A WORD FOR TODAY, June 23, 2021
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, June 23, 2021
Lectionary Scriptures for June 27, 2021, Fifth Sunday after Pentecost: Lamentations 3:22-33; Psalm 30; 2 Corinthians 8:1-9, 13-15; Mark 5:21-43
“‘Yahweh is my portion,’ says my soul. ‘Therefore I will hope in him.’” Lamentations 3:24, WEB
The book of Lamentations was likely written shortly after Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. It consists of five poems that express grief of the destruction that was brought by the Babylonians who were merely human agents of God’s divine judgment. The book ends with a cry to God for His mercy to restore His people. The middle, of which today’s passage is a part, focuses on God. The lamenter confesses faith in the God of hope, love, salvation and restoration, despite the fact that it seemed as though God has abandoned His people. He had not; He was among them, doing what needed to be done to turn them back to Him. The writer knew that God was faithful and that His compassion is never ending.
We do not like to think of God as one who would destroy the lives of His people as punishment for their disobedience. After all, God is love, right? Many reject the God we hear about in the Old Testament because He seems out of character from the God of grace and forgiveness from the New Testament that we know and love. Yet, the God of the Old Testament and the New Testament is the same God. These songs of lament are part of our Christian heritage and worship. We sing laments around Christ’s passion because we are reminded of the very reason why Christ died: He took upon Himself the very wrath that we deserved. The God of the Old Testament took the final and permanent solution to our disobedience upon Himself by offering the final and permanent sacrifice of His own Son.
The Hebrew title of the book of Lamentations is the word “eikhah” which means “How...!” The laments begin with this word in a statement of fact rather than question: “How the city sits solitary...” “How has the Lord covered the daughter of Zion...” “How the gold has become dim!” These statements betray boldness in the midst of the humiliation the people experienced. “See how much we have lost!” It is a cry to God to notice the state of His people, to remember them.
In this passage we see that the cry was not one of arrogance, as if the writer thought he knew better than God, but of trust in the love of God. The suffering was not unwarranted. Israel sinned and deserved discipline. “It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Yahweh.” We know that the Lord does not intend His people for destruction, even when it seems He has abandoned us. The lament is filled with hope. Those that trust in the Lord will be saved from the dust, from the one who strikes, from insult.
Despite the tough times the people of Judah were facing, particularly with the destruction of Jerusalem, they were still able to sing about the faithfulness of God. The writer, an individual singing for the entire nation, says that the Lord is his portion. The Lord is his fair share. Nothing else matters. Yes, there was great loss, but God’s love is steadfast. In the midst of our troubles we can wait for Him and He’ll come. We might have to suffer as we wait, bearing the yoke, sitting in silence, burying our face in the dust, offering our cheek to those who would strike and filled with disgrace. Our suffering might seem unreasonable unless we remember that God is our portion, our share. We aren’t empty. We aren’t alone. We don’t need to have the same as our neighbor. He is enough.
I think it is funny that there is a word used repeatedly in the Psalms that is similar, though different, from this word in the title of the book of Lamentations. It is translated “How long” but could also be translated “Enough is enough.” Have you ever gotten to that point with your life? Have you ever just wanted to cry out to God, “Enough is enough!”? Yet, we can turn that cry upside down as we remember that God is enough. We are usually crying out in pain and frustration and anger and worry and fear, but how much better would it be for us to cry out those same words with praise and thanksgiving and joy? Enough is enough, and while we want the bad to stop, we can remember that God always gives us enough of what we need.
The title of today’s psalm indicates that it was a song used at the dedication of the Temple, perhaps pointing back to the story in 1 Kings 8. Some experts suggest that David wrote it for the dedication of the Temple that was built by Solomon. David wanted to build God a house but David had too much blood on his hands. The story of David and Bathsheba comes to mind, but David was a warrior. God did not reject David, but promised to build David. One of his offspring would build the house for God. David spent the rest of his life collecting the materials for the building of that Temple, so his heart was in this. It is no wonder he might have written this Psalm for the dedication. This Psalm reminds us that David knew he was a sinner, but that he trusted in God’s mercy.
This psalm is very personal. In it we see testimony, instruction and lament, as well as praise. It is a song of reorientation after the disorientation of calamity.
We are reminded that though we are among God’s faithful, we may have experiences that leave us shaken. It is presumptuous for us to think that we’ll never be moved or dismayed because we will fail, sin, and experience God’s anger. Do not grow presumptuous about God’s grace. God will discipline those He loves, but we can trust that God will make things right. We can rest in the promise of God’s Word. We can sing with the psalmist, “For a moment is His anger, for a lifetime is His favor, for an evening weeping lasts, but in the morning, singing.”
This psalm was used in the Temple liturgy. It is a song of praise, a song that remembers a time when God’s people became arrogant and forgetful. It is a song that is still appropriate for us today. We are reminded of our own failure to live up to the expectations of our God, the God who has done great things for us. As we gather together to sing praise to God, we are humbled by His extraordinary love and mercy. He takes the reality of our failure and turns it upside down so that we can sing His praises and give thanks to Him forever. While we want to say “Enough is enough!” out of pain and frustration and anger and worry and fear, we can trust God and say, “Enough is enough!” with praise and thanksgiving and joy.
It isn’t easy to turn our attitude upside down. Some things we experience in this world are just too much. I’m sure many of us have been feeling the pain and frustration and anger and worry and fear of the past year, crying “Enough is enough” to our God. The worst thing we face is death, and we’ve probably all experienced the death of someone, or something, in the past year. My father-in-law died, my cat died, and I lost a lot of landscaping during the winter storm.
What is death? In the most common definition, death is when a physical body stops living, when a living thing breathes no more. I’m sure most, if not all, of us reading this today have experienced the loss of someone we knew and loved, whether it was a person or even a pet. Death is the ultimate separation because except for the memories, we have no connection to that living thing after they’ve died. But death can be understood in a wider sense, to include objects, ideas, and relationships. Psychiatrists tell us that people grieve any sort of loss, just as they might grieve for a dead loved one. The loss of a job means separation from the workplace, co-workers, and financial security. When we are separated from a friend because of an argument or a change in the relationship, we go through a period of grief.
Death was not God’s intention. He did not intend for sickness. He did not intend for violence. He did not intend brokenness for His people. We find death. We find illness. We find destruction. We find (or cause) broken relationships. All too often death finds us because we have not lived as God intended. It began in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve listened to the voice of the serpent and believed him above the voice of God. We continue to suffer the consequences of that choice, but we also suffer the consequences of our own choices. God created us for life, so He sent His Son to make all things right. Jesus came to destroy death. We do not need to suffer from death. We have been created to live and live abundantly. We might be crying “Enough is enough,” as we look forward to the day when our world will be “back to normal,” but for now we are reminded that God is enough.
Death hung in the air in today’s Gospel lesson.
The two characters in today’s Gospel passage trusted in God. The first was an important man, a leader in the synagogue. Apparently he was like an administrator, a man in charge of the property and organizing worship. Though most of the Jewish leaders were hesitant about Jesus, a few heard Him speak and believed. Nicodemus, whose story we heard just a few weeks ago, preferred to keep his interest quiet, approaching Jesus in the dead of night. He did not want to risk losing what he’d worked so hard to attain. Jairus was different, perhaps because he was spurred on by a different purpose. Nicodemus was seeking answers to his questions; Jairus was seeking answers to his prayers. Nicodemus was not willing to risk his life for an encounter with Jesus because he was not motivated by a higher cause. Jairus was willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of someone else: his twelve-year old daughter.
Mark tells us the Jairus fell at the feet of Jesus and pleaded with Him to heal his daughter. He was a man of authority, yet he knelt before Jesus. There were great crowds around Jesus, pushing and shoving one another. Everyone wanted to be near Him. What was their motivation? Did they want answers to questions or answers to prayers? Did they just want to feed their curiosity or did they really believe? We will see, as we hear the telling of Jesus’ story by Mark through this season of Pentecost that some had faith but many did not. They were not willing to follow Jesus when it became hard. Jairus boldly sought God’s grace, crying out for mercy to the One he trusted could help.
The woman in the story was not quite as confident but was equally as bold as Jairus. She is unnamed but she had faith. She had been bleeding for twelve years, which was physically, emotionally, and spiritually disabling. It was also financially disastrous. She must have been a woman of some means, for she had seen many physicians, but none could provide healing. There was no chance for atonement because she bled continually. She could not present her offerings, and so was left separated from the community. She had nothing left; she had nowhere to turn. She was an outcast and should not even have been in the crowd that day because her very presence made everyone around her unclean. No one could touch her and she could not go into the temple. She was just one of many in the crowd pressing in on this miracle worker. She knew it was not right for her to speak to Him, to ask Him to heal her, but she believed that she would be healed if only she could touch the hem of Jesus’ robe. She didn’t need to disturb the teacher; there were others far more important that wanted His attention.
But she had hope. She had heard about Jesus and knew that He would make her well. So she snuck through the crowd and touched the tassel of His robe. She immediately felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Jesus knew power had left Him. “Who touched me?” He asked. He didn’t ask because He was annoyed or upset by her need, but because He knew she needed more than physical healing. She needed to be made well. She needed to boldly proclaim her faith before the people present so that they see the truth that Jesus had been teaching. The kingdom of heaven belongs to those who boldly approach God in prayer and seek His mercy.
In fear and trembling, she fell down before Him and told the whole truth. He answered, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be cured of your disease.” She felt the healing, but Jesus did more. Her faith was not enough. Would the frightened woman have been fully healed if she slipped into the crowd without hearing Jesus’ word of grace? Her suffering was more than the bleeding. It was the life of isolation, spiritual oppression, fear and lack of hope. Jesus set her free. He was her salvation and gave her hope for the future. She was healed physically by His power, but she was made whole by His Word.
In the meantime, Jairus received the news that his daughter was dead. The men told Jarius to leave Jesus alone; they didn’t believe it would do any good for him to go to the house. Jesus told Jarius, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.” Jesus ignored the doubters and went into the home where the child lay. He rebuked the crowd for mourning, saying she was merely asleep, but they laughed at Him. He allowed only a few people in the room: her father and mother, Peter, James and John. There He took her hand and told her to get up. Immediately she stood up and began to walk around. They were astonished, but Jesus ordered them to keep silent about the child's resurrection and told them to feed her.
This is a story about trust, risking everything because God is faithful. He promised redemption, reconciliation, and forgiveness. He has promised that we will be His through faith by grace. We hear, we believe, and we confess this trust in words and in hope as we wait for God to complete His work of salvation in our lives. Our laments are broken by words of hope, encouraged that those who suffer in faith merely have to wait patiently for the mercy of God, for salvation is never far from those who trust in Him. “For the Lord will not cast off forever.” Jairus trusted, the woman trusted, and though they were dealing with death, they experienced God’s great faithfulness.
We have a hard time understanding God’s faithfulness because we are not so faithful. We make commitments and promises all the time and when we fail to complete those commitments, someone suffers for it. Take, for instance, a pledge to donate to a fundraising program. Organizations plan their budgets around the pledges of their supporters. Unfulfilled promises mean that they can’t do the work they planned.
The Corinthians made a commitment to help the poor in Jerusalem. We don’t know what might have spurred them to make this commitment or what might have happened that would delay the fulfillment of the promise. Paul wrote to encourage them to finish what they started. This encouragement is not only because the poor in Jerusalem needed their help; the act of giving would also serve as an example to the world of Jesus Christ’s generosity. As they say, we are Christ’s hands in a world where He is not visible to those who do not believe. So, by fulfilling our promises despite the hardships it might cause, the world will see our faith in action. It isn’t enough to want to do something. It isn’t enough to be eager and to talk about what we might do. Good intentions never fed a hungry child. We are encouraged by this text to complete what we started.
The lessons remind us that God is in control and that His love never ceases. It might seem at times that the suffering in the world could have been avoided if only God had done something. Why would a young girl get sick and die? Why would a woman bleed for twelve years? Why do we ever have a need to lament? Jairus and the woman were bold enough to seek healing through Jesus. The psalmist was bold enough to remind God that his death would be meaningless and even harmful. The lamenter trusted that God’s love will win. God can’t ignore the needs of His people. He hears their cry and He answers.
He answered our cry with Jesus. What Christ did for you and I gives us all we need to respond to the world with the same grace. Jesus’ response to those in need was not calculated. He gave each as they needed, no matter what it did to Him. Even when it seemed like He was being zapped of power, He had enough power to do more. Jesus responded to the need of the synagogue leader and allowed His mission to be interrupted by the bleeding woman. He didn’t think about how the leader might interpret His conversation with the woman. He didn’t tell her to go away because He was too busy. He didn’t reject her because she was unclean. He simply did what needed to be done. He showed us how to trust in God.
That’s what it is all about, isn’t it? The Corinthians may have had reason to be concerned about the finances of their church or even their personal finances. Paul didn’t even ask them to give what they’d first promised. He simply asked them to be faithful. “Finish the work you began.” Jesus started the work, in both the synagogue leader and the woman’s lives. He spoke, they heard and believed. They cried out to God for help and He answered. He finished the work He began.
Now we continue that work. It is easy to believe in God, to have faith. It is much harder to trust that God will do what He has promised. It is even harder to live that faith that God will do what He has promised by responding to the needs of those around us. We find excuses, even good ones. The Corinthians may have used their resources for something they deemed more valuable or beneficial to the whole church. Perhaps they thought the false apostles deserved payment. Perhaps they really were facing hard times as a congregation and as individuals. We all have moments when we have reason to lament, crying out to God “Enough is enough.” But He calls us to turn that lament upside down, trusting that God is truly enough. He didn’t do what He did so that we could have a dead faith. He saved us so that we might live our faith in the world.
Paul writes, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.” God calls us to boldly live the faith we have been given, trusting that God can and will restore our world as it is meant to be. God listens to our cries and answers our prayers. He finishes His work in our lives. Life in Christ means more than just having faith. It means responding to the cries we hear in the world with trust, knowing that God will not abandon us. His love is eternal and He is faithful. We may not be rich, but we are rich in Christ, so even though we have reason to cry “Enough is enough,” let us turn our attitude upside down so that we can praise God in our actions as well as our words, using our resources to continue the work He began until it is finished and the whole world is glorifying Him.
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