Desperation, Boldness, Thankfulness - Sermon for the 24th Sunday after Trinity

Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity
November 10^th, A + D 2024
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, South Dakota
Desperation, Boldness, Thankfulness
Matthew 9:18 – 26 and Colossians 1:1 - 14

 Audio of the Gospel Reading and Sermon can be accessed HERE

  Desperation can lead to boldness.  And boldness, by the grace of God, can lead to thankfulness, and all the excellent spillover effects a thankful heart produces.  Desperation, boldness and thankfulness seem to describe the shape of Christian life, at least according to our readings this morning.  And, as we have witnessed major milestones in the Christian life of Neal and Ryan Larson, we will benefit from reflecting a little on the shape of this life in Christ. 

   This is a noteworthy day, in several ways.  Ryan has been baptized, claimed by God as His adopted and beloved daughter.  And, she and Neal have publicly confessed their faith and been welcomed to this altar.  God be praised. 

   This 10^th of November is also the anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther, and of the United States Marine Corps.  Desperation leading to boldness leading to thankfulness also fits with the character of these two birthday boys.  I am relatively well informed about both Luther and the Marines, and so I’m sorely tempted to spend the rest of this sermon comparing and contrasting the boldness of Luther with that of 249 years of U.S. Marines.  But, it will better for our souls to focus on Jairus and Esperanza, since the Holy Spirit saw fit to include their story in three of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke.  

   Who are Jairus and Esperanza?  Well, in their versions of this event, both Mark and Luke tell us that Jairus is the name of the ruler, the father of the dying little girl in our Gospel this morning.  He is a ruler, says Matthew; a ruler of the synagogue, clarify Mark and Luke.  He is an upstanding Jewish citizen of Galilee, with his life and reputation tied up in the synagogue of his town. 

   Esperanza, on the other hand, is a name I chose.  Esperanza means hope.  Perhaps in deference to her modesty, none of the Gospels tell us her name.  But what else should we call this woman who dared to approach Jesus in a crowd and touch His garment, seeking healing for her body, which had been bleeding for twelve years?  So, we’ll call her Esperanza, and find out what her name is for sure when we meet her in heaven.   

   Both Jairus and Esperanza are desperate. 

   Jairus is a father, helplessly watching his beloved daughter slip away.  Medical treatment in the first century wasn’t that great, but he and his wife had almost certainly tried the doctors.  Whatever they had tried, nothing was working; their little girl was dying.  And yet, going to Jesus was a risk.  Perhaps Jairus had heard Jesus teach in his own synagogue.  Clearly he had seen or heard of Jesus’ miraculous healings.  But Jairus would also have noticed how the Scribes and the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law and the religious enforcers of the Jews, were always watching Jesus, challenging Him, trying to find a way to discredit Him or get Him in trouble.  They forbade the people from confessing Jesus to be the Christ, the Savior sent from God.  Going to Jesus publicly and asking for His help could cost Jairus his place in the synagogue, his status in the community.  Did Jairus agonize over the decision?  We can’t say.  We just know that, despite the risk, in desperation, he sought out Jesus and asked for His help. 

 

 Esperanza’s boldness is easy to understand.  She has very little to lose.  She has been suffering from her condition for 12 years; Mark tells us she had spent all her money on doctors, but they couldn’t help her.  Her condition, according to the Law God handed down through Moses, made her ritually unclean.  Which made her a pariah for her neighbors.  She could not visit the Temple.  She would not be welcome in synagogue.  Anything or anyone she touched became unclean and needed to be ritually cleansed.  She really had no business going into any crowd, let alone stretching out her hand to touch a rabbi.  Punishments under Jewish law could be very severe.  Plus, as a woman of faith, she is quite likely troubled by the fact that her actions are breaking the Law of Moses.    

   Both of them faced risks.  And yet, Jairus and Esperanza, in desperation, sought Jesus and the help they believed He could offer.  Why take such a risk? 

   Because of hope, and for the love of life.  I’m pleased how so many South Dakota Christians, desperate to keep Amendment G out of our state constitution, were willing to say it publicly, and voted accordingly, defeating the measure.  Thanks be to God. 

   But Jairus and Esperanza were much bolder.  They dared to act, despite the very real possibility of personal downside.   Why did they do it?  Because, as we recited from the Psalms a few minutes ago said, they saw Jesus and said: With you is the fountain of life; In your light do we see light.  Jairus and Esperanza had heard about Jesus, maybe they had heard Him teach, or even saw him perform a miracle.  In Jesus, they saw a light that gave them courage.

   The risk of death and the accusation of the Law of Moses were old news, constant companions.  But in Jesus, they saw something new.  They saw a healer sent from God, not bound by the rules of Moses, because He was both the giver of those rules, and their ultimate fulfillment.  Jesus was going around, acting as if He was God in the flesh.  He was healing broken, suffering bodies, making whole the blind, the sick, lepers, and the crippled. 

   What they saw in Jesus, combined with their desperation, made them bold.  I can’t help but think of Martin Luther again, in 1521, standing before Charles, the Holy Roman Emperor, the most powerful man in the world.  Luther had been summoned to a meeting in Worms, Germany, so he could be ordered to recant the teaching God had revealed to him in Scripture.  Facing persecution and death, Luther, after asking for and receiving a day to think it over, finally refused to recant.  

Unless I am convinced by the testimony of

the Scriptures and by clear reason (for I do not trust in the pope or councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted. My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.

   Like Jairus’s request and Esperanza’s fingers reaching out to touch the fringe of Jesus robe, Luther’s bold words were a good work, a true confession proclaimed to all, springing from faith in Christ Jesus.  All three of these souls have given us an example to follow.  And, all three were rewarded for their faith – the woman is healed, and also blessed by Jesus.  Jesus raises the daughter of Jairus from the dead, and returned her to her parents.  And Luther was blessed with a clean conscience, and a life filled with digging God’s Good News from Scripture and preaching and teaching it to the eager ears of sinners, seeking peace with God. 

   How did they react?  How did they feel?  What was the impact of their boldness for the rest of their lives?  We have thousands of pages of Luther’s subsequent teaching and writing to get a sense of Luther’s reaction.  In fact, directly after his meeting with the Emperor, Luther was whisked off in a fake kidnapping orchestrated by his prince, and spent the next months hidden in the Wartburg Castle, where he translated the New Testament into German. 

   Does it seem odd to you that Matthew didn’t spend any time describing the reactions of Esperanza and Jairus?  Maybe because it’s so obvious.  Surely their reaction was much like St. Paul’s prayer for the Colossians.  In their boldness, they had walked in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in their good works.  And so they increased in the knowledge of God, revealed in the man Jesus.  They were strengthened with all power, according to God’s glorious might, so they could patiently endure in the faith, filled with all joy.  Great joy came to Esperanza and Jairus, no doubt.  Joy which results in thanksgiving to the Father, who had sent them Jesus.  Desperation led to boldness, which gave them joy, and made them thankful to God. 

   We do not need to pray for or seek out desperate situations so that we can exercise boldness and be rewarded.  In fact, to do this would be to imitate the false piety of the Pharisees, who made a great show of their “struggle” to keep the list of made-up rules they liked to impose on others.  We rightly pray for peace and protection.  We do not seek out desperate situations, nor do we seek to be seen and praised for our shows of holiness. 

   We do not seek desperate times.  But they will find us, now and again.  There are crosses in the life of every Christian.  We will face difficult challenges, of health, or relationship, or faith.  We don’t seek such difficulties, but we also do not need to fear them.  You are even better prepared than Esperanza and Jairus to boldly seek Jesus in your desperate moments, because you know more than they could have known.  They saw the light of life in Jesus, yes.  But they didn’t know the whole story, because Jesus hadn’t finished it yet. 

   But you do.  You know that the Father has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints, the holy ones of God, who live in His light.  You know that the Father has delivered you, rescued you from the domain of darkness, from the kingdom of the accuser, Satan.  God the Father has rescued you, and transferred you to the kingdom of His Son.   

   And how was it again that Jesus snatched you out of Satan’s domain?  By redeeming you with His blood, by forgiving you all your sins.  The original problem, which is the starting point for every other bad thing in our lives, the sin which so easily entangles us, the accusation of the tempter trying to make us doubt God’s love, this problem has no real power over you, because the forgiving hands of Jesus hold you, safe and sound. 

   And so you rejoice.  You walk in the good works the Father has prepared for you.  And, you give thanks.  For God has delivered your soul from death, your eyes from tears, your feet from stumbling.  You are more than conquerors, through Him who loves you, Jesus Christ, the hope and the life and the light of the world. 

Let us pray:

Holy Spirit, thank you for the faithful examples of Jairus and Esperanza and Martin.  As you delivered them from desperate situations, giving them boldness to act in faith, so also guide and inspire us day by day.  Help us to see and trust the light of life that shines forth from Your Word,

that we too would be prepared for boldness in the necessary time,

that we might abound in good works,

and give thanks to the Father for all His benefits,

through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.