"coming Home"

“Coming Home”

Mark 5:21-43

One of my heroes in Scripture is the great apostle Paul. Of the 27 books in the New Testament, we believe at least 13 were written by him. About one half. One of those was his letter to the church in Ephesus and in chapter 3 and verse 20 he says this... “Now to HIM who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine.” You may be like me when it comes to prayer... I can ask for a lot and I can imagine even more—yet the Scripture says I cannot ask for or imagine more than God is able to do. Remember his thoughts are higher than our thoughts... His ways are higher than our ways. Now that is a powerful promise ... God is able to do more than we can imagine. With that in mind I want to begin with a question this morning. When you think of home, what comes to mind?

When I think of home several things come to mind...

• I think of a house in Arkansas that I grew up in-my mother lived there for over 50 years. A very modest home. I shared a very small bedroom with my 3 brothers. It was a wonder we didn’t kill each other but it was our home.

• Now of course I think of our home here where we have lived for 22 years.

• Home is more than a structure— I think of these little guys— our four children we raised in that home and of course I think of this woman-because she made that house into a home.

Webster defines home as the place where one lives permanently. And the word home means this... no matter where you are, no matter what happens to you, no matter what circumstances you might face, you have a place to go. Home means security. Now as I say that this morning, I recognize that some of you feel like you do not have a home to go to. Others grew up in a home where you did not feel very safe. So let me begin this morning with a very important truth. In the eyes of God, home is not a place. In the eyes of God, home is a person. Home is in the presence of Jesus.

There’s something deeper that I want you to understand about that truth. We look forward to being in the presence of Jesus in heaven one day -- but it’s just as important that we understand this — we can live in the presence of Jesus right now.

This is perhaps one of the most powerful stories in Scripture to me because the two people who Jesus interacts with come from two completely different backgrounds -one from a nice, comfortable home and one from a home that was filled with pain. Two very different backgrounds but both of them recognized the same truth-home is in the presence of Jesus and home is where they needed to be. Both of them needed to come home. The passage begins here.

Mark 5:21-24.

Jairus was a man that everyone knew. He was a leader, an elected leader of the local synagogue. And as a result, he would’ve had strong ties with the Pharisees; most of whom despised Jesus. If you wanted to be on good terms with the Pharisees, you couldn’t associate with Jesus. But Jairus is desperate. It might cause problems, it may put his life in danger but he knew one thing-if I am going to find help for my daughter-I’ve got to get in the presence of Jesus. You see, Jairus’ daughter -12 years of age was dying and like any loving parent, he is looking for answers, solutions. He has done all he can; he has no doubt used his status in the community- his connections-but still his daughter is dying. Jairus couldn’t heal his daughter but he knew someone who could. So the text tells us in verse 23, when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet and begged Jesus to come to this house and heal his daughter. Have you ever begged Jesus to do something? This father did. I have. Don’t mind admitting it. And Jesus said yes and he went with him.

Verses 25-26

Now at this point the second character in the story emerges. There are two main characters in this story. We’re not told much about her except that she is very sick and has been for some time. This woman has been bleeding for 12 years which meant that according to Jewish customs, she was unclean. This also meant that anyone who came into contact with her before sundown; they were also considered to be unclean. She was the opposite of Jairus in every way. Look at this….