Life is precious
Commentary
Concern, excitement, awe, wonder, relief, joy. Those are some of the feelings I experienced at those sacred moments when my children were born. In those days it was a relatively new privilege granted to fathers to allow them inside the delivery room of the hospital. My wife and I had attended classes at the hospital for parents to learn about the birth process. So, when the time arrived, I did have some assigned tasks such as coaching and timing my wife's breathing during the final stages of labor. Once we were in the delivery room, my chief tasks were support and observation. In other words, I was to hold m wife's hand, talk to her, stay out of the doctor's and nurse's way, and watch what happens. Indelibly etched into my memory is that watershed moment when my child took the first gulp of air and began the transformation from grayish-purple to pink. The observed births of my two children are two very precious moments.
Another impressive experience for me took place at the other end of the life cycle here on earth. Sadness, awe, wonder and some relief were feelings that surfaced as I witnessed the final breaths of a friend losing his battle with lung cancer. As his family and I sat with him during those final moments of earthly life, we shared cherished memories and words of faith. We knew that with each labored breath, we were closing in on that mysterious moment of transformation from this chapter of life to the next. Even with all the sadness his death brought us, it was also a precious moment which will never be forgotten.
Both of those moments express a theme that runs throughout the lessons for this day: life is precious. In the first lesson, David laments the deaths of Saul and Jonathan. Improvement of the quality of a precious life is the focus of the second lesson as we are urged to help those who are less fortunate. Finally, the gospel tells the insightful story of Jesus' bringing Jairus' daughter back from the edge of death.
OUTLINE I
Craftsmanship with words
2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27(Revised Common)
In this moving tribute to Saul and Jonathan, David displays his craftsmanship with words. Experiencing the beauty of those words and the sentiment they communicate, we cannot be surprised at the elegance and grace of the Psalms which he wrote later in life.
A. The death of friends is a rough experience. For David, Jonathan's death was earth-shaking. Verse 26 makes it clear that David and Jonathan were extremely close friends. From all that we know about their relationship, we can safely say they were "best friends." There was a trust and an intimacy that they enjoyed which, unfortunately, is often rare in our experiences. Their friendship was one of David's most precious possessions. We yearn for our relationship with God to be like that.
B. The loss of those two great men, Saul and Jonathan, happens because of war. Once again, the concept of solving problems with violence shows its true nature and insanity. Many others died along with Saul and Jonathan that day. Each of them were grieved over by wives, parents, brothers, sisters, children and friends. In the wake of this particular war there was a long line of tragic losses: lost lives, consumed natural resources, and nothing settled politically. It is left to David to defeat the Philistines. Ironically, both Philistia and Israel will bow before stronger armies and be swallowed up by larger empires.
C. What are we going to do about this centuries-old problem with the insanity of war? Ganse Little writes: "To abolish war we will need more than the mind of David in the matter -- aware of its destructiveness and sin; we will need the mind of Christ."
OUTLINE II
Fund-raising appeal
2 Corinthians 8:7-15 (June 26: Revised Common, Roman Catholic, Episcopal; July 3: Lutheran)
Twenty years ago, a retired army chaplain made a "revolutionary" proposal at a regional pastors' meeting in his denomination. Concerned about the inequality in pastors' salaries, he suggested that all the churches in the region send their salary money to the regional church body; then have that resulting "kitty" divided evenly among the area pastors. That way pastors of small, poverty-stricken churches would receive comparable pay to those working with more affluent congregations. Although the proposal had some administrative flaws, it was firmly based on an idea Paul addresses in this passage.
A. Speaking to the church in Corinth, Paul is making a fund-raising appeal for the church in Jerusalem. He begins in verse 7 by affirming their achievements in several areas of church life: strong faith, the ability to preach and teach that faith in effective ways, sincerity in their beliefs, and their obvious love and devotion for one another and for Paul and his co-workers.
B. Paul then moves to a theme that is prevalent in the book of James. He says to the Corinthians, "Match up some fine stewardship with your faith." In other words, he wanted them to put their faith into action and give generously to the church in Jerusalem. It is one thing to have a strong and sincere faith like that of the Corinthians; but, it is also extremely important to put that faith into concrete action.
C. Paul concludes by presenting a "Golden Rule" type comment about giving. In verse 14 he writes, "... as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their want, so that their abundance may supply your want." In the Christian family, we give to others in need, trusting that, if given the opportunity, they would do the same for us.
OUTLINE III
Healing story
Mark 5:21-43(June 26: Revised Common, Roman Catholic, Episcopal; July 3: Lutheran)
Here is one of the greatest healing stories of all time.
A. As a ruler of the synagogue, Jairus was one of the most important and most respected men in the community. Being such a religious leader, it is very likely that he had some strong opinions about Jesus. After all, some of Jesus' comments and practices could easily lead people like Jairus to pre-judge Jesus as a dangerous heretic.
B. To pre-judge or have prejudice against someone means to formulate an opinion about that person before all the evidence is submitted. In this situation, with Jairus' daughter seriously ill, Jairus put aside any prejudice he felt about Jesus. Evidently, Jairus had at least heard about or witnessed some of the healing power Jesus possessed. Since he was a bright person and a crying parent, he decides to approach Jesus for help. He humbles himself at the feet of Jesus, explains the critical nature of his daughter's illness, and says to Jesus, "Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live." In other words, Jairus suspected that there was healing power in the touch of Jesus.
C. As Jesus turns to go with Jairus, the crowd presses in to witness some of the drama and, in the process, a woman touches Jesus' garment hoping to be healed herself. When Jesus feels the power leaving his body to perform the healing, he stops to seek out whoever has been healed and converses with her. You can imagine Jairus, on the one hand, having his belief in Jesus' power confirmed by the woman's healing; and, on the other hand, wanting Jesus to rush to his daughter's side and touch/heal her.
D. Messengers come and indicate that the daughter has died and they suggest that Jairus need not bother Jesus any longer. But Jesus does what we need to do with the nay-sayers of the world ... he ignores them. He says to Jairus, "Do not fear, only believe." They proceed to Jairus' home, Jesus threads his way past mourners outside, touches the 12-year-old girl and instructs her to stand up. As she does so, he tells those present to feed her. Obviously his touch was one of powerful healing.
Another impressive experience for me took place at the other end of the life cycle here on earth. Sadness, awe, wonder and some relief were feelings that surfaced as I witnessed the final breaths of a friend losing his battle with lung cancer. As his family and I sat with him during those final moments of earthly life, we shared cherished memories and words of faith. We knew that with each labored breath, we were closing in on that mysterious moment of transformation from this chapter of life to the next. Even with all the sadness his death brought us, it was also a precious moment which will never be forgotten.
Both of those moments express a theme that runs throughout the lessons for this day: life is precious. In the first lesson, David laments the deaths of Saul and Jonathan. Improvement of the quality of a precious life is the focus of the second lesson as we are urged to help those who are less fortunate. Finally, the gospel tells the insightful story of Jesus' bringing Jairus' daughter back from the edge of death.
OUTLINE I
Craftsmanship with words
2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27(Revised Common)
In this moving tribute to Saul and Jonathan, David displays his craftsmanship with words. Experiencing the beauty of those words and the sentiment they communicate, we cannot be surprised at the elegance and grace of the Psalms which he wrote later in life.
A. The death of friends is a rough experience. For David, Jonathan's death was earth-shaking. Verse 26 makes it clear that David and Jonathan were extremely close friends. From all that we know about their relationship, we can safely say they were "best friends." There was a trust and an intimacy that they enjoyed which, unfortunately, is often rare in our experiences. Their friendship was one of David's most precious possessions. We yearn for our relationship with God to be like that.
B. The loss of those two great men, Saul and Jonathan, happens because of war. Once again, the concept of solving problems with violence shows its true nature and insanity. Many others died along with Saul and Jonathan that day. Each of them were grieved over by wives, parents, brothers, sisters, children and friends. In the wake of this particular war there was a long line of tragic losses: lost lives, consumed natural resources, and nothing settled politically. It is left to David to defeat the Philistines. Ironically, both Philistia and Israel will bow before stronger armies and be swallowed up by larger empires.
C. What are we going to do about this centuries-old problem with the insanity of war? Ganse Little writes: "To abolish war we will need more than the mind of David in the matter -- aware of its destructiveness and sin; we will need the mind of Christ."
OUTLINE II
Fund-raising appeal
2 Corinthians 8:7-15 (June 26: Revised Common, Roman Catholic, Episcopal; July 3: Lutheran)
Twenty years ago, a retired army chaplain made a "revolutionary" proposal at a regional pastors' meeting in his denomination. Concerned about the inequality in pastors' salaries, he suggested that all the churches in the region send their salary money to the regional church body; then have that resulting "kitty" divided evenly among the area pastors. That way pastors of small, poverty-stricken churches would receive comparable pay to those working with more affluent congregations. Although the proposal had some administrative flaws, it was firmly based on an idea Paul addresses in this passage.
A. Speaking to the church in Corinth, Paul is making a fund-raising appeal for the church in Jerusalem. He begins in verse 7 by affirming their achievements in several areas of church life: strong faith, the ability to preach and teach that faith in effective ways, sincerity in their beliefs, and their obvious love and devotion for one another and for Paul and his co-workers.
B. Paul then moves to a theme that is prevalent in the book of James. He says to the Corinthians, "Match up some fine stewardship with your faith." In other words, he wanted them to put their faith into action and give generously to the church in Jerusalem. It is one thing to have a strong and sincere faith like that of the Corinthians; but, it is also extremely important to put that faith into concrete action.
C. Paul concludes by presenting a "Golden Rule" type comment about giving. In verse 14 he writes, "... as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their want, so that their abundance may supply your want." In the Christian family, we give to others in need, trusting that, if given the opportunity, they would do the same for us.
OUTLINE III
Healing story
Mark 5:21-43(June 26: Revised Common, Roman Catholic, Episcopal; July 3: Lutheran)
Here is one of the greatest healing stories of all time.
A. As a ruler of the synagogue, Jairus was one of the most important and most respected men in the community. Being such a religious leader, it is very likely that he had some strong opinions about Jesus. After all, some of Jesus' comments and practices could easily lead people like Jairus to pre-judge Jesus as a dangerous heretic.
B. To pre-judge or have prejudice against someone means to formulate an opinion about that person before all the evidence is submitted. In this situation, with Jairus' daughter seriously ill, Jairus put aside any prejudice he felt about Jesus. Evidently, Jairus had at least heard about or witnessed some of the healing power Jesus possessed. Since he was a bright person and a crying parent, he decides to approach Jesus for help. He humbles himself at the feet of Jesus, explains the critical nature of his daughter's illness, and says to Jesus, "Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live." In other words, Jairus suspected that there was healing power in the touch of Jesus.
C. As Jesus turns to go with Jairus, the crowd presses in to witness some of the drama and, in the process, a woman touches Jesus' garment hoping to be healed herself. When Jesus feels the power leaving his body to perform the healing, he stops to seek out whoever has been healed and converses with her. You can imagine Jairus, on the one hand, having his belief in Jesus' power confirmed by the woman's healing; and, on the other hand, wanting Jesus to rush to his daughter's side and touch/heal her.
D. Messengers come and indicate that the daughter has died and they suggest that Jairus need not bother Jesus any longer. But Jesus does what we need to do with the nay-sayers of the world ... he ignores them. He says to Jairus, "Do not fear, only believe." They proceed to Jairus' home, Jesus threads his way past mourners outside, touches the 12-year-old girl and instructs her to stand up. As she does so, he tells those present to feed her. Obviously his touch was one of powerful healing.
