5th Sunday after Pentecost/Year B
June 27, 2021
2 Corinthians 8:7-15; Psalm 130; Mark 5:21-43
In today’s gospel reading, we hear two stories about healing…the healing of a women who had been suffering from hemorrhages for 12 years….and a story about a young girl being raised to life again, who we are told is 12 years old.
I’m always curious when the scriptures mention numbers or how old someone is.
You may recall another familiar story in the scriptures that notes Jesus, as a 12 year old young boy. In Luke, chapter 2:41-52, we hear the story about Jesus, as a twelve-year old boy, going with his parents to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover, like they did every year. When the festival ended, Jesus stayed behind, without his parents knowing… and after three days, his parents finally found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. The scriptures go on to tell us in this story that: All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And as the years went on, according to this verse in Luke…Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.
This story was just one of two narratives about Jesus’ childhood in the gospel of Luke…the other one being about his dedication in the temple, as was the custom of the time… that “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”.
It really strikes me, that we have these two foundational stories about Jesus and his early years… Jesus… presented to God in the temple…and then the story of Jesus as a young 12-year old boy….asking questions and learning from the elders about who God is, and discovering for himself perhaps, who He is, and is destined to become... in the family of God…
I can’t help but think of baptism in our church…specifically thinking about our practice of baptizing children…young children are presented in baptism by the parents and Godparents…lifting them up as a beloved child of God, in the presence of the community gathered, who celebrate with them and welcome them into the household of God…the family of God…A family who strives to love one another, as Christ has loved us and taught us, in the stories we’ve heard about of his life, his death and his resurrection…
And then my thoughts turn to one of the closing prayers of the baptism service…right after baptizing them with the water…
The rubrics right before the prayer says this: when this action has been completed for all candidates, the Bishop or Priest, at a place in full sight of the congregation, prays over them, saying
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank you that by water and the Holy Spirit you have bestowed upon these your servants the forgiveness of sin, and have raised them to the new life of grace. Sustain them, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit. Give them an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works. Amen.
Just like the two narratives about Jesus’ childhood beginnings…we too lift up our children, in the faith community, as a beloved child of God…and we pray, that as they are growing up…they may have a safe space, in the presence of the elders and adults in the church community….to explore all their questions about God, about Jesus, about themselves, about the big questions of life….and we pray for them to be filled with courage to persevere, when life is full of more questions than answers, and we pray and we hope that they will see and experience the gift of joy and the wonder of life, when lived out in a loving relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation.
When the church is at its best, we not only pray and love and care for the children in our own churches, but we pray and advocate for the love and protection of all children…beloved children of God, of all ages, all races, all cultures and all walks of life…
This past month, and most recently this past week, we’ve been reminded that there have been far too many times throughout history, that we have failed to love and protect the young children, the 12 year olds, the vulnerable children of all ages, entrusted to our care, to the care of the worldwide church community.
This week, we heard the news of yet another discovery of unmarked graves of hundreds of children, near a former residential school for indigenous children, in Canada.
While these news reports have been about findings in Canada…they are not unique to Canada only. Here in Alaska, and in other states in the U.S., generations of indigenous mothers and fathers and grandparents and aunties and uncles have been crying out to God, for their children who never came home from their boarding schools…for their missing and murdered indigenous daughters and sisters who have never been found…they have been crying out for help for their children, for themselves, for their families, year after year after year after year…their voices falling upon deaf ears…people turning their backs on them…and passing them by…
Yet, in today’s gospel reading, in the 2 healing stories...we have been given a word of hope...that this long-suffering will come to an end…and that death does not have the final say…
We see and hear in this gospel reading today, that this word of hope, is proclaimed through the love and healing hands of Jesus… Jesus hears the desperate cries of the people among him…those asking for their own healing, and those asking on behalf of others…and he responds with love and healing, in his words and actions…
For the children, for the children’s families, let us pray that the work of our hands will be used for love and healing…and for the lifting up of all God’s beloved children for the anointing of God’s blessing….all children, of all ages, all races, all cultures and all walks of life… so that all will experience the gift of joy and the wonder of life, when lived out in a loving relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation.
Rev. Julie Platson
St Peter’s by the sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, Alaska
Hymn after sermon: Wonder Love and Praise - #773 Heal me, hands of Jesus
Heal me, hands of Jesus, and search out all my pain:
restore my hope, remove my fear and bring me peace again.
Cleanse me, blood of Jesus, take bitterness away;
let me forgive as one forgiven and bring me peace today.
Know me, mind of Jesus, and show me all my sin;
dispel the memories of guilt, and bring me peace within.
Fill me, joy of Jesus: anxiety shall cease
and heaven’s serenity be mine, for Jesus brings me peace!