Whats your Commentary?What’s
Your Commentary?
May 21, 2006
Text: Luke
8:40-56
Now when Jesus returned,
the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41 Just then
there came a man named Jairus, a leader of the synagogue. He fell at
Jesus’ feet and begged him to come to his house, 42 for he had an
only daughter, about twelve years old, who was dying.
As he went, the crowds pressed
in on him. 43 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages
for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians,
no one could cure her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe
of his clothes, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. 45 Then Jesus
asked, “Who touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master,
the crowds surround you and press in on you.” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone
touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me.”
47 When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling;
and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the
people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed.
48 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in
peace.”
49 While he was still speaking,
someone came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead;
do not trouble the teacher any longer.” 50 When Jesus heard this,
he replied, “Do not fear. Only believe, and she will be saved.”
51 When he came to the house, he did not allow anyone to enter with
him, except Peter, John, and James, and the child’s father and mother.
52 They were all weeping and wailing for her; but he said, “Do not
weep; for she is not dead but sleeping.” 53 And they laughed
at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But he took her by the hand and
called out, “Child, get up!” 55 Her spirit returned, and she
got up at once. Then he directed them to give her something to eat.
56 Her parents were astounded; but he ordered them to tell no one what
had happened.
NRSV
In
the 2005 Masters golf tournament, Chris DiMarco and Tiger Woods were
battling neck and neck for the championship. It was high drama. And
as I watched the drama move to a conclusion, I noticed an interesting
phenomenon.
On
one of the holes, DiMarco was faced with a very difficult chip shot,
a short shot onto the green. One of the commentators said, “I’d
give him a one in three chance at best, to stop that ball on the green.”
He chips…and the ball almost goes in the hole.
Then,
on a par 5, on his second shot he “lays up”—that his, he doesn’t
try to hit it on the green. One of the commentators said, “I don’t
know why he’d play a shot like that. He should have gone for it.”
DiMarco hits his next shot within three feet of the hole, and makes
the putt for a birdie.
But
the ultimate drama came on the par three 16th hole. DiMarco
has hit it within a few feet of the hole. Tiger has pulled his shot
to the left of the green, into the rough, down the side of the hill.
The commentator says, “He’ll be lucky to get it within DiMarco’s
[distance from the hole].” No sooner does he say that than Tiger hits
a shot that falls 25 feet from the hole, and then starts rolling…toward
the hole…and the ball slows and stops, hanging on the lip of the cup
for the longest time—displaying the Nike swoosh sign, which made Nike
executives around the world say the Japanese word for “Amen”—and
finally it drops into the cup for a birdie.
You
see Tiger rejoicing, and the commentator says, “I can’t believe
it! A magnificent shot!”
Do
you see the pattern? When a golfer was faced with a difficult shot,
the commentator easily, without missing a beat, turned negative and
pessimistic.
That
got a bit irritating for me. If they know so much, why aren’t they
playing instead of “commentating”?
Yet,
if we’re honest, we have to confess: we ourselves are pretty skilled
in the art of negative commentary.
What
do you say to someone who comes up to you excited with a new program
or idea? Isn’t it easy to first think of all the reasons it won’t
work? And then you tell the person those reasons, ending with, “But
it was a nice effort.”
Or,
what do you say when you encounter someone with whom you just don’t
hit it off?
You
find yourself on a committee—at school, at work, even at church—with
this person. What’s your internal commentary? “Oh, great, I’m
going to have to be with this person. This person’s always so…negative.
[See the irony?] This is going to be an awful experience.”
Or,
what do you say when you’ve failed at something?
What’s
your commentary? “Oh, I can’t believe I was so dense. WHAT was I
thinking??? I am just so…[dumb, naïve, weak, fill-in-the-blank].”
Isn’t
this an interesting part of human nature: we are natural critics. Our
minds drift to negative commentary so easily. Whether it’s about a
situation, another person, or even ourselves.
You
will note that, of the many amazing things about Jesus, his steadfast
refusal to receive or give negative commentary is one of the most amazing.
This
is no where better seen than in the story you heard today.
Jesus
is traveling to the house of Jairus, a prominent religious leader. His
daughter is gravely ill. On his way, a sick woman sneaks up behind him
and tugs on the hem of his robe, hoping to be made well.
He
abruptly stops and asks who did this. She had done a very improper thing:
a woman should never have touched a man like this.
Can’t
you imagine the commentary?
“Did
you see that, Ken Venturi? She actually touched him! She wasn’t brave
enough to go right up to him and ask for help. That would have been
the proper shot to play there—that’s what Jairus did, after all.
Well, of course, he’s a man. I don’t blame Jesus for stopping,
and calling her out. Look, she’s going to him—trembling, and falling
at his feet, like she should. I expect Jesus to really let her have
it. You can’t let this type of behavior continue.”
But
like DiMarco and Woods, Jesus confounds the commentators.
Looking
at her, he says tenderly,
“Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
Just
about that time someone comes up to Jairus and says that his daughter
has died.
Again,
the commentator makes this observation:
“Oh,
what a tough break for Jairus. That was his beloved daughter. Doesn’t
your heart go out to him and his family? Well, she was a girl,
and I’m sure he has some sons. There’s nothing more to be
done. He shouldn’t trouble the Teacher any more.”
But
with the same tenderness with which he looked at the healed woman, he
looks at the devastated father:
“Do
not fear. Only believe, and she will be saved.”
They
continue journeying, the father sniffling along the way. They arrive
at the house, go in. There is the dead girl, and the family members
mourning loudly. And Jesus says, “Do not weep—she’s not dead,
she’s just sleeping.”
You
can imagine the commentary on that one!
“Aha..ah
ha…HA HA HA! Right. What in the world is Jesus doing? Playing with
these poor people’s emotions? It’s just cruel, if you ask me. He
shouldn’t have given Jairus false hope in the first place. That girl’s
room temperature—deader than a hammer. What in the world is wrong
with Jesus?”
But
Jesus lifts the lifeless hand of the girl and says,
“Child,
get up!” And the one who was dead…breathes again.
What
do you make of all this?
Well
commentators base their comments on their assumptions and experiences.
They think they know how the game is supposed to be played.
Then
someone like Tiger Woods comes along, who plays on a higher level. Commentators
don’t know what he’s thinking or planning in some situations he
faces. They can only criticize.
A
few years ago my wife gave me Tiger’s book, How I Play Golf.
Many of the techniques and shots Tiger describes are totally outside
my ability. There’s one picture of him hitting his driver, at the
moment of impact with the ball; his commentary is, “I can tell by
this picture that the ball went about 310 yards, with a five foot draw
to the left.” If you have a picture of me hitting the driver at the
moment of impact, my commentary would be: “I haven’t a clue where
this thing’s going.”
And
Jesus came into this world teaching and living by totally different
standards. He played a style of life the likes of which had never before
been seen. If he had written a book, How I Play the Game of Life,
commentators would have scratched their heads. They would have said,
“You don’t live like that!” You don’t:
“Forgive
someone seven times seventy!”
“Judge not, lest you
be judged!”
You
just don’t do these things! It’s not the way the world works.
Commentators
back then had no clue what shot he was lining up, what club he was using,
or why he would use it.
BUT…WE
DO.
Jesus
NEVER saw another person as a failure…as someone unlikable.
He saw everyone as created by his Father with a dream and a hope. In
his eyes, the priest and the prostitute were equal children of the Father,
each with tremendous potential and possibility.
Jesus
NEVER saw anything that could not be overcome. The hatred
of enemies. The abandonment by friends. The agony of the cross. NO STONE
was too big for the Father to fleck away like a pebble. NO SILENCE was
too strong to keep the Father from proclaiming, “My Son Jesus LIVES!”
If
Jesus IS the one we follow, then his message today is simple:
STOP
THE NEGATIVE COMMENTARY!
STOP
IT IN YOURSELF! STOP IT WHEN YOU HEAR IT FROM OTHERS.
STOP
ASSUMING THE WORST ABOUT A SITUATION…A PERSON… OR EVEN YOURSELF!
There
comes a time when you put your faith where your mind is. There comes
a time when you put your faith where your mouth is. There comes a time
when you trust that God delights in doing something NEW, BOLD, EXCITING
in your life.
If
YOU are going to move ahead into your future, it will not be done by
negative commentary. It will be done by being like that sick woman
in the story: daring to believe there is one whose power can flow into
you, and make you whole.
If
YOU are going to move ahead into your future, it will be done by being
like Jairus: daring to believe there is one who can chase, catch,
and overcome death with life.
And
while we’re at it…
If
this church is going to move ahead into the future, it’s not
going to be done by negative commentary. We can’t “back into”
our future, being cautious, timid, and negative. “Oh, we don’t have
the resources.” “Oh, I have difficulty with that person.”
“Oh, we’ve never done it that way before.” “Oh, let’s study
this further—let’s form a sub-committee of the committee that’s
a sub-committee of the other committee.”
If
this church is going to move ahead into the future, it’s going to
be by burning with the vision of who we are: a “family” where the
living Christ is experienced in real, life-changing, life-shaking
ways. We’ll move into our future when we trust the Christ who makes
the impossible look easy. We’ll move into our future when we don’t
second-guess Jesus’ shot-making ability. We’ll move into our future
when we each of us affirms the commentary of St. Paul—I CAN DO ALL
THINGS THROUGH CHRIST, WHO STRENGTHENS ME!
When
John the Baptist was in prison, he had a period of doubt. He wondered
if Jesus truly was the “Tiger Woods” of life. Remember how Jesus
responded?
"Go and tell John
what you hear and see: the blind [see], the lame walk,
the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the
poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who
takes no offense at me." [Matthew 11:4-6]
NRSV
Enough
of listening to those who take offense at Jesus. Enough of listening
to the commentators who have every hair in place, and who talk with
the arrogant authority of a jaded has-been.
Rather,
hear and see the one who lived like no one else ever has.
In
him, problems turn into possibilities.
In
him, enemies turn into friends.
In
him, failures turn into your second chances.
In
him, love becomes real.
| 
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