From Hardened Heart to Healed Heart

Rev. Ann Beaty
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

July 23, 2006

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

The scripture lesson this Sunday is composed of two passages that frame stories of Jesus’ teaching and healing ministry. We meet the disciples when they have just returned from a series of missions on the road.  They are already weary and in need of rest and refreshment.  The beginning verses (30-34) tell the story of Jesus and the disciples (apostles) going away to a deserted place for solitude and rest.  The end verses (53-56) tell the story of the crowds coming to Jesus in Gennesaret for healing. In-between these two events, there is a lot of activity for Jesus, the disciples, and the crowds who have been following them.  It appears the disciples never get to the deserted place for rest.  The crowd has followed Jesus and their needs are great.  Jesus, of course, reaches out to them with compassion.  We find then the miracle stories of Jesus feeding the five thousand from the loaves and fishes and the story of Jesus walking on the water to calm the winds on the sea and calm the nerves of the tired disciples.

When you read the sixth chapter of Mark in its entirety, it’s pretty easy to get to this point and feel the weariness of those who have been following Jesus.  In fact, vs. 52 says that the disciples “hearts were hardened.”  They are spent.  They have not been able to get away to have their own time of rest with Jesus and thus, they have little to offer those they meet in need.

We know something of this weariness too.  We don’t have to look further than the demands of daily life to find ourselves and others who are harried and hurried.  I want to read an excerpt from an article entitled: The Making of A Man by Richard Exley.  (1993)

The gender used in this article is male, but the message certainly applies to all of us.

“Today's man is in constant danger of becoming enslaved by the very things that were supposed to make his life more convenient.  Notebook computers, fax machines, pagers, and cellular phones threaten to take him hostage. No matter where he goes, his work goes with him. In truth, his time (his life) is not his own. Even if he could break free of the ever-encroaching demands of his career, his own responsibilities are enough to occupy his every waking moment, things like volunteer work at the church and civic duties, not to mention his family responsibilities. He needs to spend quality time with his children. He needs to be both physically and emotionally present for his wife. He needs to take care of the yard and service the cars. He needs to balance the checkbook. He needs to...the list seems endless. Somewhere in his hectic schedule he must find time to build lasting friendships, time to maintain a quality devotional life, time to read for personal and spiritual development, and time to exercise. No wonder he's tempted to throw up his hands in despair!

It’s no wonder we are spent when we are surrounded with so much busy-ness and so many important demands clamoring for our attention.  It’s no surprise to me that many in our society are anxious and stressed, sleep-deprived, and unable to focus on any one thing at a time. There are some patterns that develop for me when I am in this state of being “hurried and harried”.  One is that I tend to live believing that if I can just get everything checked off the “to do” list, then I’ll relax and have time for prayer and rest.  Well, more often than not, there aren’t enough hours in the day for everything on that “to do” list and I don’t prioritize, but just get frustrated that I can’t get it all done.  The time I imagine will come for rest or more focused prayer never materializes on its own. 

When I’m in this state I tend to chose mindlessly staring at the TV in my off hours rather than make the effort to spend some time in a quality conversation with my family or friends.  Pretty soon, I’m out of touch with them.  When I’m in this state I often end up in the fast food restaurant line eating junk food and skipping my walk or run.  It doesn’t take long before I’ve gained weight, my cholesterol has creeped up, and I don’t feel good about myself.  When I’m in this state I pick up a book to read and find myself reading the same paragraph over and over because I can’t focus my attention on the subject matter. When I’m living out of these patterns, it’s almost as if I’m living in the center of my own self-made universe, trying desperately to find happiness and meaning in the busy-ness that surrounds me.  When I’m living in this self-made universe, like the disciples, my heart can become hardened and I don’t take care of myself.  When I don’t take care of myself, I am distracted from God’s work and easily miss seeing the needs of those around me.  So, is it possible to move from the cycle of living in this state of “hardened heart” to a place of “healed heart” when we are spent?  Mark would have us believe so if we don’t miss the last 3 verses of the text.  “And wherever he went, into villages, or cities, or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.” (56-58)

My first inclination when I read these words is to think he’s talking about somebody else.  “I’m not sick.” “I’m not in need of healing from Jesus.”  “That’s for people who are really in some kind of distress.” “Things are pretty okay in my life.” But, I can’t deny that when I read these words, I feel a deep longing in the core of my heart to reach out and touch that fringe on Jesus’ cloak.  “ALL who touched it were healed”…Mark tells us.  I want that healing grace to wash over me….to touch those places where my “heart is hardened” and to bring that healing grace into my daily living. Where do we start in our desire to access this grace?  Mark tells us that the people who came or brought their friends to Jesus “begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak.”  The people who came to Jesus for this healing touch knew they had a need.  It seems to me we must first recognize our need – we must first believe we have a need to be healed and in that recognition we set our intention towards reaching out in the direction of Jesus’ cloak.

Some of you know that we have a service of Holy Communion, Prayer, and Healing each Wednesday evening in our chapel at 6:30.  I was visiting one time with a young woman following the service.  This was her first visit to the service and she had come specifically  because she had recently been diagnosed with cancer.   After the service she was telling me how much she found the prayers and anointing with oil meaningful.  She made the comment, “I’ve never come to this service before because I never had anything I needed to be healed from.”  Now, I know what she meant by that comment.  She had never had an illness or a situation that impacted her physical health in such a serious way that she felt she needed to go to God and ask specifically for healing prayers.  But, it occurred to me as I thought about our conversation that most of us have a very limited understanding of healing and what that means.   I think if you were to ask any of the small group of folks who come to that service regularly why they come, they would tell you with various answers that they have discovered how much in need we are of God’s healing grace in all circumstances of our living.  In the past 8-10 years I have had the privilege of leading that service and being in prayer with people – some of those are prayers which are shared with me and some are prayers which we share in silence. 

But, in all that I have seen and experienced in that brief 30 minutes each week, I have come to believe that our entire journey of faith is always about healing.  Our work as Christians in this world is always about God’s love growing in us and moving us toward wholeness.  In order to move towards wholeness, we are constantly in need to healing.  Do we reach that wholeness (same word as salvation) in this life?  Probably not in this life, but do we strive for it?  Yes…by continually asking God’s healing grace  to move in and through us.

Some years ago I became familiar with a book called Prayer-Talk: Casual Conversations with God (William V. Coleman, 1983).  In it, Coleman has written a series of conversations he imagines having with God on a variety of topics.  Hear what he has to say on the topic of healing and imagine with me that God might be speaking to us today:

God:  I am very pleased to hear people talking about healing today.  I do heal and  love to be asked to do it.

Me:  Why do you heal some and not others, God?  That has troubled me for a long time, but I have never dared to ask.

God: That is a question many of my children grapple with, and the answer is ever so simple.

Me:  Simple, God? Then, tell us, please!

God: I heal everyone who calls on me.  No, I don’t always perform what you call miracles, but I reach out with love, the greatest of all miracles, to calm and strengthen my children.

Me:  Do you mean you heal hearts and not bodies?

God:  No, I always heal hearts, and at times my healing goes beyond hearts into entire bodies.  I heal memories, reconcile friends, calm fears, encourage fear-filled people, and do all those things loving parents do for their children.

Me:  But why do some good people seem to suffer so much pain?  It isn’t fair, is it?

God:  Fair is your word, not mine.  I don’t necessarily remove pain from those who are  my best friends, but I do give them the strength to bear it.  Pain has a goodness and a value all its own.  No one grows without pain.  If I were to take away all pain, few of my children would ever grow into mature, loving, healing adults.

Over the years with my involvement in our healing service, it has been my privilege to witness what I would call miracles of healing grace…

I remember a grandmother who for years came on Wednesday evening and often prayed for wisdom and peace for her grandchildren.  At a later date, some years after the grandmother’s death, I performed the wedding ceremony for one of her grandchildren.  I saw that grandmother’s smile on the brides face as she came down the aisle, headed towards her spouse-to-be and their new life together.  God’s healing grace made that possible. I remember a husband and father with cancer who knew he wouldn’t win the battle with his illness in this life and that God would soon take him.  He prayed for his wife and children to be able to go on without him and specifically to find a new way to be “family”.  I see his family now, some years later, with a strong and deep faith, as well as new relationships that bring them joy.  God’s healing grace made that possible.

I pray with people who come seeking wisdom about decisions they or loved ones are facing.  I hear later about ways new doors are opened for them or new paths are made clear.  I pray with people who are working to forgive themselves for past mistakes or to forgive others for hurting them.  I am aware later of a little easing in their pain as they peel away one small layer at a time in their hurt.  God’s healing grace makes these prayers possible. I pray with people who come not because they have a specific issue they are grappling with, but because they see the Healing Service as a mid-week opportunity to stop the busy-ness for even a brief period of time.  Their prayers are often filled gratitude for their growing awareness of God’s healing grace in their lives and in the world. When these people come to the Wednesday evening service, they are taking that first step to recognize their need for God’s healing presence in whatever circumstances they are facing.   They have taken that first step to come before Jesus and ask for this touch. When I reach out to touch the fringe of Jesus cloak and experience healing,  I re-discover that God’s healing grace is around me and others all the time.  When I live in this awareness, I tend to be more intentional about putting prayer and meditation first on the agenda of my day.  More often than not, I then have a different focus for the whole day and I become more aware of what is really significant on that “to do” list and can allow the insignificant to fall away. 

When I reach out to touch the fringe of Jesus cloak and experience healing, I take the time to nurture my relationships with family and friends, and I less and less desire the mindless distraction of staring at the TV for hours on end. When I reach out to touch the fringe of Jesus cloak and experience healing, I know how important it is for me to take care of my spirit-mind-AND body if I am going to be alert and healthy enough to have anything to offer others.I love the liturgy in The Great Thanksgiving we use when we prepare for Holy Communion in the Healing Service.  I am continually struck by the magnificence of these words:

“In the beginning, when darkness covered the face of the earth and nothing existed by chaos, your Spirit swept across the waters.  You spoke but a word, and light was separated from darkness.”

When we reach out to touch the fringe of Jesus’ cloak and find ourselves recipients of God’s healing grace, life doesn’t magically become easy or problem free.  There is still chaos among us.  There is still darkness in our world.  But, God’s Spirit is among us and in us…sweeping across the waters of our life to speak a word of healing grace and bring us the light we need. It is in this placed of “healed heart” that we too can then be faithful followers of Christ, and reach out with compassion and love to those in the crowd we meet.  Amen.