4^th August 2009

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley (Sunday 28 June 2009).

Lessons - Psalm 130; Mark 5:21-43

Out of the depths I cry to thee, O Lord! Lord, hear my voice! (Psalm 130:1 RSV)

In last week's parable of the stilling of the storm the disciples 'cry out' to Jesus, who is 'asleep on a cushion in the boat', to save them from the terrors of nature, inhumanity and persecution. He responds to the accusation that he doesn't care for their plight by calming the storm and bringing peace in the midst of chaos. The theme is continued in the readings today.

In Mark, an unnamed woman and a prominent citizen 'cry out' for healing. The Psalmist 'cries out' for mercy. One 'cries out' for an end to a terrible affliction; one for an end to an apparently untimely death; one for an end to faithless religion. All implore God to intervene in situations which from the human point of view are hopeless, to bring about health, life and fidelity. They urge God to display God's power over the 'culture of death' which threatens our life in the church and the world.

* The woman is at the end of her wits. She has suffered severe menstrual bleeding for twelve years, lost all her money looking for cures and become worse. Her problems are medical, social and religious.
As a person who was regarded as spiritually 'unclean', she is excluded from contact with others and unwelcome in the community of faith. In her lonely, despairing silence she 'cries out' to Jesus 'to be made well' (v28).

* The public official is also at the end of his wits. He 'cries out' to Jesus to heal his dying daughter. When news comes that she has died
(v35) any chance of her 'being made well' is gone. It was regarded as 'unclean' to touch a dead body. The 'weeping and wailing' at the house confirms the hopelessness of the situation. Death has triumphed over life!

* The Psalmist too is distraught, but not about personal affliction, death or suffering. He 'cries out' to God because of 'iniquities' in the community of faith (Ps 130:3,8). He laments the fact that the people of Israel - the covenant community of which he is part - has failed to exercise its collective God-given vocation in and for the world. He 'cries out' for mercy ('abundant redemption') so that his faithless community may 'be made well'.

The outcast woman, the high official and the Psalmist share a deep and urgent concern that God's power and goodness be displayed in defeating the evil that afflicts life and undermines hope in every sphere. They 'cry out' for personal, social and religious wholeness / salvation!

What happens in response to these 'cries' shows us that 'being made well' involves much more than physical healing, resuscitation or renewed religious commitment. The two individuals (Mark) are healed in body and soul. The community of faith (Psalm) is 'redeemed in hope'.

* The woman is healed of her affliction. But she experiences a deeper sense of well-being because Jesus treats her as a person, not as an outcast or a medical case. In the midst of a throng pressing to be near him Jesus asks a personal question, 'Who touched me?' (v30). She comes forward 'in fear and trembling' (v33), as is proper in the presence of God, to acknowledge that contact with Jesus has healed her body. This desperate, faithful woman is 'made well' / 'saved' from affliction and isolation in the encounter with the loving power of God in Christ. No longer 'unclean', she may 'go in peace' (v34).

* The revival of the girl also brings a sense of well-being which surpasses the miracle itself. Astonishingly, Jairus doesn't give up hope, even after his cry for help seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
Jesus, rather improbably, tells him, 'Do not fear, only believe,' (v36) in the face of his daughter's sickness and apparent death. Once more it is the personal relationship with Jesus that is critical. Jesus restores the girl to life and health as a sign of God's power over all that afflicts life. In Jesus her father experiences the faithfulness of the life-affirming God.

* Communities of faith too may experience a sense of well-being or salvation if they are open to God's healing touch. They too have sicknesses which the Psalmist rather indelicately calls 'iniquities'
(vv3,8). We are not told the precise nature of their collective sins.
That is because he is speaking a word of hope and forgiveness to a community which, throughout its long history as God's people, has failed most grievously to be a 'light to the nations'. In a few words he neatly encapsulates a history of compromise and timidity in which - more often than not - idolatry, injustice, immorality, apathy and despair have won out over worship, righteousness, commitment and hope.

The predominant note, however, is hopeful. Despite the enormity of all Israel's iniquities (v8), the very fallible community of faith is invited - indeed summoned - to rejoice in the God in whom there is forgiveness (v4), steadfast love and abundant redemption (v7). National hope is to be found in the knowledge that the holy God is incredibly gracious and faithful even when his chosen people are not. Despite so much infidelity and injustice, the collective body of 'the people', like individual bodies, may experience God's gracious, healing power.
In the mercy of God, there is hope even for fallible churches, synagogues and mosques, as well as for the nations.

God's mercy should not be taken for granted, as we are apt to do if we assume that God simply accepts us all exactly as we are. No longer are we astounded that God is merciful. We think that it is God's business to be compassionate (on those who suffer) and forgiving (to those who
have done wrong).

This matter-of-factness is out of place as a response to God's 'steadfast and abundant love'. The proper reaction is 'awe' and 'astonishment' (Ps 130:4; Mk 5:42), 'fear and trembling' born of 'humility' (5:33), 'steadfast hope' (130:5,6) and 'silence' (5:43).

We seem to have forgotten that 'It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God' (Hebrews 10:31). In the presence of the God who drives out 'fear' (Mark 5:36; Romans 8:15ff) our reaction should be 'amazement' and 'holy awe' (Psalm: fear). Being 'awestruck' at the power of God's mercy in the lives of individuals (Mark) and communities
(Psalm) means that we may live in hope. In the face of affliction and death, the unnamed woman and the prominent citizen put their hope in Jesus. In the face of Israel's 'iniquities' the Psalmist pleads with his people to put their hope in the 'living God' who has called them to be a 'light to the nations'.

What does it mean to put our hope in God? According to the Psalmist, we should imitate the 'watchmen' who stand guard over the city at night and await the dawn (130:5,6). The dark night of 'iniquity' may seem to be never-ending, but the dawn of God's 'abundant redemption' (v7) is assured. The future redemption of all Israel's sins is assured because God has been shown to be the God of steadfast love throughout her strife-torn history.

In the light of this bold hope we may well ask why our faith is not met by healing or mercy. Terrible afflictions and early deaths are not usually overcome or reversed - though advances in medical science cures many ills. And the timidity of a Church, which seems more concerned with its public image than with being conformed to the image of Christ, shows little sign of reversal. Where then can we find a basis for genuine hope and mercy?

The answer is found when we read Mark and the Psalm in the light of the finished work of salvation. We must read them backwards: from the ascension, resurrection and crucifixion of the incarnate Christ. That is why Jesus gives 'strict instructions that they should not tell anyone about what has happened' (Mark 5:43). Believing in him because of miracles alone will mislead them about who he is. Only when we look back over the finished work of salvation can we see that he is the bearer of hope for us all.

Therefore, where the Psalmist looks forward to the time when the God 'will redeem Israel from all his iniquities' (v8), the Church acknowledges that the sins of Israel and the nations have been redeemed in Christ. Because he who was afflicted, rejected and crucified, dead and buried has been raised from the dead by God to exercise power over all things, we may live by hope - even when, in our lives and in the Church, all is dark and dawn seems far off.

It is not easy to wait for the future which has come already in Christ.
But if we put our hope in God's 'abounding mercy' then we are free, from the timidity, apathy and resignation which often afflicts our lives and our faith, to be joined with Christ in working for healing and wholeness in the community and the Church.

Today, this involves naming parts of the Body which are haemorrhaging or near death. It is to be hoped that proposals coming before the UCA Twelfth Assembly (15-21 July) will not seriously weaken the authority of the Basis of Union or fail to discipline those who belittle the Gospel. It also involves naming iniquities in public life and in current Federal and State legislation that do not protect asylum seekers, the frail elderly, the unborn, the disabled and others, or the freedom of Churches to shape their parishes, schools, hospitals and welfare agencies according to faith in Christ.

Waiting in hope is not an excuse for inaction. It is an invitation to seek healing and mercy for our fellows and the community in the knowledge that our well-being or salvation is assured because of God's steadfast love for Israel and the nations in Christ. Because of what happened to and in his body we are made whole.

Suffering, death and unbelief are still distressingly present. Our cries for healing, wholeness and faith are not all answered dramatically or according to our time-lines! Yet we may live in hope because the sign of the future, which awaits humanity and the Church, has been embodied in Christ. Waiting and hoping in this profound sense means being confident that God does hear our 'cries' and encourages us to bear witness to Christ in our own troubled times.

Rev Dr Max Champion is minister in the St John's Uniting Church, Mt Waverley, Victoria, Australia. Dr Champion is Chair of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the UCA.