You will find a YouTube recording of the 11:00 am Service of Holy Eucharist for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost from Saint Luke's Episcopal Church at https://youtu.be/WNH8YAy1Az8.
Proper 8B
Mark 5:21-43
Saint Luke’s
June 27, 2021
There is nothing quite like
Fireflies in the summertime. I used to
watch them in my Grandparents back yard in Mansfield, Louisiana. Did you know that a group of fireflies is
called a SPARKLE! In my grandparent’s
huge backyard - there were thousands of lightening bugs. We would catch them in Mason jars and watch
their lights go on and off. Then we’d
let them go because my grandfather said they needed to help light up the
darkness. What I didn’t know until
recently is that Fireflies actually communicate - WITH their lights. Fireflies in sync with one another know they
are from the same family – the same SPARKLE.
This is why you will often times see a group of Fireflies all blinking together
at the same time and if you watch long enough, the number and the light will
grow larger and larger. This is
particularly important because other insects prey on fireflies and the larger
the size of the light in a field, the more protection the fireflies have in the
darkness.
Now when I discovered this –
our Gospel lesson made more sense. This
morning we have a story within a story.
Mark begins with Jairus, a leader in the synagogue, whose daughter is
very sick. He has come to ask for Jesus for
help. A large crowd gathers. Word had spread and many are now following
Jesus and the disciples and Jairus to the Jewish leader’s house hoping to see
another miracle. They had heard about
what Jesus was doing and they want to know – could this be the Messiah – the
Savior of the World?
And this is when we hear the
second story. There is a woman – whose
name we do not know – who pushes her way through the crowd. She has been hemorrhaging blood for 12
years. The scriptures tell us that she
had tried everyone and everything hoping for a cure - and nothing worked. Now she puts her faith in Jesus. All she wants to do is touch his cloak.
Now I understand the message
behind the first story in our Gospel Reading this morning - about Jairus and
his daughter. Jesus has the power to heal,
and faith is the key. However, as many
times as I read the story of this woman, I have never quite felt like I understand
everything that Mark is trying to tell us.
Like the “Jairus and his daughter” story, it sounds like another miraculous
healing, and we know that the woman is healed when she believes. But “WHY” all the emphasis on touching
Jesus’s robe. Plus, the part about Jesus’
sensing “THAT POWER HAD GONE FORTH FROM
HIM” sounds more like a scene out of Star Wars.
And then I learned about the
Fireflies, and it made sense. There are
days when I just don’t feel like I am in sync with God. Maybe I am too busy to pray. I skip my Bible devotion that day. The very thought of God doesn’t even enter my
mind. Now usually these days are the
ones when – quite frankly – it is all about me.
And these days don’t usually go too well. I feel out of sync. Things just don’t seem to go quite
right. On these days, I love myself far
more than I love my neighbor. I love
myself more than I love God – and on the worst of these days – if I am honest –
I don’t really love God at all. That is
the very definition of a bad day.
In our Gospel lesson, the
woman touched Jesus’s robe and she was healed.
But it was more! She had a
hemorrhage that had lasted for 12 years and when you lose blood you lose your
strength. There were lots of people that day following the Messiah and we’ve
all pushed our way through a crowd to get to the front. It takes a lot, and it took more for
her. And I can just see the look of
determination on her face because she knew that Jesus could heal her. She believed, and I imagine nothing was going
to stop her from connecting with the Savior.
When she touched Jesus, He touched her physically, emotionally, and
spiritually. She was healed in body,
mind, and soul. And the power of Christ
became her strength. It was a shared
moment when heaven and earth were joined in Jesus and a woman who no longer was
bleeding. She now had – for the first
time in 12 years – new life. She had
touched her Savior.
Jesus touches us every day. When we first wake in the morning – God is
there. Throughout our day Christ is with
us. Whether are waking or sleeping, we
live in the presence of God. Do we know
it? Do we believe it? It’s not a matter of Jesus touching us. He is!
Are we reaching out to touch his robe?
Back in 2006, I had the
chance to go to Haiti for the Diocese.
It was a conversion experience for me in so many ways. Everywhere we went – everywhere we looked – the
poverty was overwhelming. It looked like
there could be no hope – no joy – no peace.
I’d visited other of 3rd World countries – but this was far
worse. Was there light in the darkness? Well, I soon found that on Sunday – there
was. The people came and packed the
Churches we visited. And God was there,
and the people listened and sang and at the PEACE and during communion the
people of God reached out and connected with their Savior. Every Sunday they touched the hem of Jesus’s
robe and they found new strength – new life.
St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Crochu, Haiti prayed for a cement block machine,
and they got one and built walls for their Church and a school for their
children on top of a mountain with no running water. At St. Simeon in Croix des Bouquets, Haiti,
the women needed a nutrition and pre-natal care program and they started one
and today there is a clinic for anyone who needs healing. This was so much more than social work – it
was spirit work and when I had the chance to stand back and watch – you could
see the people and the Holy Spirit working as one and there was change – there
was new life.
Every day we can reach for
Christ in faith. We come here this
morning and we proclaim WE BELIEVE!
Bread and Wine become to us the Body and Blood of Christ – Spiritual
Food for our Spiritual Journeys. Grace FILLS
US and we are called by God to go out and proclaim the Good News to those who
are looking for Hope – for Joy – for what we have found here in this part of
the Kingdom of Heaven we call Saint Luke’s.
Pray for someone and touch the robe of Jesus. Feed the hungry and be fed by the Holy
Spirit. Seek forgiveness and share
Christ’s love with the world. This is
how we experience new life in the Kingdom of Heaven here and now. We together
as Saint Luke’s can shine with the Light of Christ – just like those Fireflies
in my GRANDPARENTS back yard. We can
Sparkle! You will be in sync with the
Savior. Jesus is right here – right
now. Reach out and touch eternal
life. AMEN.
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