July 2, 2006
Proper 8 - B
Book of Common Prayer Lectionary
Deuteronomy 15:7-11
Psalm 112
2 Corinthians 8:1-9, 13-15
Mark 5:22-24, 35b-43

Revised Common Lectionary
Lamentations 3:23-33
Psalm 30
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
Mark 5:21-43
Reflection and Response
Prayer Starter

Today's readings encourage us to remember God's goodness and act toward others with the same unflinching generosity and compassion. In Deuteronomy (BCP), the people of Israel are commanded to give freely to the needy while Lamentations (RCL) reminds those who are suffering that God's goodness will surely come. Paul encourages the Corinthians to offer their surplus of wealth to other communities who are in need. In the gospel, Jesus brings the daughter of Jairus, a synagogue official, back to life in anticipation of his own resurrection.

First Reading: Deuteronomy 15:7-11 (BCP)
In today's reading the book of Deuteronomy shows its nature as a reinterpretation of Mosaic teaching in the light of later history. Like the week, every seventh year was to be a "sabbath year" (Exodus 23:10-12; Leviticus 25:1-7) was every seventh year, when the land was to be fallow for the sake of the poor-a provision reflecting a primarily agricultural economy. In Deuteronomy this is recast in order to apply a money economy (15:1-6). Debts were often secured by the person of the debtor; if the debtor could not repay, the debtor would have to render service for the debt. Every seven years debts were to be released; it is not clear whether the release of the debt was permanent or temporary for the year.

In either case, this provision might deter people from lending to the needy just before the year of release, so verses 7-11 exhort them to generosity. Verse 11 is a realistic description of the actual persistence of poverty, not a description of how things should be. Verses 4-5 make it clear that if God's will were fully obeyed there would be no poor. Poverty is a consequence of the disobedience of the covenant community.

Deuteronomy 15:7-11
If there is among you anyone in need,
a member of your community
in any of your towns within the land
that the LORD your God is giving you,
do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted
toward your needy neighbor.
You should rather open your hand,
willingly lending enough to meet the need,
whatever it may be.
Be careful that you do not entertain a mean thought,
thinking, "The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,"
and therefore view your needy neighbor
with hostility and give nothing;
your neighbor might cry to the LORD against you,
and you would incur guilt.
Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so,
for on this account the LORD your God will bless you
in all your work and in all that you undertake.
Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth,
I therefore command you,
"Open your hand to the poor
and needy neighbor in your land."

First Reading: Lamentations 3:23-33 (RCL)
In 587 B.C. the Babylonians captured Jerusalem, destroyed the temple and led the Jewish leaders into a fifty year exile. This traumatic event was the most desolate time for the Jewish people. Their suffering was bad enough, but their spiritual anguish was unbearable. Every way that their theological struggle took them was unacceptable: was God no longer interested in their welfare, not powerful enough to stand against the invading powers, or, worst of all, not even present in the temple?

From the depths of their suffering, the author of the book of Lamentations gives vent to his feelings of anguish in five carefully constructed laments. The first four poems are acrostics, each verse beginning with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. As we might say, these verses chart the gamut of pain "from A to Z."

But a lament is not just an outpouring of pain. It moves from the pain to the belief that God is present even in the greatest suffering. This trust is always coupled with the hope that this pain will not last forever. The mercy and compassion ("steadfast love") that characterize God's covenant relationship will eventually be manifest.

Lamentations 3:23-33
God's mercies are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
"therefore I will hope in him."
The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
It is good for one to bear the yoke in youth,
to sit alone in silence when the Lord has imposed it,
to put one's mouth to the dust
(there may yet be hope),
to give one's cheek to the smiter,
and be filled with insults.
For the Lord will not
reject forever.
Although he causes grief,
he will have compassion
according to the abundance
of his steadfast love;
for he does not willingly afflict
or grieve anyone.

Psalm: Psalm 112 (BCP)
This is an acrostic psalm, each line beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It highlights the many blessing that come to those who remain faithful to God's law. The blessings are not only spiritual, but include children (v. 2) and wealth that can be used to help others (v. 3, 5, 9). These blessed faithful contrast with the wicked whose "desires come to nothing" (v. 10).

Psalm 112
Praise the LORD!
Happy are those who fear the LORD,
who greatly delight in his commandments.
Their descendants will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
Wealth and riches are in their houses,
and their righteousness endures forever.
They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright;
they are gracious, merciful, and righteous.
It is well with those who deal generously and lend,
who conduct their affairs with justice.
For the righteous will never be moved;
they will be remembered forever.
They are not afraid of evil tidings;
their hearts are firm, secure in the LORD.
Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid;
in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
They have distributed freely,
they have given to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever;
their horn is exalted in honor.
The wicked see it and are angry;
they gnash their teeth and melt away;
the desire of the wicked comes to nothing.

Psalm: Psalm 30 (RCL)
This thanksgiving for healing was probably composed and sung in fulfillment of a vow. Both sickness and health are regarded as coming from the Lord---illness as a probable sign of sin while restoration to health would show innocence. Sickness brings the psalmist closer to the realm of Sheol, the grave, from which the Lord rescues him.

Psalm 30
I will extol you, O LORD,
for you have drawn me up,
and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
O LORD my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me.
O LORD, you brought up my soul from Sheol,
restored me to life from among those
gone down to the Pit.
Sing praises to the LORD,
O you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger is but for a moment;
his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.
As for me, I said in my prosperity,
"I shall never be moved."
By your favor, O LORD,
you had established me as a strong mountain;
you hid your face;
I was dismayed.
To you, O LORD, I cried,
and to the LORD I made supplication:
"What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me!
O LORD, be my helper!"
You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have taken off my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy,
so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
O LORD my God,
I will give thanks to you forever.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 8:1-15
At the meeting of the elders in Jerusalem that dealt with the relationship between the Jewish and Gentile churches of Christians, Paul had agreed to "remember the poor" (Galatians 2:10). The Jerusalem community, persecuted by the Jewish leaders and suffering from the effects of sustained food shortages in Judea (Acts 11:27-30), was itself in particular need of help. Paul was diligent in encouraging the communities he had founded to donate for its relief (1 Corinthians 16:1-4).

This provided a way of maintaining fellowship with the Jewish branch of the Church, with which relations were sometimes strained. In Paul's eyes, the Gentile churches were already indebted to the Jewish church for the gift of the gospel (Romans 15:27). He cites the example of the Macedonian churches in order to incite the Corinthians to similar efforts.

Theologically speaking, Christians have already given themselves to the Lord in response to God's love shown in Christ. Their response to one another is to be patterned on Christ's own self-emptying in the incarnation (Philippians 2:6-11). Gratitude for the riches Christ has given motivates true generosity to one's neighbor. Imitating Christ's generosity is the ideal to strive for.

2 Corinthians 8:1-15
We want you to know, brothers and sisters,
about the grace of God
that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia;
for during a severe ordeal of affliction,
their abundant joy and their extreme poverty
have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
For, as I can testify,
they voluntarily gave according to their means,
and even beyond their means,
begging us earnestly
for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints-
and this, not merely as we expected;
they gave themselves first to the Lord
and, by the will of God, to us,
so that we might urge Titus that,
as he had already made a beginning,
so he should also complete
this generous undertaking among you.
Now as you excel in everything-
in faith, in speech, in knowledge,
in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you-
so we want you to excel also
in this generous undertaking.
I do not say this as a command,
but I am testing the genuineness of your love
against the earnestness of others.
For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor,
so that by his poverty you might become rich.
And in this matter I am giving my advice:
it is appropriate for you
who began last year not only to do something
but even to desire to do something-
now finish doing it,
so that your eagerness may be matched
by completing it according to your means.
For if the eagerness is there,
the gift is acceptable according to what one has-
not according to what one does not have.
I do not mean
that there should be relief for others and pressure on you,
but it is a question of a fair balance
between your present abundance and their need,
so that their abundance may be for your need,
in order that there may be a fair balance.
As it is written,
"The one who had much did not have too much,
and the one who had little did not have too little."

Gospel: Mark 5:21-43
The gospel reading this week is the story of the raising of Jairus's daughter, omitting Mark's intervening story of the woman with the hemorrhage. Both stories speak of faith and restoration, each in a different way.

Jairus, "one of the leaders of the synagogue," (v. 22) comes to entreat Jesus on behalf of his daughter. The terms used throughout the story may be understood on several levels: Jairus's plea that Jesus touch his daughter, "that she may be made well, and live" may be interpreted also that she may be saved and have (eternal) life.

The faith Jesus asks of Jairus can mediate grace to his daughter. It represents the faith of the community on behalf of the individual. Jairus is challenged (v. 36) to respond where the disciples have failed (4:40).

The term "sleeping" was a common euphemism for death, but what Jesus meant by saying "the child is not dead but sleeping" is not certain-whether she was in a coma of some sort, or whether, from the perspective of the kingdom of God, even physical death is but an interlude (John 11:1-13; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). The Greek word for "get up" is one of the common terms describing Jesus' resurrection (Mark 16:6). The injunction to silence signals Mark's concern that the resuscitation of Jairus's daughter cannot be truly understood until Jesus' own resurrection-even though the proof of life, eating, is similar in both cases (Luke 24:30-31; Acts 10:41).

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.
Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and,
when he saw him, fell at his feet
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."
So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him.
Now there was a woman
who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years.
She had endured much under many physicians,
and had spent all that she had;
and she was no better,
but rather grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus,
and came up behind him in the crowd
and touched his cloak,
for she said,
"If I but touch his clothes,
I will be made well."
Immediately her hemorrhage stopped;
and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him,
Jesus turned about in the crowd and said,
"Who touched my clothes?"
And his disciples said to him,
"You see the crowd pressing in on you;
how can you say, 'Who touched me?'"
He looked all around to see who had done it.
But the woman, knowing what had happened to her,
came in fear and trembling,
fell down before him,
and told him the whole truth.
He said to her,
"Daughter, your faith has made you well;
go in peace, and be healed of your disease."
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?"
But overhearing what they said,
Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue,
"Do not fear, only believe."
He allowed no one to follow him
except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue,
he saw a commotion,
people weeping and wailing loudly.
When he had entered, he said to them,
"Why do you make a commotion and weep?
The child is not dead but sleeping."
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.
He took her by the hand and said to her,
"Talitha cum," which means,
"Little girl, get up!"
And immediately the girl got up
and began to walk about
(she was twelve years of age).
At this they were overcome with amazement.
He strictly ordered them that no one should know this,
and told them to give her something to eat.

Reflection and Response
The Judeo-Christian concern for the poor and needy has become overwhelming in this day when the whole world of nations is at our doorstep. We hardly know how to respond. International economic injustices prevent the distribution of national resources on the basis of simple human need. Welfare and many other social obligations have largely become the responsibility of governmental agencies and institutions. We are not too conscious of the individual injunction to be our brother's keeper.

Still, those who live under biblical mandates do what they can to relieve human need, as they are able. "For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a man has, not according to what he has not." Voluntary and secret pledging may be hazardous to the Church, but it is in the spirit of what we are called to do. As Paul says, "...so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have."

The motivation for such stewardship of our resources is our response to Jesus' voluntary poverty that we "might become rich." If our gratitude and love for his life given for us is genuine, we are spontaneous givers. Paul equates liberality with our desire to fulfill the will of God, who has given us all that is necessary for our well-being. What and how we give it is really a matter between ourselves and God and reflects our relationship with God.

The passage from Mark seems incongruous with today's other readings, but it may be related squarely to our sense of gratitude. There are two open secrets in the Gospel of Mark. One is that Jesus is Lord over all life in both the natural and spiritual worlds, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear. The signs of God's kingdom come in Christ are staked out all over the countryside if we can but read them in his words and deeds. The other secret is that faith alone will enable us to receive the blessings Jesus brings to the world.

For the first time in Mark's gospel, a respectable member of society "falls at Jesus' feet." Whatever mixture of motives he might have, the ruler of the synagogue also has some faith that Jesus can help his dying child. Jesus recognizes the quantum of faith in Jairus and responds to it. Our Lord is quick to respond to any budding faith, no matter how it is mixed with self-serving interests.

But the little girl dies before Jesus reaches her. Why trouble him further when death strikes in the midst of hope? We say "where there is life there is hope." But Jesus, already challenged and victorious over the violence of nature and demonic forces, goes immediately to meet death head-on and calls the daughter of Jairus out of her "sleep."

God is not the God of the dead but the living. "I am the resurrection and the life...He that believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live." So Jesus vanquished death also, demonstrating that he is Lord even over the last enemy of life.

Jesus has proved how genuine is his love for us. Our gratitude moves us to find our brothers and sisters in need and carry on his gracious work.

Quietly consider:
For what healing do I need to stretch out my hand and touch Jesus?

Prayer Starter
For your many gifts, O God, I thank you and...