The sermon below was delivered at the J.L. Valencia Chapel by Karmina Lopez, a fourth year CE student.
It’s been a while when I was there sitting in the pew and listening to some CE students deliver their sermons. While listening to them, I told myself, “Balang araw ako naman ang tatayo dyan!” And now, I am standing here enjoying this moment that God gave to me. I pray that our spiritual eyes and ears be opened to see and hear the message of God clearly and our spiritual heart to accept the message of God. Amen.
In all the synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of Mark was the first gospel to be written. It was written about 66-70 AD under the persecution of Nero. If we imagine the situation of that community that time, the people experienced sufferings. That’s why the main message of the gospel of Mark is primarily about suffering.
The Gospel reading that was read a while ago can also be seen in Matthew 9:18-26 and Luke 8:41-56. In these two mighty acts the majesty of Jesus was shown through many people. Jesus is Lord not only over the seas and the demons but over the death itself. His vigilant compassion can hear and answer the unuttered petition of the woman who dared only to touch His cloak.
If we analyze the text, we can see that the two stories in the text of Mark have the same situation. Jairus and the woman who was bleeding for 12 years had the same feeling that time. They had fear in their hearts and they suffered so much. If we put ourselves in the shoes of these two characters, do you think we will also survive? I know all of us here don’t want the same situation to happen. We do not want to suffer, right? But if we study the two situations we can see that Jairus and the woman had unbelievable faith to Jesus.
This afternoon, I want to share to all of you the two points that I realized if we have faith in God and what faith can do to us.
- 1. Faith Conquers our Fear
The enemy of faith here is fear. We know that Jairus and the woman felt afraid but Jairus and the woman made a move to prove their deep faith in Jesus. Jairus was a respected man because he was a ruler of the synagogue, but in spite of his authority and power, when he saw Jesus, he begged for help. He believed that Jesus could heal his sick daughter. He forgot his dignity and pride; he humbled himself before Jesus and confessed him as the Christ. Jesus knew that Jairus had a strong faith in Him that’s why he listened to Jairus and went with him. While Jesus was walking, a woman needed help. She believed that if she could only touch the cloak of Jesus, she will be healed. Even though it was crowded, she still tried her best to touch the cloak of Jesus. Her faith conquered her fear and because of that she attained the victory. What a miraculous faith they both had. Oftentimes, we, Christians, have a lot of things that we are afraid of. We worry too much and sometimes we cannot do anything, we sit down and just cry. We always say that we have faith in God, but sometimes its not seen in our lives. In verse 36, Jesus said to Jairus,“Don’t be afraid, only keep on believing”. I believe that Jesus is telling this to all of us right now. God uses this statement to remind us to always believe in Him. Our faith in God can do things in our lives. Whatever our hearts’ desire, if we believe, we can achieve it because of the help of our God. Remove the spirit of fear in us and we can achieve victory in our lives.
- 2. Faith is the answer to our Suffering
Jairus and the woman suffered so much. They were afraid, worried, and they had no peace of minds because of their situations. In the midst of their sufferings, they found one solution, and that is, their faith in Jesus. They had no doubt to Him. Jairus believed that Jesus could heal his sick daughter but what Jesus did was more than that. Today, we know that many people are suffering in their lives and maybe we are one of them. Many situations in our lives bring disappointments, discouragements, and sufferings. But the good news is that the LOVE OF GOD is always there and its free for all of us. Just believe and have faith. I know it is hard to have faith in one thing that cannot be seen. God NEVER promised that we will not suffer anymore here on earth, but he promised to be with us and he will carry us through. God allows sufferings for us to have faith in Him and experience His goodness, so that as Disciples we can proclaim His greatness and goodness to all the people in the world.