Opposites Joined Together with Faith

By Susan Peyton

This sermon is based on Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-15; 2:23-24, Psalm 30, 2 Corinthians 8:7-15, and Mark 5:21-43. An audio version of the sermon is available here.

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Good morning.  For those of you I have not met, I am Susan Peyton.  I’m a member of Emmanuel, and taking classes with the ultimate goal of becoming a deacon.  One of the requirements is to do an internship at a church other than your own.  So my thanks to each of you for providing a church community that has welcomed me.  Also, please remember that any mistakes are my own.

The Wisdom of Solomon, Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, Psalm 30, and a portion of Mark’s 5th chapter.  Four readings, themes that are woven together.  Life and death, those who have much, those who have nothing, being healed, or maybe being saved.  Complete opposites joined together with their faith.  Faith in the one they can touch and see, Jesus.  And faith in the God they cannot see.

Our first reading, the Wisdom of Solomon.  A book we rarely hear, but even the name speaks of strength of character.  How often these days do we refer to anyone as truly being wise?  God granted Solomon wisdom.  God gave each of us many gifts, including wisdom,  but do we use them? Do we follow the moral compass he has granted us?  And we hear that God delights in the living, not in anything destructive or poisonous.  Yet we make choices that may be destructive to ourselves, to others, to our community.  God created us as a community to help those less fortunate – our personal actions, our attitudes towards others – part of how we are judged.  Our path with God endures, if we have the strength, the wisdom, the faith to follow Him.  

Last weekend I was in New York city with 91 Girl Scouts.  Two buses representing those who have, and those who have not.  Those who have traveled around the world, and those who have never traveled out of Virginia.  And there were two visible reminders that portrayed those with faith, and those who had the strength of character to literally give their life for others.  The Statue of Liberty:  for thousands of immigrants, a symbol of hope.  A symbol of faith for a better life.  Thousands who faced death in the depths of ships filled with disease, bugs, little food or water.  Faith that leaving their entire family, they would find streets paved with gold.  Only God knows the names of many who perished at sea, on Ellis Island, or once in America.  Ironic that to visit the place where many had only the clothes on their back, we and our belongings were x-rayed.  Turns out my bandage scissors in the first aid kit were not allowed.  The day before at the Empire State Building they simply held them for me, and returned them to me once I finished  my visit.    

The second, a new symbol of faith, dedicated to others, and hope – the 9 11 memorial.  Two square pools located where the twin towers stood.  Filled with water that flows towards the middle.  The middle a square void, where we cannot see the bottom.  Perhaps the pit the writer of our psalm referred to.  The heroes that when faced with an excruciating decision, gave themselves to help others.  

Next, A psalm of thanksgiving, Psalm 30.  The writer deeply believes in God.  And I saw a bit of myself in him.  Life is good, things are going fine, a bit of confidence knowing that other people have health issues to worry about, but not him, not me, not us.  Normal blips in the road, but nothing big.  Not that I thought I was above everything, simply not too concerned.  And then a health crisis, for the writer of this psalm, bringing him to the brink of death.  While he was faithful before, now we see a bit of bargaining.  Um, God.  You know I believe in you! And if something happens to me, you’ll lose one of your strongest believers.  As long as I’m around, I’ll be telling others of my faith, too.  How many times do we think about bargaining with God?  I’ll read my Bible every day, and I’ll pray twice a day, and go to church every Sunday.  And I won’t argue with Doug, and, and, and.  God knows that our intentions are good at that moment.  And he also knows chances are slim to none that we carry thru with those bargained for intentions.  But God is beyond the bargaining.  We cannot predict when things do indeed fall into the pit, and there is no hope.  Likewise, we won’t know when someone will be saved.  And we need the balance of good and bad to recognize God’s hand in our lives.  When we are saved from the depths of despair, or ill health.  And the last 36 hours have shown what we do in what our consumer culture might perceive as a crisis.  If you’re in Staunton Saturday morning, you still have Farmer’s Market.  Good food, good music, good company.  If you’re in Staunton  and 95% of the people don’t have power but the Mall does, there still won’t be people in the mall.  And if you’re in Staunton and Walmart is open, it looks like the day before Christmas.  People buying ice, coolers, batteries, fuel for camp stoves, flashlights.  Perhaps, people giving thanks to God that they could buy ice and save the food in their freezer.  Perhaps, folks working at Walmart giving thanks for another day’s wages to help pay the rent.  Perhaps, we all need a perceived crisis to remind us what is important.  A time to rest, to stop working, family time, no electronics.  A community that rejoices when someone is healed, a community that prays when someone is ill, the joy of a child’s smile, God’s grace as we face hardships and good times, giving thanks forever.

And Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians.  Hmm.  Perfect lesson for stewardship Sunday.  How did that get into here.  The Corinthians, just like the writer of the psalm, they have a good life.  And Paul has to remind them, Christ was rich, yet became poor for all of us, so how do we use those riches?  Give of our riches to others -for the Corinthians, he wanted them to give to some of the poorer churches.  For us, sometimes prayer is what we can offer, or a ride to a doctor’s appointment, visiting someone who is grieving.  Not giving to end up depriving ourselves, nor to be greedy.  What prompts our giving?  Gratitude to God, a way to honor others, to help those in need?  I used to be in banking, and had a customer who would overdraw her account.  She listened to every word her pastor said, and kept giving more and more to the church.  It was hard for me to explain that overdraft fees would decrease her funds, and limit even more her giving to the church.  She wanted to give,  beyond her capacity, and I wondered if her pastor even knew that.    Do we look at our budget after the payments for internet,  cable, the cell phone, eating out, vacation, gifts and say these are necessities, now I can look at what I can give away.  Or do we look at our gross income and say God is good.  I have been blessed with a wonderful life, I should share my blessings, not to compare against others, simply to know I have done what is right.

In an ironic twist, I thought about the Diocesan financial reports.   It lists each parish in the diocese, their annual pledge and how much they have given.   And all I could think of was how it proves how human we are, when consciously or unconsciously we might be comparing ourselves to other parishes.  

Finally, the Gospel of Mark, a pair of stories on healing.  Jairus, a leader of the synagogue – someone with power, a house, family and friends, obviously at least one child.   Respected in his community, a man desperate to save his daughter.   I think he would give anything to save her.  And his faith led him to Jesus, to beg him to come and heal his 12 year old girl.  Then suddenly, there appears a woman with no name, literally a woman with nothing.  Her health issues cause her to be considered unclean.  She has consulted doctors, spent everything she had.  She lives on the outskirts of society, so she would have no family, no friends, probably no way to earn money, no community. All she had left after 12 years of being shunned was her faith.  Faith that if she touched Jesus’ garment, she would be healed.  Faith that led her thru a crowd she normally would not enter.  When she touched his cloak, an amazing thing happened.  She knew immediately that she was healed, and Jesus felt some of his power transfer to someone.  That split second changed her life in two ways.  For not only did he give her the power of health.  He also gave her the power of a community, he called her “Daughter”.  Not someone undeserving of his time and healing, but rather, someone who could reclaim her family and friends.  Contact with people, not being shunned, and having total strangers cross the street to avoid her.  For 12 years she had been searching for health, for some way to restore her life.  And Jesus healed her, welcoming her to the family of God because of her faith.  

In the same way, Jesus proceeded with Jairius to his house.  And there they found everyone mourning the daughter.  And even laughed at Jesus when he said she was not dead.  So Jesus sent out those who had no faith, those who had laughed,  and took the girl’s hand and healed her.  

Healing two different females.  Do we always know when we need healing?   Can we step back and look at our life?  Are we surrounded by those who laugh at us, instead of being filled with faith?  Are we reading books, listening to music or watching TV filled with negative thoughts?   Healing is not always physical, it may be a family that is strained, a community that is hurting, an addiction to chocolate, the internet or money.  Perhaps we need to learn to balance work and family.  And perhaps realizing that in the past, our prayers for healing, meant healing what we want and when we want it.  Our idea of healing and God’s may not be the same.  To open our hearts and minds to God and to listen to him.  Life and death, having riches, being poor, being a non person, having authority.  Faith, and hope. Knowing to give of our riches, when to ask to be healed.  Filled with God’s love, walking in His path, lifted up by Him.  Amen.