SCROLL DOWN FOR JUNE 24 AND JULY 1

• The idea that people who are poor some how “deserve” to be poor is prevalent in our society. Often this sentiment is masked, but it lurks just below the surface of our collective thinking, our attitudes, our giving patterns, and our social policy. The story of Job calls this idea into question. A sermon could explore the many factors that combine to produce and sustain domestic and global poverty, refuting the myth that those in poverty have somehow “earned” it.
• If we refute the notion that people deserve to be poor, we must also confront the idea that wealth is a reward bestowed by God. The patterns of wealth and want are in our world are quite complicated. The preacher could explore the way in which the accidents of birth combine to dictate much about the opportunities of our future.
• A sermon on Job could also assist the preacher in exploring the question of why the innocent suffer and where God is to be found in that suffering.

• The text does not just show Jesus’ power is but also tells that Jesus’ calming of the waters was an act of redemption. The miracle serves the purpose of rescuing people from chaos and fear in order to live a restored life.
• The boat has long been a symbol of the church. I am reminded of a picture my father had on his desk through three decades of parish ministry: “A ship is safe in a harbor, but that is not what a ship was meant for.” Indeed. A church can very easily live within calm, safe waters, but is that what the church and its people are called to do? Is not the church called to venture into the chaotic waters of political and economic reform; into advocacy; and into the places of never-ending hurt and hopelessness? This story tells us that when we do find ourselves in such chaotic places, Christ is a redeeming presence, bringing order into chaos, and balm for our fear.
• A worthwhile idea for a preacher to consider is our tolerance for chaos and our willingness to trust that Christ will help us through the chaos. Working to address the world’s ills is complicated, chaotic business. Those daunted by discomfort, disorder, and distress will not accomplish the demands of discipleship. They also will cut themselves off from the life-giving, life-preserving word of Christ that brings meaning and order into chaos and fear.

• This text will not offer an explanation for the world’s trials. It does however invite readers to think about how they and others can respond to difficulty, suffering, and God’s seeming absence. Lamentations will not tell us why children suffer and millions die of starvation in a world of plenty. It will encourage us to reflect on how we will respond to suffering and starvation.
• During the days of exile in Babylon, many, many people wondered why God seemed silent. Certainly some stopped wondering, and simply assimilated themselves to life in Babylon. Others maintained the hope that God would continue to be faithful. In time their hope was vindicated when Israel was rescued and returned to her homeland. Maintaining hope is often a very difficult task. Despair is certainly an attractive, easy option. How do we maintain hope that hunger can end even when all evidence seems to the contrary? Where do we find support for the conviction that the “Lord will have compassion” (verse 32)? How do we respond to the Lord’s compassion? How do we become a vehicle for the Lord’s compassion?

• Mark tells us that when Jesus felt the woman’s touch, he immediately wanted to know who she was. This suggests that Jesus’ concern was for individual people. He was not only generically concerned about those in need. Jesus sought out the faces of those in need. He wanted to know them and attend to them as individuals. Are we content to know about the poor and the hunger, the vulnerable and those with great need, or do we seek them out to meet them and get to know them as individuals? Statistics are one thing, putting faces to need is quite another. One of the great benefits of working at a homeless shelter, or serving at a soup kitchen, or visiting developing communities is to meet the people. It is important to know that people pushed to the margins of society have hopes and dreams, fears and anxieties that are a remarkable match for our own.
• The Markan text pushes us to explore the nature of miracles. Marcus Borg’s work is helpful for such a study. It is important for people of faith to be open to mystery. There simply are things that happen in our world that go beyond our common, usual expectations and explanations. Perhaps we cannot imagine that hungry people can be fed and escape poverty because we understand how complicated that would be. Perhaps our unwillingness to see beyond what already is to what could be prevents us from seeing God’s miraculous work. Then of course, if we fail to see, we fail to lend our hands to furthering what God’s is doing in the world.
• A careful preacher will address the issue of what precipitated the healings. Were the woman’s faith or Jairus’ faith responsible for the miracles? It is important for people to realize that healing comes about because of nothing more and nothing less than God’s grace and power.
• A sermon exploring miracles could challenge our usual notion that miracles are much like magic. Perhaps miracles are more rooted to daily life than we often expect. How can clean water be a miracle for a struggling community? How can a place to sleep be a miracle for a homeless family? How can a community’s escape from diseases of poverty bring miraculous possibility for life? What if we agreed that ending hunger were an obtainable goal and the human family pooled its efforts toward that goal? What miracle could God work within such a reality?