2021.06.27 | Faith Healers
Bulletin for Jun 27, 2021
“Faith Healers”
Rev. Dr. Arlene K. Nehring
Eden United Church of Christ
Hayward, California
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday, June 27, 2021
In Mark, chapter 5, we find Jesus on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, which is a popular tourist site in Israel today; but back then, it was anything but a vacation venue. The Sea of Galilee was a primary food hub and a hive of economic activity in the first century of the Common Era.
The way that Mark tells the story, Jesus and his disciples had just returned home from a long stretch of itinerant ministry, and they were due--long overdue--for a vacation. But Jesus and his people didn’t get any time off that day. Word had gotten out about his ability to work miracles, and before they could even walk into the house and kick off their sandals, two people approached Jesus seeking his help.
One was a man named Jairus, whose twelve-year old daughter, Tabitha, was near death. The other was an unnamed woman, who had been hemorrhaging for twelve years.
On the face of it, these two people were polar opposites. Jairus was a man of wealth and privilege whose family carried Platinum-level health care coverage. The unnamed woman, meanwhile, was penniless and had no healthcare coverage and no advocate but herself.
As Americans, I suspect that we either have or know someone who has Platinum-level health care coverage, so we can imagine what such health care coverage affords. The experience of the unnamed woman may be less familiar to some of us, so let’s try to imagine what it was like to be her. Let’s start by trying to imagine why we don't know her name.
I venture that the reason we don’t know her name is because she had been living in quarantine for 12 years on account of her health and her lack of access to quality care.
In the ancient world, quarantine was one of the few medical interventions available to treat disease and infirmity.
Most ailments were deemed contagious until proven otherwise. So even if the woman’s malady wasn’t contagious, she would have been subject to quarantine for medical reasons. But that is not all.
This woman was a Jew, and was subject to the Levite purity codes, which required sick persons to quarantine, wear masks, remove their head covering, and when approached shout “Unclean!” so that everyone around her knew to physically distance themselves from her.
Let’s imagine, even for one minute, putting on our COVID-19 masks, walking around our houses shouting, “Unclean! Unclean!”
Imagine the psycho-social consequences. Is it any wonder that Mark didn’t know her name? She’d been cut off from her family and friends, and participation in religious observances at the Temple for so long people had either forgotten her name, never met her, or didn’t recognize her any more.
Think how much a person’s appearance could change in twelve years as a result of the aging process, significant exposure to desert conditions, and the lack of good nutrition.
This woman’s own family may not have recognized her, but Jesus did. He acknowledged her presence, felt her touch, and asked her to identify herself.
At the risk of punishment, the woman said, “It was me.” Then she went on to explain that if she could just touch the hem of Jesus’ garment--not his body--just the hem, the part that had touched the ground, the part that was unclean like her--she would be healed.
II
That encounter caused quite a stir for several reasons. First, this beggar woman had interrupted the healthcare delivery system in her community. She, a pauper, had interrupted the delivery of health care services to a wealthy family with good coverage and the ability to pay out of pocket for unreimbursed medical services.
Second, this impoverished, social outcast, no-name woman dared to advocate for herself. Twelve-year old Tabitha had her influential father, Jauirus, to serve as her patient advocate. But this woman had no one--no one but herself.
Third, this unnamed woman--this bold woman--this woman of faith--dared to challenge the status quo and seek healing for herself. She, who had been socially, religiously, and economically displaced on account of health condition, dared to claim her identity and right to quality healthcare. She, who was a pauper, a dahled, a scourge to her so-called family and friends dared to challenge the healthcare disparities in her community, and demand equity for herself by reaching out and touching the hem of this out-of-network healthcare provider, Jesus of Nazareth.
I mean really, just who did she think she was?!
According to Mark’s gospel, she thought--no, she knew--that she was a child of God, and that she had a right to quality healthcare services, so she reached out and touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, and she was healed.
It says so right there in Mark 5:43: Jesus said, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
III
Then the focus of the story returns to the matter of Jairus’ daughter, Tabitha. A messenger arrives on the scene from Jerusalem with the tragic news that Tabitha is dead, and encourages Jairus to accompany him back home to make funeral plans for Tabitha.
Rather than accepting the messenger’s story at face value, Jesus encourages Jairus to have faith. Jesus and four of his followers accompany the men to Jairus’ home where they see about his daughter. Along the way, Jesus assured Jairus that Tabitha was not dead, but only sleeping.
When the men arrived at Jirus’ house, Jesus went to Tabitha’s bedside. He took her hand and said, “Little girl, get up!” And she did. And everyone was amazed.
The story closes in Mark’s typical style with Jesus telling everyone to keep quiet about everything that they’ve seen and heard, which was one of the ways that this early author tried to protect the safety of the fledgling Christian community during a time of tremendous persecution.
The tragic result of this guidance is that the healing ministry of Jesus and the early apostles, and the Church’s call to be engaged in healthcare and social ministries became--and still is--the best kept secret in town.
IV
Imagine the possibilities if we let the cat out of the bag! Imagine if Christians acknowledged that the purpose of Mark’s gospel was to convey God’s desire for the whole world to experience shalom.
Imagine if we spoke up and acknowledged that one-fifth of the gospels describe Jesus as a healer, and that according to the gospels, Jesus spent more time healing people than doing anything else during his lifetime.
In his book, Psychology, Medicine, and Christian Healing (SF: Harper and Row, 1998), theologian Mortin Kelsey explains that Jesus both cured people of sickness and disease--and perhaps most importantly--he healed people as a way of expressing God’s desire for everyone to experience God’s shalom. Kelsey goes on to explain that Jesus’ healing ministry took three forms:
Jesus crossed religious, economic, and cultural barriers that alienated the sick and dying and otherwise fostered the healthcare disparities in his time, by offering emotional and spiritual support to the suffering.
Jesus made physical contact with persons who were ill. Unlike other healers in his time, Jesus literally reached out and physically touched people who were sick and infirm. He didn’t wave a wand. Instead, he broke down the physical and social barriers that existed between the sick and the worried well.
Jesus restored people’s economic potential. In ancient times, many people died of diseases and injuries, and those who recovered had limited chances of survival, because they had often lost their jobs or their businesses on account of their health crisis, because they were either unable to work a normal schedule, because they were required to quarantine or isolate, or both, for for extended periods of time.
Jesus had compassion for all who were sick and suffering, and he restored them in body, mind, and estate, so that they could return to their homes, families, jobs, and religious, economic, and social lives--and experience the shalom that God intended for one and all.
IV
The gospels and epistles are full of stories about Jesus and his followers’ engagement in diaconal ministry, and how they inspired their successors to continue this healing ministry. 1
Dig deep into the annals of western medicine and social services, and you will find that much of the institutional and community-based care that we now enjoy in our society is an outgrowth of the healing ministry of Christ and his first followers.
So for anyone who may be wondering why the strategic plan and budget that we are voting on today at our annual meeting has so much emphasis on diaconal ministry such as COVID-19 response, let’s be clear--this is because so much of Jesus’ ministry and the ministry of his followers was, and always has been about diaconal ministry. If we dare to call ourselves Christians, we must do likewise. We must be vigorously involved in curing and healing, dialing down the disparities, promoting access and equity, so that everyone in our community can experience God’s shalom. Amen.
Psychology, Medicine, and Christian Healing (SF: Harper and Row, 1998) p. 117.