Collect (prayer) of the Day:
God of inclusive love, who knows us each by name: we thank you for the woman, who stood out of the crowd and defied her uncleanness to connect with you; we praise you for the leader of the synagogue, who faced the mockery of others to give his daughter hope; may the flowing power of Christ bring healing and acceptance to the rejected and abused. Through Jesus Christ, giver of life. Amen.
First Reading: Psalm 130
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem. It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.Gospel Reading: Mark 5.21-43
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.”
So he went with him. And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’” He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
A man walked into a Private Hospital for a Brain transplant. The doctor showed the patient 3 brains and asked the patient to choose:
A White man’s brain £500
A Black man’s brain £500
A Racists man’s brain £2000
The patient was shocked and asked why the Racist brain costs so much?
Doctor replies “Oh, it’s because that one’s never been used”
We are going to be thinking about prejudice, and about using our brains in this service.
And later in this sermon (to give away the ending) I’m going to talk about how the fundamental teaching of Jesus was that God loves everyone, regardless or race, gender, sexuality education or social status… and that everyone, without the help of a religious elite, can have a direct experience of God.
But if we don’t need a religious elite what is the point of Church?
I believe that the point of the Church is not just that we gather with like-minded people to explore faith together; the point is not that we encounter people like us, the point is that we encounter people who are different, with different experiences and different insights who can challenge our comfortable ways of thinking and help us to grow.
I was on the receiving end of a challenge this week, that has really made me think, and I’m not quite there with a conclusion yet, but maybe you’ll be interested in some of my journey.
I was deeply challenged last week when a member of the congregation wondered why we made no mention of the murders in Emmanuel Church in South Carolina. When Islamic extremists attack white middle class people it dominates the news and our thoughts and prayers. But not when back people are murdered in a church.
It’s worth asking ourselves why a white supremacist killing black people in church is not seen as terrorism in the same way as white tourists being killed on a beach.
I think if you compare time on the news and column inches in the newspapers you will see that there is something amiss.
Is is simply because white supremacists are so clearly idiots? Maybe, there is some truth in that, but I don’t think violent religious extremists are necessarily any more intelligent.
More likely it because our press is dominated by white middle class professionals who find it easier to identify with white middle class victims; these reporters and editors don’t feel threatened by American rednecks picking on black people but find radical Muslims (who are potentially threatening people like them) utterly terrifying.
I have to confess that I didn’t even notice the problem until it was pointed out to me.
My instinct was to get all defensive and try to justify myself and the church. But that is not the way to grow and the life of faith demands that we keep our hearts and minds open even when it is uncomfortable.
Keeping all this in our minds let’s look at our reading from this morning in the hope that we can find some wisdom in the words and actions of Jesus.
Jesus was about to preach. He was beginning his ministry, so gathering a crowd would have been an achievement. Just as Jesus was about to begin Jairus, the ruler of the Synagogue, came and fell at Jesus’ feet pleading for healing for his daughter. The Bible simply says, “So he went with him.”
It is interesting to note how Jesus changes his plan instantly.
The late Henri Nouwen, the Catholic scholar and writer, said in the prime of his career that he became frustrated by the many interruptions to his work: he was teaching at Notre Dame and had a heavy workload and didn’t like to be disturbed. Then one day it dawned on him that his interruptions were his work. As John Lennon said, “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans!” Often we find that the interruption is what life is all about.
Jesus was open to the interruption, to the voice of the outsider.
Jairus daughter was an outsider. We have a culture that has a strange relationship to childhood, we elevate childhood in a way that would bewilder most of our forbears and certainly come as a shock to people in time of Jesus. What we often fail to grasp is that in a culture with such a high infant mortality rate people could not invest the same kind of emotional energy in children as we do today. Children were obviously important to their parents, but they were not especially valued, and childhood was not seen as an almost sacred time of innocence to be protected. Childhood was not valued in its own right – it was just a stage on becoming an adult when they become a fully valuable member of society.
When Jesus cares for the children, he is valuing those that society did not think were important.
Jesus was revolutionary in his thinking because he valued everyone. He welcomed prostitutes, tax collectors, zealots, children..
The Gospel, the “good news” is that God loves everyone, God loves you.
It is not the Gospel of Jesus if it isn’t for everyone.
The woman that came to Jesus was ceremonially unclean, she wasn’t able to practice her faith because of her issue of blood.
She touches Jesus clothes, making him ceremonially unclean, her religion a mix of superstition and desperation.
But Jesus does not patronise her, he does not scold her for spreading her uncleanness. He includes her and welcomes her and heals her.
Here is inclusive Christianity in action. The child of the synagogue official and the unclean women are both included.
“Being inclusive” as we term our tradition, has nothing whatsoever to do with being ‘politically correct,’ it has everything to do with living out the Gospel. We should not have to call ourselves an “inclusive church” because to be the church should necessarily mean we are inclusive.
The story of the woman with an issue of blood is not an isolated incident, Jesus whole ministry is about including the outcast:
- Zachaeus and Matthew the tax collectors
- The invitation to the rough fisherman to follow
- The conversation with the gentile woman at the well
- The acceptance of prostitutes
- Ministering to a Roman Centurion
- Welcoming slaves and servants
- Embracing lepers
- Helping the demon possessed
The church’s mission is to bring people closer to God. But all too often we see ourselves as ‘gatekeepers’ and ‘guardians’ who keep certain individuals out, rather than the prophets and priests that bring Christ out to everyone.
I’ve told you before how when I was training at Ripon College Cuddesdon we were told that he motto of the college used to be “guard he deposit” – but the motto had fallen from use, and the only place the archivist could find it inscribed was on an old college bed pan. (Don’t think about that too much!). But our job is not to guard, but to proclaim. This lager mentality, of circling the wagons, and refusing to engage with the best of secular thinking, is what allows outdated prejudices to flourish, and could kill the church…
Inclusion is the Gospel. The Good news is that every one of us is invited to live in God’s kingdom.
Jesus said: “Come onto me all who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus did not say “Come onto me you heterosexual people,” or “as special welcome for white, middle class people with plenty of money…”
“Come onto me all who are heavy laden…” “all” “all” “all”
Jesus “all” goes beyond the superficial boundaries of gender, sexuality, ethnicity & poverty… Yet so often the Church of England has become a straight, white gentleman’s club.
If people are excluded or undervalued because of their race, it is not the Gospel of Jesus.
If people are excluded or undervalued because of their age, it is not the Gospel of Jesus.
If people are excluded or undervalued because of their education or intelligence, it is not the Gospel of Jesus.
If people are excluded or undervalued because of their gender, it is not the Gospel of Jesus.
If people are excluded or undervalued because of their sexuality, it is not the Gospel of Jesus.
The fundamental teaching of Jesus was that God loves everyone, and everyone, without the help of a religious elite can encounter God. Jesus savagely criticised the religious leaders of his day, they were ‘whitewashed tombs’ and ‘broods of vipers’ who declared who was clean and who was unclean, who acted as gatekeepers of God’s love. But according to Jesus, that love was freely given to all humanity.
But if we don’t need a religious elite what is the point of Church?
As I said at the beginning, I believe that the point of the Church is not just that we gather with like-minded people to explore faith together; the point is not that we encounter people like us, the point is that we encounter people who are different, with different experiences and different insights who can challenge our comfortable ways of thinking and help us to grow.
Maybe we do need to address how we think about race, or how we think of people who we work with on the estates, or people from other churches.
We embrace the interruption of someone in need and we accept the challenge to change our way of thinking.
I close with a traditional African prayer that we use every Monday at our service of Morning Prayer:
From the cowardice that does not face new truths,
from the laziness that is content with half truths,
from the arrogance that thinks it knows all the truth,
deliver us today, good Lord.
Amen.
tadonnelly 