Enduring Much Under Many Physicians
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
Healing -- especially for our bodies -- is a primary concern in our lives. In America we spend more per person on health care than in any other country, and paying for the mounting bills is a major bone of contention -- both for individual families and for our society as a whole. Studies have indicated that medical expenses are the most common cause of personal bankruptcies, and debate over access to health care and how the current system ought to be reformed has been a constant feature of the political landscape in recent years... an argument that may be reopened once again after the Supreme Court rules this week on the constitutionality of "Obamacare."
You might think that if we're spending so much of our resources on health care that we're pretty certain of what we're getting for our money. But while medical science has undeniably made incredible strides, and while procedures that were unimaginable just a few short years ago have become almost routine, large elements of diagnosis and healing are still beyond rational analysis. We're all aware of amazing stories of miraculous recovery and of harrowing tales of people who have seen a parade of doctors and yet have been unable to receive any sort of relief or even an adequate explanation for their suffering. For many people, finding healing involves a large measure of faith in the exigency of medical science -- and in many cases, that's not at all a sure thing. As team member Dean Feldmeyer notes in this installment of The Immediate Word, it is remarkable how little has changed over the years. When we read the account of two people seeking healing from Jesus in this week's gospel text, it's striking that they have tried physicians and found them wanting. While medical science was much more primitive in those days, Dean points out that it's easy to confuse "healing" with "curing" -- and while we may not be able to offer cures for every physical malady, we can be vessels of spiritual healing.
Team member Leah Lonsbury shares some additional thoughts on the importance of personal touch as part of the healing process -- physical, mental, and spiritual -- and how we can reach out and touch one another in many different aspects of our lives. The hemorrhaging woman's belief that touching Jesus' clothes would make her well is a moving illustration. Yet for all our "networking," there seems to be precious little time for that kind of personal contact in the busy-ness of our modern world. But Leah suggests that we are all connected -- places this insight, and Jesus' healing work, inside the framework of this week's epistle text, which is much more than merely a stewardship sermon. As Leah notes, Paul is calling us to live generously in every aspect of our lives -- and what better model of generosity do we have than Jesus, particularly in the generosity of his healing? Leah offers some intriguing ideas on how we might reach out and touch others across the divisions that are so rife in our society -- and thereby heal not only others but ourselves as well.
Enduring Much Under Many Physicians
by Dean Feldmeyer
Mark 5:21-43
She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. -- Mark 5:26
I always thought that, if I was invited to give the invocation at an AMA convention, I would start with this text -- you know, just to stir things up a little. It just sounds so contemporary.
We all know that person who has been passed from doctor to doctor, specialist to specialist, clinic to clinic, in search of a treatment for a mysterious illness or problem. After scores of tests and much poking and prodding and sticking and pricking, the answer remains stubbornly elusive. The patient continues to get worse. And eventually someone suggests bringing in a psychiatrist. If doctors can't solve the problem it must not be a physical one, right?
But there was no denying this woman's problem. There was the blood for all to see. She was suffering, and the only thing medical science was doing was taking all her money while she got continually worse.
Then she heard of this guy Jesus, an itinerant teacher and healer. Well, what did she have to lose?
THE WORLD
In 2010, Americans spent $2.6 trillion on health care. That's about $8,000 per person. It's also the same amount that the French spent on everything -- housing, food, transportation, clothing, entertainment... everything. And the French are, as a group, healthier than we are.
American health care is getting more expensive every year. Health care costs are growing at a rate 2% faster than the rest of the economy. If they keep growing at that rate, by 2035 one out of every three dollars spent in the U.S. will be spent on health care. By 2080 it will be half of all money spent.
We are spending about 50% more than the next highest country. Even when we adjust the amount for variables like higher salaries for doctors and nurses, we still spend 15-20% more.
What are we getting for our money? Are we 15% healthier than those countries? Are we 30% healthier than we were 20 years ago?
No -- in fact, even though we don't like being compared to European countries, our overall health and life expectancy lag far behind countries like France and Germany, where they spend considerably less on health care than we do.
It would be funny, except that the discrepancy in higher costs and lower results is usually played out in the lives of real people who are in real pain.
Aimee Copeland, a 24-year-old Georgia graduate student, was celebrating spring with friends when the homemade zip line she was on broke, dropping her into the Little Tallapoosa River. She received a gash on the leg that required 22 surgical staples to close. That was on May 1.
By June 19 Aimee had lost her leg, her other foot, and both of her hands to necrotizing fasciitis, what the press has called the "flesh-eating virus". She remains in critical condition and in excruciating pain after a series of skin and muscle grafts.
Medical science is at a loss as to how to treat and defeat this horrible, destructive virus. Meanwhile, her friends and relatives are holding fund-raisers to help pay what will amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars in hospital and doctor's bills for Aimee's care.
If we laugh when we read in Mark's account of the woman who "had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse," it is not because we find it funny but because we appreciate the irony of how little has changed in 2,000 years.
THE WORD
More healing stories are told about Jesus than any other figure in the Jewish tradition. He must have been a remarkable healer. -- Marcus Borg (Meeting Jesus Again, for the First Time)
The story of the woman with the hemorrhage is sandwiched between the beginning and the end of another story, the story of Jairus' daughter.
Jairus is an "important man," one of the official leaders of the synagogue -- chairman of the board of trustees or the church council, you might say. But he does not pull rank with Jesus; he humbles himself. So deep is his love for his daughter and so profound is his worry that he falls at Jesus' feet and literally begs him for help.
Jesus agrees to go with Jairus, and a large crowd accompanies them as they make their way through the narrow streets of the town.
One of the people in that crowd is the woman with the hemorrhage, who, we are told, has suffered at the hands of physicians for 12 years, exhausting her savings and getting no relief from her problem.
She has heard of Jesus' healing ability and has reasoned that his power is such that even touching him or his clothing may result in healing. So she goes for it. She presses in with the crowd, touches the hem of his cloak, and -- ta-dah! -- she is healed.
Jesus feels the healing power go out from him and stops to ask who has touched him. In a sort of comic scene the disciples reply, "You've got to be kidding! Look at all these people!"
But the woman comes forward, and like Jairus, she falls at his feet and explains what she fears may have been her impertinence and her presumption.
Jesus calms her fears: "Daughter, your faith has made you well."
The scene then concludes with the healing of Jairus' daughter, who in the meantime has lapsed into a coma.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
Medical anthropologists make a distinction between healing and curing:
Healing goes with illness, which refers to the social meanings attached to that condition.
Curing goes with disease, which refers to the actual physical condition of a person.
-- http://www.aportraitofjesus.org/healer.shtml
Scholars debate about which of these Jesus did in the gospel accounts, but the majority fall into the "both/and" category. Jesus seems to have been able to affect both healing and curing in the lives of those suffering souls that he touched.
Any sermon based on a healing story, however, must be sensitive to those whose prayers for healing have gone unheard or been denied. To suggest that a prayer for healing was ineffective because it was not offered correctly, or because God wants the patient to suffer for some greater and mysterious purpose, is the very definition of theological bankruptcy.
The fact is, for all our advanced medical science and all our hyper-spending on health care, we still must plead ignorance when it comes to explaining why some people are cured and others are not. All we can offer is our presence, our prayers, our love, and our touch. Even when we are not able to provide a cure, we are all capable of providing healing by being conduits through which the Holy Spirit can flow into the lives of others.
The source of Jesus' gifts as a healer was his experience of the sacred. "Jesus was aware of the power of the spirit flowing through him. After a woman touched the hem of his garment in order to be healed, Jesus knew that power had gone out of him."
The indicative from this text is that we, through our relationship with God in Jesus Christ, can be a compassionate, healing presence for those who suffer.
The imperative is to be that healing presence whenever the opportunity arises.
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Leah Lonsbury
2 Corinthians 8:7-15; Mark 5:21-43
At first glance, this passage from 2 Corinthians seems like the bones of a sermon Paul laid out for a stewardship campaign. It's got some of the common pieces... flattery, comparison, advice, goal-setting, and heartstring-pulling. It can surely provide those bones, but with a closer look, it becomes clear that Paul is interested in more than just finances in his correspondence with the church in Corinth.
Paul is after a generosity from the Corinthians that goes far beyond their willingness to unclench their fists and empty their pockets for the good of "the poor among the saints at Jerusalem," an enterprise he undertakes not just in this letter, but also in Romans and Galatians. Paul is hoping the people in Corinth will catch a vision for a whole life lived in generous response to the "economy of God," God's universal plan for salvation known fully in the gift of Jesus Christ. (Garrett Green, "Proper 8: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15," in Feasting on the Word [Year B, Volume 3], edited by David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor [Westminster John Knox Press, 2009], pp. 182-186)
Paul wants the Corinthians to respond by living this kind of divine economy in their own lives, one that draws all God's children into a "fair balance" (v. 14) that assures that all may experience the abundant life that Jesus came to establish. This fair balance draws the whole of the Body of Christ, the church -- in Corinth, in Jerusalem, and wherever it lives and breathes -- into unity, a thread Paul is always weaving in whatever he writes. This is a crucial point in this particular passage as he is attempting to draw together the poor and those with means, the struggling mother church and the young church start, and a mix of Jews and Gentiles. The differences and divisions run deep and there is much healing that needs to be done, healing Paul encourages in this follow-up letter about the "generous undertaking" the Corinthians have yet to complete.
Paul reminds the Corinthians of their "eagerness" to give and encourages them to bring it to fruition, with their gifts to the collection and with how they are living as a part of the Body. Paul's stewardship sermon is about what's still in their pockets, but his broader message communicates his desire that the people choose to give as a sign and a natural outpouring of their changed reality in relationship with Jesus Christ.
To broaden the scope of what the gifts might mean to the givers as well as to those who would receive, Paul only uses the word "collection" (logeia) once -- in chapter 16. At all other points, he uses terms that invoke the spirit and promise of Christian community, terms like charis, eulogia, leitourgia, and koinonia. With Paul's careful word choice, a simple collection becomes an act of gratitude, a privilege, a grace, a blessing, a priestly service, and a participation in sacred fellowship. Paul makes it clear, in the language he chooses, that the generosity he is after is not just about sharing the wealth but also sharing in the reality of Jesus (Green, p. 182), a reality that makes one of many through the saving love of God.
With a closer read, it's clear that Paul's collection letter is meant to do more than just fill the coffers and feed the people. It's meant to restore life-giving community and loving connection that can heal the broken Body and establish an economy of salvation for all.
In the gospel passage for this week, Jesus encounters a broken body in need of restoration as well. This time the body is that of the hemorrhaging woman, broken not just because of what her medical condition does to her physical well-being but also because it involves blood and the simple fact that she is a woman. She is sick, but she is also outcast, and the combination can do some powerful damage.
Because of the woman's bold faith, she is able to muster the strength to reach out to touch Jesus. Her medical condition is cured on contact, and "she [feels] in her body that she [is] healed of her disease" (Mark 5:29). But Jesus knows that there is yet more work to be done, more generosity to be lived out in relationship, more restoration for the healing of the Body. The capital "B" is important here.
Jesus isn't content with knowing that his power has been extended for a cure. He turns back into the pressing crowd to seek her out and looks all around until she comes to him with the truth. His generosity and his commitment to the salvation of God's people as one Body leads him to pronounce in the middle of the crowd that she is well, she should go forth in peace, and she should be healed of her disease. The writer of Mark's gospel has already told us that her medical condition was cured when she touched Jesus. So why does Jesus still tell her "be healed of your disease"?
He says this because the healing she now needs depends upon the crowd overhearing Jesus and taking his words to heart. The healing yet to come depends upon them accepting her back into community, back into the Body, which is incomplete and broken without her presence. He is calling on the crowd to, in Paul's words, "excel in this generous undertaking," and meet her needs with their "present abundance" so that there may be unity in a shared reality that makes one of many through the saving love of God.
Here it is again -- the call to divine economics, the call to generosity that leads to healing and restoration.
How do we heed this call?
Here are some suggestions on how to begin...
1. Intentionally remain a part of the Body. Stay connected and tuned in to opportunities to live generously. Remember the power of human connection to heal and be attentive to opportunities to unleash that power. This may require us to walk away from our computer screens (after reading the entirety of The Immediate Word, obviously!) and across our lawn to speak to our neighbors. Or, maybe our generous beginnings are just in our movement across the room to sit with our child, partner, or friend and engage them in conversation. Read more here about the importance of human contact in healing. Need a hook? Consider this -- David Spiegel, professor and associate chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford, suggests in this article that social isolation can be as threatening to a person's health as smoking or high cholesterol.
2. Reach out and touch someone. As human beings, we are hungry (whether we know it or not) for touch that is appropriate and loving. Dr. Tiffany Field of the Touch Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine notes that touch is the first sense we develop in utero, and it is vital to the survival and growth of infants. She suggests that touch reduces aggression in children and "is not only critical for growth, development, communication, and learning but also serves for comfort, reassurance, and self-esteem." Dr. Field further suggests that touch is a healing technique with ancient and sacred roots and is gathering new momentum in contemporary health care. Her article includes a consideration of the discovery by Dr. Saul Schanberg of a growth gene that can only be "turned on" by touch.
3. Consider what wisdom there is in bridging the divide. Parker Palmer's recent book Healing the Heart of Democracy has many suggestions for inviting dialogue and life-giving connection with those who think and live differently than you do. Here's a snippet from Palmer's correspondence with Kate Moos for the blog On Being in which he encourages us all to cultivate the ability to hold tension in life-giving ways toward the healing of democracy and our human family as a whole:
So, when you step outside your silo and understand your interconnectedness, life becomes more complicated and ethically demanding. But the bottom line is, what do you stand for: narrow self-interest or the common good? And do you understand that narrow self-interest can be self-defeating while caring about the common good can be a way of caring about yourself and those you love?
4. Discover how you excel and make it your "generous undertaking." We are more likely to live generously when we are generous with ourselves as well. One way to do that is to pay attention to what brings us life and how it can bring about restoration and healing. Along these lines, it is good to recall the familiar Fred Buechner quote that reads: "There are all different kinds of voices calling you to all different kinds of work... (and) the place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."
5. Go to the source. The crux of Paul's arguments for a lived generosity comes from the example of generous love we have in Jesus. We aren't without a guide or a trailblazer to lead us forth as we seek to live in a similar vein. For a look at going to the source, try Nuns on the Bus. They draw from their work that puts them in contact with the suffering of people in poverty on a daily basis to craft a vision of what is "faithful" in terms of policymaking and budgeting decisions regarding human services.
ILLUSTRATIONS
If you are a single-minded person and a "doer" more than a "thinker," it is very difficult to stop whatever it is that you are about and pay heed to a distraction that may be nagging you on the fringes. Some people simply cannot do it -- a distraction is a distraction, and no matter how important it gets little attention. Rome may be burning, but don't trouble Nero while he is fiddling. Yet one of the true signs of strength of character and moral fiber is paying heed to what is happening on the periphery of your vision, especially if it involves someone who is in need. Little people get marginalized; this means that the only way they can attract the attention they so require is by signaling their need when there are crowds who choose not to notice. It is interesting and informative that in case after case, Jesus knows where human need really is and reminds his followers not to be handicapped by blinders.
* * *
There's a famous story of Frederick the Great of Prussia -- a powerful ruler of the European Enlightenment, a man of impressive scientific curiosity as well as a leader of armies. Frederick once conducted an unusual scientific experiment into the development of human language. There was a theory at the time that the babbling of infants was in some unknown way related to the ancient language of Eden, but that children lost this oldest of all mother-tongues as they grew and learned the language of their parents.
Frederick devised an experiment to test this theory. He had his scientists take some orphaned newborn babies and isolate them from all physical contact with human beings. The babies would be kept in separate rooms with no contact with each other. Not a word of language was to be spoken in their presence. Specially trained nurses would see to the babies' physical needs -- feeding them and making sure they stayed warm -- but they were forbidden to pick them up and embrace them. Once the children grew old enough to speak, they would be brought into the presence of the other children who were part of the experiment to see if they could converse with one another.
The experiment was an utter failure. Not one of those poor children lived beyond infancy -- let alone to the age when language begins to develop in earnest. The one thing King Frederick learned from his cruel and ill-considered experiment was that the physical touch of another human being is essential to life. If babies are not picked up and hugged and caressed, they have but a slim chance of surviving to maturity.
* * *
The movie star Marilyn Monroe had a troubled upbringing, living in several different foster homes as a child. Someone asked her once if she had ever felt loved by any of her foster parents. Her reply: "Once, when I was about seven or eight. The woman I was living with was putting on makeup and I was watching her. She was in a happy mood, so she reached over and patted my cheeks with her rouge puff.... From that moment, I felt loved by her."
For people who are hungry for love, it doesn't take much in the way of human touch to convey a feeling of welcome and acceptance. Touch is a powerful thing. It can convey love. It can also -- as the woman with the flow of blood learned -- bring healing.
* * *
At the time of his death, Henri Nouwen was the spiritual leader of L'Arche Daybreak Community in Toronto, Canada. L'Arche is a community committed to helping people with developmental disabilities. Living in such a community allowed Henri to live out exquisitely his journey as a wounded healer. Henri put his words into practice at L'Arche. Every day it was his job to bathe, dress, and feed a man who was unable to do those tasks for himself. When we are broken, when we are wounded, we are uniquely able to heal. It is only broken soil which can bear fruit.
* * *
When a U.S. president or other famous politician comes to town, there's always someone who holds a baby up to be touched or kissed (that's where the old political expression "pressing the flesh" comes from). Mothers and fathers, out of some strange motivation they can barely put into words, are seeking some kind of blessing for their child from the touch of this famous person. There's no rational reason to do it -- in fact, there's got to be some considerable inconvenience in lugging a baby through the teeming crowd at a political rally -- but still they bring their children to be touched.
* * *
In 2002 the newspapers were filled with accounts of what appeared to be a remarkable discovery in biblical archaeology. It was an ancient stone box called "the James Ossuary." An ossuary is a bone box -- a sort of small coffin, used to hold the bones of a person who has died. It was a fairly common thing in the crowded cities of the Roman world for bodies to be buried in tombs, then disinterred a generation or so later so another body could be laid in that place. The bones -- which had by then been bleached white and no longer needed to be in the ground -- were taken away. If the person's family was well-to-do, they stored their ancestor's bones in the specialized stone box called an ossuary.
The ossuary in question turned up in a marketplace in Israel. It seemed to date from the first century AD: but even more remarkable, it bore an inscription that said "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus."
How many other James, sons-of-Joseph, brothers-of-Jesus could there be? It had to be the burial box of James, brother of our Lord -- the one who in the book of Acts is described as ruling over the early Christian church in Jerusalem.
The impact of this discovery -- if genuine -- would be nothing short of extraordinary. Apart from the Bible, the only contemporary record of Jesus' existence is one line from the Roman historian Suetonius, who in his Life of Nero speaks of a group of Jews in Rome who stirred up trouble at the instigation of one Chrestos -- whom many scholars take to be a reference to Christ. Suddenly there seemed to be hard evidence of the life of the historical Jesus, words scratched not by pen onto flimsy parchment but carved into hard stone: "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus."
Unfortunately, as the newspapers again indicated about a year later, the James Ossuary was ruled a fake. The box itself was ancient enough -- probably dating to the time of Jesus -- but careful analysis of its inscription proved that those words were chiseled into the stone in modern times, probably by some wily antiques merchant hoping to make a buck.
We've all got a hunger within us for some link, some tangible connection, to greatness. It's that same hunger that leads some to seek baseballs autographed by Babe Ruth or glossy publicity photos signed by Marilyn Monroe. Pick up such a celebrity artifact, turn it over in your hands, and you feel that somehow, through some sort of autograph magic, you've touched fame.
* * *
The art world is suffering from a lack of professional appraisals regarding the authenticity of pieces and their probable value. This is because the word of an expert can make the difference between "great wealth and the gutter." Since such a large dollar value is placed on the appraisal of the experts who compile a catalogue raisonné (a comprehensive list of an artist's works), and because it is difficult to detect forgeries, lawsuits have become plentiful by investors who have lost large sums of money on the evaluation of an art scholar. For this reason scholars increasingly offer no opinion or only a guarded opinion, rather than a definitive opinion, on whether an art work is genuine or fake.
Paul tells the Christians in Corinth to go forth "in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness." Paul does not allow for any hesitation at a time when lawsuits were substituted for criminal acts and execution. Let us go forth with the perseverance and stamina that Paul calls us to.
* * *
Paul encourages the Christians attending the church in Corinth to continue with their "eagerness" in serving the Lord. Paul implies that their eagerness will be a witness to others. It is a lesson that seems to be lost on today's believers, at least when it comes to stewardship.
In 2011 Christians gave 1.9% of their disposable income to the church. Non-believers gave the same percentage to charitable causes. It would appear that the eagerness that Christians should have in financially supporting the work of the church must be reinvigorated.
* * *
By 1963, Victor Spinetti was an established British film star. He is also the only person besides the four Beatles to appear in all three of their live-action movies -- A Hard Day's Night, Help, and Magical Mystery Tour.
After Spinetti finished a theater performance in London one evening, George Harrison went backstage to invite him to be in the Beatles' first movie. When Spinetti questioned why he was chosen, Harrison replied: "Because if you're not in them, me mum won't come and see them." Spinetti agreed and over the years he developed a professional relationship with the Beatles.
As the Beatles' popularity grew, and people realized the intimate connection that Spinetti had with them, whenever he would walk out onstage to begin a performance the crowd would yell questions to him about the Beatles. To end this mayhem of an interruption, Spinetti would announce before each performance that after the closing of the curtain all Beatle fans could come to the front rows for what he called "a 10-minute semester on the Beatles." Beatle fans, many of whom might never have attended a classical theater performance, did so for the 10-minute seminars, which became a nightly event.
I am sure that it was Paul's desire that our eagerness in serving the Lord would come from a heartfelt desire rather than one of mere curiosity.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Out of the depths we cry to you, O God.
People: Let your ears be attentive to the voice of our supplications!
Leader: If you, O God, should mark iniquities, who could stand?
People: But there is forgiveness with you so that you may be revered.
Leader: We wait for God, and in God's word we hope;
People: for with God there is steadfast love and great power to redeem.
OR
Leader: Come, for God calls us.
People: We come to worship the one who gives us life.
Leader: As a mother nourishes her children, our God feeds us.
People: We come to receive the food of life.
Leader: With arms wide open, God welcomes us all.
People: We come as part of God's great family; sisters and brothers all.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"Many and Great, O God"
found in:
UMH: 148
H82: 385
PH: 271
NCH: 3
CH: 58
ELA: 837
"All Creatures of Our God and King"
found in:
UMH: 62
H82: 400
PH: 455
AAHH: 147
NNBH: 33
NCH: 17
CH: 22
LBW: 527
ELA: 835
Renew: 47
"All People That on Earth Do Dwell"
found in:
UMH: 75
H82: 377/378
PH: 220/221
NNBH: 36
NCH: 7
CH: 18
LBW: 245
ELA: 883
"This Is My Song"
found in:
UMH: 437
NCH: 591
CH: 722
ELA: 887
"Where Cross the Crowded Way of Life"
found in:
UMH: 427
H82: 609
PH: 408
NCH: 543
CH: 665
LBW: 429
ELA: 719
"When Jesus the Healer Passed Through Galilee"
found in:
UMH: 263
"Dear Lord, for All in Pain"
found in:
UMH: 458
"Lonely the Boat"
found in:
UMH: 476
PH: 373
"Open Our Eyes, Lord"
found in:
CCB: 77
Renew: 91
"Lord, Be Glorified"
found in:
CCB: 62
Renew: 172
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who is community: Grant us the grace to see our connectedness with you and with all your children; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come to celebrate your unity in multiplicity, O God, and to be called once again into solidarity with all your people. Open our hearts and our lives that we may live generously as your image. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the ways in which we fail to live generous lives.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We so often fail to see our connectedness to others. We are very aware of our needs and wants, but we are less clear about the needs of others. We know our time is limited and so we use it for ourselves. We lose sight of the opportunities we have to serve others. Renew in us your Spirit that we may serve you in serving others. Amen.
Leader: God is community and created us to be in unity with one another. God will bless us and through us bless others as we look to their needs.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We worship you, O God, for you are community in unity. You are love in being and in action.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We so often fail to see our connectedness to others. We are very aware of our needs and wants, but we are less clear about the needs of others. We know our time is limited and so we use it for ourselves. We lose sight of the opportunities we have to serve others. Renew in us your Spirit that we may serve you in serving others.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which we have received your love and kindness. You have blessed us with life, and you have blessed us with community. You have given your own Spirit to live within us and to unite us not only with you but with all your children.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We lift up to you those who are in need and especially those who feel estranged from you or from others. We look around us and see much separation and loneliness. We pray that we may be faithful in sharing your love and unity with those around us.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children's Sermon Starter
Use a paddle ball (the kind where a ball is attached to a wooden paddle with an elastic string). Tell the children you are going to see how far you can hit the ball. Try several times. Then tell the children that you can't seem to get it to go very far, as it keeps coming back. Ask them why they think that is. It's because the ball is connected to the paddle. And though we can't see a string, we too are all connected as God's children.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
The Warmth of God's Power
Mark 5:21-43
Object: a heating pad (make sure it is plugged in so that it can be heated up)
Good morning, boys and girls! How many of you know what this is? (show the children the heating pad and let them answer) That's right -- it's a heating pad. Touch it right now and remember how it feels cool when it is not being used. (let each child touch the heating pad -- after they have touched it, turn on the switch as inconspicuously as possible)
Somewhere inside of the pad there is electric power, and there is also a healing power. People use this pad when they have an ache or pain that needs heat. When they feel the power of the heat, they feel better. Soon they are able to get up and move around again.
Jesus had a special power inside of him. It was a power that came from God. In our lesson for today we hear about some people who were healed when Jesus used this power. First there was a very important man who asked Jesus to heal his daughter who was sick at home. Jesus agreed but on the way to the man's home a woman who had been sick for a long time approached Jesus hoping to be healed. She got as close to Jesus as she could and reached out and touched his clothes. Immediately she knew she was healed. But Jesus also felt some of his power leave him and he asked who had touched him. The woman apologized while telling Jesus what she had done. Jesus told her not to be sorry but instead to be glad because she was healed. She believed in Jesus and his power and that belief made it happen.
Let's touch the pad again. (pass it around again and let each child touch it) Can you feel the power coming from the pad? (let them answer) Now it is warm and can be part of a healing.
After healing the woman, Jesus went on to the home of the very important man. When he got there, the people told him that the little girl was dead. "No," Jesus said, "she is sleeping." The people laughed at him, for they knew she had died. But Jesus took his disciples and the family inside the house. There he approached the little girl's bed and told her to wake up, which she did immediately. It was more of the same kind of power. Even death can't stop the power of God.
A heating pad is not the power of Jesus, but it is a reminder of how the power inside of Jesus could do amazing things for people who were ill or even dead. Jesus was the great healer because of the power God gave him.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, July 1, 2012, issue.
Copyright 2012 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
You might think that if we're spending so much of our resources on health care that we're pretty certain of what we're getting for our money. But while medical science has undeniably made incredible strides, and while procedures that were unimaginable just a few short years ago have become almost routine, large elements of diagnosis and healing are still beyond rational analysis. We're all aware of amazing stories of miraculous recovery and of harrowing tales of people who have seen a parade of doctors and yet have been unable to receive any sort of relief or even an adequate explanation for their suffering. For many people, finding healing involves a large measure of faith in the exigency of medical science -- and in many cases, that's not at all a sure thing. As team member Dean Feldmeyer notes in this installment of The Immediate Word, it is remarkable how little has changed over the years. When we read the account of two people seeking healing from Jesus in this week's gospel text, it's striking that they have tried physicians and found them wanting. While medical science was much more primitive in those days, Dean points out that it's easy to confuse "healing" with "curing" -- and while we may not be able to offer cures for every physical malady, we can be vessels of spiritual healing.
Team member Leah Lonsbury shares some additional thoughts on the importance of personal touch as part of the healing process -- physical, mental, and spiritual -- and how we can reach out and touch one another in many different aspects of our lives. The hemorrhaging woman's belief that touching Jesus' clothes would make her well is a moving illustration. Yet for all our "networking," there seems to be precious little time for that kind of personal contact in the busy-ness of our modern world. But Leah suggests that we are all connected -- places this insight, and Jesus' healing work, inside the framework of this week's epistle text, which is much more than merely a stewardship sermon. As Leah notes, Paul is calling us to live generously in every aspect of our lives -- and what better model of generosity do we have than Jesus, particularly in the generosity of his healing? Leah offers some intriguing ideas on how we might reach out and touch others across the divisions that are so rife in our society -- and thereby heal not only others but ourselves as well.
Enduring Much Under Many Physicians
by Dean Feldmeyer
Mark 5:21-43
She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. -- Mark 5:26
I always thought that, if I was invited to give the invocation at an AMA convention, I would start with this text -- you know, just to stir things up a little. It just sounds so contemporary.
We all know that person who has been passed from doctor to doctor, specialist to specialist, clinic to clinic, in search of a treatment for a mysterious illness or problem. After scores of tests and much poking and prodding and sticking and pricking, the answer remains stubbornly elusive. The patient continues to get worse. And eventually someone suggests bringing in a psychiatrist. If doctors can't solve the problem it must not be a physical one, right?
But there was no denying this woman's problem. There was the blood for all to see. She was suffering, and the only thing medical science was doing was taking all her money while she got continually worse.
Then she heard of this guy Jesus, an itinerant teacher and healer. Well, what did she have to lose?
THE WORLD
In 2010, Americans spent $2.6 trillion on health care. That's about $8,000 per person. It's also the same amount that the French spent on everything -- housing, food, transportation, clothing, entertainment... everything. And the French are, as a group, healthier than we are.
American health care is getting more expensive every year. Health care costs are growing at a rate 2% faster than the rest of the economy. If they keep growing at that rate, by 2035 one out of every three dollars spent in the U.S. will be spent on health care. By 2080 it will be half of all money spent.
We are spending about 50% more than the next highest country. Even when we adjust the amount for variables like higher salaries for doctors and nurses, we still spend 15-20% more.
What are we getting for our money? Are we 15% healthier than those countries? Are we 30% healthier than we were 20 years ago?
No -- in fact, even though we don't like being compared to European countries, our overall health and life expectancy lag far behind countries like France and Germany, where they spend considerably less on health care than we do.
It would be funny, except that the discrepancy in higher costs and lower results is usually played out in the lives of real people who are in real pain.
Aimee Copeland, a 24-year-old Georgia graduate student, was celebrating spring with friends when the homemade zip line she was on broke, dropping her into the Little Tallapoosa River. She received a gash on the leg that required 22 surgical staples to close. That was on May 1.
By June 19 Aimee had lost her leg, her other foot, and both of her hands to necrotizing fasciitis, what the press has called the "flesh-eating virus". She remains in critical condition and in excruciating pain after a series of skin and muscle grafts.
Medical science is at a loss as to how to treat and defeat this horrible, destructive virus. Meanwhile, her friends and relatives are holding fund-raisers to help pay what will amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars in hospital and doctor's bills for Aimee's care.
If we laugh when we read in Mark's account of the woman who "had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse," it is not because we find it funny but because we appreciate the irony of how little has changed in 2,000 years.
THE WORD
More healing stories are told about Jesus than any other figure in the Jewish tradition. He must have been a remarkable healer. -- Marcus Borg (Meeting Jesus Again, for the First Time)
The story of the woman with the hemorrhage is sandwiched between the beginning and the end of another story, the story of Jairus' daughter.
Jairus is an "important man," one of the official leaders of the synagogue -- chairman of the board of trustees or the church council, you might say. But he does not pull rank with Jesus; he humbles himself. So deep is his love for his daughter and so profound is his worry that he falls at Jesus' feet and literally begs him for help.
Jesus agrees to go with Jairus, and a large crowd accompanies them as they make their way through the narrow streets of the town.
One of the people in that crowd is the woman with the hemorrhage, who, we are told, has suffered at the hands of physicians for 12 years, exhausting her savings and getting no relief from her problem.
She has heard of Jesus' healing ability and has reasoned that his power is such that even touching him or his clothing may result in healing. So she goes for it. She presses in with the crowd, touches the hem of his cloak, and -- ta-dah! -- she is healed.
Jesus feels the healing power go out from him and stops to ask who has touched him. In a sort of comic scene the disciples reply, "You've got to be kidding! Look at all these people!"
But the woman comes forward, and like Jairus, she falls at his feet and explains what she fears may have been her impertinence and her presumption.
Jesus calms her fears: "Daughter, your faith has made you well."
The scene then concludes with the healing of Jairus' daughter, who in the meantime has lapsed into a coma.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
Medical anthropologists make a distinction between healing and curing:
Healing goes with illness, which refers to the social meanings attached to that condition.
Curing goes with disease, which refers to the actual physical condition of a person.
-- http://www.aportraitofjesus.org/healer.shtml
Scholars debate about which of these Jesus did in the gospel accounts, but the majority fall into the "both/and" category. Jesus seems to have been able to affect both healing and curing in the lives of those suffering souls that he touched.
Any sermon based on a healing story, however, must be sensitive to those whose prayers for healing have gone unheard or been denied. To suggest that a prayer for healing was ineffective because it was not offered correctly, or because God wants the patient to suffer for some greater and mysterious purpose, is the very definition of theological bankruptcy.
The fact is, for all our advanced medical science and all our hyper-spending on health care, we still must plead ignorance when it comes to explaining why some people are cured and others are not. All we can offer is our presence, our prayers, our love, and our touch. Even when we are not able to provide a cure, we are all capable of providing healing by being conduits through which the Holy Spirit can flow into the lives of others.
The source of Jesus' gifts as a healer was his experience of the sacred. "Jesus was aware of the power of the spirit flowing through him. After a woman touched the hem of his garment in order to be healed, Jesus knew that power had gone out of him."
The indicative from this text is that we, through our relationship with God in Jesus Christ, can be a compassionate, healing presence for those who suffer.
The imperative is to be that healing presence whenever the opportunity arises.
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Leah Lonsbury
2 Corinthians 8:7-15; Mark 5:21-43
At first glance, this passage from 2 Corinthians seems like the bones of a sermon Paul laid out for a stewardship campaign. It's got some of the common pieces... flattery, comparison, advice, goal-setting, and heartstring-pulling. It can surely provide those bones, but with a closer look, it becomes clear that Paul is interested in more than just finances in his correspondence with the church in Corinth.
Paul is after a generosity from the Corinthians that goes far beyond their willingness to unclench their fists and empty their pockets for the good of "the poor among the saints at Jerusalem," an enterprise he undertakes not just in this letter, but also in Romans and Galatians. Paul is hoping the people in Corinth will catch a vision for a whole life lived in generous response to the "economy of God," God's universal plan for salvation known fully in the gift of Jesus Christ. (Garrett Green, "Proper 8: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15," in Feasting on the Word [Year B, Volume 3], edited by David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor [Westminster John Knox Press, 2009], pp. 182-186)
Paul wants the Corinthians to respond by living this kind of divine economy in their own lives, one that draws all God's children into a "fair balance" (v. 14) that assures that all may experience the abundant life that Jesus came to establish. This fair balance draws the whole of the Body of Christ, the church -- in Corinth, in Jerusalem, and wherever it lives and breathes -- into unity, a thread Paul is always weaving in whatever he writes. This is a crucial point in this particular passage as he is attempting to draw together the poor and those with means, the struggling mother church and the young church start, and a mix of Jews and Gentiles. The differences and divisions run deep and there is much healing that needs to be done, healing Paul encourages in this follow-up letter about the "generous undertaking" the Corinthians have yet to complete.
Paul reminds the Corinthians of their "eagerness" to give and encourages them to bring it to fruition, with their gifts to the collection and with how they are living as a part of the Body. Paul's stewardship sermon is about what's still in their pockets, but his broader message communicates his desire that the people choose to give as a sign and a natural outpouring of their changed reality in relationship with Jesus Christ.
To broaden the scope of what the gifts might mean to the givers as well as to those who would receive, Paul only uses the word "collection" (logeia) once -- in chapter 16. At all other points, he uses terms that invoke the spirit and promise of Christian community, terms like charis, eulogia, leitourgia, and koinonia. With Paul's careful word choice, a simple collection becomes an act of gratitude, a privilege, a grace, a blessing, a priestly service, and a participation in sacred fellowship. Paul makes it clear, in the language he chooses, that the generosity he is after is not just about sharing the wealth but also sharing in the reality of Jesus (Green, p. 182), a reality that makes one of many through the saving love of God.
With a closer read, it's clear that Paul's collection letter is meant to do more than just fill the coffers and feed the people. It's meant to restore life-giving community and loving connection that can heal the broken Body and establish an economy of salvation for all.
In the gospel passage for this week, Jesus encounters a broken body in need of restoration as well. This time the body is that of the hemorrhaging woman, broken not just because of what her medical condition does to her physical well-being but also because it involves blood and the simple fact that she is a woman. She is sick, but she is also outcast, and the combination can do some powerful damage.
Because of the woman's bold faith, she is able to muster the strength to reach out to touch Jesus. Her medical condition is cured on contact, and "she [feels] in her body that she [is] healed of her disease" (Mark 5:29). But Jesus knows that there is yet more work to be done, more generosity to be lived out in relationship, more restoration for the healing of the Body. The capital "B" is important here.
Jesus isn't content with knowing that his power has been extended for a cure. He turns back into the pressing crowd to seek her out and looks all around until she comes to him with the truth. His generosity and his commitment to the salvation of God's people as one Body leads him to pronounce in the middle of the crowd that she is well, she should go forth in peace, and she should be healed of her disease. The writer of Mark's gospel has already told us that her medical condition was cured when she touched Jesus. So why does Jesus still tell her "be healed of your disease"?
He says this because the healing she now needs depends upon the crowd overhearing Jesus and taking his words to heart. The healing yet to come depends upon them accepting her back into community, back into the Body, which is incomplete and broken without her presence. He is calling on the crowd to, in Paul's words, "excel in this generous undertaking," and meet her needs with their "present abundance" so that there may be unity in a shared reality that makes one of many through the saving love of God.
Here it is again -- the call to divine economics, the call to generosity that leads to healing and restoration.
How do we heed this call?
Here are some suggestions on how to begin...
1. Intentionally remain a part of the Body. Stay connected and tuned in to opportunities to live generously. Remember the power of human connection to heal and be attentive to opportunities to unleash that power. This may require us to walk away from our computer screens (after reading the entirety of The Immediate Word, obviously!) and across our lawn to speak to our neighbors. Or, maybe our generous beginnings are just in our movement across the room to sit with our child, partner, or friend and engage them in conversation. Read more here about the importance of human contact in healing. Need a hook? Consider this -- David Spiegel, professor and associate chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford, suggests in this article that social isolation can be as threatening to a person's health as smoking or high cholesterol.
2. Reach out and touch someone. As human beings, we are hungry (whether we know it or not) for touch that is appropriate and loving. Dr. Tiffany Field of the Touch Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine notes that touch is the first sense we develop in utero, and it is vital to the survival and growth of infants. She suggests that touch reduces aggression in children and "is not only critical for growth, development, communication, and learning but also serves for comfort, reassurance, and self-esteem." Dr. Field further suggests that touch is a healing technique with ancient and sacred roots and is gathering new momentum in contemporary health care. Her article includes a consideration of the discovery by Dr. Saul Schanberg of a growth gene that can only be "turned on" by touch.
3. Consider what wisdom there is in bridging the divide. Parker Palmer's recent book Healing the Heart of Democracy has many suggestions for inviting dialogue and life-giving connection with those who think and live differently than you do. Here's a snippet from Palmer's correspondence with Kate Moos for the blog On Being in which he encourages us all to cultivate the ability to hold tension in life-giving ways toward the healing of democracy and our human family as a whole:
So, when you step outside your silo and understand your interconnectedness, life becomes more complicated and ethically demanding. But the bottom line is, what do you stand for: narrow self-interest or the common good? And do you understand that narrow self-interest can be self-defeating while caring about the common good can be a way of caring about yourself and those you love?
4. Discover how you excel and make it your "generous undertaking." We are more likely to live generously when we are generous with ourselves as well. One way to do that is to pay attention to what brings us life and how it can bring about restoration and healing. Along these lines, it is good to recall the familiar Fred Buechner quote that reads: "There are all different kinds of voices calling you to all different kinds of work... (and) the place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."
5. Go to the source. The crux of Paul's arguments for a lived generosity comes from the example of generous love we have in Jesus. We aren't without a guide or a trailblazer to lead us forth as we seek to live in a similar vein. For a look at going to the source, try Nuns on the Bus. They draw from their work that puts them in contact with the suffering of people in poverty on a daily basis to craft a vision of what is "faithful" in terms of policymaking and budgeting decisions regarding human services.
ILLUSTRATIONS
If you are a single-minded person and a "doer" more than a "thinker," it is very difficult to stop whatever it is that you are about and pay heed to a distraction that may be nagging you on the fringes. Some people simply cannot do it -- a distraction is a distraction, and no matter how important it gets little attention. Rome may be burning, but don't trouble Nero while he is fiddling. Yet one of the true signs of strength of character and moral fiber is paying heed to what is happening on the periphery of your vision, especially if it involves someone who is in need. Little people get marginalized; this means that the only way they can attract the attention they so require is by signaling their need when there are crowds who choose not to notice. It is interesting and informative that in case after case, Jesus knows where human need really is and reminds his followers not to be handicapped by blinders.
* * *
There's a famous story of Frederick the Great of Prussia -- a powerful ruler of the European Enlightenment, a man of impressive scientific curiosity as well as a leader of armies. Frederick once conducted an unusual scientific experiment into the development of human language. There was a theory at the time that the babbling of infants was in some unknown way related to the ancient language of Eden, but that children lost this oldest of all mother-tongues as they grew and learned the language of their parents.
Frederick devised an experiment to test this theory. He had his scientists take some orphaned newborn babies and isolate them from all physical contact with human beings. The babies would be kept in separate rooms with no contact with each other. Not a word of language was to be spoken in their presence. Specially trained nurses would see to the babies' physical needs -- feeding them and making sure they stayed warm -- but they were forbidden to pick them up and embrace them. Once the children grew old enough to speak, they would be brought into the presence of the other children who were part of the experiment to see if they could converse with one another.
The experiment was an utter failure. Not one of those poor children lived beyond infancy -- let alone to the age when language begins to develop in earnest. The one thing King Frederick learned from his cruel and ill-considered experiment was that the physical touch of another human being is essential to life. If babies are not picked up and hugged and caressed, they have but a slim chance of surviving to maturity.
* * *
The movie star Marilyn Monroe had a troubled upbringing, living in several different foster homes as a child. Someone asked her once if she had ever felt loved by any of her foster parents. Her reply: "Once, when I was about seven or eight. The woman I was living with was putting on makeup and I was watching her. She was in a happy mood, so she reached over and patted my cheeks with her rouge puff.... From that moment, I felt loved by her."
For people who are hungry for love, it doesn't take much in the way of human touch to convey a feeling of welcome and acceptance. Touch is a powerful thing. It can convey love. It can also -- as the woman with the flow of blood learned -- bring healing.
* * *
At the time of his death, Henri Nouwen was the spiritual leader of L'Arche Daybreak Community in Toronto, Canada. L'Arche is a community committed to helping people with developmental disabilities. Living in such a community allowed Henri to live out exquisitely his journey as a wounded healer. Henri put his words into practice at L'Arche. Every day it was his job to bathe, dress, and feed a man who was unable to do those tasks for himself. When we are broken, when we are wounded, we are uniquely able to heal. It is only broken soil which can bear fruit.
* * *
When a U.S. president or other famous politician comes to town, there's always someone who holds a baby up to be touched or kissed (that's where the old political expression "pressing the flesh" comes from). Mothers and fathers, out of some strange motivation they can barely put into words, are seeking some kind of blessing for their child from the touch of this famous person. There's no rational reason to do it -- in fact, there's got to be some considerable inconvenience in lugging a baby through the teeming crowd at a political rally -- but still they bring their children to be touched.
* * *
In 2002 the newspapers were filled with accounts of what appeared to be a remarkable discovery in biblical archaeology. It was an ancient stone box called "the James Ossuary." An ossuary is a bone box -- a sort of small coffin, used to hold the bones of a person who has died. It was a fairly common thing in the crowded cities of the Roman world for bodies to be buried in tombs, then disinterred a generation or so later so another body could be laid in that place. The bones -- which had by then been bleached white and no longer needed to be in the ground -- were taken away. If the person's family was well-to-do, they stored their ancestor's bones in the specialized stone box called an ossuary.
The ossuary in question turned up in a marketplace in Israel. It seemed to date from the first century AD: but even more remarkable, it bore an inscription that said "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus."
How many other James, sons-of-Joseph, brothers-of-Jesus could there be? It had to be the burial box of James, brother of our Lord -- the one who in the book of Acts is described as ruling over the early Christian church in Jerusalem.
The impact of this discovery -- if genuine -- would be nothing short of extraordinary. Apart from the Bible, the only contemporary record of Jesus' existence is one line from the Roman historian Suetonius, who in his Life of Nero speaks of a group of Jews in Rome who stirred up trouble at the instigation of one Chrestos -- whom many scholars take to be a reference to Christ. Suddenly there seemed to be hard evidence of the life of the historical Jesus, words scratched not by pen onto flimsy parchment but carved into hard stone: "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus."
Unfortunately, as the newspapers again indicated about a year later, the James Ossuary was ruled a fake. The box itself was ancient enough -- probably dating to the time of Jesus -- but careful analysis of its inscription proved that those words were chiseled into the stone in modern times, probably by some wily antiques merchant hoping to make a buck.
We've all got a hunger within us for some link, some tangible connection, to greatness. It's that same hunger that leads some to seek baseballs autographed by Babe Ruth or glossy publicity photos signed by Marilyn Monroe. Pick up such a celebrity artifact, turn it over in your hands, and you feel that somehow, through some sort of autograph magic, you've touched fame.
* * *
The art world is suffering from a lack of professional appraisals regarding the authenticity of pieces and their probable value. This is because the word of an expert can make the difference between "great wealth and the gutter." Since such a large dollar value is placed on the appraisal of the experts who compile a catalogue raisonné (a comprehensive list of an artist's works), and because it is difficult to detect forgeries, lawsuits have become plentiful by investors who have lost large sums of money on the evaluation of an art scholar. For this reason scholars increasingly offer no opinion or only a guarded opinion, rather than a definitive opinion, on whether an art work is genuine or fake.
Paul tells the Christians in Corinth to go forth "in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness." Paul does not allow for any hesitation at a time when lawsuits were substituted for criminal acts and execution. Let us go forth with the perseverance and stamina that Paul calls us to.
* * *
Paul encourages the Christians attending the church in Corinth to continue with their "eagerness" in serving the Lord. Paul implies that their eagerness will be a witness to others. It is a lesson that seems to be lost on today's believers, at least when it comes to stewardship.
In 2011 Christians gave 1.9% of their disposable income to the church. Non-believers gave the same percentage to charitable causes. It would appear that the eagerness that Christians should have in financially supporting the work of the church must be reinvigorated.
* * *
By 1963, Victor Spinetti was an established British film star. He is also the only person besides the four Beatles to appear in all three of their live-action movies -- A Hard Day's Night, Help, and Magical Mystery Tour.
After Spinetti finished a theater performance in London one evening, George Harrison went backstage to invite him to be in the Beatles' first movie. When Spinetti questioned why he was chosen, Harrison replied: "Because if you're not in them, me mum won't come and see them." Spinetti agreed and over the years he developed a professional relationship with the Beatles.
As the Beatles' popularity grew, and people realized the intimate connection that Spinetti had with them, whenever he would walk out onstage to begin a performance the crowd would yell questions to him about the Beatles. To end this mayhem of an interruption, Spinetti would announce before each performance that after the closing of the curtain all Beatle fans could come to the front rows for what he called "a 10-minute semester on the Beatles." Beatle fans, many of whom might never have attended a classical theater performance, did so for the 10-minute seminars, which became a nightly event.
I am sure that it was Paul's desire that our eagerness in serving the Lord would come from a heartfelt desire rather than one of mere curiosity.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Out of the depths we cry to you, O God.
People: Let your ears be attentive to the voice of our supplications!
Leader: If you, O God, should mark iniquities, who could stand?
People: But there is forgiveness with you so that you may be revered.
Leader: We wait for God, and in God's word we hope;
People: for with God there is steadfast love and great power to redeem.
OR
Leader: Come, for God calls us.
People: We come to worship the one who gives us life.
Leader: As a mother nourishes her children, our God feeds us.
People: We come to receive the food of life.
Leader: With arms wide open, God welcomes us all.
People: We come as part of God's great family; sisters and brothers all.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"Many and Great, O God"
found in:
UMH: 148
H82: 385
PH: 271
NCH: 3
CH: 58
ELA: 837
"All Creatures of Our God and King"
found in:
UMH: 62
H82: 400
PH: 455
AAHH: 147
NNBH: 33
NCH: 17
CH: 22
LBW: 527
ELA: 835
Renew: 47
"All People That on Earth Do Dwell"
found in:
UMH: 75
H82: 377/378
PH: 220/221
NNBH: 36
NCH: 7
CH: 18
LBW: 245
ELA: 883
"This Is My Song"
found in:
UMH: 437
NCH: 591
CH: 722
ELA: 887
"Where Cross the Crowded Way of Life"
found in:
UMH: 427
H82: 609
PH: 408
NCH: 543
CH: 665
LBW: 429
ELA: 719
"When Jesus the Healer Passed Through Galilee"
found in:
UMH: 263
"Dear Lord, for All in Pain"
found in:
UMH: 458
"Lonely the Boat"
found in:
UMH: 476
PH: 373
"Open Our Eyes, Lord"
found in:
CCB: 77
Renew: 91
"Lord, Be Glorified"
found in:
CCB: 62
Renew: 172
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who is community: Grant us the grace to see our connectedness with you and with all your children; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come to celebrate your unity in multiplicity, O God, and to be called once again into solidarity with all your people. Open our hearts and our lives that we may live generously as your image. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the ways in which we fail to live generous lives.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We so often fail to see our connectedness to others. We are very aware of our needs and wants, but we are less clear about the needs of others. We know our time is limited and so we use it for ourselves. We lose sight of the opportunities we have to serve others. Renew in us your Spirit that we may serve you in serving others. Amen.
Leader: God is community and created us to be in unity with one another. God will bless us and through us bless others as we look to their needs.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We worship you, O God, for you are community in unity. You are love in being and in action.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We so often fail to see our connectedness to others. We are very aware of our needs and wants, but we are less clear about the needs of others. We know our time is limited and so we use it for ourselves. We lose sight of the opportunities we have to serve others. Renew in us your Spirit that we may serve you in serving others.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which we have received your love and kindness. You have blessed us with life, and you have blessed us with community. You have given your own Spirit to live within us and to unite us not only with you but with all your children.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We lift up to you those who are in need and especially those who feel estranged from you or from others. We look around us and see much separation and loneliness. We pray that we may be faithful in sharing your love and unity with those around us.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children's Sermon Starter
Use a paddle ball (the kind where a ball is attached to a wooden paddle with an elastic string). Tell the children you are going to see how far you can hit the ball. Try several times. Then tell the children that you can't seem to get it to go very far, as it keeps coming back. Ask them why they think that is. It's because the ball is connected to the paddle. And though we can't see a string, we too are all connected as God's children.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
The Warmth of God's Power
Mark 5:21-43
Object: a heating pad (make sure it is plugged in so that it can be heated up)
Good morning, boys and girls! How many of you know what this is? (show the children the heating pad and let them answer) That's right -- it's a heating pad. Touch it right now and remember how it feels cool when it is not being used. (let each child touch the heating pad -- after they have touched it, turn on the switch as inconspicuously as possible)
Somewhere inside of the pad there is electric power, and there is also a healing power. People use this pad when they have an ache or pain that needs heat. When they feel the power of the heat, they feel better. Soon they are able to get up and move around again.
Jesus had a special power inside of him. It was a power that came from God. In our lesson for today we hear about some people who were healed when Jesus used this power. First there was a very important man who asked Jesus to heal his daughter who was sick at home. Jesus agreed but on the way to the man's home a woman who had been sick for a long time approached Jesus hoping to be healed. She got as close to Jesus as she could and reached out and touched his clothes. Immediately she knew she was healed. But Jesus also felt some of his power leave him and he asked who had touched him. The woman apologized while telling Jesus what she had done. Jesus told her not to be sorry but instead to be glad because she was healed. She believed in Jesus and his power and that belief made it happen.
Let's touch the pad again. (pass it around again and let each child touch it) Can you feel the power coming from the pad? (let them answer) Now it is warm and can be part of a healing.
After healing the woman, Jesus went on to the home of the very important man. When he got there, the people told him that the little girl was dead. "No," Jesus said, "she is sleeping." The people laughed at him, for they knew she had died. But Jesus took his disciples and the family inside the house. There he approached the little girl's bed and told her to wake up, which she did immediately. It was more of the same kind of power. Even death can't stop the power of God.
A heating pad is not the power of Jesus, but it is a reminder of how the power inside of Jesus could do amazing things for people who were ill or even dead. Jesus was the great healer because of the power God gave him.
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The Immediate Word, July 1, 2012, issue.
Copyright 2012 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
