This morning the lectionary readings contained what might be said to be an over-familiar passage, so I decided that instead of reading it and then preaching on it at Belfast South this morning, I would retell it as a monologue by Jairus in the light of the leactionary Psalm. So here it is...
Old Testament Reading
Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive to
my cry for mercy.
If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord,
who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness, so
that we can, with reverence, serve you.
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and
in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord more
than watchmen wait for the morning,
more
than watchmen wait for the morning.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for
with the Lord is unfailing love and
with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel from
all their sins.
Psalm 130 (NIV-UK)
Gospel Reading
Now when Jesus
returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue
leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about
twelve, was dying.
Luke 8: 40-41
My Beloved Little Lamb
I was down in the depths and time was of
the essence. He was our last chance. We had tried everything else… but she just
kept getting worse and worse… I didn’t go to him lightly… I’ve got my position
to think of. As a leader in the synagogue you can’t give credence to these
itinerant wonderworking rabbis… Most of them are charlatans. And whilst we had
heard about all the amazing things this one had done since he had come down
from the hill country, he still kept strange company and said perplexing
things… Challenging the traditions that I was sworn to uphold. But by the time
he came back across from the other side of the lake this morning I was ready to
try anything… Because she’s my life, my only daughter, 12 years old and so full
of the joys of life… It seems like only yesterday that her cries as a newborn
had filled our home and melted my heart… I had rocked her to sleep and bounced
her on my knee. Her first word was Abba… I was her Abba… she was my taleh
katan… my little lamb… my Rachel… and it was my fingers she held onto when
she’d taken her first steps…
And now here she was about to take her
first steps into adulthood... a beautiful young woman, and out of nowhere
illness had struck her down… It started as almost nothing, a sniffle, a
headache. We put her to bed; and we figured she’d be up and about in no time,
but no, she just kept getting worse, day after day, developing a hacking cough,
sweating and complaining that light hurt her eyes. She couldn’t keep anything in
her stomach… Not even her mother’s broth, and that is usually the cure for all
ills... Then she slipped into a deep, deep sleep… and her breathing, laboured
at first, became shallower and shallower…
I’d seen it before… I’m sure we all have…
and there was no reason to think that we should be immune… The angel of death
was just as likely to visit us as any other house… And we felt his shadow
looming over us. But I still prayed “Why
my little lamb?” I cried out to God for mercy… Did he not understand how much I love her? I would have done anything to save her...
So as I said, by the time news came that
this rabbi Jesus had come back to the
town this morning I was completely distracted… I fought my way through the
crowds to the shore and threw myself in the dust at his feet… I didn’t care
about my reputation, all I cared about was my little girl. I begged him to come
with me and heal her if he could.
And he reached down and helped me up, simply
saying “lead the way…”
But we had got no distance at all before
he stopped dead in His tracks and asked “Who touched me?” It was ridiculous, I
mean, there were people all around him, trying to get a piece of him, so there
must have been hundreds who had “touched him”. But then a woman steps forward,
and explains that she had reached out and touched just the hem of his garment,
hoping that somehow this would heal her. She gabbled on saying that she’d
suffered from bleeding for 12 years… And at that there was an intake of breath
and a step back from most of the crowd around her…
A whole storm of emotions broke over me… I
thought “How could she? She’s unclean. She shouldn’t even be out in public…
Never mind going out deliberately to touch someone else…” And here she was
stopping Jesus from getting to my little lamb before it was too late. I was
appalled and angry…
But he just said to her “Go in peace;
your faith has healed you”. Just like that! Faith.
But she hadn’t been faithful. She had broken the law. And just at that
moment my brother in law appeared, and I knew what he had to say before he
opened his mouth.
‘Your daughter
is dead, so don’t bother the teacher anymore.’
My world just
dissolved… I let an inhuman howl out of
me… I was distraught… But in the same tone of
voice he had used to that woman a moment before he said, “Don’t be afraid;
she’ll be okay, just have faith.”
Again, faith… Of course I had faith… I am
the leader of the synagogue… I have been faithful to God all my life… But right
then I was angry at God for taking my daughter, angry
at that woman for stopping us, angry at Jesus for spending time on a woman who
had been unclean for the same time my innocent little lamb had lived…
I rushed back home…
I didn’t care whether he was coming or not… I just had to get back. But he did
come, and when he arrived he chased off all those who were wailing and weeping inside the house. ‘Stop wailing,’ he said. ‘She is not dead but asleep.’ He went in to her bedroom with my wife and I and a couple of his
followers… and, right enough, she did look just as if she was sleeping… But
I’ve seen that before and it was no comfort at all, But then he just took her
by the hand and said, “Child, get up!” and her eyes opened, and she smiled that
smile that I always thought was only for me… and she sat up in bed! He then
just turned to my wife, and said “You’d better get that girl something to eat!”
She rushed off saying “I’ve got just the thing… some broth… would you like some
yourself rabbi?”
But he’d gone again, with his followers.
I didn’t even get the chance to say thank you… But at least I got the chance to
tell my little lamb once more how much I love her.
Selah
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