moment to find her face-to-face.
When
they meet face to face, the woman with fear and trembling, Jesus doesn’t merely
call her ‘woman,’ he addresses her as ‘daughter’. Imagine this moment. Twelve years she has been bleeding. Twelve years she has been unclean. Twelve years, this woman has been socially
dead. In this one moment, she is healed
of all that dis-ease and is restored to a familial relationship. She isn’t just clean again… she’s restored as
part of God’s family.
Reflect on that moment of connection. When she reached out and Jesus noticed. What
do you imagine was his disposition, how do you hear the tone in his voice, when
he asked, “Who touched me?” What does this
say to you about your current relationship with Jesus? What do you need from Christ?
We’ve
heard how we’re not created for death, but for restored life… in fact for
shared life together with others in the risen body of Christ. What have we heard this morning about how we
should share this new family life together?
A short answer is that Paul says we are to
remain aware of the abundance of God’s blessings in our lives and, modeling God’s
generous love towards us, we should give generously of our resources to help
others in need – not to deplete ourselves to the point of poverty, but to help
relieve the suffering of others and facilitate their restoration to co-creative
partners in the life of our common family.
In what
we heard this morning from his second letter to the believers in Corinth (1 Cor
8:7-15), Paul is appealing to them again to reinvigorate their financial support
of the faithful in Israel who have fallen on hard times – to care for their extended
family. He doesn’t play on their emotions
with vivid pictures of impoverished or persecuted people, he appeals to their
good sense as smart people to remember what it means to be a follower of
Christ. He doesn’t want them to give in
a compulsory way in response to an authoritative command; he wants them to
voluntarily give out of joy and love. Further, he says essentially that it’s not
about how much you offer, but the heart/intention and faithfulness of your
offering using your God-given time, talents, and treasure. At the core, we are to model Christ’s
sacrificial and generous giving for the wellness of others… and to do so
consistently in just and fair ways modeling God’s love for all.
Common wealth, common health, mutual support
in shared communion.
With this morning’s lessons in mind – that we’re
not destined for death, but in fact promised new life in Christ; and that we’re
to live into this new life together in mutual love and support - today we
welcome two new members into the Christian family – Kate Ashley Lamb and her
son Lucas Ted Lamb.
Kate has
been on a journey of her own with the community of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
in Murfreesboro, TN (they’ve returned home to visit family here). With the arrival of new life in her marriage
with Vance, they’ve made the decision to affirm with us their intention of
continually reaching for Christ in their family life and their desire to become
part of our family in, with, and through Christ. As the Book of Common Prayer reminds us, “Holy
Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body the
Church. The bond which God establishes
in Baptism is indissoluble.”
Kate
and Lucas are being sponsored by members of their biological family who have
already received this sacrament of Holy Baptism. And, we as witnesses, on behalf of their
Christian community back in Tennessee, are making promises that we will support
them in prayer and example in Christian life and help them grow in the
knowledge and love of God and in the responsibilities of our common life
together as members of God’s Church. (reference today’s lectionary lessons)
As we
prepare ourselves to enact this ancient ritual together, I encourage you to
keep you hearts and minds open to what the Spirit is saying to us through the words
and actions we use during this sacramental act.
To help
tune our minds and hearts toward the truths of the promises of baptism, I
invite you to close your eyes one last time and listen to these verses from
some of the hymns we’re singing this morning – perhaps make some of these words
into a prayer offering….
“Before
the cross of him who died, behold, I prostrate fall; let every sin be
crucified, and Christ be all in all.” (v2 of our opening hymns 697, “My God,
accept my heart this day”)
“…if faith and hope and love undimmed, undying
still through death, the resurrection of the world, what time there comes the
breath of dawn that rustles through the trees, and that clear voice that saith:
Awake, awake to love and work!” (v3-4 of our sequence hymn 009, “Not here for
high and holy things”)
“We
share by water in his saving death. Reborn we share with him an Easter life as
living members of a living Christ.” (v2
of the hymn for our procession to the baptismal font, 296 “We know that Christ
is raised and dies no more”)
“Jesus!
The Name that charms our fears and bids our sorrows cease; ‘tis music in the
sinners ears, ‘tis life and health and peace.” (v3 of our closing hymn 493, “O
for a thousand tongues to sing”)
We are
not destined for death in sin. Eternal
life by God’s sweet grace is our promise.
In the meantime, we’re called to share and care in charitable love as
Christ has done for us. Through Holy
Baptism, we experience all three of these.
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