Reading: Mark 5:21-43
Today I want to talk about choices. We make them every day, from what we eat to where we work to whom we marry. We can`t even go into the supermarket without having to make at least 50 decisions on what to buy as there are so many different versions of the same thing. Sometimes it`s completely overwhelming doing the shopping. But others make choices that are more serious, with far reaching consequences. They choose to hurt others either psychologically or physically or to save others, in acts of amazing heroism and self sacrifice. These are choices that affect lives, ours and theirs. An example I read the other day comes from the stories of 9/11. One was about a female police officer called Moira Smith, who directed hundreds of people out of one of the towers and down an exit stairwell, encouraging people to keep moving while she stood at the top with her flashlight giving clear directions. `Don`t look, keep moving`. Her air of authority gave people hope and assurance, her actions ordinary and every day like directing traffic. In the end she did not survive but many, many people did. She chose to stay and do her job in the midst of utter chaos and fear, for the sake of others.

So choices are part and parcel of our lives. We make them every day, sometimes at great cost.

Sitting here today, we have made a choice about Jesus. We gather here weekly, read the bible, and commune with one another. Why, why do we do this, when we could be doing so many other things! We do this because he offers us a glimpse of the sacred found in all of us, a glimpse of a life lived in love, and a world filled with justice, peace and hope. A glimpse of what could be, instead of what is. When we drop a lot of the cultural and religious baggage that has been carried through the centuries and look at Jesus with new and fresh eyes, we see our response to him is critical. Not just to us but to our world and the people in it. For the Christian faith is not about another life, but this life and what we do with it. How we live it. Every week we are reminded of that, and every week we go and try to re-enact this in the world.

In the reading today from Mark, we hear his radically inclusive message in a specific situation. Jesus`s readers would have found this story not only totally challenging but also ultimately transforming. For that`s the thing, Jesus does not force us to choose, we have to choose which way to go ourselves.

The reading focuses on Jesus in a crowd and on two females, one a girl of 12 years, and one a woman who had been haemorrhaging for 12 years. It is interesting to note the two stories are placed together, and have in common the number 12 and the gender of the principal characters.This suggests that the events may not have happened together or at all but were linked later to reveal something vitally important in the ministry of Jesus.

In regards to the woman the purity laws of the day were extreme. Menstruation was regarded as unclean. Leviticus 15:19-24 reads `A woman menstruating is impure for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. Everything upon which she lies during her impurity shall be unclean, everything also upon which she sits shall be unclean. Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening.`

These rules arose from a fear of the unknown, where it was a mystery what happened to women every month and during pregnancy when the bleeding stopped, but then flowed freely after birth. Theories about life and anti-life developed, so that menstruation was seen as perhaps working against life. Whatever the basis, many myths grew about menstruation, and laws were made to protect others from the unclean event. If on top of the normal monthly bleeding a woman also had a gynaecological complaint, which meant she bled more often or all the time, then she most likely would become totally isolated and rejected from the rest of the village or town. This was the plight of the woman in the story.

This woman comes to Jesus for healing but is afraid to face him directly so just touches him in the crowd. Jesus responds by trying to find out who has touched him, and speaks to the woman personally. She tells everything to him and he listens intently, never once worrying about any laws that might preclude their contact. He sends her away healed and in peace. In this story he has responded to a woman, isolated by her condition, by healing her and including her in his faith mission. But the healing is ambiguous ¬ - is it a physical healing or is it a healing that comes from knowing you are loved and worthy? It doesn`t matter, for what it says is that God`s love is freely offered, and it is offered to all, including and especially those society casts aside.

This is emphasised by attaching the resurrection of the little girl as a follow-up of the woman`s story. Jesus enters the house of the girl suggesting that she has been raised, even though her family thinks otherwise and is in deep mourning. He heals her and lifts her up to meet her parents who of course are amazed at this event. Then he goes on his way. The physical resurrection of the little girl is seen in contrast to the healing of the woman as the two stories sit side by side. Mark is stressing here that all are equally valued in the eyes of God, for while the child is the child of Jairus, a leader of the synagogue and is on the verge of fertility and greater status in society, the woman has bled for 12 years and is therefore impure, outcast and poor. For Jesus all are valued, regardless of social status, religious purity or gender and all are worthy of his love and compassion.

When this reading is interpreted it is often the woman`s actions that are the focus - how she responds to Jesus and her show of faith. But it is the action of Jesus which is the most miraculous. Not the miraculous healing of the girl or even the woman but the inclusive way he performs both. His gospel is for everyone, men and women, young and old, sick and healthy, black and white, refugee and migrant and does not require an intermediate party to deliver it. The woman was empowered by Jesus, to continue her life, the little girl was empowered to continue hers. This is the type of resurrection that comes from Jesus.

Yet Jesus was a man of his time, living within a society that had little knowledge of biology or medicine. What we are discovering and what every age discovers is that the fundamental truth of Jesus` words and mission is timeless. At every age his message of social justice and love transforms people and communities into places where all are included and made whole. He leads each one of us to a new place, changing our thinking and our behaviour, uplifting and challenging us. Suddenly our neighbour`s concerns, rights, interests, freedoms, and well-being are just as important as ours and we are willing to stand beside them in solidarity and sometimes even die for them. It is as though we undergo a transformation of heart and soul, so that we want to make a difference to each other and to the world.

Today our neighbours are women everywhere, but particularly in developing countries. The issues of gender inequality that Jesus was responding to in his day are still present around the world, and because of them the majority of the 1.5 billion people living on one dollar a day or less are women. There is a gender imbalance that makes women the overwhelmingly majority amongst those poor, up to 60%. The reasons for this huge disparity are many, but mostly they concern the differences in how men and women are treated, so that while men have some ability to escape poverty women have none. Many agencies, including the TEAR fund, have recognised this and have programs to help empower women to change their circumstances, by education, aid and support and therefore change the lives of their families and communities. The money from our dinner went to such programs, providing women with access to low cost loans and vital education about health, nutrition, family planning and sound business practises within their villages and towns.

It`s not a coincidence that in the Scriptures, poverty is mentioned more than 2,100 times. And we know now how many of those poor are women. Jesus knew what the consequences of inequality and injustice were, just as we do. That is why he met and ate and drank and communed with those seen as marginalised by his society, why he talked to a bleeding woman and raised a young girl to life. Both were to be included in the kingdom of God on earth. It may be 2,000 years ago but his inclusive and compassionate message is still a light in the darkness. To be faithful to Jesus we must continue to follow his way every day, in our own lives, and make a difference to those who travel with us.

Teresa of Avila, a mystic from the 1500s wrote a great summary in her book `The Way to Perfection`. Listening to Jesus words from the cross - she believes he is saying,

All must be friends
All must be loved
All must be held dear
All must be helped
A message needed as much today and for us than at any time. Let us continue to choose life and love embracing the mighty spiritual force that flows in and through us, and which Jesus so clearly revealed.