Sermon:

Little Girl, get up! Jesus says in the Gospel.

 

Little Girl, hush, don’t cry the line goes in Summertime.

Summertime and the livin' is easy
Fish are jumping,’ and the cotton is high
Oh, your daddy's rich

and your ma is good looking’’

So hush little baby, don't you cry.

 

The beautiful and yet haunting Lullaby was composed by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by Dubose Heyward. The song is sung several times throughout Porgy And Bess and thus is one of the most memorable and beloved songs of the opera. As a Composer Gershwin was remarkably successful in his intent to have the song sound like a folk song. But it is also a spiritual, a blues song, a jazz song.

 A timeless lullaby for all parents to sing.

 

 

One of these mornings,

you're goin' to rise up singin'
And you'll spread your wings,

and you'll take the sky
But 'til that mornin',

there's a-nothin' can harm you
With daddy and mommy standin' by

 

It is indeed a timeless lullaby that could have been sung when the wealthy and powerful synagogue leader Jairus and his wife, had been watching over their little sick girl. One of these mornings you are going to rise singing and spread your wings…. Nothing can harm you for daddy and mommy are standing by.

That is the sentiment of any good lullaby: the promise that we as mothers and fathers will protect and provide for our children. Keep them safe from harm and give them every opportunity to rise singing every morning and spreading their wings to take the sky.

 

But we know that even the most beautiful lullaby cannot protect our children from all harm. Sickness, disaster, abuse, and accidents sadly diminish even the greatest love of a parent: so the only thing we can do is reach out to God or hope just to touch even just the garments of Jesus Christ. And hope that God is a faithful God, a compassionate God. “All though he causes grief, he will have compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. For he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to and end, great is Thy Faithfulness.”

 

In Mark’s Gospel the story often begins one place only to be interrupted by another encounter and then return to the first story to complete it.

Powerful political leader Jairus begs Jesus to help his sick daughter. Jairus has direct access to Jesus in ways most in the crowd did not. He simple approaches Jesus and respectfully asks for help. He might be blind and ignorant to his privilege and simply just determined to save his child, so he steps to the front of line. And the disciples are anxious to help the well-connected Jairus over the needs of many others…. Including the interrupting sick woman. Suddenly the unnamed unpowerful, unconnected woman shows up. The woman had no one to intercede for her, so she took matters in her own hands. She boldy places herself in the path of Jesus, interrupting his march to Jairus.

Both Jairus daughter and the woman need miracles, healing touches and compassion, and Jesus does not choose one over the other or pit them against each other. Jesus touches both, heals them and give them strength and breath to rise up singing .

 

At the center of the Gospel of Mark this Sunday and the center of the Lullaby by Gershwin, is a little girl. Fragile and small – in the gospel broken by illness and in the lullaby later by the death of both of her parents.

 

One of these mornings, you're going' to rise up singing'
And you'll spread your wings, and you'll take the sky.

That is what we pray and hope for our children - that they grow up safe and healthy, with strong wings to fly and take on life, dreams and the bluest of skies.

 

Earlier this month while in Denmark, we visited Trapholt Museum in Kolding. A beautiful museum of design and art located at the rolling green hills of Kolding fjord with views of blue ocean, green fields, flowery meadows and floating clouds.

This Summer the Museum presented an exhibition “Shaping a Pattern” where the Danish Artist, Maria Torp, explores the potential of portraits to enlighten and to tell stories.

The exhibition was a breathtaking beautiful and haunting journey through five years of work by the artist, resulting in and featuring 12 portraits of influential individuals who in their ways have been trying to protect girls, protect female rights and give women the rights to fly on their wings.

 

Maria Torp’s portraits “Shaping a Pattern” is an ambitious project that focuses on issues related to the rights, social status and living conditions of girls and women on the global scale. The portraits are positive and powerful narratives about complex, violent and problematic issues.

Walking through the exhibition and taking in the 12 powerful portraits we were touched and deeply affected the stories, the girls, the abuse, the inhumanity but also by the resilience, the hope, reminding us that in the global world we are closely connected across national borders cultural and religious differences.

12 individuals all dedicated to working for the rights of girls and women are portrayed in the exhibition. Girls like Jairus daughter and the Lullaby girl. Girls that needed more protection than a loving mother or father could provide. Girls that need miracles to survive and live.

 

12 strong portraits

The exhibition presented strong and moving portraits of advocates for equal rights.

Among them were

·      the Afghan rapper Sonita Alizadeh, active in the fight against child marriage.

·      Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, former vice president of South Africa and CEO of UN Women.

·      Ziauddin Yousafzai, a prominent advocate for girls’ right to education and father to Malala, who survived a Taliban assassination attempt.

·      Denis Mukwege, the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner for his work with victims of sexual wartime violence.

The talented painter and storyteller Maria Torp’s own journey traces back to the 2014 election in Afghanistan. If the Taliban regained power, it would mean more years of female suppression, promoting women to head to the polls. They dipped their fingers in ink, cast their votes, and when they subsequently met on the streets, they discreetly showed their ink-stained fingers to each other as proof that they had voted.

That story deeply moved Maria Torp and she felt a need to use her art as an activist voice.

Little girl, get up.

Daughter, your faith has made you well, go in peace and be healed.

Do not fear, only believe.

 

Let our faith manifest in healing touches, in compassionate presence, in political fight for girls and women’s right to be free, educated and sage, in steadfast faith in our Faithful God, who calls us to reach out and touch somebody else and make this world a better place.

One of these mornings, you're going' to rise up singing'
And you'll spread your wings, and you'll take the sky.