THE STRAIGHTFORWARD PULPIT

Text:  Mark 5:21-43

Theme:  "Do Not Fear, Only Believe"

5th Sunday after Pentecost

July 1, 2012

First Presbyterian Church

Denton, Texas

Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

²¹ When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. ²² Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. ²³ He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” ²⁴ So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. ²⁵ And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. ²⁶ She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. ²⁷ When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸ because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” ²⁹ Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

³⁰ At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

³¹ “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

³² But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. ³³ Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. ³⁴ He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

³⁵ While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

³⁶ Overhearing^[c] what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

³⁷ He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. ³⁸ When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. ³⁹ He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” ⁴⁰ But they laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). ⁴² Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. ⁴³ He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Summer church attendance is usually down, and that never really has bothered me that much.  People are out of town; they're on vacation.  They're getting themselves "out there," as the Carnival Cruise line advertisement suggests.

Some people like to hang out at the lake.  Boating and camping will be big this weekend here in North Texas.  Do bring along plenty of ice and sunscreen.   Actually, hanging out by the lake is a very Jesus-like thing to do.  He enjoyed being around the water a lot.  There He is at the Jordan River.  He called His first disciples, presumably, there on the beach.  Then we spot Him  boating with them on the Sea of Galilee on one of any number of occasions.  After He rose from the grave He hosted a fish fry down there by the water's edge.   Jesus would fit right in with a good, old-fashioned, all-American 4th of July observance -- swimming, fishing, conversing, picnicking, hot dogging, hamburger-ing, homemade ice cream-ing, and conversing with good people.  Pass me the potato salad and the pickle relish.   He might even do 360s on a jet ski or fire off a Roman candle or two.

The trouble for Jesus --  whether on land or sea, week day or holiday -- was the crowds.  He had what we might call a rabid fan base.  They were like the modern paparazzi.   They would  track him down like mosquitoes on a warm, humid, summer night. But the analogy fails.  They were not mosquitoes to be swatted away; they were human beings -- just like Him.

Our text introduces us to one of the faces in the crowd.  It belongs to a man named Jairus; he is a synagogue ruler.  That meant, first, that he had a very public line of work.  People knew who he was.  Second, he was a man that had religious and spiritual beliefs and sensibilities.  Third, he was a ruler, and as such he had a certain measure of control. 

We spot some things in common with Jairus.  Like him, we, too, have our religious and spiritual beliefs and sensibilities.  As far as control is concerned, we like to think we have some of it.  What we're given to control, we endeavor to control. 

But then, as is often the case, something in life happens that upsets the apple cart, that challenges our sensibilities and beliefs.  Something occurs that is beyond our control.  When that happens, we  buck it up and assume an attitude of stoic resignation, or we go into full meltdown mode, or we swallow our pride and hitch up our bootstraps and go out there and see if we can get some help.  This is what Jairus did.  He seeks the help of Jesus.  "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live."

Not everyone will be at Ray Roberts or Lake Lewisville this week.  Some will be at the 6th, 11th, or 12th floor of Children's Medical Center in Dallas where, like Jairus's daughter, children are dying.  And parents, I assure you, will not be arguing about the fine points of the U.S. healthcare delivery system, about  BlueCross/BlueShield or Obamacare.  They just want their child to live. 

Our text says that Jesus went with Jairus.  Jesus the doctor, Jesus the emergency medical technician goes with Jairus to the little ICU (Intensive Care Unit) set up at Jairus's house.

But -- doggone it! -- the crowds would not let him be.  They swarmed around Him again, and among them was as woman who had a pre-existing condition.  She was hemorrhaging to death; she was in constant pain.  Trips to her doctor, to specialists, to the Mayo Clinic, and M.D. Anderson did not help -- do you get the idea?  Who picked up the tab for her medical bills was not her concern -- do you get the idea?  "If I get close enough to just touch him," she thought.  And that's what she did.  And in that touch alone, Jesus did for her what what no doctor, no politician, no insurance adjuster was able to do.  She was healed. 

Yet, time is of the essence.  What of Jairus's daughter?  If Jesus is detained by another hemorrhaging woman or another poor soul in need of help, time will run out for the little girl.  Jesus won't get there in time.  She will die. 

On Wednesday, we will celebrate the 236th anniversary of American independence.  While I take second place to none in being proud of America and the truths we Americans take to be self-evident, I cannot help but acknowledge that there are storm clouds on the horizon.  For example, our nation -- just in terms of dollars and cents -- is so far into debt that a generation yet unborn is going to be saddled with the bill.  But set aside the debt.  RealClearPolitics.com averages out the main polling agencies, and, consistently, close to 2/3rds of our fellow citizens believe that our country is on the wrong track -- and it makes no difference whether you lead the cheers for Obama or get on the Romney bandwagon.  The issues that push this nation to a day of reckoning transcend political affiliation. 

Aaron Sorkin is a Hollywood producer that has given us a new HBO series called "The Newsroom".  On the pilot episode, the main character Will McAvoy -- a cable news anchorman that appears to be a cross between Tom Brokaw and Chris Matthews -- is sitting on a stage between a conservative, on his left, and a liberal, on his right, that are arguing back and forth.  McAvoy appears to be disassociating from it all.  The moderator awakens him from his daydreaming and asks:  "Do you think America is the greatest country in the world?"

He doesn't want to answer the question.  He scans the audience.  He thinks he sees an old girlfriend, a television producer, that is out there in the crowd, but he is not sure.  The girl holds up a sign that gives him, the anchorman, the answer to whether America is the greatest country.  It says, "It's not."  Moments later, she hoists a second sign:  "...but it can be."

Many Americans, if they actually take a few moments to think about their beloved country this 4th of July, may well conclude that this nation is like Jairus's daughter.  It is not well; it is on life support; it is, in fact, dying.  And the help that we so desperately need is detained -- as Jesus was detained from getting to Jairus's daughter before she died. 


Jairus's daughter, in fact, did die.  Members of his household came up to Jairus with the shattering news.  It was too late.  It was all over.  We don't need help anymore.  We're beyond help.  We're at the end. 

Before Jairus could even scream out his sorrow, Jesus spoke.  He butted in before Jairus could say a word.   He spoke not to the crowd.  He spoke just to Jairus.  He said: "  Don't be afraid, just believe." 

A short time later, that little girl was up and walking around and taking in nourishment.  "Do not be afraid, just believe."

There are many out there who would encourage us to not be afraid and to just believe.  They say as much in their blogs, in their opinion pieces, in their letters to the editor, in their Facebook posts.

But in our text, it's not a blog, an opinion piece, or a letter to the editor, or a Facebook post that says it.  It comes from the mouth of Jesus -- and that makes all the difference in the world.

So this is the message, the takeaway, from this pulpit to you and to America here on the cusp of another 4th of July:  "Do not be afraid, just believe."

Amen.