Jairus begged Jesus, "Come and lay your hands on my daughter, so that she may be made well, and live." During our worship today, let us ask Jesus to lay his hands on each one of us, so that we may be made well, and live.
Invitation to Confession:
Jesus, sometimes we don't even notice our sickness of soul.
Lord, have mercy.Jesus, sometimes we don't notice that we're not fully alive.
Christ, have mercy.Jesus, forgive our willingness to accept a half life, rather than turn fully to you.
Lord, have mercy.
Reading:
Mark 5:21-43
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. [22] Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet [23] and 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." [24] So he went with him. And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. [25] Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. [26] She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. [27] She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, [28] for she said, "If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well." [29] Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. [30] Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?" [31] And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, 'Who touched me?' " [32] He looked all around to see who had done it. [33] But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. [34] He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease." [35] While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader's house to say, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?" [36] But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe." [37] He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. [38] When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. [39] When he had entered, he said to them, "Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping." [40] And 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. [41] He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha cum," which means, "Little girl, get up!" [42] And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. [43] He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
Story:
Obviously the healing is important in today's Bible reading, but it's also true that in both cases Jesus was there and able to help when all seemed lost. This is the theme of my story today, as healing could be sensitive for some children. If a child has lost a parent or family member despite prayer, they could be left feeling very vulnerable and wondering why Jesus didn't heal for them. But at least they will know that Jesus somehow comes through in the end, although perhaps in an unexpected way.
Tegan's Sale
Tegan was so excited. She was going to hold a sale, and she had organised it all by herself. Tegan's older sister Ruth, had been knocked down by a car in the winter, and although Tegan had prayed and prayed and prayed for her to get better, Ruth had died a week later.
Tegan had been devastated. She couldn't believe that Jesus refused to heal her sister, for didn't Jesus say that children could come to him? And wasn't he always healing people in the Bible? Tegan hadn't been allowed to go and see her sister in the hospital, because her parents said it would upset her too much.
"Ruth isn't awake," Tegan's mother had explained, trying not to cry, "so she can't see any of us. And there are all sorts of tubes going into her, and all sorts of wires linking her to machines. It's really scary, Tegan. I want you to remember Ruth as she was, happy and laughing and full of fun."
So Tegan had stayed at home. When her parents had told her that they had had to turn off the life-support machine so that Ruth had died, Tegan had screamed and shouted and cried for hours. She blamed her parents for letting Ruth die. How did they know Ruth wouldn't get better? Why couldn't they have waited for another week or month or year?
Part of Tegan knew she was being unreasonable, but sometimes she felt so angry even now - months later - that she just had to shout and scream or do something awful, like the time she slashed the curtains with the kitchen knife. But somehow her parents seemed to understand that she couldn't help it, and they'd given her lots of cuddles and special treats, and it was all beginning to feel a bit better.
Then Tegan had had the brilliant idea of holding a sale to raise money for an organisation which helped the victims of road accidents. Although she knew it couldn't help Ruth, Tegan felt that if she raised a lot of money to help other people, she would be doing it for Ruth and that made Tegan feel a whole lot better.
She roped in all her friends. Everybody wanted to help, so Tegan arranged to get trestle tables set up in the garden for all the old bits and pieces her friends discovered in their attics. Several of them made posters and put them up all round the village and Tegan's Dad copied them into a smaller size so that Tegan and her friends could put one through every door in the village.
"Please Jesus," prayed Tegan, "make it a nice day so that lots of people come and we sell everything."
But on the morning of the sale when Tegan looked out of the window, it was pouring with rain. 'Never mind,' she thought. 'Jesus will make it sunny soon.' But the sky remained ominously black and the rain showed no signs of ceasing. It was a disaster. Tegan was so upset and angry that she began to cry.
"Now then," said her mother briskly. "Stop that and help me move all these tables into the garage."
Tegan sniffed. She thought it was a stupid idea because nobody would come in the rain anyway, but she began to help. They managed to get all the tables into the garage, but there was only room for just a few people.
When the sale opened, a few people drifted in. They were followed by a few more, and after that, a few more. There were never very many people there, but Tegan found she was busy all day, and they had to stay open for an extra hour at the end, because people were still coming.
At the end of the day Tegan was exhausted, but not too tired to count up all the pennies they had taken. To her amazement she found they had collected £240, which Tegan's Dad made up to £250.
"All right?" asked Tegan's Mum.
"Oh yes!" said Tegan, her eyes shining. "It's been such a nice day!"
And then she realised. That was just what she had asked Jesus to provide.
Activity:
You need:
A large sheet of paper or card
Stacks of
magazines
Scisssors
Glue
Felt-tip pens
Talk about healing today and elicit from the children all sorts of people who are involved in healing - doctors, nurses, care workers, paramedics, physios, occupational therapists, music therapists, counsellors etc - and then ask the children where God/Jesus fits into all this. On the paper, get the children to draw Jesus at the centre, then cut out any pictures they can find which have something to do with healing, and make a collage, taking care not to obscure the picture of Jesus. When the collage is finished, show it to the church and display it in a position of importance, such as by the altar.
Diary Time:
Ask the children whether any of them have been in hospital and what it felt like. If none of them have been in hospital, ask whether any have been ill and who cared for them. Ask them what they remember most about being ill and ask them to write this down, or draw a picture of when they were ill. Ask them whether they prayed at this time, and suggest that the prayers of other people on their behalf might have helped their recovery. Those who have drawn a picture may want to put Jesus into the picture, while those who have written might like to write a short prayer thanking God for their health.
Intercession:
Jesus our healer, when our church fails to show love, it feels like we have a sickness. Bless and heal the whole Christian Church and give us the desire to receive your healing, so that we may get up and walk.
Jesus our healer, our world is full of sickness. We are so sick that we allow some poeple to starve, while others have so much that they throw masses away. We are so sick that we allow our beautiful world to be polluted. We are so sick that our values are based on how much we can get for oursleves. We ask you to heal our sickness , so that our world may be really beautiful in every way.
Jesus our healer, even in her sickness, Jairus' daughter followed your command. When you told her to get up, she did. Help our community to hear your commands and to follow them, that when you tell us to get up, we may do just that.
Jesus our healer, some of our friends are sick. We want to touch the hem of your cloak on their behalf so that you may pour your healing love into them. we name them before you ...
Blessing:
May God draw you to himself
so that you are healed
deep within and can get up
to do his bidding.
And the blessing of God almighty,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
be with you now,
be in your homes and in your families
and with all those whom you love
and for whom you pray,
now and always.
Amen.
