Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would come,
continue to come with might and power and deep conviction upon us.
As we continue to think about your, read your word and think about it,
puzzle over it, as we pray to you, as we sing your praises,
as we gather around the Lord's table to remember Jesus' death.
Father, we ask that the Holy Spirit would continue to fall
with might and power and deep conviction.
And we ask, Father, we give you permission to have for you yourself
to speak into our heart and rule in our heart through your word.
And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
So the text that we're going to be looking at today talks about sickness and death.
And I have to say that some things have developed in my life over the last two days,
two and a half days, that makes this actually far more personal.
And so if I get emotional during the sermon, there's a reason for it.
And when I tell you this, by the way, I am not equating a dog's life with a human's life.
But some of you know that we have had this beautiful big German shepherd,
115, 120-pound gentle giant of a dog, for over seven years.
Anyway, on Friday it had to be taken to the vet.
And on Saturday we had to say that nothing else would be done
and that we were bringing the dog home to die.
I didn't think I'd get emotional.
But I warned you. I wanted to just warn you.
I mean, I'm not making a comment at all that the death of a dog is like the death of a human being.
But, you know, dogs, especially a big gentle giant,
115, 120-pound gentle German shepherd,
that does become part of the family for seven-plus years.
So, I mean, obviously the vets don't know.
It might be that he will live for a couple of weeks,
but it's quite possible that by the time we gather again next week,
we will have dealt with Rocky's remains.
And the text today, obviously not about a dog,
but it is about death and it is about sickness.
And it is a text which has lots of challenges in it,
things which puzzle people and distract us from the fundamental point,
but it is a profound text to meditate upon,
how Christians are to approach sickness and how they are to approach death.
It's a very profound text,
a text that is well worth meditating upon and contemplating upon for those of you who are in Jesus.
And if you are here and you're not sure where you are with Jesus and Christianity,
or if you're watching online,
this gives you a bit of a window into how it is that Christians are invited
to think about such very, very serious matters.
The fact of the matter is, is that we all know that we will die,
but really fundamentally we all know other people will die.
We don't really believe that we will die.
Although for some of you here or those online,
you might have gotten a very bad prognosis this week,
where a loved one has had a bad prognosis.
So this is a deeply personal text,
and let's turn to it and see what it is that was said.
It's Mark chapter 5, beginning at verse 21.
And as you've been warned, if I get a bit emotional during the sermon,
it is because it's obvious, obvious,
now that you know that thing about Rocky.
So Mark chapter 5, verse 21,
and just before we read it, what's just happened?
We preach through books of the Bible.
Basically, Mark was written as one book to be read.
And so we study it that way as a book.
And what we just looked at last week was
Jesus had gone to the other side of the Sea of Galilee,
to the pagan side of the Sea of Galilee.
And he'd come across, or he'd been met by a man
who was demonized by a legion of demons.
And Jesus delivers the man from the demons.
And as a result of that,
the people in the region want Jesus to leave.
And so that's now where the story takes up.
Jesus leaves.
If people don't want Jesus, he leaves.
And he leaves, and he goes back to the Jewish side of the lake.
And that's where this story now takes up.
And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side,
a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea.
Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue,
Jairus by name.
And seeing Jesus, he fell at Jesus' feet
and implored him earnestly, saying,
My little daughter is at the point of death.
Come and lay your hands on her
so that she may be made well and live.
I have a bit of emotion still in my voice.
Some of you who have very good imaginations
can just very well imagine the tears that would have been in his voice
as he asks for his precious daughter.
And Jesus went with him.
And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.
And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for 12 years
and who had suffered much under many doctors
and had spent all that she had
and was no better, but had grown worse.
Now just sort of pause here for a second.
Why this story?
One of the things, if you read the different,
the four ancient biographies of Jesus,
if you read them, all of them,
one of the things you'll notice
is that they have all of these little asides.
Mark does it all the time.
Oh yeah, Jesus spent a whole pile of time
healing people and casting out demons,
and then he did this.
Or he spent the day doing this,
healing people, casting out demons,
and then he did this.
And several of the writers
mention right in the book
that if they actually were to record everything that Jesus did,
it would be too many books.
Because he did lots of miracles.
So you have to ask yourself a little bit,
why this story?
Like why did they tell this story
rather than the thousands of other stories of healings
that they could potentially have told?
And I think one of the reasons is
you have to remember
every time you read the Bible
is on one level,
the world is very different than today.
I mean, on the other level,
it's very same.
We still wrestle with the death of loved ones.
And all of us will die
unless Jesus comes first.
Like that's all very deeply personal.
And people back then were very smart.
But one of the things
which was different between now and then
is even though obviously many people read,
but books were expensive and very rare.
And so it was fundamentally an oral culture.
And it was an oral culture
where people actually remembered things
because they weren't constantly distracted
by text messages,
emails, phone calls,
Twitter, Facebook,
all of that type of stuff.
You know, I told my wife the other day
that often I turn off the sound with my phone
during the day.
I try to remember to leave it up so I can see.
And that's just because the text messages
can be really irritating.
And if you're at all like me,
there's something compelling
as if you have to look at the stupid text.
Well, you don't really, right?
But you feel like you do.
And it gives you several other irritating dings
to make you think you have to look at it.
Anyway, in their world,
they wouldn't have had those types of distractions.
And they were an oral culture.
So often, one of the reasons
they probably chose this story
is not only the putting together,
juxtaposition, which is a big word
that just means putting together
of these two very...
They would have looked at it and said,
you know, you remember that time
when this happened
and it was immediately followed by this
and it was really striking.
And the other thing,
and this would help with memory,
is that the woman has been suffering
for 12 years
and the girl is 12 years old.
And, you know, that's one of the things
to help you remember things, right?
The number, that connection of the 12
helps you to remember them
and even helps to see,
remember that the two things were connected
because sometimes they might have said,
gosh, he healed so many people.
Was it that woman he healed?
No, no, you know,
they might even have...
But this one would have really stuck out
partially just because they happened
right after each other
and partly the 12.
Helps them to remember.
And the other thing, by the way,
is that everything in this text,
even the using of his name,
is once again,
part of what Mark is doing
is to say this actually happened.
This is historical.
The fact that he gives the name
of an important person
and the fact that he mentions
that lots of people were around.
This is all the way that if Paul,
not Paul,
Mark is writing this
and he's writing it at the time
that many of these eye and ear witnesses
were still alive
and he's really constantly inviting people
to say,
listen, if you have any questions about this,
get on a boat,
go to this area.
It's going to be in and around Capernaum,
maybe even Capernaum
and just look for Jairus.
He's still around
and talk to him about it.
Like it's part of the way
that Mark is writing it
to help us to remember
that this actually happened.
So I'm not going to give an apologetic
about miracles in this sermon once again
just because of time constraints.
But in a very, very real sense,
if this is an historical account
written at a time
when many of the eyewitnesses
were still alive,
this in and of itself
is something that should make
an open-minded person say,
maybe we don't live
in a closed universe.
Maybe there is a God
that does exist.
Maybe there is a personal God.
Because Mark is trying to drive home
that this is something
that actually happened.
So, the next little bit
has actually caused Christians
a lot of trouble.
And it's, in fact,
it's sometimes
I've come across
Jehovah Witnesses
who occasionally
have mentioned this
as an example
of why Jesus isn't God.
It's caused trouble
to Christians as well.
It's a very puzzling thing
that happens
over the next few verses.
And in some ways
what happens
is these little puzzles
that deflect us
from the really big thing
that's going on in the text.
But we have to look at them.
Well, look what goes on.
Verse 27, right?
So, the woman has suffered.
Verse 27,
she had heard the reports
about Jesus
and came up behind him
in the crowd
and touched his garment.
And in the original language,
you might see,
if you ever go to Israel,
you'll see that
more orthodox,
devout Jews,
they'll often have these tassels,
certain colors
on their garments.
And basically,
she just touches
one of the tassels
of the garment.
For she said,
verse 28,
if I touch even his garments,
I will be made well.
And immediately,
the flow of blood dried up
and she felt in her body
that she was healed
of her disease.
And Jesus,
perceiving in himself
that power
had gone out from him,
immediately turned about
in the crowd
and said,
who touched my garments?
And his disciples
said to him,
you see the crowd
pressing around you
and yet you say,
who touched me?
And I tried to bring out
in my way of reading it
is the original language
they rebuked Jesus.
They're putting him down.
Like he's asking
a stupid question.
Duh.
If we were maybe trying
to put it in
more modern Canadian.
Duh.
Like all sorts of people
are touching you.
So like,
you look at this
and you go,
like what's going on?
Like I thought Jesus was God.
How come he didn't know
who's touched him?
And come on,
like what's going on?
Is he like a walking horseshoe?
Is he like a walking rabbit's foot?
A walking,
you know,
lucky charm
and you touch it
and something happens?
Like this is,
like what?
Like what's going on
in this text?
It just seems sort of
not right.
So this is one of
many texts.
It's one of the things
in the text
that it's a very,
very interesting thing
to meditate upon
and to contemplate
because it's a really
good window
into something
that we could
begin to understand
but not really understand
because it's talking
about how it is
that Jesus can be
fully God
and fully human
but one person
and at the same time.
So like,
here's the first thing.
If Jesus never asked
a question,
he wouldn't be human.
If Jesus never asked
a question,
he wouldn't be human.
I mean,
there's a couple
of babies here.
I mean,
you can ask,
you know,
that family over there.
If their baby,
as soon as they learn
the first words,
just starts lecturing them
on the Einstein's
theory of relativity
or,
you know,
if you ask them
what's the,
you know,
if a number
with,
you know,
11 digits
is a prime number
or not
and they can tell you,
you know,
like that would just,
that wouldn't be
a human baby.
Like you'd,
I don't know
what you'd think.
It's some type of,
I don't know
what you'd think.
It's not human.
So if Jesus never
asked a question,
he wouldn't be human.
And it's interesting,
we have a problem
asking this,
like how come
Jesus asked the question?
Isn't he supposed
to be God?
But none of the,
none of the disciples
ask that question.
It's not as if they go,
whoa,
Jesus just asked a question.
What's going on?
No,
they would have been used
to him asking questions
all the time
because human beings
ask questions.
And actually this is
in a very,
very small way.
One of the things
that we just sort of
take for granted
in our Western culture,
we take it for granted
that it's a smart thing
and a wise thing
to ask questions.
But that's actually
partly how we've been formed
at a very deep level
by the Christian faith.
It's not obvious
in Islamic
or Eastern cultures
that it's a virtue
to ask questions.
In those questions,
it's a virtue
to accept,
to just accept.
And so Jesus
is actually grounding
at a very deep level
the importance
of questions.
And he is human.
Now,
the second thing is,
and this is where
the text is a bit
of a mirror
to help us
look at ourselves,
is that part of the reason
we have a hard time
wondering how it is
that Jesus could ask
a question
if he's supposed
to be God
is because
if we were God,
we would only
tell people
what to do.
I mean,
we already,
many of us
already think
we're gods
and we're always right,
but dang it all
if I'm God,
not only would I tell you
all the time,
you want to know
the right view
on what Trudeau
should be doing?
I'm going to tell you.
You're not interested?
You should be interested.
I'm God.
Like,
that's what I would do
all the time.
That's what you would do.
Right?
And so part of this
is,
so part of the problem
is it shows,
in a sense,
the humility of God.
we want to be like God
and are proud.
And if we had the power,
we would be forcing people
to shut up
and listen to us.
And so what the Bible
is revealing here
is that God,
the Son of God,
that it's part of
the big story,
that God,
the Son of God,
sets aside His glory,
His prerogatives,
His appearance as God,
His power as God,
but still maintaining
the fact in nature
that He is God,
but He willingly sets
that all aside
to enter into
our human world
and to take into Himself
our human nature.
And so what that means
is that,
and you can't figure out
the psychology of that,
but what's constantly revealed
then in the Scriptures
is that in a sense,
unlike us,
Jesus lived,
part of His constant temptation
is would He continue
to just trust
that the Father
would reveal to Him
and give Him
the things He needs
as He needs them?
I mean,
that's partly what's going on
with the temptation
by the devil,
which isn't recorded
in Mark,
but it's recorded
in Matthew and Luke,
is that would Jesus
just actually be content
to trust His Father?
If His Father wants Him
to know something,
He'll know something.
But does He want to know?
Does He want to grasp
back that power?
And we're all familiar
with the fact
of curtailing
our power
to be with.
like if you have
young children,
the Sunday school teachers
out there,
I mean,
if you're visiting
your nephew
and your niece
and you play
or you maybe even
wrestle a little bit
with your two-year-old,
one of my children,
no,
I won't tell you the story.
I try not to tell stories
that might embarrass my children
and then you'll all
wonder which one.
But, you know,
if we were playing
with your nephew
and niece,
a little two-year-old,
well, you don't beat them
because you're way stronger
than them.
You curtail your power.
To beat them
is called child abuse, right?
The right type of thing
is you let them
wrestle you to the ground
or her wrestle you
to the ground
and tackle you
and all of that type.
You're just having fun, right?
So we all understand
what it means
to curtail the power
and that's what you're
getting on here with Jesus.
For this particular reason,
the Father didn't want Him
to know.
So now you see something
that He did all the time.
He asked a question
because He's human.
He doesn't know.
And He wants to find out
for a variety of reasons.
And then the other thing,
this weird, weird thing
is that why is it
that Jesus,
why is it that
Jesus,
she just touched Him
and now the text
is very clear.
It sounds as if
if you read it
not very closely,
it sounds as if
somehow her faith
is if faith
is some type of
internal power
that you unleash
and if you unleash
this internal power
then you're healing,
you get healed
and you can do this
and you can do,
no, no, no, no.
The text is very clear
that the power
comes from Jesus.
The woman purely receives.
She doesn't add anything to it.
All she's done
is put herself
in a place
where she can receive
and it all comes
from Jesus.
But what this also
is showing
is it's showing
who Jesus is
in His very nature.
It's showing
who God is
in His very nature.
Give you an example.
Imagine that
maybe one of you folks
we become
very, very good friends
and I happen to discover
as we become friends
that you're very,
very, very generous
but you're especially
generous towards
your friends.
Just very open-handed.
Not clutching at all.
Just very, very open-handed.
And maybe it's something
like I'm going to go
to an area
and there's no parking
and I know that you live
in a certain house
and I'm with
one of you other folks
and I just pull
into the driveway
and park.
And the person
beside me would go,
you can't park
in somebody's driveway.
And I go
and I knock on the door
to see if they're there
and they're not there
and the person beside me
would say,
no, you just can't go
park in their driveway.
Like, what?
But I'd say,
no, no, no, no, no.
I know what they're like
and they're really,
really generous
and they're very generous
towards me
and I know that I can
park in their driveway
even if they're not home.
There'll be no problem.
Just trust me.
There's no problem.
Because you know
what they're like.
And that's what
you're seeing here
about Jesus.
That's what he's like.
He heals.
That's his nature.
And this, by the way,
is very, very mind-blowing
because just you have
to keep remembering
that if you study
the gods and goddesses
of the day,
the gods and the gods
of the gods
and goddesses
of the day,
they lied,
they cheated,
they raped,
they hurt.
They were completely,
they were thin-skinned
and you never knew
if you did something
to offend them
and if you offended them
they would make
your life miserable.
And that's what
the gods and goddesses
are like.
And what you're seeing here
is the real God
and this real God
is radically different
than the other gods.
And it's still even true today
where one of the major religions
of the world,
fundamentally,
that major religion
is a religion
of a warrior,
triumph,
militaristic God.
And the other fundamental option
is a God
that at the end of the day
says there's no difference
between sickness and health
because you're just going to die
and get reborn
and you're just going to die
and get reborn.
And in the face
of such alternatives
you have this radical picture
of a God
whose fundamental nature
is to give you health.
To come into contact with him
is to come into contact
with health.
To come into contact with him
is to come into contact
with life.
To poke this God
is to poke health.
Just constant,
self-giving,
generous,
open-handed.
Like there's that song
The Reckless Love of God.
Just reckless health.
That's who he is
and that's what's being revealed
here in this story.
And her tiniest,
tiniest,
tiniest sliver of faith
and maybe it's mixed
with some superstition,
who knows what,
she can't pass
a theology test,
she can't,
she's never taken,
you know,
theology one
and the nature of God.
She just knows
that if she can just touch him,
she suspects,
she's heard the stories
and she believes it
and she trusts
that he's this type of person
and he can do it
and she does it
and he does all the rest
even if he's not conscious of it.
Now,
the next bit,
you see,
here's one of the things
about the Bible
that we don't often
take it for granted.
we just look at
and we take it for granted
that he's going to act
a certain way.
Partially that's because
the stories like this
have formed
how our culture thinks
even if we reject it
but it's formed
how we think.
But the fact of the matter
is that every single one of us,
some of us more than others,
we are used to put downs.
We are used to being denigrated.
We are used to being dismissed.
It's interesting
if you watch
Raising,
I think it's called
Raising Dion.
It's this thing on Netflix
about an eight-year-old
who develops superpowers.
It's sort of a funny
type of thing.
But one of the main characters
is a very interesting thing
on Netflix
because one of the main characters
is a severely handicapped
young woman,
young girl.
It's very,
very unusual
to have a very severely
handicapped young girl
as one of the stars
of a thing.
And one of the things
which is very interesting
about her
when they're trying to describe
what her superpower is,
she says she's invisible.
Well, why is she invisible?
Because handicapped people
are invisible.
And many of us
are familiar with
what it's like
to be invisible.
And so if you just think
about that for a second,
you'll understand
the drama
that's going on here
in the text.
Look again what happens.
Look at verse 32.
He looked around
to see who had done it,
but the woman,
knowing what had happened to her,
she'd been hiding,
right?
Came in fear and trembling
and fell down before him
and told him the whole truth.
Well, why is she so worried?
She's an invisible woman.
The last 12 years
of her life
have been 12 years
where she's constantly
denigrated,
put down,
kicked to the sideline.
That's the real world
for her.
And if you're here
and that's your real world,
this story's for you.
So he tells him
the old truth.
She's hiding
and hiding and hiding.
She's terrified
that when she comes forward,
he's going to say,
well, I didn't mean
to heal you.
I'm going to take it back.
You know,
really, you?
I thought it would have been
somebody better looking,
hipper, cooler, younger,
has a big Instagram following,
like, I don't know,
influencer.
What does he say,
verse 34?
This is why Jesus
is so radical
and so powerful.
Look at verse 34.
And he said to her daughter,
daughter,
that means,
that's affection.
That's affection.
Daughter,
not invisible woman,
not person I don't care,
not a loser in our culture,
but daughter.
Your faith has made you well.
And that can also be
equally translated
as your faith has saved you.
Go in peace
and be healed
of your disease.
Now, this next part,
my guess is,
I don't know if this room
would be 50-50 on this,
but there's definitely divide.
And we all know who we are.
I would be the type,
and I'm not boasting about this,
this is something
you need to pray
that I get over.
I would be the type,
if it was my daughter,
I'd be saying,
Jesus,
like, don't stop.
Like, my daughter's sick.
Like, don't stop.
Like, I'd be the guy
wanting to grab him,
you know,
by his tassels,
not to be healed,
but to say,
listen, you know,
that woman,
she just don't care about that.
You don't need to know that.
You don't need to know who touched.
I'd be pulling him.
That's the type of person I am.
Some of you type
might be saying,
really?
There's people like that
in the world?
Like, that's like my annoying dad
or my annoying mom
or sister.
Because some of you
would just be very,
very content,
just trusting.
I'm just telling you,
for those of you
who are very, very,
and maybe that's what
Jairus is like,
that he was just very,
very calm.
But for,
so there's two sort of
emotional ways
of understanding
what's just happened.
But for those of you
who are more like me,
who wants to move them along,
get with the program,
Jesus.
That's what I'm thinking.
Don't stop.
You need to go
and you need to get
to my place, right?
And so now he's going
to move on.
But while Jesus
is still speaking,
we don't get told
all the other things
that Jesus says,
but he speaks for a while
about this woman.
Verse 35,
while he was still speaking,
there came from the ruler's house
some who said,
and in the original language,
the implication is
they sort of take
the Jairus aside
and they sort of whisper
into his ear,
your daughter is dead.
And it'd probably be tears,
like me telling you
about Rocky.
Your daughter's dead.
Why trouble a teacher
any further?
But Jesus overhears.
He overhears.
But overhearing
what they said,
Jesus said to the ruler
of the synagogue,
do not fear,
only believe.
Now one of the things
which is very interesting
in the story here
is that we don't wait
to actually see
whether the Jairus
has actually any faith.
Because believe and faith
are sort of the same way
of translating
the same basic word.
I mean,
I'll be honest,
if I was Jairus,
I'd say,
yeah, yeah, yeah,
Jesus, I have faith,
but I don't have any faith.
I have no faith.
And here you actually
get a very,
very powerful window
into what it is.
Remember,
faith is connecting.
That's ultimately
what it is.
It's a power to connect.
And so he actually
probably has
absolutely zero,
all he's done,
he stays connected
to Jesus.
That's the bottom line
about faith.
He stays connected
to Jesus.
He stays connected
to Jesus.
verse 37.
See that,
and Jesus allows
no one to follow him.
The crowd is put away
except Peter and James
and John,
the brother of James.
And they came
to the house
of the ruler
of the synagogue.
So there's now
just Jairus,
Peter,
James,
and John.
They came to the house
of the ruler
of the synagogue
and Jesus saw a commotion,
people weeping
and wailing loudly.
And by the way,
this isn't a bad sign,
that's just how they grieve.
People from that time,
if they came to one
of our funerals,
they'd go,
did they even like
that person?
Like,
they're all just quiet.
Right?
Like,
we'd look at a funeral
and we'd be saying,
are they all mentally ill?
Like,
what's the problem with that?
But they'd be looking
at us and saying,
did they even like
the person?
Just the way they grieve,
that's all.
So they're weeping
and wailing loudly.
Verse 39,
And when Jesus had entered,
he said to them,
Why are you making
a commotion and weeping?
The child is not dead,
but sleeping.
Now,
just sort of pause here.
This has caused
lots of debate
in commentaries
in other circles.
And just to emphasize
that if you could go back
in a time machine
and you had a doctor
with you,
and you could go back
in a time machine
and also get the ability
to understand Aramaic
or Hebrew or Greek
or whatever they're speaking,
the doctor would pronounce
the girl dead.
So Jesus isn't saying,
no, no, no, no,
she's just in a coma.
He's not saying that.
What he's doing
is he's speaking
to the disciples,
he's speaking down the years,
he's speaking to you and me,
and he's giving us
one of the images.
This whole story
is giving us
one of the images,
not all of them,
but one of the images
for us to understand
our own death in Jesus.
And one of the fundamental ways,
one of the fundamental ways
to understand your death in Jesus
if you are in Christ
is that when it comes time
for me to death,
to die in Christ,
I am falling asleep in Christ.
And I can look forward
to the day
when just as Jesus
is about to do
to the young girl,
he's going to say to me,
wake up.
Wake up.
And arise.
That is the Christian hope.
That in the far side of death,
one day,
I am asleep in Christ,
and he will appear,
and he will say,
George,
wake up.
Arise and walk.
And in that new heaven
and in that new earth
with a resurrected body,
I will arise,
and I will walk
in that new heaven
and that new earth,
and I will eat
in that new heaven
and that new earth,
because I will be at home
in that new heaven
and that new earth,
not because of anything in me,
but because of Christ.
Christ.
And that is your destiny
in Christ.
In Christ,
love is stronger
than death.
In Christ,
death does not have
the final word.
In Christ,
life has the final word.
Christ has the final word.
And that final word
is the first word
of the new beginning,
because I will walk
in that new world
and eat and dwell
and be at home
in that new world
with my Savior.
So he doesn't say sleeping
because he thinks
she's asleep.
He says sleeping
so that you and I
can have a powerful
and wonderful image,
one image,
of what it means
to die in Christ.
Verse 40,
and they laughed at him,
made fun of him.
He put them all outside
and took the child's
father and mother
and those who were with him
and went in where the child was
and taking her by the hand.
He said to her,
Talitha Kumi,
which is Aramaic,
a language which doesn't exist
fundamentally anymore,
which means,
little girl,
I say to you,
arise.
And immediately,
the girl got up
and began walking,
for she was 12 years of age
and they were immediately
overcome with amazement
and he strictly charged them
that no one should know this
and told them to give her
something to eat.
Just sort of in closing
about this,
just a couple of things.
I'm going to talk about this
a little bit more next week
because the next text
which immediately comes after this
is a case where Jesus
goes to his hometown
and they look down their nose at him
and they have no faith
and he heals very few people.
So I'm going to talk about this
a little bit more next week,
God willing.
But one of the things
just to say about this
as I'm sort of wrapping it up
is that this gives us Christians,
so first of all,
this is why Christians
invented hospitals
because we're about healing.
We should be.
Now I know we have all sorts of,
you know,
and we're about healing
and we should be praying
that people come up
with better medicines
and we should pray for the sick
and we should pray in faith.
And if you pray in faith
as a Christian,
there's three basic outcomes.
The first outcome is this,
that God,
that Christ might heal
the person you're praying for
miraculously and instantaneously
and probably many of us
have stories of that
actually happening.
The second thing is
sometimes he heals slowly,
a combination maybe of providence
and of things like medicine.
And the third thing is,
and this is the most important,
is that in Christ
he will heal finally
in the resurrection.
The loved one that you have
whose body is racked
with Parkinson's or cancer
and seems to be
but a shadow or a husk
or a grotesque-looking being
far from what you had known
and loved
in Christ
will walk.
The healing is final
and eternal.
The second thing is
that I think all human beings
have an intuition.
I mean, it's very, very funny.
I'm not recommending you watch this,
but if you watch Ricky Gervais'
Three Seasons of Afterlife,
which sometimes is very wise,
sometimes is very funny,
sometimes is just grossly disgusting,
sometimes is filled with hatred
of human beings.
But Ricky Gervais,
who's been an atheist
almost his entire life,
is a very public atheist.
You can really see him
wrestling with the fact
because the whole thing
is about a man
who loves his wife
who dies of cancer
and considers suicide.
And you see there,
he has no categories
to deal with it,
but there's this fundamental intuition
that love should be stronger
than death
and that death
can't really be the end.
And one of the things
that we see in this story
is that that intuition
actually became fact
and walked about in history.
health,
life,
walked among us
and his name is Jesus.
And the second thing
that you can see in this story,
and this shows you
the importance of the cross,
one of the images
that you'll see it
towards the end
of the Gospel of Mark
is just before Jesus
goes to the cross
and I've talked about this before
and I love this image
and hopefully some of you
love this image as well,
is that Jesus is wrestling
with the fact
that when he's dying
upon the cross
that what he's actually doing
is he's taking the cup
from the Father.
And the cup
is this Old Testament image.
And as I've shared
with you before,
what you can picture
is that in a sense
everything about me
that's shameful,
everything about me
that's bad,
everything about me
that is wrong.
And if you could just imagine
an evil wizard
or something like that,
but in this case it's God
who somehow or another
could take all of that evil,
all of that shame
and it would become
this foul,
foul,
disgusting looking liquid
that drips out
and all comes into a cup
and at the end of it
it's almost as if
God would ring me
to make sure
that every single bit
in me
that is proud
and lustful
and envious
and greedy
and hateful
and prejudiced
and everything
in me
from the moment
of my conception
to the moment
of my death,
it's wrung out of me
and it becomes
like a cup
and what you're
to understand
when Jesus dies
upon the cross
is in his death
upon the cross
what you see
is Jesus
drinking your cup.
because he's man
he can drink it
for human beings
and because he is God
he can drink it
for every person
it's as if
he looks around the room
and he sees you
he took the sip
he sees you
he drank the cup
he sees you
he drank the cup
and when you see
Jesus dying
upon the cross
you see him
drinking that cup
and you see
this is a very
very wonderful thing
because in this new heaven
and in this new earth
and this salvation
that you get in Christ
is that young girl
she died
but she
she enters
the realm of death
but at the
Jesus calls her back
from the realm of the dead
to this side of the grave
but she will one day die
Jesus
drinks your cup
and mine
and the cup
of every human being
that he enters
into all there is
to taste of death
and at the end of the day
on the third day
he rises on the far side
of death
having drunk your cup
and that means
that in his death
and resurrection
every single bit
of evil and shame
that you have ever done
or ever will do
he is drunk for you
and when you put
your faith and trust
in him
you are putting
your faith and trust
in the one
who is on that far
side of death
and has drunk
your cup
and it means
there is nothing
that is ever going
to come up
that will so shock him
and make him repulsive
and dismiss you
that he will turn away
from you
the health
and the life
that you have
in Christ
is eternal
you don't have to worry
that something
that something will come out
that will make him
change his mind
it isn't as if
you know in those movies
where you think
you've killed the bad guy
and then you see
the little finger
twitch a tiny bit
and you realize
the monster
hasn't been killed
when you receive
the health from Christ
when you die in Christ
in a sensory in him
there's no twitch
of your old man
it's all consumed
all dealt with
in the cross
and you share
in his resurrection
brothers and sisters
that's my hope
that is a Christian hope
I am by nature
a marsh wiggle
if I had a patron saint
whose name would be
Puddle Glum
I am not a natural optimist
but that is the Christian hope
that is my hope
and my prayer is
that that will be
more and more
your hope
please stand
if you're here
if you're watching
I just want to say to you
the story about
what Jesus did
to that woman
there is nobody
so bad
or so dismissed
or so invisible
that Jesus doesn't see you
and he didn't die
for you as well
nobody
and all you have to do
is just say
Jesus
be my savior
and my lord
be my health
and my healing
and thank you
that you will never
let me go
and he will hear
your call
and your prayer
and he will make
you his
let's bow our heads
in prayer
father thank you
so much
that Jesus
loved us so much
thank you father
that he in humility
and in love
was willing to set aside
his prerogatives
and his glory
and his power
as God
to come amongst us
to be Emmanuel
to be God with us
to be with us
in our mess
only without sin
thank you
thank you that he
knows us so perfectly
and loves us so perfectly
and so deeply
and thank you father
that you don't weigh
our merits
that you know
every single one
of our offenses
and that when we put
our faith and trust
in Jesus
that every one
of those offenses
is gone
and that you clothe us
father
in Jesus'
perfect life
that you clothe us
in his health
in his life
in his light
in his goodness
in his mercy
in his justice
that that's how
you clothe us
and it's all father
an act of grace
which is so remarkable
and so deep
and so wide
and so thick
that we desperately
need to come together
once a week
to be reminded of it
because it so easily
flits from our mind
it is so big
and yet so real
and we thank you
that you offer it
to people like us
and father
we ask that you
fan into flame
with us
an ever deeper
hope in Jesus
as our hope
of glory
our hope
of life
our hope
of health
that he is our hope
and help us
to bear witness
to that
in a culture
which has closed
its ears
but you still
have those father
who want
that you know
you are calling
to yourself
and help us father
to bear witness
to Jesus
and we ask this
in the name of Jesus
your son
and our savior
amen