Sermon: “Stymied”

Text: Mark 6:1-6a

14^th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

July 5, 2009

Scripture introduction.  Our second reading this morning is from the Gospel according to Mark.  It is the brief account of Jesus’ returning from his ministry around Capernaum to his own hometown of Nazareth, which was located in the hills about 15 miles west of the Sea of Galilee.  At first the residents of Nazareth seemed astonished and amazed at his teaching, but before long they became offended by Jesus and turned against him.  It is not clear from Mark whether they were opposed to him from the beginning, or whether something happened that caused a change of heart.  Whatever the case, Mark reports that Jesus, himself amazed at the unbelief—the lack of faith—of the people he had grown up with, was not able to do any “deed of power” in Nazareth.  Well, Mark writes, “except laying his hands on and curing a few sick people.”

Matthew, who wrote after Mark and who probably used a copy of Mark as he wrote his own gospel, tells the same story.[1]  However, Matthew must have been uncomfortable with repeating that Jesus could not do any deeds of power in Nazareth.  Matthew changed Mark’s language slightly so that it reads, “And he did not do many deeds of power there.”[2]  And Matthew tells us the reason—“because of their unbelief”—a connection that Mark only implied.  Maybe we, like Matthew, are uncomfortable with the original version told by Mark.  Is it possible that Jesus, who stilled the storm, who healed the sick, and who fed the multitudes, was literally unable to perform miracles in Nazareth?  And what about us—can our lack of faith block his power?

Sermon.  As I thought of this gospel story the word that kept coming to my mind was “stymied,” and that is the title of this sermon.  In the game of golf—before the rules were changed in 1951 [3]—“when one player’s ball blocked the path of another player’s ball on the green, [unless they were] within six inches of each other, the obstructing player’s ball was not lifted.”[4]  If you were unlucky enough to be behind your opponent’s ball, that is, if you were “stymied,” you could putt around it, but that would cost you at least a stroke.  You could attempt to chip over the opponent’s ball, but that risked overshooting the hole and maybe even landing off the green.  If you happened to hit the opponent’s ball, he was given the choice of playing from its original position or from wherever you bumped it.  In short, when you were stymied, there were no good shots.  You had to accept the reality and waste at least one stroke getting around the stymie.

The title of last week’s sermon was “Does Jesus Still Heal?”  I told you about my friend Billy Wilder as an example of how people are still healed by Jesus.  Sometimes—it is a mystery to us—the healing involves the actual cure of a disease.  More often, and this can be just as miraculous, as they begin to put their trust in Jesus and in the way he teaches us to live, their lives are healed, even if their disease is not cured.  It is possible to be “saved” and “healed” even if we are not “cured.” 

In telling you about Billy, I tried to be very clear that neither Billy nor I were persons of great faith.  I was careful to make this point because too many times I have heard ministers say, “If only you have enough faith, you will be healed.”  Sometimes this is called “name it, and claim it” theology.  If I want something bad enough, if I name it to God, and if I claim it in faith, it will surely happen.  At least that’s what those preachers say.  I disagree.  That theology goes against what I have experienced in my own life of faith.  We call faith-healings “miracles” precisely because they do not always happen.  I believe this kind of healing is beyond our control, no matter how much faith we may have.  If the minister tells me that I will be healed if only I have enough faith, what does that do to me if I am not healed—as is usually the case.  I’ll tell you what it does—it lays the blame for the disease on the sick person.  It’s a classic case of blaming the victim.

What does the Bible say?  Well, the Bible tells us that sometimes healing happened because of faith.  In last week’s passage from Mark,[5] Jesus healed the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ robe and also the little daughter of a leader of the synagogue.  To the woman Jesus said, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; . . . be healed of your disease.”  To the leader of the synagogue, Jesus said, “Do not fear, only believe.”  But sometimes the Bible doesn’t mention faith at all.  Jesus healed the mother-in-law of Peter; and there is not a word about her faith or lack of faith.[6]  Indeed, Jesus had just begun his public ministry in her town.  We can presume that she had just met him, so it’s hard to imagine what she would have had faith in.  Jesus once said that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed we can move mountains.[7]  I once read this passage as a condemnation of my faith: since I can’t move mountains, then my faith must be even smaller than a mustard seed.  Now I interpret the passage in a very different way: even moving mountains requires only a little faith.  The tiniest measure of faith, even if it is hardly more than a hope, is able to accomplish great things. 

At still other times in the Bible it is not the faith, or lack of faith, of the sick person that seems relevant, but rather the faith of others that encourages a healing.  Once four men were so eager to have their friend healed of paralysis that they cut a hole in the roof and lowered the sick man on his bed to the room where Jesus was teaching.  “When Jesus saw their faith”[8] (not the faith of the sick man), Jesus healed him.  It should be comforting for persons on our prayer list to realize that, even if their own faith is wavering, they are carried by the faith of others.  In Mark’s Gospel, there certainly is some relationship between faith and miracles, but Mark never attempts to define that relationship too closely.  The connection remains somewhat ambiguous.[9]  When a miraculous cure happens in Mark, it is not within the control of the people, even if their faith contributes to it.  The healing remains a mystery. 

On the other hand, it seems pretty clear from our text this morning that Jesus’ power may be blocked—stymied—in the lives of those who actively oppose Jesus.[10]  Theirs is not simply a weak faith or a lack of faith; it’s more like a stubborn un-faith, a determination to remain in opposition to Jesus.  They had heard of the miracles Jesus had done elsewhere.  In verse 2, Mark has them exclaim, “What deeds of power are being done by his hands!”  Yet their own hearts were closed to the possibility that someone they had known since he was a small child could be capable of such deeds.[11]  “We know him.  He’s just a carpenter—a construction worker—who got “the call” and became an itinerant preacher.  Here is Mary, his mother.  Here are his brothers and sisters.  It’s the same Jesus we have always known, except now he’s putting on airs.  Well, he might be able to fool those folks over in Capernaum; but we know who he is.  He’s no better than we are.”  The townspeople of Nazareth had heard of Jesus’ wisdom, but it was useless to them because they would not accept it.  They had heard of his power, but it was not power to them because they actively denied it.  As Mark tells it, in Nazareth Jesus’ power and wisdom were stymied.

It makes sense, doesn’t it?  What good is my doctor’s advice if I deny the expertise of the doctor and refuse to follow his advice?  Jesus, the Great Physician, taught us how the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory of God were made known in love.  But if we reject him and reject his message, we will not be living that life of love for God and for each other that leads to peace, wholeness, and fulfillment.  Whatever miraculous and mysterious power may be available in a Christian life will not avail the person who stubbornly refuses to accept even its possibility.

The lesson I take from this morning’s text is that we should never close our minds to the possibility that Jesus is working in our midst.  Any person, any talent, any resource—no matter how humble—may be used by God to work miracles among us.  If yours is a skeptical nature, that’s fine.  Be skeptical, but don’t deny the possibility that miracles can happen.  Don’t argue against faith.  Keep on the lookout for God.  If you have some faith but feel that it is small, that’s OK.  Use the faith you have, and allow your faith to be increased by your hopes.  If you feel strong in your faith, employ it on behalf of others who are still learning and growing.

God gives each of us faith in some measure.  If we deny the faith we have, we may stymie the power of God in our lives.  God may get through to us one day, but it may take some more time—some more strokes.  If we use whatever faith we have been given, no matter how small that faith may be—if we act like persons of faith should act—then God’s power for love and healing and wholeness will be active in our lives, in the church, and in the world.