a moment of death, and a lifetime of joy (reflections on readings for Proper 8)

You can read the lessons for June 28th, Proper 8, here.

Saul and Jonathan have died in battle.  They are mighty and powerful and talented and beautiful.  One of them, King Saul, was David's grave political and personal enemy.  The other, Jonathan, was David's best and most intimate friend.  For both he grieves.  There is a fierce humility necessary to grieve for one's enemy, and David does this so well on Saul's behalf: Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.  O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with crimson, in luxury, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. The Bible speaks a lot about enemies.  This is one way I realize that it is not an irrelevant and inauthentic text.  David had enemies.  Who are our enemies?  Ahmadinejad?  Someone closer?  A coworker, a family member?  We would do well to prayerfully process David's posture at the death of his enemy.  And this enemy was no weakling.  Saul and Jonathan were loved, undivided, swift, and strong.  Much like those we don't expect to die: McMahon, Fawcett, Jackson.  But death finds us all.

While anger and grief are normal, natural, even appropriate in the face of loss and in the struggle with enemies.  Anger and grief do not get the last word.  They lay down at night, and in their places, in the morning, come favor and joy.  Anger and grief are fleeting; favor and joy are lasting.  For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

The Gospel text for today comes from Mark's account of the healing of Jairus' daughter and the woman with the chronic blood disease. 

In this story, the role of touch and words in healing becomes obvious.  It is in connection and intimacy that the two ‘daughters’ in the story find healing.  A ruler of the synagogue, a man well versed in Hebrew Scriptures and a civil authority in the town, comes to Jesus in desperation.  What brought him to this place of desperation was the loving connection he had with his twelve year old daughter and the illness that was threatening that intimacy.  So he pleads with Jesus saying that his ‘little daughter’ is in need of Jesus’ healing power.  Jairus is a father who cares deeply for his daughter. 

There is a break in the story at this point.  Jesus and Jairus are interrupted on their hurried walk to Jairus’ house.  A woman who had endured much suffering, much rejection, much isolation, and much disappointment in life seeks out Jesus.  Just as Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, places himself in submission to Jesus’ authority.  So this woman, who has been under the authority of doctors and purity laws, breaks with those customs and expectations to seek out Jesus.  Her life has only been getting worse and worse.  But she has heard that this man Jesus could be the one to offer her a tourniquet.  She doesn’t realize that she will also receive a new and pure identity through her intimate connection with Jesus.  She decides that even the slightest touch of his garments will bring her healing.  And in the midst of this hustling and bustling, pushing and shoving crowd, Jesus knows he has been touched.  He turns to her, and in a moment of deep intimacy and connection says to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease’

Jesus and Jairus, after this interruption, finally make it to Jairus' dying daughter.  He takes her by the hand and speaks tenderly to her.  There were strict prohibitions in Jewish religious life against interaction with sick people and dead bodies.  But Jesus challenges and transcends these boundaries.  In breaking the boundaries of purity laws, Jesus is also breaking the bond of death.  In reaching out to Jairus and his daughter, Jesus is offering intimacy into a broken and despairing family.  In stepping into a family disconnected and disheartened, Jesus is offering a healing connection.

The boundaries affecting us are many.  We have enemies everywhere.  There are political, doctrinal, economic, ethnic, and gender differences that threaten the unity of our churches, our nation, and this planet.  Our reach must extend over those divides.  And we in turn must be accessible to others despite those divides.  Just as the woman with a hemorrhage reached out to Jesus, and Jesus reached out to the dead girl, we need to be always extending and embracing.  Reaching out and drawing in.  Because what can unify us is far greater than that which divides us, just as a healthy new life was far more important to Jesus than purity laws and socially accepted behaviors.  

In David's lament for the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, and in Jesus' compassionate action on behalf of Jairus' daughter and the woman with the incurable disease, we see that the boundaries of death and enemies are overcome.

In the words from today's reading in Lamentations: The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.