Good morning all!
Today’s scripture:
MARK 5:21-34
21When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. 22Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 23and 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.” 24So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. 25Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. 26She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. 27She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” 29Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” 31And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?'” 32He looked all around to see who had done it.33But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
My family and I were laughing a few weekends ago because we were remembering a video that my brother Grant and I made. We had decided to make a “safety” video. We would have Grant do all sorts of crazy things and I would dance across the screen and say, “Don’t do this at home kids.” In our minds, it was brilliant. Now, mind you, Grant was probably 5ish and I was probably 8ish. Well one of our dreams was to put Grant in the swing and have him jump out of the swing unharmed. My dad must have been videotaping this because we watched it many times afterward. We did not totally think it through because we put Grant in the one swing that had hooks faced inward instead of turned out.
This was all going to be so brilliant! So Grant starts swinging and doesn’t get too high because he knows he is going to jump out. I remember him getting ready to jump and not realizing that one of the loops on his jeans is caught on the hook. Grant has a big smile on for his stunt. As he goes to jump out he realizes that the loop is caught as he goes to jump. By then it is too late and the look on his face is “oh no.” He lifts out of the swing to find him self totally caught and ending up in the dirt below. At this point I dance out in front of the camera and yell out, “Don’t do this at home kids!” I figured at this point it was critical to let those kids at home know the danger…..
There are things in this world literally that stop us in our tracks. Yesterday in the first service, I noticed that my worship assistant was having trouble getting to the front of the sanctuary not because of anything crazy but she was chatting with so many wonderful souls. When she finally got to the front of the sanctuary I mentioned, “sometimes it is impossible to get from point A to point B quickly around here.” I flashed a big smile because I know that sometimes those can be the best conversations. Especially on Sunday morning, I sometimes forget that I need to allot extra time to go anywhere because I run into so many people along the way. People stop us in our tracks to make connection, get our attention, throw us for a loop, or just want to say hello.
These are valuable moments in life to realize, those moments when we are stopped and something is pointed out that reminds us to pause in life and realize God is around. Jesus stops for the woman because he feels that she has reached out to him. It stops him in his tracks. He was on his way to somewhere else but something tells him that it is important to delay getting to point b. Something is important enough to take notice, to realize the other human with him in the midst of the crowd, and to heal a situation because God was already present. What would have happened if he had just kept walking? If he hadn’t taken the moment to realize what God was doing? She would have been missed….
What will you take notice of today? Can you slow down a moment to pause and realize where God is present? Can you delight in the things that stop you instead of allowing frustration to creep in? Can you defy the safety guidelines to create a hysterical moment in time? (“Don’t do that at home kids.”)
Prayer: God of moments, we want to see you when we are stopped in our daily lives. You are doing marvelous things and we want to be able to aid in your healing or in your connection. Help us to be present today. Amen.
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