Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 30, 2024 - Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24; 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15; Mark 5:21-24, 35B-43

Did you spot the fundamental question? The writer of Mark’s Gospel tucked it into a throwaway sentence. After the story of the woman is finished, it says, “People arrived from the synagogue official’s house saying, ‘Why trouble the master any further?’” Nowadays, we wouldn’t use the word trouble anymore. We’d say what? Why bother? Don’t bother me. Why bother him? That’s the question that this gospel story, or these stories, are meant to address. Why bother?  

How often do we say that or feel that way? Something goes wrong at the job. Not everybody is on the same page. People are not cooperating. Why bother? Something goes wrong in our family. We try several times to make amends or to bring people together. Everybody is resistant. Why bother? You want to do your best in your school or on the team, but the teacher or coach plays favorites. Why bother? A fundamental human question across all times and places. 

We look at the way the world is today. There are a number of people working for change. A number of people working for progress. A number of people working for the poor. But the challenges seem overwhelming. Why bother? 

The same thing is true in religion. When the Church was reopened after the three-and-a-half-month closure for Covid, a lot of people said, “Why bother going back to Church? I really didn’t miss it that much, after all. Why bother going back?” “Why bother going to confession? I can just tell my sins to God.” Why bother trying to live according to teachings of Christ and making me look like a fool in modern society? Why bother being honest in the least little thing when people are massively dishonest all the time. Why bother? 

Today’s story is actually two stories, but the writer of Mark’s Gospel sometimes uses a very clever device. He makes a sandwich out of two stories. He starts one story, cuts it off, tells another whole story, then finishes the first story. The two stories are meant to shed light on one another very cleverly.  

So, what are the two stories? One is about a woman who has had a hemorrhaging problem for twelve years. The other story is about a little girl who is what? Twelve years old. Watch that number. We are going to talk about it later. The number twelve. But this woman, this woman comes up through the crowd and touches Jesus’ garment. Why is it so important that she be cured? It is so important that she be cured because she’s a pariah in society. In the Jewish system of things, blood made you impure. And, if you had a blood episode of some sort, you had to go the temple, pay for a sacrifice, and be pronounced clean by the temple officials. But, if it wouldn’t stop, you could never go. And while you were unclean you couldn’t hug or be hugged by anyone in the family. She was probably the head of the household. The mother. She could not sit at the table with her family and eat. She could not embrace or be embraced by her husband. What a terrible, lonely, lost life to live. And that was her life.  

Then we get to the other story. A little girl is dying. “Come quickly and help.” And, before Jesus can get to the house, the little girl dies. What did Jesus say to the woman with the hemorrhage? “Woman, it is your faith -not my clothing - it is your faith that has saved you. Be well. Be well and go in peace. What did Jesus say to the synagogue official, Jairus, when people come with the sad message? “Do not be afraid. Be at peace.” Do not be afraid. Just have faith. Just have faith. 

It’s interesting how Mark describes the miracle. “Talitha Koum” is the Aramaic. And the translation is, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” Mark got to pick the word that he wanted to use for “get up.” He used the word that’s used in Greek always for the resurrection of Jesus. “Little girl, - not get up - little girl, arise. Be resurrected. Start a new life.”

What are these stories about then? The number twelve tells us something. It tells us that Mark was concerned about the Jewish people, the twelve tribes of Israel, for a certain reason. Because their city, Jerusalem, and the temple within it, are under siege by the Roman armies. And this is a great tragedy for this people. One that may not have a good outcome. And, in fact, it did not. After two years of siege with great poverty, the Romans breached the walls and burnt the city. That’s why people can only visit the wailing wall today when they go to Jerusalem. 

But those twelve tribes enfold a woman who is unclean. She stands for the people of the world whom the Jews considered unclean, from the time of Moses onward. And together they both are suffering a great tragedy. For the Gentile people, who’ve converted to Christianity, consider Jerusalem to be the headquarters of their Church. Rome did not become our headquarters for centuries after this. Right now, Jerusalem, where several of the Apostles were living, is the headquarters. They didn’t want to see it destroyed either. Furthermore, within recent memory, both Peter and Paul have been executed under the orders of the Emperor Nero, and the entire Church – Jewish Christian and Gentile Christian alike - were afraid of being hauled off to the courts and sentenced to death. So, the great project of sharing the Gospel with others is collapsing under the weight of fear. And Mark tells these two stories, which are passed on to him, as a sandwich, in which Jesus gives the same message to everyone. Don’t be afraid. Just have faith. 

“Why bother,” we say? Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid. Do what you can do. Leave the rest of it to God. Just have faith.”