Psalm 33:13-22; Mark 5:25-34
The 3rd Sunday in Advent 2014
She was ignored, as if
utterly unseen. Thoroughly unclean and impure
in the eyes of her society. Diseased. She’d
placed a lot of faith in the physicians of her day. But they’d all come and gone, unable to stem
the tide causing her such constant physical, emotional and social suffering. Twelve years of it. 4, 380 horrible days of hemorrhaging. No
hope to behold anywhere.
Until, that is, she one
day heard a word. A word about Jesus of
Nazareth. His name had been sounded out
around her town with all the buzz of a beehive. This one of kind holy healer and teacher was
flowing into her neighborhood.
How could she … how dare
she … get his attention? Even at a
point of last resort, she was too embarrassed of her cruddy condition to openly
cry out to Him. And she was quite aware
of the logistics of getting through the great crowds pressing in all around
him. Sheer desperation and a determined
faith in this man’s reputation, however, prompted her to stealthily give it a
go. Wonder of wonders, like the Red Sea
parting, a channel opened up. She managed to slip in and simply reach out, believing
just a touch of a tassel on His rabbinical robe would restore her health.
Her faith bore good
fruit. A miraculous healing happened! Her
joyful astonishment, however, quickly came to an awkward halt. Before she had had a chance to slip away
from the scene, Jesus called her out.
Her stealthy touch had not gone unnoticed. He stopped, looked around, inquired. He
insisted on publically identifying the person who’d tapped into His healing
power.
Before the encounter,
she would have felt mortified. But the incredibly spiritual experience had
emboldened and engrafted her to Jesus.
She no longer felt invisible. So
she stepped forward, fell prostate at his feet, and humbly spoke up. She confessed, “It was me! I did it!
I beheld you near me, slipped in through the crowd that has so long
despised me, hoping to touch even just a thread of your holiness.”
This reverent admission
deeply pleased Jesus. He turned and blessed
her in the presence of all the people who’d previously been disgusted by
her. He praised her simple and faithful
act of reaching out, of believing in God’s saving grace smack in the midst of
her suffering and social estrangement.
He let it be known that she was a beautiful child of God, whose faith
had helped to make her well.
At the start of our
Advent journey together this year, we remembered that the light of salvation
shines brightest when we acknowledge all the darkness within and around us. Last week, we moved on to asking ourselves
if there is room in our hearts to welcome a new arrival of our Emmanuel. Today both of my previous messages come
together as we meet this remarkable woman from the 5th chapter of
Mark’s Gospel.
She is an inspiration
for the ages! She is truly an ambassador
of Advent, of waiting to behold and to be held by the Light of Christ. The Bethlehem
in her heart gladly made room. And not
in any kind of institutionalized or ritualized way. She
hadn’t been socially allowed to express her faith in those ways. It was
a blessing that Jesus hadn’t been standing still in a stone sanctuary waiting
for the next person to come before him with a prayerful petition. He’d been bustling about amidst the big and
curious crowds when He did not fail to notice that ever so slight finger-tip
touch upon the tassels.
The power of this
woman’s witness to us is summed up well by the Bible scholar Tom Wright when he
wrote that her action highlights “the intimate nature of the contact between
the individual and Jesus that Mark expects and hopes his readers to develop for
themselves. When life crowds in with all
its pressures, there is still room for us to creep up behind Jesus – if that’s
all we feel we can do – and reach out to touch him, in that odd mixture of fear
and faith that characterizes so much Christian discipleship.”[i]
As I was studying this
passage, I wondered exactly what Mark meant by the word “touch.” I naturally assumed the Greek word he used was
a reference to physical contact, but I also wondered if there was any more
significant or symbolic shade of meaning.
I especially wondered this as I contemplated what might have become of
this woman’s life after that healing encounter. We aren’t told the impact of this amazing
physical and social restoration. Did
she go about rebuilding her life, fondly remembering that miraculous moment with
Jesus, but otherwise not taking time to continue following, serving and
worshipping Him? Or did she become a
devout evangelist, making herself seen and heard in all the places where people
had unabashedly shunned her? Or perhaps
she went on to live a quiet life of humble devotion to her Savior?
The Greek word Mark used to reference this
woman’s touching of Jesus robe is indeed telling. It can be translated as “to fasten or
adhere.” So when she reached out
through the crowd, it wasn’t just for some quick healing connection. It wasn’t just to get something personally
beneficial out of Jesus. Mark tells us
it was an act of fully adhering her life to the Lord. This healing was not just a restoration, it
was a total reorientation! Through hearing about, beholding, and reaching
for Jesus, this child of God was forever and firmly fastened to Jesus.
And I also believe Mark
– who was a ministry partner of both Peter and Paul -- wants us to know that
this helped spread the Good News. My
favorite part of studying the ancient word we translate as “touch” is that it
can also be interpreted to refer to as to
kindle a fire. All throughout the
Bible, reference to fire is about divine revelation. It speaks to how God, through the Holy
Spirit, actively refines and refuels human faith. By beholding the Light of Christ shining in
our darkness, faithfully adhering all of our lives to it, and bearing witness,
we each become blazing beacons of holy hope and healing!
For the sermon on the 28th
of this month, I’ll will be showing and leading discussion about a video called
“Ed’s Story.” It’s the story of Pastor
Ed Dobson (no relation to James Dobson).
The heart of that story I’ll save
for then. But for today, let me
introduce Ed just a bit as I find him to also be an inspirational Advent
ambassador.
For many years, he was a
nationally known fundamentalist preacher hitched to the wagon of Jerry
Falwell. Over time, however, he became
disillusioned with the Christian Right’s train of thought. He moved on to pastor a mega-church in Grand
Rapids, Michigan (as a quick side note, it was during that time he became a
mentor to Rob Bell, who has influenced me).
In 2001, Ed was diagnosed with ALS (Lou
Gehrig’s Disease). Physicians predicted
he’d have two to five years of life left, most of which he would spend
suffering through disabilities. Shortly
after receiving this diagnosis, he reached out hoping to connect with people
who deeply believed in prayer and holy healing. One person who responded was a Pentecostal
preacher. Here’s what Ed had to say
about their time together –
“It was one of the most
moving evenings of my entire life. He began by telling stories of people he had
prayed for who were miraculously healed. He also told stories about people he
had prayed for who were not healed and had passed away, receiving that ultimate
and final healing.” Before this fellow
preacher prayed for Ed, he offered some inspirational advice. He said, “Don’t become obsessed with getting
healed … If you [do], you will lose your focus.” Then he advised Ed on what to keep focused
on – “Get lost in the wonder of God, and who knows what he will do for you.”[ii]
How do you need healing
today? Expect and behold the wonder of
Jesus, God with us. Reach out and adhere
your whole self to Him. Your faith will
bring blessing and well-being. Amen.
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