Do You Have the Time?

Do you have time?

The degree to which we are willing to pour our lives into another is the degree of our ability to make disciples.

No matter how good our worship is; no matter how successful our Vacation Bible School is; and no matter how many Sunday school classes we have,  how we demonstrate to love God by loving one another will determine the extent of our usefulness to God.

The Supreme Court has made an historic ruling this past week.  They have determined that same sex couples cannot be denied the right to be married.

There is no shortage of opinions on this matter. There is diversity of opinion in our nation and I would guess in this very room.  But one thing we must remember is that we are not the U.S. congress and we are not the Michigan legislature.  It is not for us to set public policy in this place. It is for us to decide how we will be faithful to God as a church and as individuals.

The new reality is that same gendered couples can, and in increasing numbers, will be married. The culture we live in has shifted.  It is reasonable and I think expected that one day soon a same sex couple will come to the door of this church because they earnestly want to know Christ and make Christ known.  The question is: Will they be able to do that here?

The answer is not a simple yes or no.

We have to understand what it would take for such a couple to be able to take that step toward Christ. There has been centuries of teaching in the church condemning same sex relationships. So immediately, without us ever having done or said anything there is a barrier to being part of this loving family of God.  

Perhaps the desire to know Christ is so strong that our theoretical couple is willing to risk coming to our church despite this long doctrinal position of the church and they came anyway.

Would they be rejected? Would they be tolerated? Would they be welcomed?... or would they be embraced.  

We are called to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

Our mission is to know Christ and to make him known.

That says to me that we should seek out as many people as possible who will listen to what Christ as done in our lives and be in relationship with them so that Jesus can grow in them. 

In today’s scripture lesson we have the story of Jairus’ and his sick daughter.  Within that story there is an interruption, a story within a story where we hear about the woman who has been sick for many years. In both cases someone had to overcome their social status to receive Jesus healing.

The woman with the issue of blood was someone on the margins of society. Because of her illness she was considered unclean and unable to participate in worship. In that culture if you were unclean and unable to worship that meant you were unable to be a regular part of society.  According to the law in the book of Leviticus any place she would lay, sit and anyone who touches her would be unclean. Clearly she would have difficulty finding a place to welcome her.

But she saw Jesus. And she reached out and touched his cloths. She was at the end of her strength. She was willing to violate good social norms and touch this rabbis cloths which would now be considered unclean. She was looking for healing. She wanted; she needed to be restored to society.

But thousand year old tradition says that she could not be. she knew that  the law said the flow of blood had to stop before she could be purified. The thing is it couldn’t be stopped by any human means. She tried.  she went to many doctors who tried many things. She spent all she had. But she heard about Jesus.  Her boldness in reaching out to Jesus is the example lifted up here.

It defied religious law and tradition but Jesus loved her anyway.

The other story in today’s scripture is Jairus and his sick daughter. If the woman had to overcome being a social and religious outcast to reach Jesus, Jairus had the opposite problem. He had to overcome being a social and religious insider to reach Jesus.

Jairus was the ruler of the synagogue.  He had a very strong standing in the religious world. He had a very strong social location. He was an important guy in his time and culture. But no matter how important we appear to be we cannot escape the realty of being human. His daughter was sick and was going to die, so he did what any dad would do, he set aside his reputation on the chance that Jesus, a heretic in his eyes, a trouble maker, might possibly help his little girl.

The woman with the issue of blood had to overcome being an outcast and Jairus had to overcome being smack in the center. In both cases, because they got beyond themselves and came to Jesus, there was healing.

In the case of the woman Jesus noticed power leaving him when she touched his cloths in a very public place. In the case of the girl it was an intentional command given in a private setting. 

In both cases there were doubters and nay-sayers. When Jesus asked who touched him after he felt power leave him. The disciple asked “How can you ask that?”

And when Jesus arrived at Jairus’ house those that were there said not to bother, all hope is lost.

Jesus disciples didn’t quite get it yet that that it was no longer about the law but about the love of God. The household of Jairus didn’t quite get it that it was no longer about tradition but about the will of God.

In both cases Jesus demonstrates that the love of God requires that we pour our lives into each other. The power that left Jesus was the very love of God. The command for the little girl to stand up was for her. It was her God loving her in that moment.

The degree to which we are willing to pour our lives into another is the degree of our ability to make disciples.

 I believe what God is asking all of us  to turn toward Jesus in everything. That in the name of Jesus Christ we can turn despair of the outcast into hope and the distress of the unsettled into peace.

So, how is it with you today? Do you have the time?

Do you have time to pour your life into someone? Do you have the time to really listen to another; to enter into their world to hear their hurts, fears and troubles? Do you have the time to celebrate the victories and accomplishments of the other despite the challenges and failures? Would it matter if that person happened to be in a same sex marriage? Or would it too difficult to overcome your social location to share the love of Jesus?

The kingdom of God is grown one person, one relationship at a time; no decision by a court will ever change that.

Would you pray with me?