Community Church Sermons

Third Sunday after Pentecost, Year B - July 2, 2000

"The Search For Jesus"

Mark 5:21-43

Last Monday, ABC News aired a special program called "The Search For Jesus." I didn't get to see the whole program, only about half. How about you? Did you see it? I'll be interested in hearing your reaction.

 

Some of the people I've spoken to felt Peter Jennings did a great job presenting the latest developments in the ongoing search for the historic Jesus, as it's often called. I agree with that. I think Peter Jennings did a pretty good and balanced job.

 

Others told me they thought ABC leaned too heavily upon scholars of The Jesus Seminar. The Seminar, you know, is comprised of a group of middle-aged, notoriously liberal college professors who, Will Willimon over at Duke points out, always end up with a Jesus who looks, acts and believes just like a middle-aged, notoriously liberal college professor. I agree with that observation, too, although I very much appreciate the work they do and the deeper understandings they provide us of the historical context of our faith.

 

Still others said they greatly appreciated the contributions of Paula Fredrikson and N.T. Wright who argued that the historic Christ and the Christ of faith are inextricably bound and cannot be understood apart from each other. For instance, you can't dismiss the miracle of the resurrection without asking "What was it that made the disciples come out of hiding, and boldly carry the movement forward after the murder of Jesus? What turned them around and made them willing to risk their own lives? These were not the first people to follow a revolutionary leader during this time. Most of these leaders, like Jesus, were killed by the occupying Roman forces. And when they were killed, their movements died. But not this one. Why? What happened in the days after Jesus' death that prompted the disciples to come out of hiding and start proclaiming the Gospel, even becoming martyrs themselves?" Fredrikson, from Boston University, put it well when she stated, "I don't know WHAT the disciples saw, because I wasn't there. But clearly, they saw SOMETHING!"  And I surely agree with that.

 

All in all, I think the program was very helpful, and gives us a lot to think about. But through it all, I was reminded that television news may not really be the best way to search for any truth, let alone the truth about Jesus. This was vividly illustrated on CNN following Larry King's interview with Peter Jennings. In the written transcript of the interview - obviously rushed into print on the CNN website - it was noted that, following the Last Supper, Jesus and the disciples went to pray in the garden of Yosemite!

 

But actually, there's a deeper issue than just plain accuracy. My own faith pilgrimage tells me that the search for Jesus must be more than a mere pursuit of historic facts about Jesus. Most of us are searching for something much deeper and more important than that.

 

Did you see it in today's Gospel reading?

                                                         

A man comes running to Jesus. He's a leader of the local synagogue. He is a member of the religious establishment that has been debating the biblical credibility of the man from Galilee. But more importantly, he is a father.

 

And now, on this day and in this moment, the compelling theories of scholarly debate about Jesus have given way to a much deeper reality. His little twelve-year old girl has died. I cannot even begin to imagine the heart-rending grief he is experiencing. Mark simply tells us he comes running into the crowd and falls down in a heap at Jesus’ feet and begs him over and over again to help.

 

And in the same story there is a woman who has suffered from a hemorrhagic disease for twelve long years. She is in constant pain - both from her physical condition and from the fact that her flow of blood renders her unclean and untouchable according to Levitical law. She has pursued every medical treatment, and has exhausted all her money looking for a cure. All for nothing. She is poor. Homeless. Outcast. Constantly sick.

 

And there she is, on the edge of the crowd, as Jesus follows the man from the synagogue to the house where his daughter lies dead. And desperate to find the touch of life in the midst of her living death, this woman pushes through the crowd, past the doctors, past the rabbis, past her neighbors, past her family. She pushes past Peter, and edges around James, and somehow slips by John.

 

And just as Jesus passes by, she stretches forward, reaching, clutching, somehow believing that, if she can only touch the hem of his garment, she will be made well.

 

You see, the search for Jesus is deeper than the acquisition of interesting historical facts. The search for Jesus is a search for life in the midst of death, for hope in the midst of despair, for forgiveness in the midst of sin, for a glimpse of the Kingdom of God in the midst of a world that’s turned its back on God.

 

I was visiting in the hospital with Ray Ernst on Tuesday. I think we all knew Ray was coming to the final moments of his battle with lung cancer, though none of us anticipated that, in just a little over a day, Ray would be set free and go to be with the Lord. We talked a little about the Search For Jesus program which he had seen, and Ray - though very weak - commented that he thought there were some interesting ideas presented. Then, struggling for breath - and very anxious about the difficulty he had breathing  - Ray turned to me, sort of gasping, and asked me to pray for peace.

 

It strikes me that the true search for Jesus has little to do with whether there were three wise men, two wise men, a hundred wise men, or no wise men at all. The search for Jesus as an historic object can easily miss the whole point of Jesus. The search for Jesus is about people like Ray who, facing life's greatest challenges, reach out to Jesus, and in his life, his teachings, and his vision find peace, and strength beyond themselves to engage the realities life throws at us.

 

I think we saw the true search for Jesus a few moments ago when Anna Enzor's family brought her forward for the Sacrament of Baptism. Anna's parents are looking to Jesus not as a relic, but as the source of their little girl’s development as a person. They want Anna to know that she is loved by God, and that her life counts for something more than self-interest. They want to lay down in her life good foundations of character and principle that will help her weather the storms of life, and contribute positively to the world. And they seek Jesus as the source of the highest love in their own lives, so little Anna will be nurtured not only in their love, but in God's love through them.

 

I think Sandy and I saw the true search for Jesus the other night when I offered to splurge and take Sandy out to dinner. There we were, at Sonic, munching our burgers. And just beyond the hood of our car, on one of the outside picnic tables, a family of five received their meal. And as they did, I noticed the father reach out and take the hand of his youngest son, and the son took the hand of his mother, and the mother joined hands with the older boy, and the older boy took the hand of his grandmother, and the grandmother held hands with the father, completing the circle. And then they bowed their heads, and said grace.

 

Families all around us are searching for something - or someone - that will empower them to face and give them strength to engage the tremendous challenges of life in the twenty-first century. They are searching…for Jesus.

 

And I think I discern the search for Jesus in the words of “O Beautiful For Spacious Skies.” On this weekend of America’s 224th birthday, we boldly sing a prayer that “Thine alabaster cities gleam undimmed by human tears.” Now, all you have to do is look at Atlanta, or New York, or Loudon or Lenoir City to realize that American cities don't yet gleam like alabaster, let alone dry the tears of all their residents. The song sings not of a reality, but of a hope. A vision for what America can be! We, as a people, seek God’s guidance and strength to bring the poor into joy, and the oppressed into liberation, and blacks and whites and others into peaceful relationship in a society that is indeed undimmed by human tears. And this is not a search of historic interest. It is a search for life itself.

 

For that is what it means to search…for Jesus!

 

May I ask you, "What are YOU searching for today?"

 

What is it in your personal life that remains broken and unresolved like that woman's twelve year old flow of blood? What need of a daughter or son or friend of yours is it that you need to find a way to address, like Jairus who needed help for his daughter? What storm is it, blowing in your life, that you need some moment of peace in? What tears flowing in our society today do we need to try to wipe away, and how will we change things to keep them from being shed again?

 

I can only testify to you this morning what I know out of my own experience. Standing somewhere between you and what you are searching for today is the most amazing person who ever lived. Seek his presence. Search his teachings. Embrace his life.

 

And life will come to you!

 

And the symbol of this promise is at the Table to which we are invited.

 

He says, "This is my body. Take and eat. This is my blood. Take and drink."

 

To take his life into your life is what it means to truly search...for Jesus.