“The hem of
his garment”
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A sermon preached Readings: Psalm
130; Mark 5:24b-34
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The Church of England is
currently being rocked by controversy
over the appointment of an openly gay Bishop.
The Book of Leviticus has been
much quoted in some conservative quarters
– especially Lev 20:15, which states categorically
that homosexual activity should be punishable by death.
We need as a Church to reflect
carefully
on what a Gospel of love and acceptance has to say
about gay relationships.
We don’t have time to explore all
that this morning –
but as and when we do,
I hope that we won’t base our views on any over simplistic reading out of the
Book of Leviticus –
that would land us in all kinds of trouble.
Two or three years ago, a lady called Dr Laura Schlessinger
used a Canadian radio show to argue a strongly homophobic message
based on the literal interpretation of Leviticus.
Someone posted a tongue in cheek letter to her on the web
which showed the ludicrous results of trying to adopt Levitical
law in modern society:
Thank you for doing so much to educate
people regarding God's Law. …
I do need some advice from you, however,
regarding some of the specific laws and how to best follow them.
a) When I burn a bull on the altar as a
sacrifice,
I know it creates a pleasing odour for the Lord (Lev 1:9).
The problem is my neighbours. They claim the odour is not pleasing to them.
Should I smite them?
b) I would like to sell my daughter into
slavery,
as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7.
In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
c) Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed
possess slaves,
both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighbouring nations.
A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians.
Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
d) I have a neighbour who insists on
working on the Sabbath.
Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death.
Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?
e)
Lev 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God
if I have a defect in my sight.
I have to admit that I wear reading glasses.
Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?
f) I know from Lev 11:6-8 that touching
the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean,
but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
g) A friend of mine feels that even
though eating shellfish is an Abomination (Lev 11:10),
it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality (Lev 18:22).
I don't agree. Can you settle this?
I know you have studied these things
extensively, so I am confident you can help.
Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.
Thankfully I don’t know anyone
who tries to keep the laws of Leviticus as written.
I therefore get a bit worried
when people pick out one bit of Levitical law about
human sexuality
and try to apply that neat to the 21st century whilst ignoring the
rest.
We are after all called to live
our lives not according to Levitical law
but according to the Gospel.
And Jesus shows clearly that the
Gospel fulfils the law,
and in so doing goes way way beyond what the old law
said.
Which
brings us to our Gospel reading for today which is –
among other things – about Jesus and the Levitical
law.
On his way to heal Jairus’ daughter,
Jesus meets a woman who suffers from a permanent haemorrhage –
in other words, her menstrual bleeding,
instead of being a monthly occurrence,
has been continuous for many years.
Now lets go back to the Book of
Leviticus (Lev 15:19-24) -
which in Jesus’ day was still seen as normative.
Leviticus is very clear about the woman’s condition –
she is deemed permanently unclean.
Not only must other people not touch her,
they may not even touch things she has touched –
if they do they must ritually wash both themselves
and the clothes they were wearing at the time.
Why does the Levitical
law make rules like this??
Because it is concerned with holiness –
if you are to be holy, the argument goes,
you must guard against contamination.
So now you see the predicament of
the woman in the story.
She is ritually unclean –
people who knew her condition would no more touch her
than would the Priest or Levite touch a potentially dying man
on the road to Jericho –
So she is hardly going to go up
to the great rabbi Jesus
and ask him for a healing touch –
according to the rules, even after washing
he would be debarred from the Synagogue for the rest of the day.
He’d be bound to recoil from her
and the whole thing would be futile and hugely embarrassing.
But like Baldrick,
she has a cunning plan -
she will just touch the hem of his cloak as he passes.
No one will realize what has happened.
But Jesus does realize -
and amazingly in the midst of this rugby scrum of people
jostling in the crowded street he asks “Who touched me?”
And the poor woman is suddenly
centre stage
waiting for the rabbi to throw the Book at her.
But he doesn’t– he neither
retreats nor criticises
rather he is kind and gentle to this marginalized lady -
and even though we know the healing came from Jesus’ power,
he even gives her the credit –
“Your faith has made you whole”.
This is the power of Jesus to
heal and to reconcile –
even the hem of his cloak can transform our lives –
and the offer is for all.
The police are currently on high alert to protect Prince
William
from terrorists and comedians intruding into his life –
and doubtless with some good reason.
But thank God that the Prince of Peace had no such minders –
or when he did, he rebuked them with
“Let the little children come unto me”
So, to those of you leaving
Exeter and the Mint this week
and striding off into the melee of life, here is the Gospel –
·
However your life goes,
·
whatever you become – or fail to become
·
however proud or ashamed you may ultimately be
of what you make of life
·
whatever your physical or mental health,
your sexual orientation or personality
God loves and accepts you and
will always make you welcome..
Everywhere is holy ground if you
will be reach out -
just touch the hem of his robe and your life will be transformed.
This is the promise of the Gospel
–
but as always the Gospel also has a challenge with the promise –:
Promise: you are loved and accepted,
Challenge: so you are called to love and accept others.
Here is something written by a nurse looking back on her
student days:
“During my second month of nursing
school,
our tutor gave us a mid term test.
I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions,
until I read the last one:
"What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"
Surely this was some kind of joke!
I had seen the cleaning woman several times.
She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50's,
but how would I know her name?
I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank.
Before class ended, one student asked
if the last question would really count toward our test grade.
"Absolutely", said the tutor,
"In your careers you will meet many people.
All are significant and they deserve your attention and care,
even if all you do is smile and say Hello."
I've never forgotten that lesson.
I also learned her name was Dorothy.”
Those of you who have just taken your
finals –
never lose your perspective on what are the really important questions in life
–
the really important things to know.
Maybe some of you leaving this place
may become numbered amongst the great and the good –
but heaven forbid you ever think yourself too great or too good for others.
Jesus, you may recall, was waylaid
dealing with the woman with the haemorrhage
whilst on his way to Jairus’ house to heal his
daughter.
Jairus
was President of the Synagogue –
the local religious big cheese –
he would certainly have had nothing to do with the menstruating woman –
he was after all the very man who was responsible for upholding the purity laws
and keeping the tainted people away.
But Jesus pauses on his way to Jairus’ to deal with
this “unclean” woman.
And do you see the wonderful irony here?
Jesus is now (in Jairus’
eyes) unclean,
defiled, because he has been touched by an unclean woman.
But Jairus needs Jesus to touch his daughter who has
by now died –
there is no other hope left.
And so Jairus, the Synagogue President, allows the
“unclean” Jesus
to do what he would not normally have permitted in a month of Sabbaths –
he allows him to touch his beloved daughter in her hour of need.
So it is not only the daughter who is
healed, but her father too -
as he discovers that love and acceptance for his darling daughter
goes hand in hand – literally hand in hand –
with love and acceptance of all God’s children,
even the marginalized and outcasts.
We never quite know how and when Jesus
will touch and heal:
·
for some that healing is quiet and
private,
for others almost painfully public
·
for some it is the healing of physical
ills,
for others the healing of divided communities and broken relationships
·
for
some healing comes in this life,
for others (like Jairus’ daughter) healing has to
wait until after physical death.
But in his own
way and in his own time
there comes to every one of us
the man of Nazareth
to heal and to save.
So to those who leave the University and
the Mint this week,
Who knows what the future has in store?
Perhaps you will end up at the heart of high society,
or clinging to the margins of low life –
But know this – wherever you go, God goes
with you.
Just touch the hem of his garment and he will heal and save.
Then when on life’s journey
you are rushing past the needy and marginalized,
I hope and pray you will pause and offer them
that love and acceptance which Christ has given to you –
So
may you receive and share God’s richest blessing -
both on earth below and finally in heaven above.
May God go with you – and us all – now and always.