The Power of Sorrow and the Power of Joy (Mk 5:21-43)

The simplest and most obvious use of sorrow is to remind of God. Jairus and the woman, like many others, came to Christ from a sense of want. Sometimes a certain shock is needed to bring us in contact with reality. We are not conscious of our breathing till obstruction makes it felt. We are not aware of the possession of a heart till some disease, some sudden joy or sorrow, rouses it into extraordinary action. And we are not conscious of the yearning of our half Divine humanity; we are not aware of the God within us, till some chasm yawns which must be filled, or till breakdown or break-up forces us to become  conscious of a need.

And this, too, is the reply to a rebellious question which our hearts are putting perpetually : Why is this happening? What have I done to deserve this? Job complained that God had set him up as a target. The point comes clear in the old song: “You don’t know what you’ve got till its gone.” The value of health, children…  we must lose them before we know the love which they contain. But the truth is this: God confers his gifts with distinct reminders that they are his. The Lord gave, and the Lord bath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord. Sorrow puts God in the picture.

You can misuse sorrow. When Jesus came to the house, He found the musicians and people making a noise. Professional mourners -partly to soothe and partly to rivet sorrow deeply, by the expression of it.

Cultural differences in the expression of grief.  Much must be allowed for temperament.. These two opposite tendencies, however, indicate the two extremes into which men may fall in this matter of sorrow. There are two ways in which we may defeat the purposes of God in grief; by forgetting it, or by over-indulging it.

The worlds way is to forget. Gloss over it as the remedy for pain, or move it into hospital wards and old peoples homes. Move on, stiff upper lip. We push pain away without realizing its place in a spiritual world. Listen: when Jesus was on the cross he refused the cup of wine that would anaesthetize his pain. He would not suffer one drop to trickle down the side of his Fathers cup of anguish untasted. Drink the cup.

The other way is to nurse sorrow in a  morbid introspection, lost in nostalgia and pain for what is gone. We refuse to be comforted. But can’t keep it up. There’s a kind of elasticity in the soul. A bounce back.

Here’s the point: We are meant to sorrow, but not as those without hope. Be natural. Jesus wept and he joined in the parties. So no stiff upper lips please… and no wallowing in artificial and prolonged grief, no  minstrels making a noise. Bring your grief to your father who knows and loves you. Let the wound bleed. And let the wound heal.

II. So here are the principles on which a miracle rests.

Notice that the perception of it was confined to a few. Peter, James, John, and the parents of the child were the only persons present. The rest were excluded. Some never see God’s hand move. Maybe to see the miracle you need a certain kind of heart.

He didn’t want the show-off Mourners, didn’t want the wrong kind of fuss. Didn’t want the unbelievers who had been saying “Don’t bother the master any more!” Didn’t want gawpers or the merely curious. How can such be ever witnesses of the supernatural, or enter into the presence of the wonderful? It’s the pure in heart who see God.  

Two kinds of people were admitted. They who, like Peter, James, and John, lived the life of courage, moral purity, and love, and they who, like the parents, had had the film removed from their eyes by grief. For there is a way which God has of forcing the spiritual upon mens attention. The death of their child was the worst nightmare of any parent. Yes, real anguish qualifies for an entrance into the solemn chamber where all is miracle. When life pulls the carpet from under you, and you reach out to Jesus… you come in too and be with me.

You might think: But why not make this public? Let me see a miracle and I’ll believe. But it doesn’t work that way. A miracle is commonly defined to be a contravention of the laws of nature. More properly speaking, it is only a higher operation of those same laws in a form not yet seen.

What would it be like if miracles were the norm? In the film Bruce Almighty the character taking the job of God (!) answers YES to all prayers. But prayer is not a chocolate vending machine, where you put in your request and receive your answer. (Or hit it when it doesn't work!)

Clearly in this case, first of all, the constitution of the universe would be reversed. The will of man would be substituted for the will of God. Caprice and chance would regulate all: God would be degraded to the rank of a genie in a bottle, subordinated by a spell to the will of a mortal, who is armed with their powers and uses them as his slave.

Further still: This unlimited extension of miracles would annihilate miracles themselves. For suppose that miracles were universal; that prayer was directly followed by a reply; that we could all heal the sick and raise the dead; this then would become the common order of things. It would be what we now call nature. So how would it be a sign of anything to come?  Miracles, then, are necessarily limited. The non-limitation of miracles would annihilate the miraculous.

Something more: it is the intention of a miracle to manifest the Divine in the common and ordinary.

Are miracles just a proof of Jesus divinity? For instance, when Jesus rebuked the storm. Was that miracle merely a proof of his divine mission? Are we merely to gather from it that then and there on a certain day, in a certain obscure corner of the world, Divine power was at work? So what purpose now? It’s in the past. And what purpose if I  believe in a Divine presence in the supernatural, but discredits it in the natural; that I recognize God in the marvellous, but do not feel him in the wonderful of every day. No. I must learn  that the waves and winds now are in the hollow of the hand of God. And so is the fear of man under terrifying circumstance. Peace, be still goes both ways.

So the daughter is raised: is this mere evidence of Christianity? NO. There’s a big picture: these miracles were vivid manifestations to the senses that Christ is the Saviour of the body; that now, as then, the issues of life and death are in his hands; that our daily existence is a perpetual miracle. The extraordinary was simply a manifestation of Gods power in the ordinary. No, signs guiding us to perceive and recognize a constant Presence, and reminding us that in everyday existence the miraculous are here. Jesus is alive. This is the power of JOY. God is at work. All things are possible. I rest in his will and timing. I trust him in the delays and even in the sorrows, but I have joy in the constant working power of my saviour and king.