John Gunter: Certainly glad to be with you this morning. It's been a long time since we've had a good rain like that. It feels like it feels like it's been a long time. But I do I do appreciate each one of you being here this morning. I've I've certainly enjoyed our sermon series as we as we talk about encounters with Christ, as we interact with the text, as we see where people come into contact with Jesus, and they never go away unchanged.
So I guess some do, but the ones we're encountering do not because there's there's something different about them. They they truly want that interaction with Christ, and so last week, I had some some good compliments about how it stepped on some people's toes. My response is it stepped on mine as well because I don't want to ever interact with scripture and interact with Jesus and come away unchanged. I want to have my toes stepped on. Quite frankly, when I sat in your position in the seats, that's what I wanted in a sermon.
Get on my toes, let me know if I am going the wrong way. Today, are talking about a scenario where there is a big problem, and there's been a problem in a woman's life for a long time. Now, most people can endure a crisis, but what's harder than just a a short crisis is something that will not go away. Something that just persists and it just goes on maybe even for years. A diagnosis that that never improves, a relationship that never heals, or even one that never materializes.
A burden that quiet quietly follows you year after year. And we can survive pain for a little while, but what begins to break us is the feeling that nothing will ever change, almost a loss of hope. That's why you've heard me say over the years that I have a problem or a pump the brakes moment on Jeremiah twenty nine eleven. I have plans to prosper you, says the Lord. Yes.
Because, yes, God says that, but how many of you would be super excited if God told you, hey, I have plans to prosper you in fifty to seventy years? Because that's exactly what God did in that verse. Now, I haven't seen any of these things at Hobby Lobby or anything else that says in fifty or seventy years. We like the prosper part, we don't like the perseverance part, and we understand that. And the woman in the story today had reached a point of, is this thing ever going to end?
The story begins in Mark five in verse 25. So and there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for twelve years. How many of you would sign up for something that is twelve years long right now? No, thank you. Certainly not a burden like this.
And so it's it's like some of the other characters in the Bible that this is the only thing we really know about her. We don't know her name, we don't know her family, we know her, maybe even grossly, as the woman with the discharge of blood. And so you can imagine that that for twelve years, this had become who she was. She had become this person. In verse 26, it says, and she had suffered much under many physicians, under many doctors, and had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.
Now, that is frustrating. Anybody ever been to the doctor over and over trying to figure out something? Why does this keep happening? Why is this not getting better? We we've been there.
Right? I've done that myself. Passed tests, they're going, well, there's still a problem. Right? The issues still persist.
And so, this is not just a physical issue with her, and much like we may encounter, it's also a financial. She's been through it. She's certainly had many sleepless nights over why doesn't this get better. I'm sure she is praying to God, God, why? I've spent all my money, I've done all that I can.
Why is this not getting better? And one thing you need to know, and I'm not going to read for you this morning because of the audience, but something you need to know is from Leviticus fifteen twenty five through 27. Leviticus fifteen twenty five through 27. And basically, just to summarize that, she was, because of her condition, ceremonially unclean. She could not anywhere she went, touched was unclean.
Anybody who touched where she had been was unclean. I'm gonna leave it at that for today. And so she was not only taking on this identity as this person with this condition, she is someone who is unclean, which means she had to live basically separated from normal community life. I don't think we we experience this as much. Maybe COVID showed us a little bit where you had to quarantine for a little bit, but you didn't have to quarantine for twelve years.
So she was apart from normal community life, people had to avoid touching her, and her participation even in worship was restricted. And so this became who she was, this was her identity. In verse 27, she had heard the reports about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment, for she said, if I touch even his garments, I will be made well. And so that's the thought. If if I'll just touch his clothes, if I'll just touch his garments, maybe I will be healed.
Now the language here that is used in the Greek might have suggested that she was reaching for the tassels on Jesus' garment. Faithful Jewish men would wear these tassels in the quarter quarters of their garments, and we can see this in Numbers 15. Speak to the people of Israel and tell them to make tassels on the corner of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. And it shall be a tassel for you to look at, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to pour after. Sorry.
That's what it says. And so there were the there were these fringe like tassels that she would have been reaching for, and some Jewish thought from Malachi four two, but for you who fear my name, the sun, s u n, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. And that word wings there can mean the same kind of tassels or outside parts of your garment. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And so it can be that she has understood some of this Jewish teaching as, if I will just touch the fringes of his garment, I might experience healing.
And what would you do if you were in her circumstance? Or you had something you dealt with for twelve years and you heard there might be hope if I can just do this. And so, in verse let's move on to verse 29. After she touched him, it says, immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that the power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, who touched my garments?
Now, under these purity laws that we've talked about, she is unclean. What she touches becomes unclean, and so under the law, what should have happened here is that Jesus becomes unclean. But what actually happened? Instead of her uncleanness spreading to Jesus, Jesus' healing spreads to her. Isn't that awesome?
The opposite happens as she experiences healing. In verse 30, and Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out for him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, who touched my garments? And his disciples said to him, you see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, who touched me? This is the disciples being a little feisty. You've got all these people around you right now, and you're asking, who touched me?
Really? And he said, he looked around to see who had done it, but the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. Now, again, the disciples think this is crazy talk because everyone's around and touching you. Everyone's around Jesus constantly at this point, but only one person reaches out and touches Jesus in faith. Everyone else is close to Jesus, but only one person reaches out believing something great may happen.
Now, what we should take from this is you can be close to Jesus and not experience this encounter with Jesus. If you don't have a faith, if you don't have an expectation, you can be very close to Jesus or think you are and not experience what this woman did. Now, I can only imagine she had a little bit of hope, a little bit of desperation. She thought, what's it gonna hurt? I'm just gonna try.
You ever been at that point? Like, I don't know what's gonna work, but I'm gonna try it because I'm sick and tired of dealing with this. It it doesn't say in this that this woman had this perfect faith and she was a perfect person other than this issue. It says, she hoped, she believed that just maybe And I'll tell you, what what Jesus does here is is really amazing. Let me pull this up real real quick.
Researcher Brene Brown says this, shame derives its power from being unspeakable, and that's the shame that this woman would have been under. Shame derives its power from being unspeakable. I can't say it because if I say it, I'm I'm gonna be rejected. That's why it loves perfectionists, people who need to be perfect, because then we understand we're not perfect. Perfectionists here in front of you.
It causes me great pain when I try to write things because I wanna write things perfectly the first time. There's no rough draft. What is that? If we can cultivate enough awareness about shame to name it and speak to it, we've basically cut it off at the knees. And so what does Jesus do?
Jesus could have been very quiet about what had happened. Jesus could he he perceived that this power has gone out from this from himself to this woman. Do you think Jesus doesn't know who touched him? Do you think that? Now, the disciples are like, how how everybody's everywhere touching you.
But I believe Jesus knows exactly what is going on. This woman has suffered in silence, in isolation for twelve years. But Jesus does something very powerful as she steps forward, and it says, trembling to come and tell Jesus, okay, it was me. And he said to her, daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease.
Now, this woman has experienced this shame for a long time, and Jesus' response as she comes, as she has lived as untouchable, is to call her daughter. This is the only time in the gospels that Jesus calls anyone daughter. Now, had he let her go away without saying this, she could still be living in shame and nobody really knowing what has happened. You know, for twelve years she's been this woman, you don't go near her. I can only imagine parents telling their children.
Right? We've got to prepare for this, don't go near that that lady. But Jesus calls it out and calls her, daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease. So not only is she healed of her disease, but Jesus is saying, your faith is what it needs to be.
He doesn't say it's perfect. Sometimes I think we people tell me this, as soon as I get it all together, then I will. We come in desperation, we come with a little hope, we come with a little bitty grain of mustard seed faith. And Jesus says, your faith has made you well because you believe. Now, Mark does some interesting things.
Mark has this story. If you go back to Mark chapter five, you're gonna you're gonna see this story interrupts another story. There's a story there of Jairus' daughter that you get the beginning of, and all of a sudden the story we just read is in the middle, and then we get the end of it later. It's called an intercalation, but an easier way to know this is a Markan sandwich. Mark's sandwich.
That's what he does. And so in this story, in verse 35, right after this, while he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further? And and so Jesus says, but overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, do not fear, only believe. And so what you should know from this is that the story that we just read shows that Jesus has the power over long suffering issues.
In the story of Jairus' daughter, Jesus shows that he has power even over death. Because what you'll see in this is that the story we just read seems to be the the pause in life. That I've come to Jesus, I've taken this issue, my daughter is sick, can you do something about it? How many of you have prayed about something and you didn't think you got an answer for a very long time? Yeah?
God, why? This feels like it needs immediate attention. Why the pause? And Mark gives us a whole story in the pause. But Jesus tells the ruler here, don't fear, do not fear, only believe, and Jesus heals Jairus' daughter.
In two stories, what we find out is Jesus has power over sickness, and Jesus has power even over death. Now, I can only imagine for those two families, they understood the power that Jesus had. Maybe we need to be reminded of all the ways that God has shown up in our lives. That maybe we're in a situation of of Jairus, but we've been praying, and we've been hoping, we've been asking, and it doesn't seem like answers are coming. Why this pause?
God, why are you waiting? But understanding that God can still work. Maybe you're in the situation of this woman, you're carrying something for a long time. You feel unseen, maybe even forgotten, but all Jesus asked for is just a reach in the crowd, just a hope, just a desire, just a thought, just maybe. Maybe you've prayed for help and it feels like Jesus just stopped moving, that maybe during your prayers, things even got worse.
Mark five reminds us that Jesus is not limited to fixing situations before they become bad. So when the things get bad, Jesus doesn't stop. Jesus' power, God's power is not limited. Jesus often works his biggest miracles, God often works his biggest miracles when it feels like all hope is gone. What I wanna point out this morning is that's a lot of the way the old testament miracles happen.
Think about Elijah going against all these other prophets. There is no way that Elijah gets out of his situation alive. Hey, let's call down fire and see whose god is listening. If that doesn't happen, Elijah is killed. Jezebel would have made sure of that.
But God works. Even when Elijah says, hey, you know what we ought to do? We ought to cover all of this in water. Let's cover my sacrifice in water. Yours didn't work out real well.
Let's cover mine in water, and God shows up. So a lot of times, I think what we need, again, is renewed hope and renewed faith in God. Because just because things have gotten worse maybe, or you feel like God is not answering as quickly as you want, God is still listening and God is still capable of great miracles in your life. In this story this morning, only one person reached out in faith. Many were near Jesus, only one reached out, only one truly encountered what Jesus had to offer.
You can be close to Jesus and still miss him, and so what I wanna encourage you this morning is to reach out in faith and to experience transformation. We've talked about shame the last two weeks, and I think that is a big part of us not coming to Christ. Is that we believe we can't, we believe God wouldn't love us, or we wouldn't fit in anymore. Maybe we'd feel like the woman with the issue this morning that if everyone knew what I struggle with, I would be the outcast, and that shame keeps us in the place of more shame. We don't get to experience freedom.
We don't get to experience healing because shame keeps us there. As Brene Brown says, if we can name it, if we can talk about it, you cut it off at the knees. It has no more power. What I've experienced over my time in and before full time ministry is that we all live with this idea that it's only me. I'm the only one with this issue.
That is the way Satan works every single time. Let me keep you, again, the perfectionist, let me keep you understanding your imperfection and how you wouldn't fit in if everyone knew, and every single time I have been in a situation where myself or someone else shared their actual true story, laid it on the table, other people said, Me too. Same here. I deal with that as well. And the freedom that comes from that, the freedom that comes from knowing that, okay, I'm going to be vulnerable.
I'm going to put it out there, and God's going to have to take care of this. The freedom that comes from that is absolutely incredible. And it will unleash something within you, it will unchain you from the shame that you've been holding on to, and you will be able to move closer to people. In this story, the woman was exiled because of what she had. In our story, a lot of times, we exile ourselves because of that shame and because of that understanding that I am imperfect, thinking that my imperfection keeps me away.
God sent his son to die on a cross for us, to live a life in human flesh. And the result of that is that Jesus knows who we are. He knows our struggles, he knows our issues, he knows that you are imperfect. Do you understand that? Say yes.
Jesus knows that and God's love flows out for you. That while we were yet sinners, God sent his son down the cross for you. Amen? So this morning, let me encourage you. If there's something you need to let go of, I'd love to pray with you.
We don't have to mention it out loud. But let me encourage you, if there's someone here that would stand beside you and help you, share that with them. Do not be tethered to shame because what that's doing is keeping you from drawing close to God, from reaching out and touching him. Don't be the person in the crowd just walking close to Jesus so that I'm close. Reach out and experience transformation.
Would you come as we stand?