In last Sunday's Gospel (Mark 5:25-34) we explored how, when Scripture describes the great “deeds of power” or the healing miracles that Jesus performed, these acts are part of an entire way of Jesus' relating to God and to others that has to do with what is traditionally called “virtue.” When healing takes place, it is not magical; it is relational. When a person is exposed to the power of self-giving love (which we call divine grace), he or she is enabled to experience that deep trust, which we call faith. And that deep trust, or faith, in turn, allows a person to really “let go,” or surrender, the very private center of himself or herself to God and to others. We explored how such acts of self-surrender free us from our preoccupation with ourselves, so that we increasingly become more like Christ in our capacity to love. The power of healing in the ministry of Jesus is always an expression of this virtuous cycle of love inspiring trust, trust enabling surrender, and surrender ushering in a greater capacity to love God, ourselves, and others. Healing is always relational.

All the ministries of the church – the Ministry of the Word, like we are participating in now; Sacramental Ministry, like we will be participating in in just a few moments; and the Ministry of Pastorally Caring Relationships, which we seek to build up in every aspect of parish life – all of these ministries are aiming to get us continually “caught up” in this transforming, virtuous cycle which God initiates to give our relationships that reconciling and healing quality which makes us whole and gives us joy in our lives.

Still, sometimes we all feel like the desperate woman we met in last week's Gospel text (Mark 5:25-34). If we're “caught up” in anything, sometimes it feels more like a vicious cycle, than a virtuous one. Sometimes no matter what we do, our lives don't seem to be moving forward in the direction of wholeness and joy. The quality of our relationships may be a far cry from reconciling and healing.

But, just like the woman in last week's gospel, as we open our lives up, in all of our frustration and suffering, to the self-giving love of God in Christ, we experience a Eucharistic transfusion that enables us to become the persons we were created to be. That is probably a significant part of why many of us are here today. Because we've come to realize that we are not an island, that we live well only through the power of God's grace, in God's community. And the ultimate symbol and sacrament of our receiving this transfusion of divine grace in community is, of course, the Eucharist, which we are gathering here to celebrate together this morning.

We are profoundly blessed to possess such a spiritual path to practice. And yet, even when we are practicing our faith very conscientiously, even when we are becoming more genuinely joyful and kind and compassionate, not everyone is going to benefit from our lives, or even like us (as hard as that is to believe...) In this morning's Gospel reading (Mark 6:1-13), we hear that for some people, the virtue of Jesus – his wisdom and compassion and self-giving love – led not to that deep trust we call faith... but rather to envy. The people from his own home town responded to the spiritual gifts that he was manifesting, and said: 'Where did he get all these great abilities? Why him and not us? He's just a carpenter! Mary's son! Does he think he's better than us?' 'They took offense at him,' the text says.

Such a reaction is actually not that unusual. When this virtuous cycle of grace is operating in the life of a person, like it was in the life of Jesus, it always gets people's attention. But it doesn't always inspire the faith that leads to transformation. Sometimes, it leads to just the opposite, a kind of suspicious mistrust... and resentment. It's as if this home town crowd felt that when God was passing out wisdom and compassion and all the other virtues, Jesus had somehow cut ahead in the line and gotten more than his fare share, so that there wasn't enough left for everybody else. After all, weren't these other town-folk just as entitled as he was to be transmitting reconciliation and healing? Well... apparently not....

We don't just become the kinds of people that we are by accident. It takes considerable time and consistent effort. If we draw on God's grace & engage in the kinds of efforts that cultivate wisdom & compassion & other virtues in our lives, our character develops along those lines.

If, on the other hand, we rely on ourselves alone, and engage in the kinds of actions that strengthen our greed, hatred, jealousy, and so on, then our character will develop along those lines instead. And so, these home town folks were taking offense at the fact that Jesus had grown up spiritually more than they had. But they were deluding themselves. They weren’t admitting it, but they were in fact responsible for whom they had become, and whom they had not become, as we all are.

Still, it is a very tragic situation. All of the commotions that they were stirring created a climate of mistrust and unbelief, a refusal to open up to what God was wanting to do in their midst. They weren't just stuck, they were digging themselves deeper and deeper into their rut, rather than accepting a friendly “hand up” from Jesus into a better way of life.

And so, for these reasons, Jesus was not able to do much in their midst. Healing is always relational. But the more the light of Jesus’ virtue shined among that group, the harder they worked to block it out. They were actively preventing reconciliation and healing from happening in their midst. Some miracles happened in the lives of the more needy and trusting persons among them, but by and large, the Spirit of Christ in that community was blocked.

In our daily lives, when we live in ways that express God's limitless love for us and for all those who cross our path.... we may well encounter people who will say – “Get a load of her!” Or “Who does he think he is?” …. “I remember them in High School, and they sure were no saints back then...”

...or some such thing.

Whether it's Nazareth, or Kirkton, or St. Marys, or London... people can get easily threatened if one of “their own” is growing more than they are. They may even misunderstand that growth as an attempt to make them look inferior, or to leave them behind. The belief seems to be that no one in a group should grow or improve, unless everyone does, so that no one will ever feel inferior. But that becomes a tragic pact which prevents everyone from moving forward in his or her life.

And, interestingly, in this kind of situation, Jesus does not advise his disciples to walk an extra mile with them (Mat 5:41) or to turn and let them slap your other cheek (Luke 6:29), or even to keep trying to get through to them. Instead, he essentially tells his disciples not to spend their time and energy with persons who, at least for now, are determined to repel love and refuse trust, because they are not in a position to benefit from what Jesus is offering. It seems that the best witness in such situations is to set a firm limit that respects both oneself and the other person's freedom of choice, and then to just... move on. That in itself is a powerful testimony of God's love – it communicates that there is no place for coercion in this Gospel, and also that it is worthy of respect. If, on the other hand, we don't move on in such situations, we risk burning out, getting sick, or becoming coercive, which serves no one.

Because healing is always relational, it has limits. Even the virtue of Jesus, the One True Head of the Church, had its limits. Jesus obviously worked very hard, but he also worked wisely. He didn't waste his energy. Not everyone that we encounter is going to benefit from our lives and our ministry. Certainly not everyone is going to like us... And Jesus’ counsel in this area seems to be that this is just the way life is. It is not necessarily a cause for alarm, or a sign that we should be redoubling our efforts, or a reason to be discouraged. And it's certainly not a reason to stunt our own spiritual growth, so that others can feel better about not growing.

When we have gifts to give, but others are not yet in a position to receive them, we prayerfully accept that in the Spirit of Christ and we gracefully move on.

God's love will not stop working in the hearts of those persons. God will find a way to draw them into reconciliation and healing. It might happen soon, or it might take a very long time. It might involve us; or it might not. But God will reach all souls... even if we personally cannot be involved in the process.

Thanks be to God!