Mark 5:21-43—And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. ²² Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet ²³ and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” ²⁴ And he went with him.

And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. ²⁵ And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, ²⁶ and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. ²⁷ She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. ²⁸ For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” ²⁹ And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ³⁰ And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” ³¹ And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” ³² And he looked around to see who had done it. ³³ But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. ³⁴ And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

³⁵ While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” ³⁶ But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” ³⁷ And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. ³⁸ They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹ And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” ⁴⁰ And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. ⁴¹ Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” ⁴² And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. ⁴³ And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Jairus was a man who was torn between two contradicting realities.  First, Jairus was living in the reality of fear.  He was fearful for his daughter who was at the point of death.  Her end was coming, and Jairus, even though he was a prominent man, a ruler of the synagogue, still feared his daughter‘s death.  He was faced with the terrifying possibility that he would outlive his twelve-year-old daughter.

But Jairus was also a man who had faith.  He had heard reports about Jesus.  In all likelihood, Jairus had seen Jesus act before in his own synagogue where he was a ruler.  So Jairus, being a man of faith, leaves his sick daughter’s bedside.  He takes the risk of not being present for her death to find Jesus.

When Jairus finds Jesus, he makes a confession of fear, “My little daughter is at the point of death,” and he makes a confession of faith, “Come lay your hands on her so that she may be made well and live.”

You too, like Jairus, are torn between the realities of fear and faith.

Maybe your fears aren’t for the life of your child.  Maybe they are a little more mundane and not nearly as imminent, but you live in fear.  You have tasks to do, meals to prepare, dishes to clean, houses to care for, lawns to mow.  You have parents to obey, children to raise, spouses to love.  You have jobs to find and keep, budgets to meet, bills and mortgages to pay.

There are literally thousands of things that you have to do every day of this life, things that weigh you down and burden you.  They may be small, but they begin to pile up.  Those things, as they pile up, cause you to fear.  Maybe you aren’t terrified, but if you are honest, you do fear.

You also, like Jairus, have faith.  You come to church, you read and study God’s Word.  You pray and lay your requests before God.  You trust that He will act.  You know that He can help you in any circumstance.

But sometimes, an obstacle gets in the way.  Time passes, and the request isn’t answered.  God delays, and circumstances change so that God can no longer answer in the way you thought He “needed” to answer.  The delay causes you to doubt, and doubt causes faith to shift back into fear.  You begin to think, “Well, maybe God doesn’t care—at least not about that.”

Fear grows and grows until you almost even begin to wonder, “This God says He cares.  He says, ‘all things work together for good.’  Can I even believe in God anymore?”

That’s what happened for Jairus.  Jesus was delayed.  Servants from Jairus’ house came and said, “Your daughter is dead.  Why trouble the Teacher any further?”. Circumstance caused Jairus to fear for the life of his daughter, and now circumstances caused delay.  And now it is too late.

Jairus couldn’t have done anything to keep his daughter from getting sick.  Jairus couldn’t have gotten Jesus to his house any quicker.  Events outside Jairus’ control brought about his worst fear.  His daughter is dead.

But it was also events completely outside of Jairus’ control that had given him faith.  Jairus’ faith had come from outside of himself.  The faith that Jairus had wasn’t his own; it was a gift of God.

The same is true for you.  Events totally outside your control cause you to fear, and the faith that you have in God is not your own either.

It’s time to stop kidding around.  Faith is not yours.  You do not choose faith; you did not and do not produce faith.  Faith is something God gives you.  Faith is the gift of God.  Salvation does not come by any work; you cannot boast.  You cannot, by your own reason our strength, believe in Jesus as Lord, or come to Him.

It is shocking then, when Jesus commands Jairus lit., “No fearing; only faithing.” How could Jesus expect Jairus to obey this command?  His daughter is dead!  Jairus can’t just decide, “Oh, sure Jesus.  Hakuna matata; no worries.  Don’t worry; be happy.  Even though my daughter is dead, I believe.  Yea, yahoo.”

Events outside of Jairus’ control have caused both his fear and his faith.  Jesus, in His mercy, knows all of this.  Jesus does not expect Jairus to have no fear, but He does expect Jairus to handle that fear.  “No fearing; only faithing.”

The main difference between fear and faith is this: Fear is retreating from the battle inward to where there is no help.  Faith is marching outward into the battle and allowing any help to come—even though it is not the help expected.  Faith and fear don’t mix they are like oil and water.  One will drive out the other because fear is the opposite of faith.

God doesn’t allow you to hide behind excuses.  You’re not allowed to pass the buck and say that your fear is only because of outside things coming at you.  No, fear comes to you because you are sinful and because you don’t believe that God can do what He says He can do.

See, even though bad, terrifying things happen to you, God expects you to be able to handle it.  But He doesn’t expect you to handle it on your own.  God is giving you the tools, and you are responsible for what you do with those tools.  God knows; He knows that you are torn between fear and faith.  He knows that fear is tearing you away from faith, and yet He expects and commands you to be tenacious in your faith.  He expects you, against all logic and reason, to run headlong into the battle because faith knows that the battle is the Lord’s.

In Jairus’ case, there wasn’t any place left for him to go.  His only retreat was outward—to believe in Jesus.  To follow the marching orders of his King Who is bringing the rule and reign of God into the world.

And Jairus believed.  He did not put his belief in his faith.  No, he had faith in Jesus’ Word.  Jesus marched with Jairus, and Jesus proved faithful.

Jesus always proves faithful.

The 1^st Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”  What does this mean?  “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.”

Fear God because He is your Divine, Heavenly Father.  Love God because He has first loved you.  Trust in God because He is the One Who gives you every good thing.

Jairus does not by his own reason or strength believe in Jesus.  But by the power of Jesus’ Word, Jairus believes and not retreat into fear.  Jairus does what is completely unexpected and waits for Jesus to act.  And Jesus does act, not in the way Jairus had expected when he first approached Jesus, but in a much more wonderful way.

And Jesus still acts today.  He doesn’t always act in the way you expect, but He does act in ways that are much higher and more wonderful than you could ask or imagine.  He has acted today in these waters of baptism.  He had acted as you have been fed by His Word.  And He is about to act as He gives to you His body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins.

He says to you now, “No fearing; only faithing.”  Amen.