For the week of June 30 – 6th Sunday after Pentecost
Morning Prayer: New every morning is Your love, great God of light, All day long You are working for good in the world. Stir up in us desire to serve You, to live peacefully with our neighbors, and to devote each day to Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen. (Presbyterian Worshipbook, U.S.A., 20th Century.)
Opening Hymn: #368 My Hope Is Built
- My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
Refrain: On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
- When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. (Refrain) - His oath, His covenant, His blood supports me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. (Refrain) - When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found!
Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne! (Refrain)
Lamentations 3:22-26
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
Prayers of Intercession: Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayers for those dear to our hearts. We now pray as You have taught us: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us, not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Offering spotlight: Our United Methodist connection and financial support through Shares of Ministry. As United Methodists, we believe we are Better Together; that together we can fund missions in the United States and around the world; together we can establish new church plants here in Pennsylvania to invite unchurched people to become disciples of Jesus Christ. If interested, church officers can provide information such as how much Lightstreet pays, and how those shared funds are used. Thank you for supporting ministries of Jesus Christ through the United Methodist Church.
Offering prayer: Generous God, we offer our gifts with open hearts, recognizing that our generosity reflects our faith in You and Your actions in the world. Just as the Corinthian church desired to give, may our giving be a reflection of the gospel in which we believe. Help us to share according to what we have, knowing that in the body of Christ, we are bound together in a relationship, offering help and hope to one another. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn of Preparation: #474 Precious Lord Take My Hand
- Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;
Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light:
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.
- When my way grows drear, precious Lord, linger near,
When my life is almost gone,
Hear my cry, hear my call, hold my hand, lest I fall:
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.
- When the darkness appears and the night draws near,
And the day is past and gone,
At the river I stand, guide my feet, hold my hand:
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.
Message Scripture: Mark 5:21-43
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around Him; and He was by the sea. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw Him, fell at His feet and 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.”
So He went with him. And a large crowd followed Him and pressed in on Him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His cloak, for she said, “If I but touch His clothes, I will be made well.” Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from Him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?” And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You; how can You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before Him, and told Him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
While He was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” He allowed no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, He saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When He had entered, He said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And 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. 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.
Message: Pastor Becky Cuddeback
A tale of two healings, both 12 years in the making. The woman suffering and the young girl seemingly stricken down just as her life is beginning. Both healings by Jesus are miraculous. We have no reason to doubt these healings. They are presented to us with really no other option than to believe in the healing power of Jesus.
His healing power is so great, Jesus doesn’t even touch the suffering woman. It is quite the opposite; she touches Him, actually the fringe of His garment, not even Jesus’s body. Jesus’s healing power is so great, that anything remotely touching Jesus can transmit healing. It is the fringes of His garment, coupled with her belief in His ability to heal, heals her.
Jairus’s daughter is healed by His faith in Jesus’s healing. Jairus’s faith motivates him to seek out Jesus to cure his daughter and then bring Jesus to her. Each healing comes as Jesus is on His way, while He is traveling to the next place. Jesus hasn’t set up a place to come get healed. He doesn’t have an office so you can make an appointment. He is moving, He isn’t settled in one place, yet He is established.
The word about Jesus has gone out before Him. People are talking about what they have experienced in Jesus’s presence. They have seen Him heal others. They have heard His teachings. What they are sharing out into the greater community is a teacher/healer that sees them. Jesus sees them in their brokenness and in the brokenness of the world. Jesus knows what is needed and provides it. Jesus isn’t missing an opportunity to share the Kingdom of God, not for His sake – but for theirs and for ours.
Jesus’s last action, His offering up Himself for us, brings life. It births the church and then He empowers it with the release of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is modeling for us what the church can bring. For the woman who suffers, she receives relief and inclusion. Jairus gets hope and faith. For Jairus’s daughter, she receives life and a future. To all three, Jesus gives them a story to tell, a testimony, a witness – how from despair comes hope, because Jesus sees them and heals them.
As Christians, followers of Jesus Christ, we are also given eyes to see. When we see and then act, we bring healing also. At least that is what is supposed to happen. We are to see another in compassion; we are to act. We are to alleviate suffering, to bring healing in all its forms.
Jesus’s life and His death grant life changing healing. It's a healing authority that knows no bounds and honestly, crosses all our boundaries. Jesus chooses not to leave people in the conditions in which He finds them. Jesus doesn’t disqualify anyone from healing. He doesn’t have a test or questionnaire. He heals. Yet, people can choose not to be healed. Think about the rich young man from Mark 10:17-21. He wants to know from Jesus, what is it I need to do to receive eternal life? How do I enter into relationship with you, Jesus? How do I become part of this reconciliation of God to the world and us to each other? Jesus tells him to sell all he owns and give it to the poor. The cost was too much for the young man and he walked away. He knew what he had and didn’t want to lose it. He perceived the price to be too high. The relationship wasn’t worth the cost.
We aren’t so different. Jesus gives us all the authority in heaven and on earth to bring healing, to offer reconciliation as the Body of Christ, yet we would rather be right, then to be in relationship with Jesus and those in need of healing. We would rather stand on the neck of the poor and point out what they are doing wrong, than to point to the powers that inflict poverty on the poor. It is easier to criticize the sick for their lack of self care, than to hold accountable those who make us sick and profit from it.
In order to bring the Kingdom of God and release healing, we have to see. We have to see those right in front of us and we have to look with the eyes that God gave us to see what is causing the suffering. When we fully live into Paul’s definition of the Church – the Body of Christ, where we feel and experience their pain as our pain, suffer their suffering – we will see Jesus heal once more. Amen.
Closing Hymn: #367 He Touched Me
- Shackled by a heavy burden, neath a load of guilt and shame,
then the hand of Jesus touched me, and now I am no longer the same.
Refrain: He touched me, O He touched me, and O the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened, and now I know, He touched my and made me whole.
- Since I met this blessed Savior, since He cleansed and made me whole,
I will never cease to praise Him; I’ll shout it while eternity rolls. Refrain:
Go into your week with the blessings of The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit.
