Reflection on Mark 5:21-43

Mark 5:21-43

21When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. 22Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 23and begged him repeatedly, “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.” 24So he went with him.

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. 25Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. 26She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. 27She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” 29Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” 31And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32He looked all around to see who had done it. 33But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

35While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” 36But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. 38When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40And they laughed at him. Then 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. 41He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” 42And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. 43He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Reflection

When you are with Jesus, it is never too late.

I want you to say that with me so that it can soak into your very soul.  “When you are with Jesus, it is never too late”

I know that this is a hard idea to wrap your head around, because in this world there is ample opportunity to be too late.  I once officiated a wedding anniversary celebration and the couple had arranged a young woman to sing during the vow renewal ceremony.  The young woman had a great voice and was a beloved niece. 

Well, as it turned out, the young woman accidentally slept through her alarm clock that morning, ran into heavy traffic along the way, and had to take a shower quickly at the hotel so that she would be presentable before the crowd.  As the crowd was mingling and eating after the ceremony, she burst through the door and asked if she would still be able to sing.  Some people were already packing up and leaving the event.  Unfortunately, it was too late.  I felt bad for her, but she was too late. 

However, when you are with Jesus, it is never too late.

We still worry that it is too late though.  Certainly, Jairus feared that it might be too late.  At first, all seemed hopeful when the synagogue leader first came to Jesus and fell at his feet.  Jairus begged Jesus: “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” (Mark 5:23).  Immediately, Jesus went with Jairus, presumably to heal his beloved, young daughter.

Unfortunately, Jairus’ hope soon fell apart when the streets, like the traffic along the way to the anniversary celebration, were congested with many, many people, making the journey to save the little girl painfully slow.  The little girl’s chance of survival was going down with every wasted second.

And, it was right at that point when it happened: Jesus became distracted.

As the crowds pressed close to Jesus on all sides along the congested street, Jesus suddenly shouted, “Who touched my clothes?”  Jairus did not need to say anything to Jesus concerning this distraction because the disciples were already on top of it.  They were acutely aware that Jesus had been distracted from what was important.

“You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’” the disciples retorted (Mark 5:31).  Listening to their words, you feel their sense of urgency to get Jesus moving in the right direction so that the little girl might be saved.

Despite trying their hardest to get him back on task, the disciples failed as Jesus stopped and looked all around to see who had touched him.  The little girl’s chances were looking grim.

Who had touched him was a grown woman who, over the past twelve years, had sought healing from various doctors.  She had bled continuously for every one of those twelve years.  I know the embarrassment of teens that accidentally bleed through their clothes in school during class.  Talk about getting distracted from an expected task.  I cannot imagine twelve years worth of that constant embarrassment, not to mention the pain associated with it.  The pain is bad enough once a month.  Can you imagine twelve years worth of that pain?  Twelve years is a long, long time; almost too long.  Some would say that it is too late to even worry about trying to do something about it.  “You just need to learn to live with it,” they would advise.

But, when you are with Jesus, it is never too late.

Reaching out in faith, the woman said to herself, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.”  After-all, he was the healer that everyone had been talking about.  He was the one whose power she sought.  After years of medical failures and the needless draining of her money, she stretched her hand forward in desperation.  Or, was it trust.  Or was it both?  Sometimes desperation and trust are exactly the same.

Stretching out her fingers through the mass of moving bodies ahead of her; through arms and legs, she touched his cloak for just the briefest of moments, trusting that she would find her healing. 

Immediately, her pain was gone.  She was well.  After all of those years, the power that Jesus held within made her well.

When you are with Jesus, it is never too late.

As Jesus searched the crowd for the one who had stolen his power, the woman came to Jesus, dropped to the ground as Jairus had just done moments before, and confessed the whole truth.  She confessed her years of pain.  She confessed her theft of Jesus’ healing power.  She confessed her hope that touching even his clothes might make her well.  She “told him the whole truth” (Mark 5:33).

Looking at the woman, looking at that pitiful thief of divine power, Jesus responded to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease” (Mark 5:34).  She was healed.  More than that, she was considered a daughter.  She was free to live her life.  She was free to live in peace with Jesus, just as God had always intended for God’s children.

When you are with Jesus, it is never too late.

Or is it?

“Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” (Mark 5:35).  The echo of a lost opportunity and a lost little girl bounced against the walls of the street for all to hear.  It was too late.  As wonderful as the healing of this older woman was, and it was wonderful, it was at the expense of a young, innocent life.  Jairus’ daughter was dead.  It was too late.

Or was it?

“Do not fear, only believe,” Jesus said to Jairus, the leader of the synagogue, the dead girl’s dear father (Mark 5:36).

Jesus deeply wants Jairus, and us, to hear the message:  “Trust me, it is never too late.”

When you are with Jesus, it is never too late.

When they arrived at the house, people were already gathered there, weeping and wailing their loud laments.  Jesus told them all that the child was not dead, but only sleeping.  But, they knew the reality.  They were present when it all went down, and he was not.  The little girl was gone.  She was dead.  Jesus was too late.  They laughed in his face.  The man was obviously crazy.  What they did not understand is that “when you are with Jesus, it is never too late.”

Jesus, exasperated by those who were convinced that it was too late, forced those who were laughing to go outside. 

Those who constantly insist that it is too late are not permitted to be present when Jesus does his work.  After-all, they are the ones who look at the wayward child and say, “It is too late.”  They are the ones who look at the faltering relationship and say, “It is too far gone.  It is too late.”  They are the ones who see someone’s health declining and tragically declare, “Just consider them dead.  It is too late.”  They are the ones who look at the limp body of the unrepentant sinner while in the funeral receiving line and think to themselves, “They were a lost soul.  It is too late.”  They are the ones who would give up hope, give up on providing another chance, and just plain give up.

As convincing as these people can be, and as much influence as they often wield, when you are with Jesus, they are wrong.  When you are with Jesus, it is never too late.

When you are with Jesus, pain does not win in the end.  Sin does not win in the end.  Death does not win in the end.  When you are with the one who rose from the dead, the one who dragged our sin and pain into the grave with him, and then left it there as he climbed back out of that grave into new life on the third day; when you are with that one it is never too late.

“[Jesus] took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was.  He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!”  And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement.  He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat” (Mark 5:40-43).

When Jesus was with the woman who suffered pain for twelve years, it was not too late. 

When Jesus was with the young girl who had died, it was not too late. 

When Jesus walks with you, even when the struggle seems too great, it is not too late. 

When you are with Jesus, it is never too late.

Reflection on Mark 4:35-41

 

Mark 4:35-41

35When evening had come, [Jesus said to the disciples,] “Let us go across to the other side.” 36And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Reflection

I once had lunch with a retired naval officer who sipped at a coffee while talking about “confused seas.”  He explained that “confused seas” are different from a normal, sea with high waves.  “In a normal sea with high waves, all you have to do is turn the boat so that the front of the boat is facing the waves head on,” he explained, “allowing the boat to cut through and go over the top of the waves without fear of toppling the boat on its side.”  He explained that though a sea with huge waves can, indeed, be a scary thing, it is a situation that can be handled by a good helmsman. 

“But, a confused sea is different,” he continued.  “A confused sea occurs when a storm causes waves to come at the boat from multiple directions.”  Setting his coffee down he talked about how it is difficult, if not impossible; to keep the boat facing the waves head on because it takes so long to turn a larger boat.  The boat starts to become tossed from side to side, threatening to swamp, topple, and sink the boat.  If it is fear that creeps in when experiencing the ups and downs of high waves, it is terror that soaks into your very core when confronted with a storm of confused seas.  “Navigating confused seas were the most terrifying moments of my service in the navy, and that includes getting shot at” the retired naval officer told me as he resumed sipping his coffee.

I had never sailed on the ocean, so I had to take his word for it.  Now every time that I read this story from the gospel of Mark about Jesus and the disciples on a stormy sea, I think about the terror that the retired naval officer shared.  I imagine “confused seas” causing the disciples to work like they have never worked before at the oars, trying to keep the boat afloat.  I imagine some other disciples trying frantically to bale water out of the boat.  They are all trying to keep it together in a situation that is far from being together.  They are trying to create order in a situation that is completely filled with the waters of chaos.  And, I image their feeble attempts to save themselves having little to no affect.  Water spills into the boat as soon as a pale of water is thrown out.  The boat gets hit from the side immediately after cutting properly through a wave at the front.  Sometimes, we simply cannot bring order to chaos.

“Why is this happening to me?” she asked as she struggled to come to terms with the fact that the cancer had come back just months after losing her husband to the same.  “The bills are out of control.  The funeral was expensive and unexpected.  And, now more of this?  I could handle the cancer the first time.  He was by my side and we worked through it together.  But now, how can I even pay to get to my treatments?  Why is this happening to me?  What did I do wrong to deserve this?  Does God care about me?”

And, there it was.  “Does God care about me?”  I could not blame her for asking the question.

You see, we can handle one large wave, especially if we see it coming and can prepare.  If we are surrounded by other people, it is even easier to tackle one wave in life, even if it is a huge one.  She could handle her first round of cancer, with her husband by her side.  But, there are times in life when one problem leads to another, which leads to another, and it is all just a catastrophe of problems. 

It makes me think of a video that I watched the other day which showed a woman taking hamburgers from the grill and putting them on a plate when she is unexpectedly attacked by a hornet.  This causes the woman to throw her arms above her head, allowing the burgers to soar into the pool behind.  The act of throwing up her hands makes her stumble down the steps directly behind her, which causes her to reach for the handle of the grill.  With this, the smoking, hot grill obediently follows her down the steps into the pool.  As the grill sinks, steam rising from the water, and as she swims to safety, we hear a child shout from behind the security camera, “I’m hungry, Mommy.  Are the burgers done yet?”

The video is hilarious, but it acutely illustrates for us how chaos can quickly devolve into a confused sea.  When the winds blow and the waves of life get confused, when the hardships of life start to pile on and come from every direction, we start to sink, unable to create order from the chaos.  And, it causes us to join the disciples in asking Jesus, “Don’t you care?”

Even though the question is a natural one, a question that any one of us could utter when the storms of life converge and create an impossible chaos, it is also a question that can lead us in an unhelpful direction.  It can lead us to think that God has abandoned us. 

To those who have ever felt like God has abandoned them, I want you to note that in Mark’s story of the stormy sea, Jesus can be found in the boat the entire time.  He is there when the disciples run to Jesus and ask, “Don’t you care?”  The Bible is clear that Jesus is in the boat the entire time.  Jesus does not leave his followers when the going gets impossible, nor does he abandon them.

Granted, Jesus is asleep, and life can definitely get to the point where it feels like Jesus is asleep, but do not forget that he is right there in the boat the entire time.  When you are struggling with the rough seas of a chaotic life, Jesus is right there the entire time.

And, after approaching Jesus, and screaming, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” the disciples see Jesus rise and hear him say to the strong winds and the chaotic sea, “Peace!  Be still!”

Technically, the Bible literally says that Jesus “woke up and put a muzzle on the wind.”  It is as if the chaotic wind and sea is a terrible monster that needs its mouth bound with leather straps and chains.  It is as if Jesus is able to create a dry island of peace in the middle of the chaotic waters with a few simple words in the same way that God does at the beginning of creation where the words “let there be…” bring dry land and vibrant life in the middle of a watery, chaotic universe.  It is as if Jesus is God, standing right there with the disciples in the middle of their chaos, creating peace and sustaining life when they cry out and ask.

“Why are you afraid?  Have you still no faith?” Jesus asks the disciples.  It is an answer to their question; the question that started to lead them in the wrong direction in their life of faith; the question that asked, “Don’t you care?”  “Don’t you trust me?” Jesus asks.

Now, there are questions that I cannot answer for you this morning.  I cannot answer why the storms are allowed to get so bad.  I cannot answer why Jesus is asleep during the storm.  I do not know the answer to either of those questions.  But, what I do know is that Jesus is right there in the boat, in our boat, when confronted with confused seas.  What I do know is that Jesus wakes when we approach.  What I do know is that “Don’t you care?” is not a helpful question.  What I do know is that even though we ask, “Don’t you care?” Jesus does still care and speaks peace to our storms. 

What I do know is that Jesus cares more than we can possible imagine.  What I do know is that Jesus cares so much that he is willing to go all the way to a cross and die on it in order to give us an eternal peace.  What I do know is that Jesus can create life after the cross and after the chaos.  What I do know is that Jesus does care.

“My husband visited last night,” the woman suffering from cancer a second time said one morning as she sat up in her hospital bed, a line in her arm, dripping her treatment.  “It was probably a dream, but then again, I don’t think it was.  I mean, he was right here on the side of the bed.  He didn’t say anything, but he did rub my hair and cheek.  He smiled at me, and then, I don’t remember what happened then.  He was gone.  I think that God knew that I needed that.  I think that God does care after-all.” 

When life becomes a confusing sea, Jesus is there in the boat, and Jesus does care.

Reflection on Mark 4:26-34

I was supposed to be a girl.  Do not worry; I am not undergoing a gender identity crisis.  What I mean to say is that my parents expected me to be born as a girl.  My parents had already had their boy, and in their two child family plan, I was supposed to come out as their beautiful, delicate, baby girl.  Of course, God has a way of taking our plans, looking them over, and completely ignoring them.  Thus, a baby boy named Jira was born.  I guess that when you unexpectedly get a baby boy, you name him “Jira.” 

Now, I do not know what the girl version of me was supposed to be when she grew up; maybe a teacher, maybe a nurse, or maybe a highly paid lawyer who could give her parents a nice retirement?  Who God created in the end was a rural pastor, named in such a way as no one even knew if he was a man or a woman before he arrived.  And, with a wife with a name that looks a lot like Randal on paper (her name is spelled Randele), as I understand, that did not help the whole gender situation any.  This is all to say, that I have been unexpected for much of my life.

But, God is able to use those who are completely unexpected.  Yes, every once and a while God can even use me; as flawed as I may be. 

What I mean to say is that the kingdom of God functions in ways that we do not expect at all.  Jesus describes the kingdom of God as being like a mustard seed that was scattered and sown into the ground.  The kingdom of God is like a tiny seed that grows into a large shrub that many people would classify as a weed. 

Just thirty years after Jesus’ death, Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History says this about mustard: “it is extremely beneficial for the health. It grows entirely wild, though it is improved by being transplanted: but on the other hand when it has once been sown it is scarcely possible to get the place free of it, as the seed when it falls germinates at once." 

In other words, it sprouts quickly and grows and expands quickly, and it endures forever and ever.  It sounds a lot like the thistle in my yard that I have been battling forever and ever.  If you try to destroy it or mow over it, it spreads as far as the mower can throw the pieces.  And, then it grows into these enormously tall plants in which the bees rest and the gold finches perch.

Jesus says that the kingdom of God is exactly like that!  Jesus says that the kingdom of God is like the mustard seed.  It has humble, tiny beginnings, but it soon grows out of control, housing animal in its shade.  But, those who struggle with taming mustard do not appreciate its shade nor do they harvest its yield, rather they wonder if it the bush is beneficial at all?  Many view it as simply a noxious weed. 

But, what we think about it as it grows and spreads means nothing.  It is what God thinks about it that truly matters.  And, God uses the mustard shrub as a home in which the birds can grow and do bird things. 

We are the same.  People may look at us and wonder if we are simply a weed.  Or, we may look at others and wonder the same.  But, God uses even the most unexpected of us to be someone through whom others find a friend and find a home. 

The kingdom of God is offered by Jesus as a home to both those who we expect, and for those who we may not expect.  It is a weedy sort of home where we can all grow together and experience Godly things. 

All of this goodness is unexpected.  God does things in the most unexpected of ways and through the most unexpected of characters.

It is almost as if someone spreads seeds all over the place, not knowing where it is all going to fall.  And, it is almost as if that person, as Jesus teaches, goes to sleep, and then goes about his day not knowing what the seed is going to do or where it is going to sprout. 

But, mysteriously, the seed does sprout and grow; “first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.”  Now, as it grows, it does not come into full bloom all at once, it takes time.  But, this seed of God, this good news of God, does eventually grow everywhere, bearing big heads of grains, which are good as food, which are life-giving, and which are able to fall into the ground and grow more and more.

What that all means is that God’s truth and God’s love is planted in unexpected places and within unexpected people.  But, because it is planted everywhere, and it is invasive, it spreads! 

Who would have ever thought that a 15 year old blind child would improve the lives of millions of people for centuries to come?  But, after Louis Braille was blinded at age three by an accident in his father’s harness making shop, God used that child while he was just 15 years old to develop a system of code that a blind person can feel, in order to read.  He was 15 years old.  Who would have ever thought?  But, God made it happen.  God grows goodness in unexpected places.

Who would have ever thought that the single most important spreader of the gospel of Jesus Christ would be an evil man who used his influence and authority to persecute Christians and have them killed?  But, the Apostle Paul was chosen by God to be a bearer of the good news of Jesus Christ.  A murderer of Christians became the champion of Christians.  Who would have thought?  But, God made it happen.  God grows goodness in unexpected places.

And, who would have thought that a faulty, imperfect guy that was supposed to be a rich female lawyer would be standing in front of you, talking about the unexpected ways of the God’s love and God’s kingdom?  Who would have ever thought?  But, it is happening as I speak.  You could say that God grows goodness in really unexpected places.

You are no different.  In you I see someone upon whom Jesus’ seed of grace has fallen and taken root.  As impossible as it may seem, God’s word of grace has grown in you.  And it has endured, bearing fruit, even through the terrible days. 

God’s seed of grace has grown in you, even during the dark times of your struggles.  The grace of Jesus has endured and grown in you anyway. 

Maybe, the dark days made that grace grow even stronger, reaching ever higher, like a weed that is overshadowed by a taller plant, so it must stretch even higher to see the sun?  Maybe the dark days made your grace grow stronger, or maybe it did not.  Maybe, that grace is still little, like the small shoot of a plant bursting from the soil, just at the beginning of growth.  But, it is there none-the-less because Jesus is generous when planting in us his truth and his grace.  We have seeds of the kingdom spread all around us and in us, and like a weed, it sprouts up everywhere.

Maybe, the grace of Jesus Christ is sprouting in you right now?  Maybe, God is using you as a noxious bush which secretly provides life and protects life under your branches?  Maybe, God is using you in a way that helps a person, or creature of God’s creation, to know that they are loved with an unconditional love?  Maybe, God is using you to support someone in an unconditional way?  Maybe, God is using you to give a second and third and fourth chance through that persistent, weed-like forgiveness of Jesus Christ?  Maybe, God is using you to touch someone’s life, allowing them to grow into the grace-filled person or being that God has created them to be? 

Maybe, you look like a weed to the outside world.  It does not matter what the outside world thinks.  The only thing that matters is what God thinks.  And, God has planted God’s seed of grace and truth in you.  God has planted in you the self-less love seen on the cross of Jesus Christ.

Maybe, weedy as you may be, you are already walking with Jesus in the kingdom of God.

Reflection on 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

2 Corinthians 4:13—5:1

¹³But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—“I believed, and so I spoke” —we also believe, and so we speak, ¹⁴because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. ¹⁵Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. ¹⁶So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, ¹⁸because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

5For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Reflection

When Gloria Gaither wrote the hymn, “Because He Lives,” there was so much turmoil in Gloria’s life and in the world.  Her husband was weak from an illness.  On top of that, they were struggling while trying to navigate the very first divorce within their extended family (remember that the 1960s was a time when divorce was still rare, especially for Christians).  On top of that, racial issues were brewing across the nation and hatred could be easily found.  On top of that, the Vietnam War was raging, leaving the nation in polarized disagreement concerning the bloodshed.  The mound of turmoil was almost too much for a young mother to comprehend, especially when she sat and wondered if it was fair for her and her husband to bring another child into such a broken and dying world.  Will there be a tomorrow for them?  Even if there is a tomorrow, will it worth fighting for?

While expressing her concern and frustration, a devoted pastor and friend allowed her to hear and see things in a different light.  He simply stated that forces of evil were behind it all, but God was still active.  Gloria and her husband were drawn to the words of 2 Corinthians which encouraged them to “[trust] that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence” (2 Corinthians 4:14).

If the horrors of the external world did not keep Jesus buried in the ground, then there is reason to have faith!  If God the Father chose to raise Jesus from the dead, bringing him back into this world then surely God still cares about the world and will “raise us also with Jesus.”  Gloria Gaither said, “It dawned on us that the Resurrection is a true thing. It’s true in every situation.”

You can hear the building trust in Jesus’ resurrection in the hymn, “Because He Lives.”  And, as you sing, you can feel the trust growing, which believes that he will raise us too.  The Lord will raise us up, right here and now whenever we fall, and at the very end.  That trust is infused in the hymn, “Because He Lives.” 

Take note that “Because He Lives” is the Gaither’s only hymn to be translated into nearly every language across the world.  The reason is pretty clear; the song has the ability to deliver to anyone, anywhere, the very simple gospel message that sin, death, and the devil do not get the final word.  Because we trust that God is able and willing to redeem us and resurrect us, we can boldly sing:

G                        G7               C

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,

                     G                      D

Because He lives, all fear is gone;

                 G C G                     C

Because I know He holds the future,

                G

And life is worth the living,

D                         G      C  G

Just because He lives!

The truth of the matter is that the world is the world.  The world has always been the world.  The troubles of the world have always mounded up against us.  Anxiety has filled the hearts of mothers for a long, long time.  We hear that anxiety even in the gospel of Luke: “Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people” (Luke 21:23).

During WWII, when the world appeared to falling to pieces for good and while bombs were falling all around, theologian Paul Tillich was struck by the sight of a mother, sheltering low in a military foxhole, holding a child close.  As bullets whizzed by, she was breastfeeding her baby.  The sight confounded him.  How did that young mother not give up?  How could she be so convinced that there was a future for her and her child?

But, inexplicably, she did not lose heart.  Life was worth the living.  She fed her child as people died around her, and she did not lose heart.  For Tillich, the image of that woman and baby became the living expression of what the apostle Paul expressed: “We do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).  Somehow, that woman knew that there might be a tomorrow, so she fed her baby, trusting it to be so.

And, though the world seems to be falling apart, along with our own bodies, God’s Spirit is blows into us, renewing us, recreating us and giving us life, not only after we die, but also right now, “day by day” as Paul says.  “So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16). 

And, we trust that to be so.  We trust that each day is a new day, a new life, with new possibilities.  We trust that we are forgiven by God each day through Jesus’ death and resurrection, and that we can start each new day as if we had just been born again.  We trust this because we know that Jesus lives.

G                        G7               C

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,

                     G                      D

Because He lives, all fear is gone;

                 G C G                     C

Because I know He holds the future,

                G

And life is worth the living,

D                         G      C  G

Just because He lives!

Somehow that woman knew that what was happening to her in that war zone was temporary, and that there might yet be a future. 

The Apostle Paul assures us, “For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

For Paul, faith is a type of blind trust in the Lord; where we take a step forward even though the crumbling world appears to be telling us that taking a step forward would be foolish or unwise.  We do it anyway, because Jesus took a step forward in love and compassion toward death on a cross.  There is no doubt that willingly going to the cross was certainly foolish by the world’s standards, but that sort of trust in God the Father by Jesus allowed the salvation of the entire world. 

Just to be clear, that blind sort of faith that Paul is talking about is not a blind trust in religious institutions or religious figures.  I want zero people to put their trust in me.  Just the other day, I ventured from my office, up the stairs, and toward the sanctuary in order to get the communion elements so that I could do visitations.  When I returned back down the stairs to my office, I noticed that I had a mini Hershey’s Kiss in my hand, but no communion elements.  I said it just a few weeks ago, and I will say it again, do not put your faith in this guy.  Obviously, I follow my stomach more than I follow the Lord. 

But, putting our faith in the Lord is so different.  Biblically, having “faith” in the Lord is having complete “trust” in the Lord.  Faith is trusting that the Lord holds the future, even when the future looks bleak and impossible.  It is trusting that Jesus can actually live in someone like us, even if we seem weak and our bodies frail.  It is trusting that Jesus can use someone like us to love and forgive, even when it is hard.  It is trusting that Jesus will be able to reorient our self-focused bodies and minds someway and somehow towards serving others.  Faith is trembling and stumbling forward without even knowing that it is forward toward the Lord that we stumbles.

The Apostle Paul declares: “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

And, we can stumble into our uncertain futures because the truth is that we walk in a different world.  Others walk in this world, being driven by fear and anxiety.  Others walk in this world, oblivious to the fact that they are destroying it as they go.  Others walk in this world, oblivious to the fact that they are stepping on people as they go. 

But, Jesus allows us to see the world differently.  It is like we walk in a different world.  It is like we have been put into a world where we look around and notice the distinct absence of the desires of the world.  They have passed away.  Instead, we look around and see the will of God.  We see people who need God’s love and the Lord causes us to reach out in hope of a new future.  We see things in creation which need God’s care and the Lord causes us to reach out in hope of a better tomorrow.  “So we do not lose heart,” Paul says to us.  “Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).

This new way of walking in the world is very simply described in 1 John where we are told that “the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever” (1 John 2:17).  The Lord allows us to see the world in a different way, an eternal way, and it is life giving.  Because he lives, we can have hope.  Because he lives, we can walk into the future.  Because he lives, we can be led in his ways.

G                        G7               C

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,

                     G                      D

Because He lives, all fear is gone;

                 G C G                     C

Because I know He holds the future,

                G

And life is worth the living,

D                         G      C  G

Just because He lives!

And, with that, I leave you with a blessing.  It is a blessing that I hope that you take with you and share as you walk in this world.

“O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.” – Eric Milner-White