Pentecost +6 – Suffering and Generosity

Sermons – St. Brendan's Anglican Church

Rev. Dr. Les Martin

Pentecost +6 2024
Rev. Dr. Les Martin
Deuteronomy 15:7–11, Psalm 112, 2 Corinthians 8:1–15, Mark 5:22–24, 35b–43

I am resolved to know nothing among you, but Christ Jesus and him crucified in the name of the living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Well, if it was late autumn, instead of late June, I would look at these readings and assume that the compilers of our ACNA lectionary want me to preach on stewardship. But it’s late June. It’s the wrong time of year and not enough people are here.

I’ve had to try and figure out what they’re trying to get at. I don’t understand this lectionary. Deuteronomy today starts out with a discussion of how to help the poor and how to treat slaves. And in Second Corinthians, we have Paul’s stewardship sales pitch to the Corinthians, to be as generous to the church in Jerusalem, as the Macedonians have been during their time of famine. Boy, that stewardship sermon just preaches itself. However, when we read today’s Gospel, something just doesn’t fit. And it becomes clear that what we’re dealing with today is something related to stewardship.

But deeper, far more profound. I want to tentatively put it this way. How can we possibly live a life of abundance and generosity? In a world of suffering, and scarcity? How can we possibly live a life of abundance and generosity

in a world of suffering and scarcity? Let me put it more practically for you. How do I give what I really want to the church, to poor people, to the organizations I support when I can’t even meet all my expenses? How do I go to church regularly with all the demands on my time? How do I risk helping my neighbor when I’ve been hurt and burned so many times? How do I draw close to God? When I’m so wounded, or burned out? Or angry? or what have you? That’s the question. So often our answer amounts to some version of I’ll get around to it. Because we’re here on Sunday morning, we’re the ones who are trying right. It’s not that we want to shirk our dirt duties, but with all this weight on us, our answer is usually I’ll get around to it.

I’ll get around to it when I’ve paid off my mortgage. I’ll get around to it when the kids don’t have Sunday morning sports. get around to it when I’m stronger. I just need some time. Problem is sometimes too many times. In this world, those conditions just aren’t ever met. We suffer and suffer and are paralyzed and are suffering living lives of quiet desperation. A rat race that never ends. Gospel abundance and generosity are just always a little bit out of reach. And it makes us feel bad but we’re just so tired. And so despite our very real, very good intentions, life is just too much. We get frozen in fear and in pain and didn’t lack this is way more serious than stewardship. It’s about nothing less than the question of what can make a difference in our lives as they are right now. What exactly is it in the midst of all this? It makes us distinctly Christian. Today’s Gospel provides the answer it’s two stories of two people or better I prefer to say it’s it’s two instances of the exact same story from very different perspectives. We have Jairus. He is an archon, a leader of the synagogue.

We don’t know if he’s a rabbi, but at the very least he’s a vestryman. He’s our “in” character. And we have this unnamed woman, how often they’re unnamed, ritually unclean due to her illness, she can’t even go to synagogue.

She’s our “out” character. The Inside Man and the outside woman, one accepted one excluded, same problem. Unlike us, they’ve tried. Not bad people they’ve tried. Jairus is a stalwart member of the synagogue law and tradition, the righteousness of life have been his life blood. Do this and you shall live do this and you shall prosper. Right up until this little girl gets sick. And all that law keeping doesn’t solve the problem. The woman has tried to she’s gone the medical establishment route. And then just as now she has spent all her money on the doctors and is worse than she was before. You impoverished, sick, ritually unclean. She tried. But it didn’t solve her problem. Indeed, in a twist of irony in the story, it says she’s been sick for 12 years, for all of Jairus his daughter’s life. She’s been sick.

The Inside Man is hopeless. The outside woman hopeless. They tried what they knew to do. And as I say, I assume there’s no malice, no manipulation, good or bad things happen to good people. And their life was interrupted by illness and potential tragedy. And that appeared to be the only future there was not going to be any I’ll get around to it.

What a wonderful place to be. Not because it’s comfortable, it’s not. But desperation produces something interesting in both these characters. Faith in Jesus that provides a certain hope. We know the story so well, we miss the drama and we miss the pain we miss the real suffering. It’s just a little story we learned in Sunday school. But what does it take for a leader of the synagogue to wander out in the street and kneel at the feet to worship? Jesus, this Jesus it takes desperation. But it also takes faith. He knows. He doesn’t say I hope, I suspect. He says come and lay your hands on her so that she may be healed and live. This isn’t a shot in the dark desperation and agony has produced faith. And so the vestryman The pastor, whatever he was, he goes and does the one thing that you should never do. He kneels at the foot of a man and worships. “Come and help me Jesus.” And this woman broke, excluded, hopeless and so very sick. You know how you feel when you’re really sick. She pushes her way through the crowd and dogged determination because she’s got in her head. She doesn’t even need to talk to Jesus. She doesn’t even need Jesus gaze if she just touch, she’ll be healed. Desperation leads to faith leads to hope.

Jesus transforms their suffering. It’s so easy for God. But notice, he transforms it, our modern ears want to say he eliminates it. Those 12 years still happened to that woman. They’re not gone, they never will be. Jairus will go forward into life recognizing that all them good people at the synagogue saw him kneel in the street to Jesus. Their suffering is transformed. Their suffering is alleviated. But God loves us too much to say that their suffering is erased. Now how do we live in generosity and abundance? The Gospel doesn’t tell us but what do you think their stories and their beliefs were?

After their encounter with Jesus? What do you think they had to say about suffering and scarcity and abundance and gratitude? After that day we don’t want to make this into a happy ever after I’m sure there were controversies. I’m sure they had other problems. Jairus’s daughter will still die one day. But what did they have to say about the nature of suffering compared to the nature of God? We don’t know. But I know this whatever they said, however they put it the center of those words would be and would forever be the person and work of Jesus Christ.

I really want to stop here. Because what I have to say next is sometimes suffering doesn’t end does it? Sometimes healing doesn’t come. What then? What then faith and the touch of Christ’s body still makes the difference. I’m gonna say that again, because it’s a hard pill to swallow.

Faith and the touch of Christ’s body still makes the difference. That’s the lesson of these Macedonians. Paul is talking about. Did you hear it very clearly, in the midst of their persecution and their lack is when they became generous. There was no “I’ll get around to it.” It was like, “We have nothing Let’s share.” Why? Because of Christ. They are generous to the church in Jerusalem in the midst of their suffering and poverty.

Not once it’s passed. What if the healing doesn’t come? In chapter 12 of the same letter. Paul tells a story about himself. He talks about that mysterious thorn in the flesh.

We don’t know what is, but we know that it troubled Paul enough that not once but three times he said, “Hey, God, look what I’m doing. Can you get rid of this please?” And the answer not once, not twice, not, but three times was, “No.” Let’s not clean it up. The answer was no. Not necessary to get rid of it. My grace is sufficient for you. And it was whatever that thorn was, Paul carried it. And in the midst of his suffering, and perhaps in part because of the purification of His suffering, His ministry survived and thrived. Nonetheless, one of the great things about that secular renewal movement, Alcoholics Anonymous, is they get this in a way that sometimes the church doesn’t. Once someone admits they have a problem with alcohol, and they turn their lives over to this higher power God who can and will restore them to sanity. Once they said those words. They’re told to get busy. 12 hours sober, you can at least make the coffee. One hour sober, clean up the ashtrays, couple of days sober, you can at least greet people, there’s something you can do. They say it’s not when you’re ready, when you’re healed. It’s not I’ll get around to it, it’s actually the secret is in the middle of your suffering, don’t get busy. AAA gets that right now, when the healing hasn’t come. The mystery of this world, mystery of this life, for those of us in faith

Some of our life situations get better. Some don’t. Some are healed, some are not. And even in the midst of a miracle; Life is life: Jairus his daughter, Lazarus, they’ll all pass away. But in Christ with Christ. The mystery is that there doesn’t have to be getting around to abundance and generosity. We are not as the world is someone who says when my situation improves, then I’ll be the person I always wanted to be. No, we have the option and the grace to be that person already. Because in Christ, that person that person you may be too tired to know you are too weary to know you are too sick to know you are too afraid to know you are that person is here already. And we benefit from one another in the midst of our suffering, not just in spite of it.

We too today will force our way through a crowd to get to the body of Jesus. And He will touch us and we will touch him. And it’ll be enough if it’s not a message that the world gives, or appreciates, gee, less, it’d be enough. Thanks for that that’s really encouraging. It will be enough. The best the world can get are some quotes out there. You know the world sees this as grim and some of the more grim people in our world have tried to play with the irony of it. Nietzsche: the best he could come up with is that which does not kill us makes us stronger. Really? Hemingway in A Farewell to Arms says the world breaks everyone and afterwards many are strong. Broken Places notice many not all and those that will not break who will not break it kills. That’s the closest secular wisdom can get to the mystery we’re talking about.

I prefer what Paul says later in this letter. Listen carefully to these words from chapter four. “We have this treasure in clay jars to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are experiencing trouble on every side, but are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are persecuted but not abandoned. We are not down but not destroyed. We are always carrying around in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be visible in our body.”

It’s not grim news. It’s good news. You know Christ gave His most when his life was at its worst. in union with Him we find much to our surprise that although it’s not easy, we can do the same. His stream is made perfect in our weakness. Glad you’re here today. Get up, have something to eat. partake of His abundance and be thankful