“Dynamis”: Power and Faith
Live Audio Recording
7th Sun. of Luke Nov. 7, 2021 Luke 8:41-56
Glory to Jesus Christ! There is a huge crowd waiting for Jesus when He comes back across the Sea of Galilee from the Gadarene region to His hometown of Capernaum. The crowd thronged Him so that the disciples were astonished when He asked, “who touched Me?” Out of this great crowd, only Jairus the Synagogue leader, and the woman with the flow of blood received healing. These two couldn’t have been further apart in their place in society. Jairus was a ruler of the Synagogue and thereby a most respected man. The women with the flow of blood – tradition tells us she was to become the beloved St. Veronica – was an outcast, considered “unclean” and shunned by her people lest they touch her and her contamination be transferred to them. But today they are united in purpose, as their social standing makes no difference to them in their desperation. Both were seeking Christ with all of their heart and soul in their great need.
We are called to follow Christ in the path that He puts before us. Often that path is filled with life’s difficulties, and these lead us to cry out and encounter and grow in reliance on God. Twelve years of suffering and spending all of her livelihood had certainly served to prepare the woman with the flow of blood for put all her trust in Christ. Every Vespers we pray “Grant us, O Lord, all of our petitions which are unto salvation.” It is always that which truly matters, that which has eternal consequences for our eternal salvation, and our life in the kingdom of God, which God sends to bless us. Our salvation is contained within our reactions to them. Do we thank God in all things, not just those which meet our approval and increase our comfort here and now on our short visit to planet earth? Unity in Christ does not mean uniformity. Every person has their own path, and our unique path leads us unerringly to Christ, when we keep our focus on Him in all of life’s circumstances. St. Paul tells us, (Eph 2:10) “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Let us always be on the lookout for these gifts from God, these potential good works He has prepared for us as gifts! The “Lazarus’s” at our doorsteps. Neither the sick woman, in the middle of her 12 years of suffering, nor Jairus, while seeing his daughter lay near death, could likely see clearly that God was right there with them, working out their eternal salvation. But in retrospect, we see that all things can and do lead us closer to God – if we allow them to. This is the faith of things unseen, for God is with us!
The future St. Veronica understood a great truth. Healing always flows forth from Christ. The common understanding of the day was that one’s “uncleanness” could somehow contaminate and flow into others. But she knew if she could just touch even the clothes of Christ, that rather than her contamination flowing into Him, His healing power would flow into her. When Christ was baptized in the Jordan, His redemptive power flowed out into all the waters in creation and in all time. When we receive communion, His healing sanctification flows one way, into us. The light always defeats the darkness, turn on a light switch for a quick practical demonstration of this truth. As Christ heals the woman, He is again as usual challenging the blind interpretation of the “Mosaic law.” Rather than accusing her of not obeying this law, He singles her out for special praise for her faith. “Daughter, be of good cheer, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
All through the gospels we see that our faith is a key factor when Christ preforms a miracle. When Christ heals the blind man, he tells him (Mark 10:52) “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” To the returning healed Samaritan Leper Christ says, (Luke 17:19) “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.” After returning with Peter, James and John from the Transfiguration, Christ rebukes His other disciples for being a “faithless generation” for failing to help the demon tormented boy, and tells the boy’s father (Mark 9:23,24) “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” To which he answers in tears “Lord I believe; help my unbelief.” – that plea that resonates so deeply with us all.When asked why they could not cast out the demon Christ tells the disciples, (Matt. 17:20) “Because of your unbelief,” for faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain. But even our faith is a gift from God. (Eph.5:8) “By faith you have been saved through grace, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”
In Jairus, we see that our worldly success, no matter how enviable, is of no account compared to what is truly important, faith and union in Christ. Jairus has faith, but not like St. Veronica who just needed to touch the hem of Christ’s robe to be healed. He needs Christ to come to his home. In God’s economy, it is arranged that Jairus receive a boost to his faith. St. Veronica stops the procession of the crowd on their way to Jairus’s house, and Christ’s healing power is demonstrated for Jairus. This is a testimony to Jairus, and his faith is increased. But then immediately his new faith is tested as the messengers arriving from his house tell him, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the teacher.” Christ turns to Jairus and says, “Do not fear; only believe.” Jairus’s faith will soon be made unshakable when rather than healing his daughter, Jesus raises her back to life. But notice that the faith of those working with Christ is also involved in this miracle. Jesus puts those having no faith and ridiculing Him outside. He takes only the little girl’s parents, newly filled with faith and intense God-pleasing desire to trust Christ and His tested inner circle of faith-filled disciples, Peter, James, and John inside with Him. Christ could do anything anywhere, anytime as it is He who formed all that is from nothing. However, His desire is to bring us into true communion with Him and he chooses to have us work in synergy with Him, through prayer and action, in faith and love – for the very life of the world and all of creation. Being a true Christian is a sobering and awesome responsibility
As I said at the start, there was a huge crowd thronging around Jesus, but only Jairus and St. Veronica came with purpose and intent. She especially came and drew power “dynamis” is the Greek word – the root for dynamite – from Christ. Every Sunday, we too come and gather around our Lord. We are here to encounter Christ, to partake of His very body and blood. Are we like most of the crowd with Jairus that day, touching and hanging around Christ without drawing power from Him? When we come to Liturgy, when we come to partake of the very body and blood of our Lord and Creator Jesus Christ, what is our intent? How desperately do we wish to reach out and truly touch Christ, to receive faith to follow Him, living here and now in His kingdom, being transformed through His love into a new creation? Do we join Jairus and St. Veronica in their desperate need, or do we mill about with the crowd, not realizing the incredible power and love we are directly encountering? He is here with us my brothers and sisters, we have entered Kairos time and all of eternity, all of creation past and future are part of this reality. How desperately do we want to have His power, His dynamis transform us through His light and love? What is our focused intent as we approach the cup?
O God save us, may we not be satisfied with just being part of the throng, but strengthen our faith, and let your healing power flow into the depths of our being. Call us into complete union and communion with You. Grant us the grace to call out with the intensity and of St. Veronica and Jairus, to have Your dynamis power heal and transform us. Through the prayers of St. Veronica and of all the saints, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God have mercy upon us and save us.