Rev. George Miller
Feb 4, 2024
Mark 5:21-43
Anyone who came to church on Tuesday stepped into a sensory delight.
Sherrie was cooking in the kitchen and even before opening the front door,
you could smell the homemade goodness and love she was putting into her Chicken
Ala King.
Sherrie’s cooking not only warmed up the entire campus, but it smelt “warm”
like a turkey on Thanksgiving or soup on a rainy day.
Warm not in temperature, but warm as in Mom and Abuela and GG.
Warm as in “welcome” and “sit down” and “let me make you a to-go plate covered
with aluminum foil.”
Tuesday afternoon our entire church was warmed by the aroma of Sherrie’s cooking.
Why was she making a homemade meal?
To feed the people who were busy restoring our restrooms so they would
have something to eat when they took their lunch break.
Bravo to Sherrie for doing this; she didn’t have to do so.
When we hired these folk, and signed the contract, there was nothing that
said “Emmanuel will supply a scrumptious, rib-sticking, soul smiling meal.”
We’re paying this company good money to fix our facilities; we did not
have to provide a single thing.
Yet, that’s what Sherrie did- making sure the men had something to eat. Sherrie embodied the Gospel of Mark.
She knew folk were working, she knew they’d be hungry; she made sure they
had more than a sack lunch from home or a takeout meal.
Perhaps THAT is why the Fellowship Hall not only felt warm but smelled
warm-
she was embodying the Kingdom of Heaven in a pure, fundamental, and most
holy way.
What Sherrie did felt like a warm hug- because it was. She didn’t have to
do it, but she did.
Food is so essential to our faith; food is so essential to our relationships.
Think of Ridge Area SDA who invites us to be the first to eat when they
share a meal after worship.
Think of Fe, who happily shares dishes from the Philippines, watching as we
enjoy them.
Ari’s family, who if you ever have the honor to eat with, will encourage
you to try their lamb, their coquito, their meatless chicken legs, and watermelon
Agua fresca all the way from Miami.
When we share food with others, we share ourselves.
When we eat the food of others, we are validating their personhood, their
culture, their mothers, their ancestors, their heart.
Anytime anyone says “Come, eat,” they are saying “I like you,” “I trust
you” and “I want to spend time with you.”
Skyline Chili from someone in Ohio.
Oxtails from someone in the South.
Arepas from someone in Columbia.
Food plays an important part in today’s reading, even if you may not
notice it.
Jesus has come back after greeting the guy in the graveyard. The crowds surround him.
He’s asked to heal a man’s daughter; a woman who’s bleeding touches his
robe.
He’s dealing with life and death, death and life, all while regular folk
try to have a piece of him.
He's surrounded by weeping and wailing, naysayers and laughers.
Just as he did with Peter, he goes into the home and personal space of a
family in crisis.
He speaks words of life to their daughter, and she begins to walk.
The family is amazed. They thought
their child was dead; sure their daughter was gone.
But Jesus steps into their life, Jesus steps into their home, Jesus goes
into their most private of places…
...and their family is restored.
The family receives the gift of new life, new possibilities, they receive
the gift of a future.
And what does Jesus do?
Does he hand them an Emergency Room bill and say “That will be $390. Would you like to set up monthly payments?”
Does he say “Now that I healed your child, your daughter is mine”?
Does Jesus says “I am Lord of All Creation, bow down and grovel at my
feet”?
No.
Jesus does none of these things, even though he could.
What does Jesus say after restoring this family?
He says “Give her something to eat.”
Wow.
Once again, in the Gospel of Mark, we see how even the most mundane of
things becomes sacred and important to Jesus.
“Give her something to eat.”
Now why would Jesus say something like this?
Well first of all, the dead don’t eat.
So to have the little girl fed means that she is alive and with them.
Second, food is one way to say that you are welcome and you belong. This could be Jesus’ way of saying “Welcome
back to the land of the Living.”
Third, back then, there was no belief in heaven as we have today. Back then, dead was dead.
And death was the ultimate separation.
To say the little girl is dead means that she is no longer part of the
family; it means their relationship is over.
Because she is brought back to life, Jesus has restored their
relationship; he has restored their family.
Because their relationship has been restored, she gets to eat. Mom and Dad and daughter get to sit at table
and be one.
And that is beautiful.
When Jesus says “Give her something to eat” he is saying “Welcome her
back” and “continue the relationship you have.”
And some ways, that’s what Communion is about.
Communion is not just about the Last Supper or a Holy Meal.
Communion is about relationships.
It’s about the bonding we share when we come to the table.
When we participate in Communion it means that no matter what we’ve been
through during the week, no matter what we are each going through, at that moment,
we are bonded and we are united via food.
Communion reunites us after being separated for a week or a month or a
crises like COVID.
Communion is a way we can be restored- I’ve seen people at odds with one
another make amends after sharing the broken bread.
Communion means that we are ALIVE.
It means that we are still here.
Communion means that we are free to experience the Kingdom of Heaven
right here, right now.
Communion means that we get to live another day.
It means we are free to participate in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Coming to this table to be fed means that we are free to experience the
Morning Savior, regardless of what we have been through or what we have done.
The food we are given today means that we are restored to experience the
Savior of the Mundane, Savior of the Menders,
Savior of the Matriarchs, and Savior of the Children and Most Vulnerable.
Today’s reading reminds us that just as Jesus was present to the man in
the cemetery, just as Jesus is present in the crowd,
Jesus is present in our pain, Jesus is present in our most intimate of
moments.
And Jesus does what Jesus can to restore our wellness, restore out relationships,
and ensure that we are fed, body, mind, and spirit.
Jesus is not just the Savior of Our Mornings, but he is also present in
our meals, our needs, and our relationships.
For that, we can say “Amen.”
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