Feast Day of Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell

Healing Service Wednesday, 9 October

Christian Hawley

2 Kings 2:19-22
Psalm 107:23-32
Mark 6:45-56


I've always loved to say the word pericope. A pericope is actually a small self contained portion of scripture, so I thought I'd work it into today's homily. Most Bibles identify pericopes by giving them a heading. For instance, in today's Gospel of Mark chapter 6 verses 45-52 have the heading Jesus Walks on the Water and then verses 53-56 have the heading Healing the Sick in Genneserat. The really interesting part, though, is that these headings are not part of the original texts of scripture¹ – these nifty headings are usually added by a publisher. This may not seem like a big deal at first, but as we read scripture in a non-continuous fashion (like a lectionary schedule), I think these headings bias where we draw the lines around pericopes. So today it looks like we have two pericopes: Jesus walks on water and Jesus heals the sick in Genneserat. I think this separation does us a great harm, and I applaud the Holy Women, Holy Men folks for not stopping after Jesus calmed the storm. Our gospel today is not two pericopes about two different miracles; it is one story about one miracle.

The temptation here is to call Jesus' defying the usual laws of physics a miracle. We want to hold up walking on water as a stand alone miracle. But it's not. The Christian sense of a miracle isn't just a scientifically impossible event accomplished by God; it is an impossible display of love accomplished by God for the healing of creation. The miracle isn't that Jesus walked on water, the miracle is that Jesus would go to any length over land or sea to get to the people who needed his healing. The miracle is his love for the people in Genneserat and his willingness to cross a raging sea for them. We know this to be the case because verse 48 tell us that Jesus himself intended to pass the disciples by. Jesus didn't walk on water to prove his divinity, or to show the disciples a pretty cool party trick. Jesus walked on water because it was the quickest way he knew to get to the people that needed his healing.

Miracles are not God merely performing the scientifically impossible; miracles are God manifesting an impossible love for the sake of creation.

The miracle of the Incarnation is not the virgin birth, it is that God becomes human for the sake of humanity.  The miracle of the loaves and fishes is not the multiplication of foodstuffs, it is that Jesus nourishes all those who come to hear his Word (I think this is the part that the disciples didn't get in verse 52).  The miracle of water into wine is not the transmogrification (also a fun word) of liquids, it is that Jesus meets and exceeds the needs of those who invite him into their lives (remember he didn't just make wine, but really good wine).²

Miracles are not the suspension of the physical laws of nature; miracles are the seemingly impossible done for the sake of love.

Which brings us to Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell. A man born and educated in England as a medical doctor. During his medical training he was drawn closer to Christ by the American revivalist Dwight Moody, and upon completion of medical school he enlisted as a medical missionary for the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fisherman (not kidding here, an actual organization). He served these poor fisherman from Iceland to the Bay of Biscay, and finally in 1892, he came to the Labrador coast of Canada. Upon seeing the near starvation, poverty, and ill-health of all the workers there, he financed, built, and manned a hospital for these people. Within a few years he also opened boarding schools, medical ships, and clothing distribution centers along the Labrador Coast.

Wilfred Thomason Grenfell, crossed a raging sea (the North Atlantic is not a cake walk), to get to a people who desperately needed his help and healing. This should sound familiar? Christ's miracles still happen among us in this modern age because the Spirit of an impossible love is still acting among us for the health of all of God's creatures.

Miracles are happening all around us. Sometimes we are like the deep sea fisherman or the people of Genneserat being healed by a great physician or a loving neighbor. And Sometimes we are like Sir Wilfred Grenfell, acting as conduits for Christ's healing love. In either case, we can take heart in knowing that Christ is always, always working for our health and flourishing. Thanks be to God.

1Original texts here might be debatable. I'm referring to documents like codex Sinaiticus and codex Vaticanus.

2See the steward's reaction in the John 2:10.