A woman had heard that one of her favorite TV personalities was making a rare personal appearance at her neighborhood mall and she was determined to see him. But when she arrived at the mall, she realized that several hundred other people had a similar idea. There was no place to park.\u00a0 For twenty minutes she drove her car around the mall looking for a place without success. Finally, in desperation, she raised her\u00a0eyes to heaven and said: \u201cLord, help me. If you provide a parking space for me, I\u00a0promise I will put $300 in the collection next Sunday. When she turned into the next row, there, miraculously, was an empty space. She raised her eyes to heaven again and said: \u201cNever mind, I found one.\u201d<\/p>\n
When we are desperate, we turn to the Lord. But it is clear that for most of us we\u00a0would rather handle things ourselves. When we have no other options, when we have\u00a0painted ourselves into a corner, when we are at our wits end, we cry out to the Lord\u00a0to help us. But when things are running smoothly, when our finances and our\u00a0relationships are healthy and productive, we congratulate ourselves on how our\u00a0earnest efforts and wise decisions have led to our success.<\/p>\n
Now, do not misunderstand me. There is nothing wrong with turning to the Lord when we\u00a0are desperate. People in crisis continually approached Jesus throughout his public\u00a0ministry. In today\u2019s gospel both Jairus, the synagogue leader, and the woman with\u00a0the hemorrhage come to Jesus because they had no place else to turn. Jesus\u00a0acts quickly and decisively to assist them. We should never feel embarrassed\u00a0or apologetic about coming to the Lord in a time of need. We should never hesitate to cry out to the Lord when we find our self in a crisis. In faith we believe that God will hear us and will act.\u00a0But what a waste it is to wait until we are in crisis. What a waste it is to wait until we are\u00a0desperate before we turn to the Lord.\u00a0 It is a waste because it is not what God wants. It is a waste because it is not what we need.<\/p>\n
Now without a doubt God is our savior, our helper, and our healer. But God\u00a0wants to be more to us than that. God has revealed God\u2019s self as father, as mother,\u00a0as lover, as friend. Why God loves us so, is a mystery, but that God loves us so, is\u00a0the gospel. So we diminish our relationship with God when we approach God simply as\u00a0a problem solver. We ignore what God wants when we approach God only as the \u201cMr. Fix-it\u201d for our lives. It is a waste for us to approach God only as the healer of our ills. God wants more! God wants to share life with us. God wants our love. Approaching God only as a savior is not what God wants.<\/p>\n
Neither is it what we need.\u00a0 How much richer our lives would be if we turned to God not only when we were desperate but every day of our lives. How much wealth and joy would we have in our lives if we turned to God not only when things were in crisis but when things were running smoothly and blessings were over flowing. If we could begin each day remembering God\u2019s love, if we could be conscious of God\u2019s presence as we face each event and each person, how much deeper, more thankful, more joyful our lives would be. That kind of living is exactly what we need. Therefore it is a waste when we only turn to God in crisis.<\/p>\n
So if you are in dire need, if you are at your wit\u2019s end, if you cannot find a parking place,\u00a0then by all means call out to God for help. To believe that God will hear and help you is central to the gospel. But do not wait until you are in crisis before you turn to God. Take God with you to every moment of every day. God is loving you now. Claim that love today. That is what God wants. That is what we need.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s Gospel includes more than a powerful miracle by Jesus. It offers a pattern for living. But if we wish to appreciate the pattern, we must place ourselves into the character of Jairus, the synagogue official. Imagine his panic and his fear when he realized that his little girl, 12 years old, was about to die. We can presume that Jairus did everything he could to cure the girl, but nothing was working. When the Gospel begins, the child is at the point of death.<\/p>\n
But Jairus is a responsible person. When he hears that Jesus is in the neighborhood, he forms a plan. He leaves the deathbed of his daughter and his house full of people and goes out to put his plan into action. He finds Jesus and pleads with him to come and lay his hands on his daughter, hoping and trusting that if Jesus would do that, the little girl would live. We see Jairus implementing his plan as today\u2019s Gospel begins. It is working! Jesus agrees to go and the two of them set out for Jairus\u2019 house together. Then the tragic news arrives. It\u2019s too late, The child has died. Jairus\u2019 plan will no longer work. As the people who bring the news say, \u201cYour daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?\u201d There is nothing left to do.<\/p>\n
It is at this point that Jesus says a curious thing. He turns to Jairus with a directive, \u201cDo not be afraid. Just have faith.\u201d It is likely that Jesus\u2019 words disturb Jairus. In anger he might respond, \u201cI did have faith. I put my faith in the plan that you would heal my daughter. But now it is too late. She is dead. I had faith in a plan that did not work.\u201d\u00a0 It would take Jairus some time to realize that Jesus had another plan that would work. Jairus\u2019 plan fell apart. Jesus\u2019 plan would succeed. Jairus was planning that his daughter be healed. Jesus was planning a resurrection.<\/p>\n
The pattern that comes forth from today\u2019s Gospel has two aspects. First of all it emphasizes that responsible people have to devise plans. Through our efforts we are expected to plot ways through which goodness will be brought to ourselves and to those we love. But a second aspect reminds us that God also has plans that might be different from our own. If we need a job, we cannot sit around and simply pray. We have to act, to send out resumes, to go for interviews. At times we become hopeful over an interview that seems to go very well. But when we find out that the job has gone to someone else, Jesus says, \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid. Just have faith. I have another plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
We might be looking for someone to love, someone with whom to share our life. We must to go out and meet people. We must be open to arrange dates. Sometimes we become excited when we meet someone and say, \u201cThis person could be the one.\u201d But when we find out that this person is not the one, Jesus says, \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid. Just have faith. I have another plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
We may have lost someone who we loved. The hole of the grief is so large that we can hardly breathe. But we have to choose to enter life again. Sometimes it seems we are making progress, and then there are other days when it is as bad as ever. On those days Jesus says, \u201cDo not be afraid. Just have faith. It will happen, but it will happen according to my plan, not yours.\u201d<\/p>\n
As responsible people we must make plans to address the issues in our lives. It is important to take the steps to build our dreams. But as people of faith, we know that God also has plans that are not always easy to see. The most consoling part of today\u2019s Gospel is that when Jairus\u2019 plan falls apart, when he is told that his daughter is dead, Jesus is already walking with him on the road to the place where his plan will work. We need to believe that Jesus is walking with us. So that when our best plans for life collapse, we can turn to him and say, \u201cWell, my plan didn\u2019t work. I think it is time to show me yours.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman in today\u2019s gospel wants to be cured by Jesus. She wants him to do what the doctors could not do\u2014make her whole. Although her desire was noble and worthy, she chose a rather peculiar way to attain it. Instead of coming up to Jesus and asking for his help, she crept up behind him through the crowd and touched his cloak. She said to herself, \u201cIf I but touch his clothes, I will be cured.\u201d What a wacky idea. Did this woman think that Jesus was some kind of a magical stone that she simply had to rub to attain what she needed? The way she sought her healing was bizarre. God\u2019s healing does not come because we touch something. Now the good news is that Jesus does heal her, even though her way of approaching the healing was misguided. To make sure that she knows this, Jesus says to her, \u201cDaughter, your faith has saved you.\u201d That is: it was your faith, not your touch, that made you whole.<\/p>\n
Now this story of the woman with the hemorrhage is an important story for us, because often in our relationship with Jesus we set conditions that are as wrong-headed as this woman\u2019s was. We imagine that some occurrence, some circumstance, is necessary for us to be happy. Like the woman, we say, \u201cIf only this would happen, I would be fine.\u201d If only I could get this job, if only this girl would agree to go out with me on a date, if only the problems in my marriage could be resolved, I would be made whole. If I could get into this college, if my nephew stopped abusing drugs, if the test for cancer comes back negative, then all would be as it should be.<\/p>\n
Of course, many times the conditions that we set are attained. We get the job, the girl says, \u201cYes,\u201d or our marriage is saved. When these things happen, we should be thankful. But when we are unable to attain the things we imagine as necessary, we must remember the woman in today\u2019s gospel. She was healed, not because she did what she thought she had to do, but because God loved her. Likewise, we must remember that God is bigger than the things we think are necessary for our happiness. Even if we are not accepted by the college we desire, even if our nephew is unable to stop using drugs, even if the tests come back positive, God is still able to lead us to life. God has ways of saving us independent of the conditions that we feel are necessary.<\/p>\n
The woman in today\u2019s gospel touched Jesus\u2019 cloak and she was healed\u2014not because she touched the cloak, but because God loved her. When we are unable to touch the things that we feel are necessary, when life seems to brush past our fingertips, it is important to believe that God\u2019s love is still there.<\/p>\n
The miracle in today\u2019s gospel is unique in the New Testament. The woman with a hemorrhage who approaches Jesus is seeking a healing on the sly. Usually in the gospels when people want Jesus to heal them, they come forward, they tell him their need, and he cures them. But the woman in today\u2019s gospel is attempting a shortcut. Convinced that no one will notice her in the push and shove of the crowd around Jesus, she tries to avoid any conversation with him. She says to herself, \u201cAll I want is to touch the hem of his garment, get my miracle, and go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jesus will not allow her to do this. He stops, asks \u201cWho touched me?\u201d Then, the woman comes forward and does what she should have done before. She tells him the whole truth. Jesus demands this of her because he knows that telling the truth is part of the healing. Yes, it is true that when she touched his clothes the hemorrhaging stopped. But the bleeding could always return again. It is only when she tells him her story that he says to her, \u201cGo now in peace and be cured of your affliction.\u201d Now the woman\u2019s healing is permanent.<\/p>\n
What this gospel tells us is that, if we want to be healed, we must speak the whole truth. If we want to be free, we must tell Jesus our story. You and I all need healing of one kind or another, but all too often we attempt a healing on the sly. Instead of coming before the Lord and saying, \u201cThis is who I am. This is what I need,\u201d we look for a shortcut, a way to grab our miracle and run.<\/p>\n
If we are battling a serious disease or anticipating a major surgery, we need to come before the Lord and say, \u201cThis is who I am. This is why I am afraid. This is how I worry about my family.\u201d The surgery can be successful, but unless we tell Jesus the whole truth, our healing will not be complete. We might notice problems in our marriage, the bonds that held us together beginning to fray. It does us no good to push on, imagining that matters will be resolved on their own. We need to come before the Lord and say, \u201cThis is where I feel I am responsible. This is why I am disappointed in my spouse. Now is the time that I need your direction.\u201d Marriages will only heal when we speak the truth. Maybe you are jealous of another person who seems to receive all the breaks and recognition. It is not helpful to deny your feelings, to say a prayer and move on. It is important to come before the Lord and say, \u201cThis jealousy is devouring me, and it will not let go.\u201d Only then can Jesus show us the way to peace.<\/p>\n
The woman in today\u2019s gospel reminds us that there are no shortcuts to miracles. If we want to be healed, we must tell Jesus our story. Then, as we stand humbled and exposed before him, we will feel his love. And that love will set us free.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Beyond Problem Solving July 2, 2006 Mark 5:21-43 A woman had heard that one of her favorite TV personalities was making a rare personal appearance at her neighborhood mall and she was determined to see him. But when she arrived at the mall, she realized that several hundred other people had a similar idea. There … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5879,"featured_media":0,"parent":585,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-2874","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"infinite-scroll-item"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5879"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2874"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5607,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2874\/revisions\/5607"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}