Sermon /Mark 5.21-end/2Corinthians 8.7-end

Transcription

1 Sermon /Mark 5.21-end/2Corinthians 8.7-end On the morning after Cat s ordination to the priesthood it feels entirely appropriate for her that our scripture readings this morning focus on Cleansing, healing, making a new, breathing peace, touching the untouchable and encouraging generous giving; these elements of ministry are of course in addition to the ones listed by Bishop Toby; Those of, leading by example, proclaiming the gospel, overseeing and growing the church, shepherding the flock, sustaining community and living sacrificially. So no pressure Cat, no pressure. I would like to thank the Dean, Canon Sam and you all, for inviting me to come and speak to you this morning on the occasion of Cat s first Mass. Cat and I trained together in Cambridge, and we don t get the opportunity to catch up as much as we should, as we serve our curacies at the opposite ends of the country. My curacy is a rural parish, near Lewes, Sussex, which is closer to Paris than it is to Bradford, so its really is fantastic to be with you all this morning and to be part of Cat s celebrations this weekend. One thing they didn t teach us whilst at Theological College was the advantages of wearing your dog collar on public transport. Whether on bus or train, when wearing a clerical collar you always have lots of space around you. A few weeks ago I was traveling from another friends ordination at Southwark Cathedral in London, when I boarded the train it was fairly empty, so I found a table, opened my ipad, plugged my headphones in, and settled down Within a couple of stops the carriage was filling up, but as expected I had plenty of room to stretch out. At the next station a family (Mum,Dad, two middle-aged daughters) boarded the train, and something was clearly amiss. The three ladies were in the middle of a full scale barney, Dad was pretending not to be with them and everyone else in the carriage was feeling rather awkward. Just at that point they realized the only four seats left were the three next to me and the one directly behind me. Dad dived into the seat behind gazing nonchalantly out of the window, distancing himself from the arguing women.

2 But The women were no longer bickering, realising that the only seats left meant then they would be spending the next 50 mins sitting next to a priest. The elder daughter broke the silence by saying Excuse me love, but are you a proper vicar, or is this fancy dress, after assuring them that this was most definitely not fancy dress, yet avoiding the awkward conversation regarding the differences of clerical authority between curacy and cure of souls, they seemed happy enough and sat down. It became clear that the argument related to the family gathering they were heading to, and the various power struggles therein. As we approached East Croydon the louder daughter leant across and signaled for me to remove my headphones so that she could ask me a question. if you re a proper priest, would you pray for us, otherwise we are going to have an hell of a day It was at this precise moment that the remaining 60+ people sharing the carriage decided to stop talking in fact you could have heard a pin drop. Again there is no training that can ever prepare you for this moment, but I was touched by the courage of this woman to ask for prayer, to deal with their situation. I on the other hand felt anything but courageous Mercifully despite my own failings, our God is a gracious God and so I prayed for them and for their family, for their day and for the Spirit of peace to be upon them. As I said Amen, immediately the hubbub and noise was back to its pre intercessory levels and all seemed well. The family stood to leave the train at East Croyden thanking me again, and as the doors opened before them, there on the platform stood a priest and a nun, waiting to board the Southwark bound train, As they left I heard the younger daughter saying see mum, it is a fancy dress party The lesson from this story is that interruptions those God moments those unplanned close encounters of the grace kind, always seem to happen when we least expect them to, and can actually be far more powerful than any planned service or preordained pastoral encounter.

3 In our scripture this morning Jesus has just such an unexpected interruption on the way to another pastoral encounter who touched my clothes? he exclaims feeling his healing power sapped from him by the courageous women s touch. How can we tell answer the disciple s the crowd is too thick But Jesus knows that a God moment has occurred. These Interruption s are the very nature of ministry Some would say that interruption s often are ministry. But let us Focus for moment on this woman s interruption, just as with so many pastoral encounters, here we find a story within a story. In a few short sentenes Mark brings her and her story to center stage; her illness, her struggles, her courage. This unnamed women, who catches the Son of God by surprise, simply by touching the hem of his cloak. And in this moment of interruption, a miracle happens, two elements collididing in perfect imperfection, The woman has courage; Jesus has power. Courage to touch and power to heal: both are essential for discipleship, courage and touch both essential parts of the DNA of faith. Touching and healing in ways we can rarely imagine and seldom ever expect. In Marks gospel The ministry of Jesus is a series of interuptions, forged in real lives, real encounters experienced by real people met on the journey to the cross people whose lives Are hemorrhaging pain and guilt, hemorrhaging self-centeredness and envy, Hemorrhaging pride and greed, hemorrhaging anger and addiction Some times these interruption s touch Jesus, as with the woman, some times Jesus touches them, as with jairuses daughter. Some times He touches with the hand; at other times the touch is with words, Words that penetrate deeply, words that change lives, words that heal communities, words that transform a broken yet beautiful world. As is so often the case with Mark s Gospel, the transformation does not require affirmations of faith to be spoken or signs of repentance to be witnessed.

4 Courage is the sign of faith, Jesus recognizes the woman s courage in the tender transforming words he speaks; Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed faith is the binding element, according to Jesus. The good news in this for Jairus (and maybe for us) is that faith is not a finite resource. Reading the bible closely those of us who have more in common with Jairus than with the woman may, on occasion, worry that God and Jesus like her kind better. But Jesus assures Jairus that ultimately there is hope beyond death for everyone who follows the woman s lead. Her years of suffering have taught her how to trust in something other than herself. And Though Jairus has not had the same longevity of suffering as the woman, Jesus offer still stands; The faith of the woman becomes the faith Jesus calls forth out of Jairus. In the face of the devastating news Jairus' companions bring to him, Jesus counsels in verse 36: "Do not fear, only believe (pisteuein)." a woman suffering for 12 years becomes the example for a man whose 12 year old daughter has entered into death s shadow. Jesus draws the one he calls talitha back out into the light by the power of faith. To be asked to believe, to have faith, and to let go of fear can be a hard lesson for many of us, when we live in a world that wants to celebrate with all its might our reputations, our abilities, our wealth, our power, our strength. Our call is to in faith grab hold of Jesus, trusting not our own strengths, but trusting only in our Lord s power to heal, to make whole, to restore and renew. It begins with humility, admitting that we do not know everything, that we are not equal to everything, that many times our lives need less of our strengths and more of our humility, a recognition that we, most of all, need the courage to reach out and let Jesus be Jesus, so that he can give us the gift we need most.

5 Let us be real about this it takes Courage to reach out, and we each reach out in different ways Yesterday morning whilst driving up to cat s ordination I was deeply moved by one of the stories coming out of the tragedy unfolding in Tunisia A young woman from Manchester was interviewed on the Today programme with her father. Her name wasolivia leighley a twenty four old chef on holiday in Sousse Olivia Was standing in the foyer of the belvedere hotel along with some 200 other holiday makers when the terrorist walked into the lobby and opened fire. For Olivia reaching out meant phoning her father, Glen, back home in Manchester, as she thought she was going to die. I doubt any of us here this morning can imagine what was going through Glen s mind as the realization of Olivia s situation became all too real, all too quickly, as he answered that call. Glen described how Olivia was screaming, clearly in a panic, and running for her life. All she could do was to cry out to her father. Glen went on to say how he repeatedly told her that he loved her and then he started to pray Olivia said all she could hear was her father praying at the top of his voice, drowning out her own screams and the gunfire behind her. Amidst the chaos and carnage and with some 2000 miles between them All Olivia could hear was her father praying The Lord be with you The Lord be with you Olivia was one of the fortunate ones, many others have lost their lives, many more remain injured both mentally and physically this morning we reach out to them in our prayers, and ask for God s healing touch. As the People of God We are given the power and the courage to reach out, We are called to be the people who communicate Through the power of Jesus Christ by touch and word by the light of Christ shining like beacons proclaiming the message Do not fear, only believe Believing and witnessing that those interruptions those God moments in our lives - are there for a reason?

6 The message for us is to not be afraid, but to believe Believe in the healing power of Jesus Christ, to believe that we too can reach out and feel the awesome power of the Holy Spirit entering and changing our ordinary lives and the lives of others in extra-ordinary ways Amen asking God daily for the Courage to reach out in prayer be it, in a Cathedral or a train carriage, Courage to pray for our brothers and sisters in the Middle East and other places of conflict, Courage to reach out in times of tragedy or fear reaching out to the people in Sousse, in Lyon and in Kuwait City, Asking for the courage and grace we need to forgive and the power to heal. Cat, I pray your priestly ministry will be a courageous ministry I pray that those you minister to, will always have the courage to reach out and touch, and that your throughout your vocation you will have many, many blessed interruptions, I pray that by the power of the cross and through the breaking of bread your priestly ministry will become the healing element this world so desperately needs. Amen