Do Not Fear, Only Believe

February 2^nd, 2020   “Do Not Fear, Only Believe”  Rev. Heather Jepsen

Mark 5:21-43

         Following our narrative lectionary, we continue reading the story of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark.  Also continuing are our themes from the previous weeks’ sermons.  Once again, we find Jesus informing us about healing, restoration of community, and the role of fear and faith.

         This morning’s reading is two stories stuck together.  The fancy word for this writing technique is intercalation, but I like to call it a sandwich story.  The writer of the Gospel of Mark is fond of employing this technique where one story seems to interrupt the other.  The two stories have an abundance of things in common and they are meant to inform each other.

         The first story is about the Synagogue leader Jairus and his daughter.  Following right after our story from last Sunday, Jesus has just returned from his time with the Gerasene Demoniac in Gentile territory.  He gets off the boat back on the Jewish side of the sea and is once again mobbed by the crowds seeking his healing and attention.  Jairus falls at Jesus’ feet and begs him over and over to come to his home and heal his daughter who is on hospice care and nearing the point of death.  Interestingly Jesus doesn’t say anything but does begin to follow Jairus to his home.

         As we can imagine, it is a slow affair.  A large mob does not move very quickly and so although Jairus may wish to run with Jesus to his house, that is simply not possible.  The crowd moves at the speed it moves and that is not very fast at all.  It is into this space of the crowd moving along that Mark interrupts Jairus’ story to tell the story of the hemorrhaging woman.

         Hiding among those in the crowd is an unnamed woman who has been perpetually unclean for 12 years.  She has a nonstop flow of blood.  The text doesn’t say specifically what her ailment is but scholars and others assume we are talking about a menstrual problem.  This poor woman has had a never-ending period for 12 years.  Every lady here can imagine how awful that would be!  But it is even worse in her setting.  The time of menstruation renders not only a woman unclean it also sullies everything she touches.  Every chair she sits on, every surface she brushes up against, every hand she shakes is made unclean by her flow of blood.  Because of this condition, this poor woman would have had to live separately from society for these 12 long years.  It is no wonder she has spent all she has on doctors trying to solve this difficult and distressing issue.

         As Jesus moves with the crowd to Jairus’ house, this woman sneaks up behind him and attempts to touch the fringe of his cloak.  Mark tells us what she is thinking, if she can just touch the edge of Jesus’ clothes, his power will be sufficient to bring her healing.  The assumption is that she could then fade back into the crowd without drawing attention to herself or her awkward and embarrassing condition.

         As the woman touches Jesus’ robe, they both become aware of his power.  She immediately feels that she has been healed.  And he immediately feels that someone has touched him in faith.  Now Jesus speaks for the first time in the reading, “Who touched my clothes?” 

The disciples are puzzled by the question.  With the crowd pressing in on all sides it is impossible to know who might have touched Jesus.  Jesus knows though that this was no ordinary touch, this was an act of faith.  And in a further act of faith, the woman comes forward and tells him “the whole truth”.  Jesus praises her faith, calling her “daughter” and sends her on her way.

         This interruption is nothing but pain to Jairus who knows his daughter is running out of time.  Before the crowd even gets moving again, a servant arrives from his home to tell him that it is too late, his daughter is dead.  Jesus turns to him and offers words of encouragement “do not fear, only believe”.  When they arrive to the house the professional mourners are in full swing.  They laugh at Jesus’ claim that the girl yet lives and he sends everyone but the family and his disciples away.  Asking the girl to “get up” he raises her from the dead.  He then tempers everyone’s amazement by asking for them to fix some lunch.

         These two stories have a ton of things in common.  They are both about women, they both surround issues of uncleanliness, they both have the time frame of 12 years, and they are both healing miracles.  There are issues of class involved as Jairus is clearly an important person and the woman remains unnamed.  Also, the issue of family, as Jairus advocates for his daughter and the woman has no one until Jesus names her daughter.

         There are many avenues to pursue in a sermon on this text but the thing I want to talk about today is the role of fear and faith.  Last week we talked about the things in life that frighten us, and we marveled that nothing is frightening for Jesus.  He has the power and authority to enter any space of chaos and to bring healing and calm and we can see those themes echoed in this reading.  Last week we also talked about the fact that nothing can make Jesus unclean.  We see that in this week’s story again as the woman with the hemorrhage does not make Jesus unclean by her touch and as Jesus is able to touch the dead girl (who is unclean) without becoming unclean himself.  Jesus can not be sullied by our uncleanliness.

         When I read these stories, I find them centered on Jesus’ words to Jairus “Do not fear, only believe.”  Even though there is much to fear, Jairus’ daughter is already dead, Jesus encourages Jairus to belief and faith.  What would it mean for us to embrace this motto?  “Do not fear, only believe.”

         There is a lot to fear in our world, and I shared some of my personal fears in our sermon last Sunday.  When we watch the nightly news, we find that the whole world seems to be about fear.  The fear of war and mass shootings, the fear of climate change and bad weather, the fear of the stock market falling or some group getting out of hand.  Our politicians on both sides of the aisle specialize in fear, convincing us that if we don’t vote for them our worst fears will come true.  They use fear to maintain power and to increase their personal wealth.

         Jesus on the other hand, tries to banish all fear.  He encourages us not to be afraid.  And when we are in circumstances that are rightfully scary, he offers us comfort and healing.  The acts of Jesus subvert fear and fortify our faith.

         Have you ever noticed that fear is a lot worse when you are alone?  Watching a scary movie by yourself is much more frightening then watching one with a friend.  And when we are afraid of the dark as children, it helps to have a stuffed animal to keep us company.  Fear grows when we are isolated and separated from others.  That is why politicians like to keep us in our separate factions.  We are easier to control when we are alone, isolated, and afraid.

         In the healing stories in today’s gospel, both Jairus and the unnamed woman are isolated and alone.  That’s what trauma does, it isolates us.  When we are sick, like my kids with the flu this week, we are quarantined and isolated from our community.  They both missed nearly a week of school.  When we have a long-term illness like cancer we are isolated even more.  Both the nature of our condition, our own vulnerability, and our sudden life of suffering serve to isolate us from others.  Chronic illness is a further isolation, with suffering that goes on for months and years separating us from others. 

         Emotional trauma is also isolating.  The trauma of divorce isolates us from community as we seek to hide our brokenness and shame.  A death in the family is isolating, as no one knows what to say to us anymore and we lose our connections with past friends.  Trauma isolates us, and it is in the midst of this isolation that fear grows.  Alone with only our thoughts the world can become a very menacing and frightful space.

         It is into this space of trauma, isolation, and fear that Jesus offers his advice, “Do not fear, only believe”.  Jesus encourages us to have faith and to have courage.  Our belief alone will not heal us.  But our belief will lead us to God and to the church community, the Body of Christ, and it is there that we will find an end to our isolation.  It is here that we will find healing. 

         While these two healing stories may seem very different from our own lives, in studying them we find that a lot of the themes present are our own.  The physical, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of these stories are at play in our lives today.  Like Jairus’ interrupted request for his daughter, life does not go according to plan.  And like Jairus’ moment of heartbreak, death is a reality.  Like the woman’s experience, chronic illness has the ability to isolate us from community.  It takes all of our time and energy, and all of our money, and in the end, we are still left broken and bleeding.

         Our world has little to offer these people but our God offers hope.  “Do not fear, only believe”.  Do not let your suffering and strife isolate you from others.  Do not let fear keep you alone.  Jesus calls us into community, into the body of Christ, and if we are brave enough to follow it is here that we will find healing. 

As those already in the faith community we need to recognize all the ways that fear seeks to separate us.  We need to reach out to those in trauma situations and encourage them to come back home for Jesus’ healing touch.  We have seen that Jesus has the ability to heal from a distance.  But we know that he prefers a human touch.  Today we need to be that touch for each other.

In a world controlled by fear, a world that seeks to isolate us from each other, Jesus encourages us to come together and to be the Body of Christ.  We are encouraged to not fear and we are encouraged to believe.  Our faith is not about having all the right answers, but it is about coming together to seek truth and healing. 

Trust in God is hard to come by.  Like Jairus and the woman, we grasp it, we lose it, and we reach out again.  That is why we have this struggle in community.  Together we protect each other from isolation.  Together we lift each other up.  Together we are able to follow Jesus’ words, whatever suffering life may send our way.  “Do not fear, only believe.”  Amen.