Claiming the Power

Readings for this Summer weekend are what we need to hear: that God is in charge even when sickness and death come calling, even when the powers of the universe buffet us around. In a departure from the norm, we’ll look at a psalm of comfort, some thoughts of St. Paul about equity, and two stories about Jesus. Under all of these is a God-awareness that supports the helpless and bereaved. I hope this isn’t you–but it just could be…

Psalm 130 acknowledges that we often call upon God for mercy when the chips are down, when other helpers fail and comforts flee. The psalmist notes that she waits for the Lord in expectant hope of God’s nature, since God created dawn to push away the curtains of night with its attendant terrors. Watchers for the dawn can be confident that sooner or later the day will be brighter. “For in the Lord is love unfailing, and great is [God’s] power to set [humans] free.” God alone delivers, and no lesser human substitute will suffice.

Paul has been taking a collection from his planted congregations for the relief and comfort of the congregation in Jerusalem. Some of these churches gladly kicked in what they could; but others were dubious of Paul’s motives, and didn’t much want to help their formerly (?) Jewish brothers & sisters. To the church in Corinth he writes (II 8:7-15), “it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need”, a matter of sharing the wealth just as Jesus treated all persons equally. They could claim any prosperity and power as holy attributes, and now Paul was testing the genuineness of their love. Some expounders of the Word use this passage as a bludgeon to guilt their people into digging deeper–DON’T DO IT!! But do bring Jesus into this: “For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.”

Move quickly to the two healing stories recalled by Mark 5:21-43: Jairus’ daughter and an unnamed Daughter of Zion who had an uncontrolled bleeding problem. These can’t only be examples of Godly concern for those who believe, but more, a restoration to “polite society”–Temple worship– for those who many said that God had cursed. Jesus’ main message here is that God continues to hear the prayers of the desperate and outcast. This is a good opportunity to speak of Holiness and Wholeness, that healing is of body, mind and spirit. Both the girl’s father–Jairus–and the afflicted woman had the inspiration to reach out and claim this announced power. Why not make an analogy of it? Just as these ancients claimed the merciful nearness of God, so contemporary believers can and should look to God for their salvation and restoration.

If there’s a golden thread running through these readings, it is one of Expectancy. The psalmist expects dawn to sooner or later usher in comfort and new energy in the midst of bereavement. Paul expects Christian congregations to share their resources with each other. And Jairus and the ill woman both expect Jesus to have the power and desire to make things whole again. God’s Presence is here: claim the Gift and praise the Giver!

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Come join me in exploring God every Tuesday at horacebrowning.com