Sunday,
January 27, 2013 making sense of God- touch Mk 5:21-34,
21 When Jesus had again
crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake,(M)
a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake.(N)
22 Then one of the synagogue rulers,(O)
named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet 23 and pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is
dying. Please come and put your hands on(P) her so that she will be healed and
live.” 24 So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding(Q) for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many
doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew
worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she
came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28
because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes,(R) I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her
body that she was freed from her suffering.(S)30 At once Jesus realized that power(T)
had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”31 “You
see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can
ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done
it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what
had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told
him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you.(U) Go in peace(V)
and be freed from your suffering.”
Series
update – making sense of God
When
a person touches Jesus, I have these feelings
Happy
for the fortunate, hopeful for myself, Its not fair, I want some of that
Lucky
ducks
Gosh
if that could happen for me, my problems would be solved
So
I sit and sulk
If
this story is about what God does,
then
she who was a have not, becomes a have.
And
I see myself as a have not.
I
am not going to get what I want from God……..sometimes we dont
But
is there something more – another way to look at this
What
does the woman do
Woman
who was suffering…Suffering
-“Subject to bleeding for 12 yrs”
unclean woman
considered unclean during when this cycle each month…
un
touchable
she was not to be touched.
seen
many doctors…whole
community knew
as
a result of all the consultation, her situation was no secret after 12
yrs
spent
everything she had…and
only grew worse. “Hopeless”?
She
must have had her moments of hopelessness…
Desperation-
I am glad that god is not offended when we come to him as a last resort.
He takes us any way that he can get us.
and
then she heard about Jesus!
“If
I just touch His clothes, I will be healed.”
Have
you ever had a “this is my moment” moment?
A
time when you pursued God’s touch…
Knowing
that what you do now is going to change your tomorrows?
She
could have said,
·
I
am just a woman
·
I
am tired from years of fighting this
·
I
wont be able to get thru the crowd
·
Jesus
wont heal me
·
I
should just roll over and accept it
But
what did she do
She
fought against the negative messages of her past x2
She
determined herself to go
She
fought through the crowd
She
would not be deterred
She
is healed
“Immediately
her bleeding stopped & she felt that she was freed from her
suffering.”
Let
this moment sink in…emotio…tears of joy…overwhelming peace.
A
miracle has happened in my life, at a time when I was resource less and out of
options…thinking this is my destiny…an unclean outcast.
God
has moved in me…
Jesus…stopped,
“realizing that power had gone out of Him.”
How
is this significant to us?
There’s
touching…and there’s “Touching”.
The
woman’s touch was not the pressing…pushing…crowding… bumping of the
crowd.
When
we come to Jesus and reach out in faith…power goes out from Him and into
us.
Then
Jesus speaks something wonderfully personal… “Daughter”…you called me
daughter!
“Go
in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
God
does some great things here, the woman does some too
Sometimes
you have to reach out and seize your destiny
Despair
will win every time if you let it
But
you don’t have to
There
is often something you can do about it, and should
The
monk had so much faith that he did not tie up his camel.
By
faith A seminary student, left his bicycle unchained at the grocery
Stopped
by church to give thanks
Do
what you can do
She
got herself into a position where god could do what god wanted to do.
Sometimes
the most spiritual thing in the world is to just Get up every day and do the
right thing
The
world is filled with those who will settle for mediocrity
God
asks us to aspire to greatness
What
if he doesn’t fix it?
A
lot of people stayed home that day and prayed that god would act
This
woman takes action
Although
she has limited power, she does what she can
Many
times you have done what you can and still you don’t get the result that you
hoped for
Instead
of waiting for the touch of God- you go be the touch of God
There
are still things that you can do about your problems
·
See
a counselor
·
Manage
your spending
·
Get
out of debt. Pick up a part time job
·
Figure
it out
·
Maybe
there is another way
·
Talk
to a person- invest in another person
·
Exchange
a frown for a smile
·
Find
someone to care about
If
you want to change the world, lead it
If
you want to make a difference, be it
Stop
waiting for something to happen. Make something happen
What
happens if Jesus still doesn’t fix your life……
Sometimes
you know what to do and you step out to take your swings
Sometimes
you don’t know what do to, there is nothing wrong with taking a step back,
gathering your bearings, taking a deep breath and getting back into the game
Keep
trying
A
great church or community
Is
made by great people
Great
people are not measured by money or fame but by determination to do the right
thing.
To
be a part of the solution rather than the problem
&
to believe tht circumstances do not have the last word bt God does
The
power from jesus was a holy thing
Just
to reach out to try to touch is a holy thing.
This
is when faith is exercised
Just
the determined pursuit of God is a holy thing
Hebrews
11 by faith………..the message
32-38 I
could go on and on, but I’ve run out of time. There are so many more—Gideon,
Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets. . . . Through acts of
faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for
themselves. They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned
disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. Women received
their loved ones back from the dead. There were those who, under torture,
refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection.
Others braved abuse and whips, and, yes, chains and dungeons. We have stories
of those who were stoned, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; stories of
vagrants wandering the earth in animal skins, homeless, friendless,
powerless—the world didn’t deserve them!—making their way as best they could on
the cruel edges of the world.39-40 Not one of these people,
even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was
promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would
come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete
apart from ours
Martina
mcbride - I do it anyway
God
is great……… but sometimes life aint good
And when I pray ……It doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway ……….I do it anyway
And when I pray ……It doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway ……….I do it anyway
conclusion
Get
to the market place. find jesus. Reach out and touch him
Reach
for him, no matter what happens, it will change your life…
