· Lamentations 3:22-33
· Psalm 30 (1)
· 2 Corinthians 8:7-15
· Mark 5:21-43
Our first reading, from Lamentations, reminds us of the most essential quality of the Lord: faithfulness. The Lord is faithful to us. The Lord provides. He gives food for the cattle, and for the young ravens when they cry. His mercy endures for ever and yet is new every morning.
"The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." How wonderful. Or we could say again, "the Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing that I shall want."
First we remember that the Lord provides for us abundantly, and then in our second reading, we are reminded to give abundantly. "Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." And of course we remember what the Lord said in Luke 6:38: "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Now Paul had an agenda which is different from mine, as is usually the case. But whatever point he was making, I'm making this point to you: give abundantly, and there will be enough for you as well. Look around you, you see people who spend their money on themselves and never have enough, and you see those who give abundantly and have more than enough for themselves.
Some of it, of course, is lack of wisdom. Some people just don't manage their money. And yet I think it is also a sign of the Lord's mercy. Receive gratefully from the Lord, and give abundantly to the Lord's people, and you will not want. Hoard and waste, and you will never have enough.
I visited a person at home once. It was broad daylight outside, but we sat in a room on the shady side of the building, with the drapes closed, and turned a lamp on. There's nothing wrong with the tap water, but we drank bottled stuff. I thought, "why are you rejecting the Lord's gifts?"
The Lord gives us beautiful, free sunlight that makes us healthy; we shut it out and burn fossil fuels to make a dimmer light without the health benefits of the sun. The Lord (and, granted, the municipality) gives us good, clean water practically for free; we buy expensive bottled stuff brought from who knows where by truck. The Lord gives us feet, legs, a spinal cord so we can control our muscles, stand up and walk; we sit down and burn fossil fuels to get here and there, until we get so fat and sick that our legs have to be amputated at great expense.
Now this person I visited is much wealthier than I, in dollars and cents. And unlike me, she doesn't have to work. And yet, she has neither the time nor the money to help others. She does a bit of volunteering here and there, like we all do, but she doesn't have time to come to you and do something for you. She doesn't even have time to receive you. And if she does, she doesn't have time to listen to you, because she's got to be doing the talking. She has every material blessing that can reasonably be desired in life, and yet she has nothing to give to others. It reminds me of something I saw on Facebook recently: "some people are so poor, all they have is money."
But then at the other hand of the spectrum, consider someone like Mother Theresa. She came from a financially comfortable background. She could have spent her life sitting on her money, rearing children, and never having enough for anyone else. Instead she left her possessions, her safe home, her comfortable posting in a girls' school, picked up her cross and followed Jesus. Mother Theresa owned nothing but the clothes she stood in, and I'm not even sure about that. And yet she always had enough for everyone. The more she gave, the more she had to give. Mother Theresa allowed herself to be poured out for the Lord, and the Lord provided for her abundantly. People say Oprah or Martha Stewart are the richest women in the world, because they have lots and lots of loot. But if you measure not the loot you have but the work you do for others, Mother Theresa must be one of the richest people ever. She was so rich, she didn't even need money.
So we have these two wonderful readings about the faithfulness of the Lord, and then we have this Gospel reading about bothering Jesus until he does something for you.
I say, forget this reading from Mark. In fact, forget everything you've ever read about healing, raising the dead, and casting out demons. And forget especially about "we-ask-this-in-Jesus's-name-amen." All that is completely beside the point. In fact, I don't think Jesus even said that at all. Jesus told us how to pray: "Our Father, who art in heaven." Definitely NOT "we ask this in Jesus's name." Forget anything you've ever heard or read about Jesus handing out loot for the asking.
If you remember one miracle Jesus did, remember Mark 6:30-44, or Matthew 14:13-21: the feeding of the five thousand. It's not in the lectionary for Year B, but it is in Year A. Anyway, Jesus and the disciples are in the wilderness with "five thousand men, besides women and children", and also five loaves of bread and two fish. So Jesus blesses the food and tells the disciples to hand it out. "And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full." (Matthew 14:20) That's exactly what I've just told you: receive the blessings the Lord gives you, give them out abundantly to others, and you'll have plenty yourself. That's all you really need to know.
So instead of the "we ask this in Jesus's name amen" prayer, let me teach you a prayer that was written by Mother Theresa, to ask the Lord for his abundant blessings. Please repeat after me:
Lord, when I am hungry – give me someone in need of food;
When I am thirsty, send me someone needing a drink;
When I am cold, send me someone to warm;
When I am grieved, offer me someone to console;
When my cross grows heavy, let me share another's cross, too;
When I am poor, lend me someone in need;
When I have not time, give me someone I can help a little while;
When I am humiliated, let me have someone to praise;
When I am disheartened, send me someone to cheer;
When I need understanding, give me someone who needs mine;
When I need to look after, send someone to care for;
When I think only of myself, draw my thoughts to another.
Predictably, our hymn for today is #733, Great Is Thy Faithfulness.
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