Give Her Something To Eat

Sermon based on Lamentations 3:22, Psalm 30, & Mark 5:21-43.

Today's readings speak to the presence of God in our experiences of change and crises. Lamentations assures us that God has unbreakable devotion. Lamentations 3:22 says "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end." The word for "mercy" is based on the Hebrew word for "womb." The poet is conferring an image of God's love and mercy being so devout and connected to us it is like the unique love shared by a woman and her child int he womb. In deepest despair, crises, and confusion, God is fully present. God is eager to lead us toward wholeness and renewed hope in the midst of our grief. There is an assurance to keep the faith despite the drear of reality.

But our message goes beyond divine assurance. Psalm 30 also says God is present in our joy and in our trouble. Then, it leads us a step further from God's assurance to our response of gratitude. Theologian Walter Bruggemann proposes a cycle of orientation, disorientation, and new orientation in the psalm (The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary, Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1984, p127).
Psalm 30 illustrates an orientation of having confidence in human achievement that is trashed by troubles and crises causing disorientation, followed by a new orientation of gratitude for being delivered from that state of unrest. Listen for this cycle in verse 6, 7, 11, and 12.

6While I felt secure, I said, "I shall never be disturbed. You LORD, with your favor, made me as strong as the mountains." 7Then you hid your face, and I was filled with fear...11You have turned my wailing into dancing; you have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with you. 12Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing; O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

Divine assurance and the cycle of orientation, disorientation, and new orientation are the formula that makes the backdrop for today's Gospel story in Mark 5:21-43. Here we meet characters of desperation reaching out for their last chance, named Jesus. Jairus had to be desperate. He was a leader in the synagogue, a well-respected man, whose peers most likely considered Jesus to be at least, an irritant, at most, an enemy. Why did he go to ask for Jesus' help in person, at risk of missing his precious daughter's last moments? Was it because his friends wouldn't help him in this crazy plot? It was common for children to die yound during ancient times, therefore parents tried not to form a great emotional attachment to their children. What sort of man was Jairus that he would risk political suicide to save his child, who was of all things a daughter during a time when sons were valued more? Can you imagine the anguish, the fear, the swallowing of pride he must have experienced to take this leap of faith and trust a strange healer named Jesus? Yet he did take that leap of faith and Jesus followed him to his home with a huge crowd of paprazzi swallowing in on him.

In the midst of the crowd is another character of desperation, the woman who had hemorrhaged for 12 years, the entire lifetime of Jairus' dying daughter. In Jewish tradition blood represents life. To touch the bleeding or the dead was to make one's self unclean. Therefore, this woman had lived a life of isolation and taboo. She was an outsider who broke good order by entering the crowd and touching Jesus' clothes. She disoriented the way things are supposed to be and interrupted the mission. In a sense, we are not unlike this woman. Many of us feel like the life is bleeding out of us due to being overcommitted, having our priorities in chaos, and living off fumes of energy because we haven't the time to refuel. She was losing her life every day. She tried everything she could think of to cure herself but nothing worked. It was in her state of total disorientation and desperation that she reached out and received healing. Yet Jesus did not let this transformation go unnoticed. He stopped. He gave her recognition and acknowledgement. He gave her new life. What would happen if we stopped and surrendered the things that are draining our lives? What new orientation toward life might be possible with Christ?

But maybe your life isn't oozing out of you. Maybe you are desperate because the one's you love are making life choices that are killing their spirits. Maybe you are more like Jairus, the desperate father. Can you imagine how frieghtened and impatient he must feel at this moment? Who is this Jesus? How dare he stop for an outcast woman when I need him now? Talk about a terrible political move. I doubt Jairus felt much favor for Jesus, especially when he hears his daughter is dead. His friends try to talk him out of this crazy idea telling him it's too late. But Jesus disregards this news. In fact his reaction to the news is like a line from the gospel tune, "God may not come when you call him, but he'll be there right on time!" Jesus disregards all common sense and does the non-sensical. He tells the mourners that the child is sleeping and kicks everybody out but the parents and three disciples. Such actions would earn me an "F" in pastoral care.

I am amazed by how God won't fit into our boxes of who God is and how God should behave. Jesus is a religious leader, prohibited from touching the dead, yet he taks the girl's hand and tells her to get up. Then she does just that. She arises to a new life. Think about it, no matter how dead you may feel to your life, to your faith, to your community, God is willing to reach out and touch you, with no regard to how untouchable, unworthy, or unloved you may feel. In fact if I were to create a bumper sticker for the book of Mark it would read, "I love you, whether you like it or not. - God"

With all the joy of new life and healing you would think this is the end of the story, but it is the last verse which encapsulated the third point of today's lesson in the experience of God during times of change and crises. After Jesus makes everyone swear not to talk about what has happened, probably because it was not time yet, he requests food for the girl. "Give her something to eat."

For some reason, that statement felt a bit odd. Some commentators say it was made to prove she really was alive and not a spirit because spirits can't eat. Others say eating with the family marked the girl's re-incorporation into her family and the community. But I have my own theory. Being fed is what comes next in the experience of healing and renewed life. We need to be nourished as we live in the assurance of God's steadfast love and live out the cycles of change. Our nourishment can come through connecting with community, prayer, worship, and service to others. To be fed is to live out the life of one who is loved and marked as a child of God.

So here is your bumper sticker for the day: God loves you, whether you like it or not, so now act like it.