In the Name of the Living God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
How would you describe your journey to encounter Jesus?
Would you consider yourself a leader of the community looking to encounter Jesus on behalf of someone else? That’s basically Jairus. St. Mark says he is indeed a “leader” of the synagogue who comes to Jesus for help. As a leader of the synagogue, he would have enjoyed instant access to almost anyone, including Jesus of Nazareth. And leaders, as you know, are trained – some might say practically wired – to get things done. And by all indications, Jairus did just that. He goes straight to Jesus, without seeking an intermediary, and falls at His feet with the plea to help his daughter, who is near death.
Or perhaps you more closely identify with the woman with the flow of blood, who is really the polar opposite of Jairus. Having suffered from a type of severe bleeding that would have made her both literally and ritually unclean, she feels like she has no direct access to Jesus. She has no social cache upon which to draw, and she is quite ill. St. Mark tells us, furthermore, that she “had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse.” She’s truly desperate to meet Jesus – even touching the hem of His garment will be enough, she claims.
Or, finally, perhaps you can identify with the little girl in this passage. With all the other drama going on, unfortunately, she often gets overlooked. But, remember she, too, is a main character, and, in many ways, she’s the most desperate to encounter Jesus. Poor thing; she’s only twelve, says St. Mark, and she is literally “at the point of death.” She lacks even the strength and physical where-with-all to search for Jesus.
Three unique people. Three unique stories. Three lives in need of Jesus.
But no matter their unique situations and no matter where we might see ourselves in their stories, the fact is that St. Mark gives us their stories all intertwined and inter-connected into the plot in the way that he does because he’s desperately trying to say that we all (no matter our station in life or our circumstances) need to encounter Jesus.
All people. All stories. All in need of Jesus!
And that, you see, is Christianity 101. That is the bottom line of all we hold dear and important as “followers of the Way.”
And encountering Jesus is what life in this parish is all about. From daily masses to Day of Hope and from Logos to Ladies’ Night Out – it’s all about encountering Jesus Christ: incarnate, crucified, resurrected and ascended. He is the beginning and the end; the alpha and the omega – and the one in whom we live and move and have our being.
And on this, the Lord’s Day, we’ve come together once again as the body of Christ to do just that: to encounter the Risen Christ by receiving the Body and Blood of Christ through the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
Recently, the Bishop of Rome, the ever-popular Pope Francis, said it well during a homily to young people: “The most important thing that can happen to a person is to encounter Jesus, who loves us, who has saved us, who gave his life for us, because in our increasingly digital age, it can be easy to forget the living presence of the risen Lord in our lives.”
“Why do you go to Church in the 21st century?” some will ask us with a smirk of incredulity. Well, quite simply, we go to church to encounter the Risen Christ!
And that, you see, makes what we do here of eternal significance.
Recently, I was in London with my mom. While we were there, we realized that it was the first time we’d been back to London together in 18 years. It was a wonderful time. The second day we were there we went back to visit one of London’s must-see destinations, St. Paul’s Cathedral. Many of you have been there. 18 years ago it’s amazing how much I failed to notice about the place. But this time, as I made my way up those famous steps to go inside, I noticed in big letters etched into the huge glass doors this verse of Holy Scripture: “This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” That’s from Genesis chapter 28, of course, but it makes perfect sense to put on the doors of any parish church, especially a place of worship as significant as St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Likewise, where we sit, stand and kneel right this moment is indeed none other than the house of God and the gate of heaven.
That means this is a place (THE place for most of us) that has been especially set apart – consecrated – for us to encounter Jesus.
Here we encounter Him here in the Holy Scriptures, as He speaks a word of hope and peace to us. Here we encounter Him in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the altar, where we are forgiven our sins, receive His precious Body and Blood and enjoy a foretaste of that heavenly banquet. And we leave here, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to encounter Him in our neighbours through works of charity, love and mercy.
But it’s not really quite that simple or tidy, is it? What I’ve just described is admittedly a bit dreamy – may even a tad romantic and Victorian.
Some of us, then, are indeed like Jairus – here to encounter Jesus on behalf of someone else: to pray for a wayward husband or wife or our troubled teen. Some of us are here to encounter Jesus because we’re like the woman with the flow of blood – something has caused us to be cast out from our family and friends and we’d be consoled just by touching the hem of something heavenly and holy. And, finally, some of us are like the little girl: close to death – some of us near spiritual death, some of us near physical death – and we are here to encounter Jesus, simply because we know our only hope rests with the one who has overcome suffering and even swallowed up death itself.
Thus wherever we are and whoever we are, we need Him. “Do not fear; only believe.”
Christ is alive! O Come let us adore Him.
Sermon preached by the Rev. Charleston D. Wilson
The Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
5th Sunday after Pentecost
28 June 2015