A Whole Lot of Healing!
Sermon for July 19, 2015 – Preached at St. Matthew’s
Episcopal Church Sacramento
Proper 11B-RCL
2 Samuel
7:1-14a
Psalm
89:20-37
Ephesians
2:11-22
Mark
6:30-34, 53-56
The apostles gathered
around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them,
"Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while."
For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they
went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them
going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns
and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had
compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he
began to teach them many things.
When they had crossed
over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of
the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and
began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he
went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces,
and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who
touched it were healed.
A whole lot of healing is
going on! That is what a friend said in
relation to our Gospel reading today!
And she is right. Oh…One thing
you may have noticed – if you looked at the citation from today’s Gospel
reading – there is a big section that is
left out. I had to immediately look to
see what it missing – because that is the kind of person I am. I wanted to know – What did they leave
out? And why? I also like to see what is going on before
and after the assigned text – to put it in context.
So what are we missing? The big thing that we are missing is the
feeding of the 5000. But don’t worry – in the wisdom of those who put the
lectionary together we read about the feeding of the 5000 next week – but from
John’s gospel.
This gospel reading takes
place just after Jesus has set out the 12 two by two to proclaim the good news
and to heal people. We pick up the story
when they get back and are excited by what they were able to do. They were excited. And why not?
They got to see a glimpse of God’s dream. A dream where people are healed and Love
reigns. They got see that it is not just
Jesus who is the vehicle for healing but – acting on god’s behalf – they could
heal too! Mark’s gospel tells us that
Jesus was taking the 12 away to rest because “they had no leisure even to
eat.” But they don’t find rest. Not is Mark’s gospel. There is not time to rest! There are people to heal.
Mark’s gospel can be both
easy and hard at the same time. Mark’s
was the first gospel that was written after Jesus’ death and there is much
urgency about it. It seems that every
sentence is jam packed with information and we transition quickly from one
story to the other. There is not a lot
of set direction or painting of the scenery in Mark. Instead it is filled with urgency – an
urgency to bring God’s kingdom to this earth.
A kingdom filled with love and healing.
Jesus – even when he is
trying to go off and let the disciples find rest and relaxation takes pity on
those who hunger for God’s kingdom. In
the rush of Mark’s Gospel there is a whole hot of healing going on. And that healing is on the move.
In our reading from the Old
Testament Book of Samuel God tells David that he is not to build a permanent
home for God. That God – for the time
being – is content to be in the tent. To
be mobile. Later God will have a home
built by David’s son Solomon but for now God tells David that God will build
for David a house – a line of ancestors that are to work to bring God’s kingdom
to fruition. A promise that we see
through our Christian lenses as being fulfilled in Christ. That was what Mark saw. That Jesus’ healing and teaching was
fulfilling God’s promise to Israel.
Although in a way that was unexpected.
Jesus did not come as the expected
messiah to overturn the powers of this world by violence. Jesus came to overthrow the powers of this
world by healing. When we read about
Jesus healing it seems like he
frequently gets in trouble for it. Jesus
heals on the Sabbath. Jesus heals in the
marketplace – and that word that we translate as marketplace has more of the
meaning of a town square. The place
where yes the market was set up to exchange goods and buy food. But also where the politics of the day
happened. It was the center of
society. And what does Jesus do? He heals the untouchables. He does not care if the sick are Jews or
gentiles. He does not care if they are
servants or people of power. He doesn’t
care what day of the week it is or even if his disciples are tired and in need
of rest. Jesus heals.
Another preacher I follow,
Elizabeth Webb, said “By healing the sick, the weakest and most vulnerable
members of a community, in this space, Jesus is subverting the economy of this
world through the very inauguration of God's kingdom economy. While the
marketplaces of the world belong to the rich and powerful, in the kingdom of
God this most political and commercial of spaces is occupied by those with the
least. In the age to come, Jesus proclaims, "many who are first will be
last, and the last will be first" (Mark 10:31). That age is now breaking
into this age; we who seek to live God's kingdom here and now must follow
Jesus's subversion of worldly power and wealth.”[1]
Jesus sees a people hungry
for the good news. Hungry for a shepherd
that will lead and heal everyone. Jesus’
healing is a subversive act. He is on
full public display. He is not hiding in
some out of the way place but he is confronting powers – both secular and
sacred. Power that would separate the
weak from the powerful – the holy from the unclean – the insiders from the
outsiders. Jesus offers healing to
everyone. That is what we are called to
do too. We are to offer healing in ways
and places that our society does not expect – and in many ways society does not
want.
We are called as followers of
this messiah – this Jesus – to go out and work as his disciples to bring
healing to our world. We are called to
go our just like Jesus sent his disciples and to heal. Church does not just happen on Sundays. Church does not happen just inside these
walls. I bet I don’t need to tell you, the
good people of St. Matthews that! You do
church here on this campus and outside of these walls everyday. When you feed and clothe someone you are
doing church. When we sit a listen to
someone who has no one to hear them – we are doing church. Yes our churches, these buildings, when they
are at their best, are places where we can find God. But if that is the only place where we find
God we are poor. Because God happens all
around us.
Like the reading from Samuel
God does not want to be locked away in a building. God wants to go out with the people. God wants to walk about and find ways to heal
the individual and to heal our society.
One of my favorite authors and modern day prophets was a African
American Episcopalian named Verna Dozier.
A theme that runs through her writing is that God has a dream. And that dream is to bring to fruition a
world ruled and marked with love. And,
she said, our job is to follow that man we call Lord – this Jesus and help
bring that kingdom to fruition here – now.
We are not to look out for some future time in some far away
heaven. No. We are to work at bringing God’s kingdom to
earth now.
You see – when we are
partners with God in healing and bringing Love to this earth we are following
Jesus. Jesus empowers us to go out and
heal. Yes. Each and every one of us are called to show
God’s love for this world and to heal.
That is what the church is called to do.
That is what you are called to do.
You don’t have to be ordained or become a health professional to heal
people. Every time you greet one that
society would shun you are bringing healing to earth. Every time we give of our time, talent and treasures
to build up rather than tear down – we are working to bring God’s dream of Love
a little closer.
