All It Takes Is One - A Sermon For Sunday June 30 2024
GOSPEL: Mark 5:21-43
The holy gospel according to Mark.
Glory to you, O Lord.
Jairus, a respected leader, begs Jesus to heal his daughter. A woman with a hemorrhage was considered ritually unclean and treated as an outcast. Both Jairus and the unnamed woman come to Jesus in faith, believing in his power to heal and bring life out of death.
21When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. 22Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 23and 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.” 24So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. 25Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. 26She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. 27She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” 29Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” 31And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32He looked all around to see who had done it. 33But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
35While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” 36But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. 38When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40And 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. 41He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” 42And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. 43He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
All it takes is one.
A couple months ago,
I was frustrated, annoyed -
right here in this building.
I went into the men’s washroom
and there was paper towel all over the floor.
Ripped. Torn.
Even some full pieces.
I had a couple thoughts,
maybe someone thought to themselves
“This paper towel is no good,
I’ll leave it torn on the floor
so they stop buying it.”
But - this is passive aggressive.
leaving garbage on the floor doesn’t change anything.
Passive aggressive doesn’t really work.
Then I thought - once one piece of paper towel is torn,
it is easy for the next pieces to tear
in the dispenser.
If the paper is not placed properly,
each subsequent piece will tear improperly.
All it takes is one person to break the cycle.
one person to fix the paper towel,
so it is accessed properly.
So I broke the cycle,
I fixed the paper towel,
I picked up the torn shreds on the floor
and you know what,
I came back later
and I didn’t see any more garbage on the floor
It worked for weeks,
that is, until the next time
the paper towel got caught again.
Side note:
I’ve learned that picking up garbage is a spiritual act.
Loving and caring for God’s good creation
is a spiritual act that unites
creature and creation with Creator.
All it takes is one.
If mom and dad are verbally abusive to their child,
there’s a good chance that child
will be abusive as well,
it’s the generational curse.
Like the mis-fed paper towel,
all it takes is one person willing to change
to recognize the harm done
to break the generational curse of abuse.
All it takes is one person
willing to go against the grain
to set the tone for healthy relationships.
There is healing in unity.
Alternatively, all it takes is one person
to keep that generational curse going,
ripping at the paper
instead of fixing the paper,
filling the proverbial bathroom floor
with shreds of paper towel.
All it takes is one.
There was a longer line than usual after worship that Sunday.
You know the rule,
Everyone must shake the pastor’s hand
before leaving church!
It’s in Leviticus. Probably.
Well, finally we got through the long line
and folks were conversing as folks do.
I overheard the tail end of a conversation.
A faithful member, who I’ll call “Edna”
no longer speaking softly said to her entourage:
“I’m sick of talking about this stuff.
They can come to church,
but don’t throw it in our face.”
I noticed someone who I’ll call “Jenny” standing behind her.
She overheard these same words.
We didn’t see Jenny again.
All it takes is one.
Words are like insects.
Hurtful words are like bugs.
Some will take a bite out of you.
Some will sting.
Some are like house flies;
a constant annoyance.
Some words sting like mosquitoes,
you might not notice the sting until later.
But kind words,
thoughtful words,
inclusive words,
loving and compassionate words
Open their wings and dazzle like the butterfly.
All it takes is one,
one bug bite,
or perhaps one metamorphosis.
All it takes is one.
It was good to be at Synod Convention
and such a blessing to be part of the election of a bishop.
It took 5 ballots,
and the votes were all over the place.
The final ballot was very close.
Yet we were - and are - one.
United amidst diversity.
When the bishop elect was announced,
we all stood together and clapped in unity,
knowing that less than half of us
didn’t have their preferred candidate selected.
But this is okay,
this is part of discernment.
Following Jesus means we aren’t performing a solo,
rather we join the choir in harmony.
There is healing in unity.
Division stings like bug bites.
There is healing in moving forward
in openness and welcome.
The theme of Synod Convention was
One body, One Spirit, One Hope.
Based on the passage from Ephesians 4.
One body, one Spirit, one hope,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God.
We were reminded about holy mathematics,
that 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = One.
All it takes is one.
One body, one Spirit, one hope,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God.
We are one.
Unity in God’s Spirit is ours.
We don’t always live into the unity that is ours.
There is one body of Christ,
yet we humans are good at creating division.
There is one Spirit
yet we humans aren’t always good at discerning.
There is one hope,
yet despair seems appetizing at times.
There is one Lord,
yet many follow the ruler of this world
over the Lord of lords.
There is one faith,
yet many live in fear.
There is one baptism,
yet we can’t all agree on what it means.
There is one God
we are one family in Christ,
yet we are the ones who chose disunity.
Dear siblings in Christ,
We are one.
We are one.
The woman was suffering from bleeding for 12 years.
This bleeding made her ritually unclean,
unable to participate in worship,
unable to participate in society in a normal way.
This bleeding meant she could not bear a child,
and barrenness was akin to death.
12 years of death.
This condition of hers,
absolutely no fault of her own,
was understood to be the product of sin.
12 years of being called sinner
when this is no sin.
It is a miracle that she reached out to touch Jesus’ garment.
It was one leap of faith,
and one act of rebellion,
because the religion told her
she shouldn’t be in the crowd.
After 12 years of that,
12 yeas of the religion telling her she’s not welcome
12 years of the religion telling her she’s sinful,
who would want to be part of
the faith community again?
But she did.
And so did Jesus.
Jesus restored her to community.
Religion told her she didn’t belong.
Jesus calls her daughter.
All it takes is one.
The little girl died.
Jesus said she was sleeping,
but Jesus also said this about Lazarus.
She was dead.
The little girl was 12,
12 years of life. Gone.
All it takes is one;
one leap of faith by Jairus
to come to Jesus in desperation for his daughter.
All it takes from Jesus is one little line,
one spoken proclamation:
Talitha Koum,
Little girl, rise,
and she does.
But it is not enough for her to rise,
She is invited to supper.
She was dead,
dead meant unclean,
unclean means unwelcome at the supper table.
but that wont work for Jesus.
She is restored to community,
restored to family,
raised to new life.
The ones we might call unclean
Jesus invites to dinner.
God speaks, and it happens,
Jesus speaks resurrection
and it happens.
All it takes is one,
one cross,
one empty grave,
one resurrection,
and resurrection is opened to all.
All it takes is one.
Jesus is the One.
We are one in Jesus.
Jesus is the One
who like a good shepherd,
leaves 99 behind
to search out the one who is lost.
Jesus is the one
who picks up the one child in his arms
when the faithful disciples want them sent away.
Jesus is the One
who welcomes the one outsider,
who welcomes the one sinner,
the one tax collector
the one mediocre fisherman.
Jesus is the One
who welcomes us when we interrupt,
and who finds us when lost or dying.
Jesus is the One
who brings in the one who was cast aside
and by the Spirit,
the one become the many.
We are one.
And all it takes is one;
One person to give you a hug or a smile.
or one person to say the wrong thing.
One person to start the welcome
one person to open the door
one person to strive for justice and peace
to change the direction of the community.
And all it takes is one,
one poorly chosen word,
one insensitive movement
to undo what has been done.
By the design of the Creator who sets free,
By Christ’s life, death and resurrection,
by the Spirit’s call
We are one.
May our words no longer sting like bug bites
and instead open wings like the butterfly.
May we who have been welcomed by our Saviour
make room at our supper tables
for those who have been cast out.
As the Spirit calls and gathers God’s people,
May we find healing for ourselves and for the hurting
in the unity that is already ours.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
