A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat[f] to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him, and he was by the sea. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue, named Jairus, came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and pleaded with 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.” So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians and had spent all that she had, and she was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, “If I but touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Immediately her flow of blood stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my cloak?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
While he was still speaking, some people came from the synagogue leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the synagogue leader, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the synagogue leader’s house, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And 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. Taking her by the hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” And immediately the girl stood up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this and told them to give her something to eat.
~ Mark 5:21-43 (NRSVUE)
Friends, do you ever feel like you are constantly being interrupted? There is nothing more frustrating than just getting into something and suddenly being called away for something completely different. Sometimes, we are pushed in one direction, and other times, we are pulled in a different direction. But it has been so in the past and will be so in the future. It is just part of the human condition. It stretches over age, race, culture, gender, sexuality, personality type, economic status, and occupation.
You know how it goes; a teacher finally gets her class calmed down, and the fire alarm goes off. You sit down for dinner and a telemarketer calls. It just gets to the good part of the movie, and there is a commercial break. We do everything to avoid it! Executives hire administrative assistants to screen interruptions at work. We use Caller ID to determine who interrupts us at home. Sports fans develop voluntary deafness to block out the interruptions of their spouses during the final inning or quarter of the big game–at least, that happens at my house! We go to great lengths because we have important things to do. Our lives are very busy, and our time is very important.
There is a Veggie Tales story that my kids loved when they were growing up. Now, Veggie Tales, if you haven’t seen it, is a cartoon that tells Bible stories, and the characters in it are vegetables. The main characters in most Veggie Tales are Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber. Well, one of the Veggie Tale stories that my kids loved is called “The Story of Flibber-o-Loo.” It’s actually the story of the good Samaritan, and while preparing for today, I kept hearing one of the songs from it in the back of my head. (Oh, and Veggie Tales love to sing!)
To give you a summary of the story, Larry the Cucumber, who plays the boy from Flibber-o-Loo, has been attacked by bandits while walking in the desert. They take his milk money and turn him upside down, sticking his head in a hole. Now, being a cucumber with no arms or legs, he can’t get himself out. But a little time passes, and he hears footsteps coming in his direction. Why, it is the mayor of Flibber-o-Loo! Surely, he will help! Well, the mayor looks at poor Larry and tells him that he feels very badly for him and shares his frustration, but then he starts to sing, “I’m busy, busy, dreadfully busy, you’ve no idea what I’ve got to do, busy, busy shockingly busy, much, much too busy for you!”
As soon as the mayor finishes singing his song, a Flibbian doctor comes along. She begins to yell, “Get out of the way! I am a very important and noteworthy person, and I am in a hurry.” When she sees Larry upside down in the hole, she says, “I’m terribly sorry. You must understand, but without an appointment, I can’t lend a hand.” Then, the mayor and the doctor pull out their daily planners and talk about their busy schedules. They look at each other and begin to sing together, “We’re busy, busy, dreadfully busy! You’ve no idea what we have to do. Busy, busy, shockingly busy! Much, much too busy for you!” And though they were very busy, they kept singing. “Cause we’re busy, busy, frightfully busy! More than a bumble bee, more than an ant! Busy, busy, horribly busy! We’d love to help, but we can’t!”
Just like the mayor and the doctor in Flibber-o-Loo, we, too, are busy, busy, dreadfully busy! And we, too, are constantly bothered by interruptions. Oh, about the end of the story? Don’t worry, because a boy from Jibberty Lot, the rival town next door, helps Larry out of the hole, then sings a song about loving our neighbor and how God made us all special, and if we are special to God, then we should be special to one another. But I guess that’s a message for another day! Friends, we often chalk up all of our busy schedules and unwanted interruptions to life today or a sign of the times, but, to be honest, I’m not so sure that the problem is all that new.
In the gospels, we see Jesus’ life full of interruptions. In the past three chapters of Mark’s gospel, Jesus has calmed a storm for his disciples, healed a man possessed by demons, taught his disciples, healed the sick, and traveled back and forth across the Sea of Galilee several times. We see him head for one place and end up stopping in another. I guess it might be fair to say that Jesus’ ministry was largely a response to interruptions! But no matter how many people interrupted Jesus, Jesus always responded with humble compassion and had an amazing ability to display gentle wisdom in handling them. But don’t forget he also taught about the importance of Sabbath and taking a rest, which we’ll hear about in a few weeks.
In today’s gospel lesson, Jesus crosses to the other side of the Sea of Galilee again, and no sooner had he stepped on the shore when a synagogue leader began pleading with Jesus to help save his daughter. How about that for an interruption? Well, Jesus agrees to go with Jairus to help his daughter, but I wonder, does Jesus make this decision because Jairus is an important leader in the community? Or because Jairus is dressed nicely? Or does Jesus help Jairus to get something in return?
NO! Jesus decides to go with Jairus to help his daughter because it’s the right thing to do. But before Jesus can even get to Jaruis’ house, someone touches his cloak and interrupts him again. Jesus stops and takes a moment out of his busy schedule to look around the crowd for the person who has touched him. Now, the disciples see the crowd and their interruptions as an inconvenience, but Jesus sees them not as interruptions, but as an opportunity to see and identify the human faces of people who are desperate for his help.
When Jesus identifies the woman that has touched him, she falls at his feet. Does he look down on her for being unclean and unaccepted by the crowd? Does he judge her by the clothes she is wearing or her apparent economic status? Or does he start to sing, “I’m busy, busy, dreadfully busy, you’ve no idea what I’ve got to do, I’m busy, busy shockingly busy, much, much too busy for you?” No! he heals her and lets her know that as a child of God, she is loved no matter what.
God made her special, and no matter how busy Jesus is, that woman matters.
When Jesus speaks to the woman, he does not condemn her or chastise her. He
does not send her away or dismiss her as unclean or unworthy. He merely says to
her, “Daughter your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed.” Although the woman interrupts Jesus while he is on a mission to heal a little girl, he still takes the time to seek her out, giving her a blessing and commending her on her faith.
Folks, interruptions can be frustrating and seem unimportant, but have you ever had a time when someone caught you in the middle of something really important, and they really needed your help? Maybe it’s a friend who needs you to listen to her worries about her husband’s ailing health. Or maybe it’s a child who is feeling lonely and needs to know that someone cares. Perhaps it’s a coworker whose mother just died and just needs a listening, compassionate ear.
The truth is there are times in our busy lives when interruptions allow us to minister to others in their time of need. We can learn from Jesus that there is ministry to be done everywhere, even and especially in the interruptions of life. And don’t forget, as it says on our bulletin cover week after week, “We are ALL ministers!”
Friends, Jesus was busy, busy, dreadfully busy. He was tired and had other pressing concerns. But he saw that a little girl who was dying and an outcast woman who was in pain were worth devoting his time to. There are so many people in our families, at our places of work, in our neighborhoods, and in the world around us who need healing in their lives. They may not need miraculous physical healing. They may just need someone to listen to them for five minutes or hug them without saying a word. They may need to be seen for who they are rather than for what they do or for the labels that the world has put on them, or they may need someone to make eye contact with them for the first time in weeks.
There was an old professor at Notre Dame University who was looking over his tenure, and he summed up his career by saying, “You know, my whole life I have been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted, until one day I discovered that all those interruptions were my work.”
Folks, it is often the detours in life that can be the most interesting parts of our journey. Many biblical characters would attest to that! Just think of Moses and the burning bush, Isaiah in the temple, or Peter, Andrew, James, and John in their fishing boats. They were all interrupted amid life pursuits, yet God granted them the grace to see that the interruptions were actually an invitation to encounter the divine.
Folks, everyone is busy, busy, dreadfully busy, and because of that, we must be wise stewards of our time. No one can do everything, and we must be careful not to be so busy that we miss the holy moments around us. It takes a discerning spirit to know the difference between an earthly hassle and a divine interruption. And who knows, you may just find that interruptions might be the most important part of your day.
So, brothers and sisters in Christ, as you go out into your busy week ahead, say “yes” when your child interrupts your adult business and asks you to play. Turn off the TV or put down your phone when your spouse wants to talk. Take time to listen to your neighbor’s problems even though you’re running late. Or, like the old professor, recognize that these interruptions may just be the most important part of your day. Remember, we are all “busy, busy, dreadfully busy,” but let’s not be too busy to reach out to those around us. Letting them know that God loves them just the way they are, and so do we!
My friends, may it be so. Thanks be to God, Amen!!
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