GOD IS IN THE DETAILS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 4^th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “God Is In The Details.”

We’ve all heard that comment as well as the proverb, “The devil is in the details.”

Is either one quote better than the other quote?

LAST LINE IN TODAY’S GOSPEL

I thought of that when I read today’s gospel. Mark is the shortest Gospel – but he might be the best for the tiny details.

For example,  today’s gospel reading from Mark has Jesus saying, “Keep all this quiet” and then the additional detail: “And give her something to eat.”

I love that tiny detail from Mark 5: 43 about Jesus telling folks to make sure this 12 year old girl get some food. Mark doesn’t tell us how long she was sick – but Jesus had an idea. Now that was a key detail.

The same story in Matthew 9:18-26  and Luke 8: 40-48 do not have that detail.

Mark is also the earliest of the 4 gospels. Why does he put that detail about giving the girl something to eat and Matthew and Luke don’t.

I don’t know – only that I was taught that Mark is the detail guy. For example in the story of multiplication of the loaves to feed the crowd in Mark 6:39 – we find out that Jesus has the apostles have the folks  sit down on the ground in squares of hundreds and fifties. For example, Mark – but also Matthew and Luke – have the detail about the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law by Jesus – and she gets out of bed and waits on the boys.

I’m not a detail person so I don’t notice these things. I have to work on that.

DEVIL OR GOD

So is it God or the devil who is in on the details?

For someone like me, make it the devil, because I mess up by laziness in not attending to the details. Or I don’t notice key details and as a result things don’t work right.

For those who are great at hospitality – make it God who is in the hard work of details. We could also add that love is in the details.

I’ve noticed that some waiters and waitresses know who wants just water,  who wants water with a slice of lemon, who wants water with ice.  

I like waitresses and waiters who know I like a lot of water and drink a lot of water and they are watching and waiting to serve the customer well.

I like that little detail in the gospel of Matthew 10:42 when Jesus says, “…whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple – truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

I’ve wondered how many people down through the last 2000 years got a cup of cold water – thanks be to Jesus for that little detail – especially cold water.  I’ve been suggesting getting that cold water font down the corridor here fixed for at least 4 years now. It used to have nice cold water like the 4 fonts at St. John Neumann. I keep hearing that it is not broken and it is cold water. I suggest that they take a sip of water from the fonts here and then try the fonts out there. Picky, picky, picky…. Details, details, details ….

CONCLUSION

God is in the details. Love and thinking of others is in the details. Jesus noticed someone touched him – in a big crowd – and a woman who had a blood problem for a dozen years – was healed – so too the young girl of a dozen years – was healed.

In the long run, I’d say love is in the details. Whenever I visit my godchild Patty and a few other friends - I luck out at times – because they offer me sugar free cookies. Nice.  So too when I was preaching on the road – I noticed it when the pastor would show me where the silverware was – along with extra toilet paper – along with how the remote works and what have you. Amen.