July 2, 2006 Sermon
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Proper 8 – B
July 2, 2006 Allan Conkling
Wouldn’t it be nice if we had all of the answers to life? Wouldn’t it be nice if there was one big operating manual to tell you how to live your life; get along with your spouse; to raise your kids; one for telling you how to age gracefully, how to cope with fears of illness and all the life changes that stare us in the face every day? I have heard people say the Bible is such a manual. Read this, and you will have all the answers. Psalm 112 (which we read this morning) is one place that gives the answer: “Happy are they who fear the Lord and have great delight in his commandments:
Their descendants will be mighty in the land…
Wealth and riches will be theirs…
Light shines in the darkness for them…
Their faith will never be shaken.
By contrast the wicked:
They will perish…
They will gnash their teeth and pine away…
They will be cursed.
These days when I read the Bible I find it not to be a book of answers, rather a book of questions. It is a book of contrasts. Of complex patterns and fabrics all woven together to produce, not an operator’s manual or how to fix-it book, but a love story between God and God’s people.
Take this morning’s Gospel: This is a story full of contrasts and opposites: death and life; despair and hope; distress and calmness. All throughout the story the central message of the apostles rings clear: that in Christ, death is not the final reality. This story of the raising of Jairus’ daughter, just like all of the accounts of miracles and wonders of Jesus, stands as an icon, a metaphor, a parable of the Kingdom of God—a window to a greater reality.
In the world of Jesus, the death of a child meant God’s curse. Just like Psalm 112, it meant the loss of eternal life and its blessings. In his desperation the father, the president of the synagogue – a very religious man—turned to a faith healer for help. This would be like a chief brain surgeon going to a curandero for help: “Come lay your hands on her so that she may be made well and live.” He was desperate.
Throughout the Gospel of Mark, the disciples are often portrayed as thick headed, slow to see, and slow to respond to the message of Jesus. Miracles for Mark were a way to show that even the forces of nature listened and obeyed. Here, a Jewish official bends his will to Jesus, and the forces of death surrendered. The message to Christians was clear: Trust in Christ, believe in him, and you too will be saved, healed, restored and live.
Life today is so much more complex. We know there are no easy answers—no one operating manual to tell us how to survive. We live in shades of gray. Rarely is life black or white. As appealing as the thought might be to many churches, our very Episcopal church stands as a testimony to the fact that we are willing to live in the gray. Taking sides, drawing boundaries, and walking away from communion only make things worse. The reason is that we live in shades of gray. We pray for miracles and miraculous intervention, and yet we know that true miracles come less in God rewarding us, or giving victory for “our side”, than in our lives which become changed and conformed to God. When we pray “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil” we know it is not that we are “delivered” but rather that we are transformed, becoming less open to temptations, and increasingly patient in our sufferings, living life here and now. And we know that through it all Christ is with us always…even when we have lots to learn.
Jesus went into the house and proclaimed that the child was not dead but sleeping, and people laughed at him. How often do we scoff at the call of Christ by failing to welcome the outcast and marginalized and those who differ from us? How often do we ignore God’s call to “open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in the land” as Deuteronomy says? How often do we fail in our witness to “excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in love,” as Paul says?
No, the Bible doesn’t give us easy answers to the complexities of life. It presents us with more questions. I guess that is why I continue to appreciate my Episcopal Church, and Emmanuel in particular—for here, we are willing to recognize that life is indeed diverse. Some churches give you all the answers. We don’t do that. That sometimes drives me crazy and makes some folks want to pray for our salvation—but that is ok.
Just as Jesus called the little girl from the sleep of death, he calls us from our slumber: “Little girl, arise!” Arise young person. Arise woman. Get up mother, father and take my hand. Stand up Grandpa and live! Christ quiets the mourners with blessed assurance. He touches us with forgiveness. He takes our grief, our pain and covers them with the balm of abundant mercy. Christ feeds us with the spiritual food of his body and blood. No one is too far beyond the embrace of God. No one is outside. This answer we do possess: That nothing in all creation—neither death nor life—can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Revised: 08/02/06