Sermon for June 28, 2015
The Fifth Sunday After Pentecost
The Rev. Vicki K. Hesse
St. Philip’s In The Hills, Tucson, AZ
Mark
5: 21-43
Lord, Open our Lips,
that our mouth shall proclaim your
praise. Amen
Listen to this sermon, here.
Good
morning!
When
my mother was alive,
she
traveled extensively around the world,
accompanying
my father on his business trips. She
used to say that she loved
traveling
to England best –
because
it was the one “foreign” country
where
she felt like she could
almost
speak the language.
This
last week, we took the
St.
Philip’s Youth Group (or “SPY”)
on
a mission trip
that
was, in a way,
like
traveling to a foreign country
were
we could almost speak the language.
(I
say “we,” because you, the congregation,
generously
supported this mission trip,
co-led
by me, Katie Fouts, Sasha Velgos and Michael Kat as the adult leaders for
seven
of the SPY youth group.)
The
trip took place in the Navajo nation,
near
the four corners: AZ, UT, CO and NM.
We
stayed at a school near Teec Nos Pos and
joined
about 260 other youth
from
15 churches.
Divided
into in 43 mixed-gender crews,
We
completed weatherization construction
and
home repair for
34
residential homes;
a
kind of youth version of Habitat for Humanity, but on steroids.
While
the work itself was challenging,
we
learned construction skills and
how
to work as a team with others who held different views.
It
was the “Jesus-centered mission experience”
that
provided a bit of “foreign country” feel
to
the week.
Today’s
gospel lesson reminds me of this trip.
In
the first part of the gospel,
Jairus
asked Jesus to come visit his daughter
and
to “lay his hands on her,
so
that she may be made well, and live.”
We
learned that the leaders
of
the Navajo regions, called “chapters,”
worked
with State of Utah engineers
and
Group Mission Trips company
for
Jesus to work through us and
“lay
our hands upon these houses”
so
that they may be made well
and
offer wholesome lives to the residents.
In
the gospel story, however, we read that
on
the way to visit Jairus’s daughter
something
happened that interrupted his plans.
There
was a woman with a constant
hemorrhaging
that lasted 12 years.
She
spent all her money on doctors
who
had not helped.
When
she heard that Jesus was passing by,
she
reached out in desperation.
She
was at the end of her rope.
And
she reached out, yearning, praying, seeking – if only I can touch his clothes,
if only I can get close
to him,
if only I can get near the power of
Jesus,
then
I can be healed, she thought.
The
woman’s severe hemorrhaging
was
not only a problem for her personally;
it
made her “impure.”
And
in 1st century context,
her
impurity isolated her from her community,
because
anyone who touched her
also
became impure, kind of like “cooties.
If
you survived middle school,
you
know that having cooties is very isolating.
She
reached out and touched
–
just the “hem” of his cloak.
And
in sharing her impurity,
in
1st century context,
Jesus
should
have been made impure, too.
Her
impurity was overcome,
however,
through her contact with Jesus.
Jesus
rescued her and flipped the whole scene
–
who was contagious now?
And
Jesus replied,
“your
faith has made you well, go in peace.”
What
was her faith?
Her
faith was not a
belief-in-a-set-of-doctrines
kind of faith.
Her
faith was an experience.
Her
faith was her conviction
that
Jesus could heal her.
Her
faith was her certainty that
Jesus
looked beyond her human condition.
Her
faith was a fervent assurance
that
Jesus had the power to restore her. And he did – both heal her and restore her
to community.
On
our mission trip,
we
saw the isolation and sense of shame
that
the residents felt about
asking
for help with their homes.
See,
although the state of Utah engineers
had
advertized how residents could
simply
apply and receive free hands-on help
for
the sorely needed home repairs,
only
3 families of 38,000
had
applied in the first 90 days.
The
Utah engineers decided then
to
personally
invite over 100 families
to
apply for the aid,
and
helped them one-on-one
with
the applications.
Out
of these applications,
our
mission trip assisted in the 34 cases
that
were appropriate for our crews,
with
their supervision and
the
needed repairs for the week-long workcamp.
The
Utah engineers,
and
the Group Mission Trip company knew,
with
conviction and fervent assurance,
that
through the power of Jesus
in
this experience
we
could heal the homes
and
restore to these families
a
pride of ownership and wholesome living.
In
the gospel, after Jesus
reframed
the woman’s status in community
we
hear again Jairus’s plea
for
Jesus to visit his little girl,
“so
that she may be made well and live.”
“Do
not fear,” Jesus said, “only believe.”
And
here, too, Jesus was not talking about
a
belief in a set of doctrines,
but
a faith of conviction,
an
assurance,
a
sincerity of confidence in Jesus
and
his power of healing.
When
they arrive at Jairus’s home,
the
mourners are already grieving.
Jesus
asked, “why do you make a commotion?
The
child is not dead, but sleeping.”
And
Jesus offered his hand to her
and
lifting her up, said, “Little girl, get up.”
On
the mission trip,
our
SPY youth showed the strength Jesus’ words, “do not fear, only believe.”
For
under the theme of “#reframe,”
the
program curriculum offered
morning
and evening Jesus-centered programs,
presented
through worship
of
guitar-led praise music
with
lyrics projected on a big screen
and
a video presentation
followed
by a gospel-based homily
by
the program leader.
Each
crew’s appointed “Devotion Leader”
guided
the daily mid-day on-work-site devotions, as well as making 30-second themed
videos on specific topic like
“who
are you?” or “#this just happened!”
Each
evening, someone from the crew
shared
to the whole group their “God-sightings,”
including
some surprising ways that
God’s
presence was seen that day.
This
program structure
invited
the participants to
re-friend,
re-think, re-visit,
re-connect,
reflect and respond
to
Jesus as their personal savior;
providing
the opportunity
to
“reframe” their relationship to Jesus Christ
and
his death for salvation.
If
this language is unfamiliar to you
or
creates in you some reaction,
perhaps
you have a sense of how
in
this foreign country
we
felt like we could almost speak the
language.
And the SPY youth
did not fear, only believed.
For
in the midst of our trepidation
about
this Jesus-centric and
relatively
conservative nature of this program,
the
youth remained hopeful and inspired.
Our
youth wrestled with the concrete
and
very directed message.
Every
evening we debriefed
about
the day’s program
and
reframed
the reframe
in
the context of Anglican thought.
In
these discussions, the youth
found
their voice
and
engaged in serious (and silly) conversation.
They
learned a new language of faith.
They
dove into theological reflection
about the core
doctrines of our faith:
the dual
nature (human & divine) of Jesus,
the definition
and implications of the trinity,
the doctrines
of sin, human nature, predestination and the character of God.
They
talked through
portions
of the catechism in the BCP.
They
explored the rite of reconciliation
and
God’s abundant forgiveness.
They
looked squarely into
the
complexities of faith
and
learned what it means to be an Episcopalian.
And,
nearly every night
we
prayed the evening prayer liturgy or compline.
One
day we shared the Eucharist
overlooking
a canyon near Mesa Verde
and
found that in that remote place of nature,
Jesus
was present in our lives.
They
don’t have it all figured out.
I
don’t have it all figured out.
But
all along the way,
the
youth continually
offered
their hands to each other,
lifting
each other with new perspectives
and
deeper questions on their faith journey.
My
sisters and brothers,
if
anyone is concerned about
the
future of the church,
I
state today with conviction
that
The Church of the future
is
in very good hands.
Through
the experience of Jesus
in
that foreign country last week,
our
youth learned
how
to speak a language
from
their own hearts,
from
their own experience,
from
their own sense of worship.
And
they will not put their lights under a bushel, no,
they
will let their light shine.
Today’s
good news is that
Jesus
has power over cooties
to
restore communities.
Jesus
has power to awaken new life,
in
us, through our youth.
So
today, when we share the peace,
join
me in lifting
the
neighbor sitting next to you,
as
Jesus lifted up the girl.
Lift
up your neighbor and share the good news
that
Jesus restores our dreams to new life .
Do
not fear. Only believe.
And
Jesus will reframe our life.
Amen.
