Faith on the Fringes: Mark 5:21-43 - Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

 ²¹When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. ²²Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet ²³and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” ²⁴So he went with him. 

  And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. ²⁵Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. ²⁶She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. ²⁷She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” ²⁹Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ³⁰Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” ³¹And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” ³²He looked all around to see who had done it. ³³But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. ³⁴He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
  ³⁵While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” ³⁶But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” ³⁷He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. ³⁸When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” ⁴⁰And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. ⁴¹He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” ⁴²And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. ⁴³He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat. (NRSV)

Main St. from the Belfry. Photo by author

Last Saturday, only ten persons at a time were permitted inside the clothing closet. This led to many persons waiting to get inside, and I never like to keep people waiting.

But one unexpected gift was time to be in conversation with our neighbors, and nearly every conversation centered around the pandemic, and the devastation it has wrought. Our neighbors are frustrated, angry, and anxious, just like us. But for many of these neighbors, the only time they ever set foot inside a church is when they come to our clothing closet (or GriefShare, for that matter). What will it take to bring these neighbors to baptism and the Lord’s Supper? What will it take to heal their pain and give them hope in God’s promises? 

With these questions in mind, we turn to today’s Gospel, where we encounter two persons from very different walks of life who desperately needed Jesus’s healing touch. The first was a leader of the synagogue named Jairus, whose daughter was dying. This is every parent’s worst nightmare, and he was as desperate as any parent would be in his situation. But his position put him at an advantage. The entire synagogue was likely aware of the situation—and they are going to make sure that Jesus gives Jairus’s daughter priority.

Meanwhile, there’s a woman in the crowd who’s been suffering hemorrhages for twelve years—perhaps longer than Jairus’s daughter has even been alive. Her situation was every bit as desperate as the little girl. But she was at a tremendous disadvantage. Her condition made her ceremonially unclean, meaning that she was prohibited from coming to the synagogue. Do you know how we say, “out of sight, out of mind”? One wonders if anyone in the synagogue knew her name or of her situation. Mark doesn’t even tell us her name.

At this point, she knows there’s nothing she can do that would make the synagogue rally around her like they’ve rallied around their leader’s daughter. The best she can do is force her way through the crowd in the hope that she might simply touch Jesus’s cloak. That was the best she could hope for—but she believed that was all that she needed.

Jesus immediately senses that power has gone forth from him. He turns about in the crowd and says, “who touched my clothes?”

This poor woman realizes that she’s been busted. She’s not allowed to be around people, particularly a rabbi, because she’s unclean! But she admits to what she’d done. 

Jesus is not angry with her. Jesus is astounded by her. She believed in him. And Jesus wanted her to know that she mattered—just as much as the synagogue leader and his daughter. And now, because of Jesus, she will no longer be forced to live in isolation. No longer will she be an outsider in the family of God. 

For us who hear this story, the lesson is that faith can be found in those whom you would not expect—but who need Jesus just as much as we all do, frankly. Faith does exist outside the church—because the Holy Spirit can create faith in anyone, when they come into the presence of Jesus. 

Jesus’s itinerancy is what made this possible. He didn’t stay in one place and wait for people to come to him. He was constantly on the move—because he was so eager and determined to love people, to serve people, and ultimately give his life for people. 

Are we a congregation on the move—or is this building the only place where you express your faith? 

Do you see mission fields in the places where you live, work, and play? Are you open to all the opportunities there are to share the love of Jesus? Or, are you focused only on having fun, getting done what needs to be done, and moving on to the next thing? Are you a 24/7 Christian, or a Sunday morning Christian? 

Do you love strangers as much as Jesus loves them? As we face a difficult and uncertain future as a congregation, do you believe that with Jesus’s help, we can effectively reach people who are as yet unseen, heal their wounds, and be blessed by their presence?

Jesus’s healing of the unnamed woman impacted the community just as much as the healing of Jairus’s daughter. I am sure many came to faith through her testimony. Without her, the community would not have seen that Jesus’s love is more powerful than the barriers we set up to protect ourselves from those who make us uncomfortable. 

If we think that faith can be found only in people like ourselves; if we prioritize certain people over others, we cannot know Jesus for who he truly is. We deny ourselves the blessing of the stranger’s love, their gifts, and their testimony. Worse yet, we deny them the love that is rightly theirs as children of God.

Nobody is invisible to Jesus. To grow in faith, to grow as a congregation, we must pray for Jesus to open our hearts and our eyes to the people Jesus loves whom we do not see or know. We must pray for Jesus to create in us the love he has for all people, and value their potential to be radically transformed by that love. We must pray for Jesus to strengthen our determination to join him in his mission—so that those who are invisible to us now may become both visible and present in our common life—and that through our growth in spirit and numbers, we see the truth together that Jesus truly is here among us, that resurrection truly is happening, and that his love will triumph over everything that has gone wrong or will go wrong.