Mark 5,21-43 - Father's Day, Thalita get up
Date: June 15, 1997 - Springfield Heights M.C.
Theme: Talitha, get up!
Text: Mark 5:21-24a, 35-43
Talitha, get up!
The Ideal Father: The father of five children had won a toy at a raffle. He called his kids together to ask which one should have the present. "Who is the most obedient?" he asked. "Who never talks back to mother? Who does everything she says?" Five small voices answered in unison. "You play with it, Daddy!"
Definition of a Father . . . a man who carries photographs where his money used to be.
And… if you ever wonder how the heart of a father really works: One day mother happened to come by the baby’s room and noticed her husband standing in contemplation by the crib of his sleeping son. Silently, she watched him for a awhile, wondering what thoughts raced through his mind as he looked at his own flesh and blood asleep in the crib. At last she slipped into the room and put her arm through his and asked "What are you thinking of, dear?" A little bit startled, he said, "Oh, I was just wondering how in the world they can make a crib like this for $24.95."
FATHER''S DAY WORRY And then, here's an idea for a perfect Father's Day gift for all you teenagers out there: Tell your dad to get a good night's sleep and you will lie awake and worry for him.
Today is father’s day, as most of us know. And, even thou we usually don’t make a big deal about it, we need to be reminded of the special place that fathers have in our families. Our family relationships are important to us. My message today is not specifically about the role of fathers in our lives. However, today’s story is the story of a father’s love for his teenage daughter who is dying. It is a story of hope, a story of the love and compassion of our Heavenly Father. And it is also a story of new life in a situation that seems lost and hopeless.
As we become acquainted with the story of the healing of Jairus’ daughter, we are invited to get in touch with the issues in our lives which are in need of the Master’s words of life. The Good News for us is that, no matter how deep our trouble may be: Jesus gives us new life.
Let me read the story from Mark 5:2124a,35-43
As often before, a large crowd had gathered to hear about the Kingdom of God from Jesus and to bring their sick to be healed. This day had started out as a regular day at the office for Jesus and his disciples. In chapter 4 Mark records a number of Christ’s teachings: The parable of the sower… The Parable of the Mustard seed… The miracle of stilling the storm… Chapter 5 tells about the healing of a demon-possessed man. Then come two stories of healing: the healing of Talitha, Jairus’ daughter; and the healing of a woman.
Jairus was a Ruler of the Synagogue… a rather prominent person in Jewish society. He would have been the person in charge of the worship services in the synagogue. His duties probably included some form of administration, scheduling the readers for the Book of the Law of Moses, and generally to look after the orderly function of activities in the synagogue.
Let’s place ourselves in his sandals for a moment as we look at the meaning of his coming to Jesus for help. We know that the Scribes and Pharisees did not see eye to eye with Jesus. And by the nature of his work, Jairus would have been part of that camp.
Now, here is a man from the religious elite of that day, coming to Jesus… falling on his knees before him and begging for help. That must have taken some nerve… and most definitely a lot of faith. In order to open himself up to Christ’s work in his life, he had to put aside his tradition, his rank, his prestige, and possibly also his friends. But he is willing to give it all for the sake of his teenage daughter who lies at the point of death.
The story tells us that he pleaded earnestly. His concern for the life of Talitha was profound. And no cost was too great to try and save her life - not even his pride.
As we look at our own life situations, there are times when we are at the end of our rope. For one person life may have become mundane, boring, tiresome, even purposeless. For someone else there may be the loss of health - as with the girl in our story. For yet another person there may be the pain of a broken relationship. A friendship lost, or even a marriage that’s hanging on to survive. For many children there is the confusion of being sent off to the “other” parent for a week or two. And for teens and young adults the pressures of exams, choosing a career and a satisfying job, or also dating and finding the right partner for life.
You see, we may not necessarily fear for the life of a loved one at present, as Jairus did. But, we have our own unique worries and fears - each one of us.
Among other things, what this story says to you and me today is, that Jesus brings us back to life. When our hopes and dreams are shattered… When we have to swallow our pride and eat our own ego… when we have given up in despair… when our worst fears become a reality… when we, like the messenger, say to ourselves, “Let’s not bother the Master any longer - there is no more hope”… THEN, we are open to hearing God’s words of grace and compassion: “Never mind the messenger… Just believe!”
Let us hear the Master’s words of Life: “My friend, have faith and expect a miracle! Brace yourself for the impossible! Anticipate healing in your body, soul and spirit! Open the door, for your long lost child is coming home! Hear the whisper of life eternal at the open grave of a loved one! Let us hear the words of Jesus - even in the depth and darkness of a life of sin: “Take my hand… and get up!”
There is a touching little story of a boy who experienced new life as a result of new hope through an unsuspecting school teacher. Several years ago a school teacher assigned to visit children in a large city hospital received a routine call requesting that she visit a particular child. She took the boy's name and room number and was told by the teacher on the other end of the line, "We're studying nouns and adverbs in his class now. I'd be grateful if you could help him with his homework so he doesn't fall behind the others." It wasn't until the visiting teacher got outside the boy's room that she realized it was located in the hospital's burn unit. No one had prepared her to find a young boy horribly burned and in great pain. She felt that she couldn't just turn and walk out, so she awkwardly stammered, "I'm the hospital teacher and your teacher sent me to help you with nouns and adverbs." The next morning a nurse on the burn unit asked her, "What did you do to that boy?" Before she could finish a profusion of apologies, the nurse interrupted her: "You don't understand. We've been very worried about him, but ever since you were here yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He's fighting back, responding to treatment . . . it's as though he's decided to live." The boy later explained that he had completely given up hope until he saw that teacher. It all changed when he came to a simple realization. With joyful tears he expressed it this way: "They wouldn't send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a dying boy, would they?"
There are times when all of us need to be brought back to life. We need to know that the sleepless nights won't last, that the days consumed by despair will become easier again, that the world goes on. And we learn that new life comes to us in quiet ways. There are few lightening flashes or glorious visions. There are many less dramatic agents of resurrection. There is a phrase in a conversation with a friend that all of a sudden opens up a way that wasn't there before. There is the person you haven't known long and don't know very well who seems to understand your troubles so well it's almost scary, There is the relationship, broken for years, that somehow finally finds the grace to start to heal. There are Resurrection stories about what it is like when the gift of life comes from one who speaks your name when you were sure he didn't know it. The one who comes and finds you when you've locked yourself up inside your fear. The one who follows you down the road until you recognize that he's not a stranger but your best friend. These are simple gifts available to us through God’s grace. They are often so much a part of ordinary life that we could miss them if we blink - and sometimes we do. But they never stop happening. The gift of life restored - this is the gift of our Risen Savior.
Just as Jesus entered into the room where the lifeless body of Talitha lay, he comes into our situations of hopelessness, despair, and resignation. And he takes us by the hand and says in a quiet yet convincing voice: “My child, get up!” “Break free from the chains that hold you captive.” “Rekindle your love and commitment to God.” “Live again!”
Jesus raises us back to life. We know this because that is what he has done for us in the past. Remember an event in your own life when you thought you had nothing more to live for. Remember a break-up with a special friend… the loss of a loved one through death or moving to a different place… Remember times of tension and frustration in your life… And you will see that it was the Master who took you by the hand and invited you to new life. Remember that it is Jesus who restores your life and my life.
As we remember, we will find a path around the obstacles that we find on our way to Jesus: our pride, pressure from our peers, our position of prominence in the community, or whatever the obstacles may be. We will fall to our knees before the Lord of Life and plead earnestly for new life in our situations.
Jesus brings us back to life!
To conclude, let us reflect a little bit on something that Mark mentions almost as an afterthought. Let’s listen again to the words of Mark 5:41-43.
41 He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.
I don’t know about you - but I wonder what else may have taken place in the house of Jairus after the healing took place. Mark says, that the girl got up right away and walked around - as if nothing ever happened. I wonder if the father, who loved his daughter so much as to ignore all the religious etiquette and who risked his position to find help with a well-known friend of sinners, would have been able to contain his joy. I wonder if, in addition to their initial shock, the family would not have organized a huge backyard BBQ to celebrate their daughters new lease on life.
I wonder how you and I will respond to Christ’s gift of new life to us.
In the last line of this story it almost sounds as if Mark had already put down the “Schlusspunkt”, picked up his pen again and wrote: “O yah, give the poor kid something to eat.” I assume that everyone what so shocked that Jesus had to bring them back to reality. “She must be starving, what have you got in your fridge?”
What tends to happens when we come out of a special experience with Jesus is that we fly high for a while and then come crashing down. Jesus encouraged Jairus and his family to remember God’s gift of Life. He instructed them to nurture their child and also their faith. We too are invited to feast on Christ’s life-giving experiences in our lives. We are invited to fill our hearts with the promises of God’s grace and forgiveness. We are challenged to build on our encounters with Christ and to grow in his grace. We are invited to celebrate, to rejoice and to make it count…
May this story of God’s healing grace and His power to restore us back to life be an inspiration to us as we look to our Savior and God…
Let us pray…