The Downward Spiral

In Mark 5:21-43, Jesus finds himself dangerously close to one of the most dangerous places in the world. In fact, he seems to be in this territory at every turn in our lesson for today. It’s a place the you and I have encountered as well. We’ve been dangerously close to it. We’ve felt it’s power. We’ve walked right into it, and we’ve spent time there.

There are all kinds of names for it, but my favorite is the one that Benjamin Zander, author of “The Art of Possibility” gives to it. He calls it “The Downward Spiral.”

Zander describes the downward spiral this way, he says it: “stands for a resigned way of speaking that excludes possibility.” He goes on to say that the downward spiral “tells us compellingly how things are going from bad to worse.”

So, you and I know the downward spiral and we are all too familiar with downward spiral talk.
When was the last time you visited the downward spiral? When was the last time it popped into your life? When was the last time you found yourself spending time there…or teetering on the edge of it? Maybe you spend a lot of time there. Maybe you’re there right now.

Jesus was there…or at least near it in the lesson that I just read. Listen to some of it again. It’s there for the woman who had suffered for 12 years, spent all of her money, and “was no better, but grew worse.” She lives in the downward spiral-no possibility for healing, things going from bad to worse. Then there’s Jairus, whose daughter is on the verge of death… Both of these people are on the edge of a downward spiral.

There are plenty of people who are more than happy to tell the two of them how things ARE going from bad to worse, and how there are no possibilities. The woman has been to doctors, religious people, healers, anyone who will take her money and all of them have told her the same thing: IT’S HOPELESS! No healing is possible.

Jairus, when he brings Jesus to his home to heal his daughter is met at the door by friends, and what do they say to him? “Your daughter is dead.” Give up, Jairus. It’s hopeless, Jairus. She didn’t get better, Jairus.

Even Jesus experiences it. When he stops to see who touched him in the crowd, his disciples give him a hard time. “how can you say ‘Who touched me’?” Come on Jesus, be serious. And in front of Jairus’ home, when he tells the crowd to step aside because he’s going to wake Jairus’ daughter up…they laugh at him.

The downward spiral-the talk, the feeling, the idea that there is no possibility, that things can only go from bad to worse-is written all over this lesson...and the voices sound pretty compelling.
The problem, too often for many of us, is that the downward spiral gets written all over our lives…and we are compelled by it. In fact, the birthplace of the downward spiral is right here. Well, not in this church per se, but here, in our hearts and minds. It’s in you and it’s in me because sometimes when we look at our life, or the world around us, or the things that are happening to us, we begin to talk less about the hope and more about the hopelessness…less about the ways things could get better and more about the ways in which they seem always to be getting worse…And when that happens, you and I inch closer and closer to one of the most dangerous places in the world-the downward spiral.

One thing we might notice, though, is that Jesus may get close, but he never falls into it. He may walk right on the edge, but he never falls in. When the woman whose condition is hopeless touches him, he stops, approaches her, and finds out why. Even when his disciples tell him it’s not possible, he goes. When Jairus comes to him, Jesus goes to the home, to meet the crowds, the laughter, the worst-case thinking…and even when they tell him that it’s too late, it’s not possible, he still goes to the little girl…and wakes her up.

Jesus walks on the edge of the downward spiral, but never succumbs to it. He does this every day of his life. Facing the hopeless talk with eternal hope. Confronting the worst-case laughter with overwhelming optimism. Walking into the dangerous places marked only by the darkness of death and bringing the light of life with him when he goes. Jesus does it for the people around him who are living in the downward spirals of life…and he does it for you and I.

In his own life, Jesus found himself always drawn into the downward spiral. People told him that the world couldn’t work the way he said. They told him that relationship with God couldn’t be as easy as he made it out to be. They reminded him, every chance they got that life is less about forgiveness and starting over and more about guilt and remaining in the spiral. He saw it, he heard it, and he felt it…and at every turn he challenged it. The cross is the ultimate symbol of the downward spiral-that there is no more possibility, that all hope is gone…that things have surely gone from bad to worse. Jesus went to the cross, embraced it, and in the process turned it into an eternal symbol of hope…of new life. He made it for us, a reminder that when God is present…the downward spirals of life, have no power over us.

When the woman with the hemorrhage and the man whose daughter is dying are on the verge of a downward spiral, what do they do? They go to Jesus. “If I but touch his clothes, I WILL be made well.” And she was made well. “Come, lay your hands on her and she WILL be made well.” And she was made well. When everyone and everything around them said it’s not possible…Jesus reminded them that “Nothing will be impossible with God.”

When we’re on the verge of a downward spiral, we can do the same thing. We can listen to the crowds, the voices, and even our own hearts…and sink further into the downward spiral. Or, we can go to God. We can take our problems, our pains, and our fears, and bring them to Jesus, knowing that if nothing else, he won’t let us sink into the spiral…he won’t laugh at us…he won’t tell us how hopeless everything is…he won’t turn us away. Instead, he’ll do what he did for Jairus, and the woman…he’ll give us his undivided attention and his loving presence.

So, the next time you feel as though you’re on the edge of that dangerous place-the downward spiral-remember, Jesus will walk with you…talk with you, and remind you that no matter what anyone says-with God all things are possible.