Ridiculous Faith [part 2 of 3] ...

Matthew continues to recount his story in act two of the three that compose it.  In the first act, a father has demonstrated a faith others are sure to call stupid, for what he asks of Jesus (to bring life back to the dead, even though this has never been done).  But now in act two, the journey towards the dead is well under way, and on it, something ridiculous occurs.  The History that sometimes acts as a razor against our beliefs finds a new character to widdle against.  A woman who has suffered with what is likely some form of hemophilia for more than 12 years has made her own determination of what must be done to find life and health.  She determines that Jesus is sure to be her cure.  She has seen him cure so many others.  She knows He can do it.

But this woman creates for herself an obstacle of unworthiness.  As she examines her own life, the decisions she has made, the sins she has committed, the filth of the condition of her disease; she determines she is unworthy to ask Jesus for healing.  She is embarrassed by the smell that must certainly accompany her presence.  She does not wish to be brought to Jesus by her friends, as she does not want others to be so intimate with her personage in such plight.  Besides, she can move.  She just finds herself disgusting.  And how many of us examine our lives, and our history of sins, and reach the same conclusion.  We too are disgusting.  We too have heaped so much sin and shame upon ourselves, we find that we are in no way worthy of the presence of God.  We do not deserve to ask Him for anything.  Even though we have seen Him act for others, we hold back our requests, believing our history is a barrier to His listening ear.  But it is our holding back that is the problem.  Self-created, but every bit real.

The woman of the story of Matthew, forgets, that ALL sin is disgusting to our God.  It is the poo He must wade through to pull you out of it.  And He does not hesitate to do the dirty work of reaching you, or the difficult work of pulling you through this pit to get you out of it.  The condition she finds herself in, is not something that Jesus would have held His nose against, turned away, and left her to suffer and die in.  It is the same condition He looks to relieve us all from.  The goal of mercy, is not to simply forgive, and then return you to the cesspit of your sins.  The goal of mercy, is to forgive you, and create within you a way out of the cesspit forever.  Jesus understands how bad sin is, and wants to redeem you from it anyway.  No matter how dirty the work for Jesus, it is still something He longs to do for you.  Your unworthiness will never be matched by His greater love for you.

But in this pit of despair and unworthiness the woman has created for herself, she has not lost hope altogether either.  Instead she comes up with a ridiculous idea.  She will remain anonymous.  She will move through the crowd quickly from behind, hopefully downwind, and will duck down and touch only the hem of His garment.  It is not the robe she needs, as even in this state, she attributes no special power to the clothing.  It is His contact with the clothing when she touches it, she imagines will do the trick.  She will do this ridiculous thing all because she fears to ask Him face-to-face to heal her.  She will do this ridiculous thing because she fears her own unworthiness.  How many barriers do we place upon ourselves that our God would never ask, because we allow our guilt to outmatch our opinions about the love of our God?

If this sounds like a ridiculous idea, it is.  If this sounds to you like it would never work, that, is another matter.  Matthew continues his recollection in chapter nine picking up in verse 20 saying … “And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:”  The crowds were moving.  The wind conditions were favorable.  There were so many people there, she would easily be able to “get lost” in all the faces.  No one would be paying attention to her.  She could enter from a side street, get low, touch the hem of his garment, and disappear back into the crowd, going home healed.

Matthew continues in verse 21 saying … “For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.”  Her plan in her mind made sense to her.  Her beliefs made sense to her, even if they never made sense to another living person on planet earth.  Here is where faith gets ridiculous, but does not go wrong.  Our relationship with Jesus is indeed a relationship, something that is one-on-one, not a group think exercise.  Was this doctrine of hers, this idea that she had, Biblically sound?  No.  Not really.  There is nothing in scripture about touching clothing to get healed, at least not until this story anyway.  Is this idea something the modern Christian churches continue to espouse?  No.  We have long since abandoned the idea of relics, that if you but touch them, something good happens spiritually.  Particularly because most relics are fakes.  And further Jesus does not say to His followers; here is my robe from last week, take this around and use it to heal people.  Jesus offers a Holy Spirit for that, which is much more effective anyway.

So, it is not that her doctrine is sound.  It is not.  It reflects a notion about unworthiness that is misplaced.  It discounts the love the Savior has for her (at least before the incident is over).  In summary you could say, she went forward with the wrong ideas, the wrong doctrine, but faith in the right God, in Jesus Christ.  Matthew continues in verse 22 saying … “But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.”  Her healing happens despite the ridiculous ideas of her faith, and self-imposed obstacles.  And as Jesus works with this woman, He begins to take steps to correct her thinking.  He stops the momentum of his trip cold.  The crowds stop.  He looks right at this woman, though other texts have Him first question aloud who touched Him.  His eyes burn with a love she could have never imagined.

When Jesus addresses her, it is not in the derogatory language she is sure she is worthy of.  He does not call her a dog, or pig, or disgusting piece of filth, which she has seen herself as, her entire life.  He does not look down on her in any way.  In fact, in one of the rarest times in scripture, He calls this woman, “daughter”.  Let that sink in folks.  Jesus Christ names this woman daughter.  A literal daughter of God.  Not just a figurative title, or sweet sounding family style inclusive word.  But a title that has deep meaning to it.  Especially to her.  In that tender word and tender address Jesus Christ shatters her ideas and self-created barriers about unworthiness.  He calls her daughter instead.  No matter what she has done, or smells like, or how she sees herself; Jesus sees this precious woman as His particular child and daughter.  He is on His way to resurrect the daughter of another father, but on His way, He stops to insure this daughter of His is resurrected as well.

Jesus shatters the ideas of unworthiness as a barrier for her and for us.  Her healing is the least of her blessings this day.  She moves from hopeful worshipper to grateful daughter.  Her testimony moves from theoretical ideas (some misplaced), to the personal testimony of a daughter of Christ.  No one will ever be able to shake that word out of her head.  It was personal.  It still is.  The beauty of this story is the absence of our influence on this woman.  Had this woman been a member of the modern Christian church, and confided her plan in us, we would have soundly condemned it.  Not for the unworthiness piece which most of us also contend with, but for the worshipping clothing piece which has no basis in scripture.  We would have wanted for this woman to subscribe to ALL of our ideas about God; BEFORE she went to God for herself.

We would have created for this person as big a gauntlet spiritually as she created for herself.  And most burdens just as ridiculous.  Even though her ideas were not perfect ahead of time, Jesus still reached out to her.  He rewarded her faith with healing.  Not to uphold the idea of cloth touching for health, but so that she knows He cares about her.  He destroyed her ideas about anonymity.  Instead He calls her out in front an entire crowd.  So that they ALL hear Him call her daughter, just as loudly as she hears it.  To the crowd it will mean less.  But to her it will mean everything.  Jesus adjusts her doctrine through methods that Jesus deems effective.  And you and I had nothing to do with it.  It was all Jesus, and it worked.

Why do we in the modern church, believe it is our duty to “correct” the misguided ideas of our peers, who also believe in Jesus.  Can’t Jesus do for them and for us, what He did for His daughter so many years ago?  Jesus is effective at changing minds and hearts.  You and I suck at it.  If my friends from another denomination are wrong about something, let’s let Jesus sort that out for them.  If we are wrong about something, let’s let Jesus sort that out for us.  What works, is devout faith in Jesus.  What does not work, is devout faith in our interpretations of scripture.  That is what the Pharisees had, and they were all as sure about it as we are today.  So sure, they missed Jesus and love entirely.  And when you look around the modern Christian church, we are as certain about doctrine, and as lean with our love as they were.

An incorrect idea, or doctrine, can be corrected by Jesus Christ.  If it is a problem for us, you can bet Jesus will be motivated to fix it.  And if it is not a problem, Jesus is probably not too worried about it.  So then, why are we?  Love is what Jesus demonstrated that day, that ultimately undid the mistaken ideas.  Jesus shows her that she personally matters to Him.  He stops an entire procession to prove it.  He calls her out to prove it.  He calls her daughter to make sure she knows it.  He gives her a gift that will ever be ringing in her ears.  He gives her a testimony she will be retelling everyone for as long as she draws breath.  She worships Him not because she has to; or some pastor tells her to, or because it is that time of the week in that time of the service.  She worships Him, because her heart brakes with the gratitude of knowing Daddy.  She loves her Daddy, and does not grow tired of anyone else knowing Him too.

It was a ridiculous faith.  But it was grounded in Jesus Christ.  And whether it was ridiculous or not, it found a way to receive the love of Jesus Christ, up close and personal to her.  What is the level of ridiculous you are willing to risk to see Jesus Christ love you one-on-one?

And the play has one more act for the finale …

 

Bleeding and Dying No More [part two] ...

We define our own limits.  We tell ourselves what is “possible” and then live our lives within the confines of the limitations we have set for ourselves.  But our definition of “possible” has been set by a very human perspective, and perspective is not the same as reality.  Because you have never seen a thing, or heard a thing, does not mean that thing does not exist … it is merely something you have never seen or heard.  Others may have experienced it.  So for a witness to this event, it is very real … for the person who has never encountered it, it remains only theoretical.  Our imaginations are the gift that enable us to briefly look beyond the limitations we set for ourselves, and dream or imagine what might be possible beyond the reality our minds have proscribed for us.  Our imagination questions our limitations, and poses the most important query to our self-imposed limitations … what if? 

For the Christian, for the believer in a God of infinite Love, a God who wrote the rules of science, any “limitation” at all, is an oxymoron.  Indeed self-imposed limitations are nothing more than chains that bind and limit the potential of a life that might otherwise be an existence our dreams could hardly keep up with.  What we define as limits, were never really limits at all.  They were self-imagined constrictions “we” placed on ourselves, not impositions our God placed upon us.  We are the ones who tell ourselves “no”, and “it cannot be done” and “there is no way”.  Like a contagious disease, we allow our lack of personal witness, and the limitations others have proscribed, to join and form our own ideas.  We adopt the limits others have dictated until we join them like mindless Borg drones, unable to break free of the collective.  Our educational systems are built around the idea of conformity, not individuality.  Our society is based on cooperation, and perpetuates “group think” over “unique think”.  So mostly every influencing factor around us from our media to our pulpits encourages us to be part of something larger, and if that means we limit ourselves and our potential, in order to stay in line with the rest of the drones, then so be it.

But for the believer in a God of infinite Love, why do we continually “limit” what infinite must mean?  Does our uniquely human power to say “no” to God and thus thwart what He would otherwise do for us make us think we have some power of our own?  Our sole ability to refuse love has been translated into thinking that saying no equals the end of possibility and potential.  But it does not.  What happens when we change our “no” answer to a “yes” answer to God’s love?  The change in our response becomes and is a life altering experience.  When we look from His perspective at our own limitations we begin to understand they were never limitations in the first place.  They were only ever the result of saying “no” to God over and over again.  When “yes” is our response to His love, what we thought was impossible becomes possible, achievable, then history, then even routine.  All of the sudden, miracles are not the unusual, they can become the common place.  Our imaginations must then work harder to dream beyond what the reality of our lives are.  For what we imagine Love to be, is never really enough to define, what Love can truly be.

And you or I, will not be the first believer to discover this truth.  Peter refers to another, he lists her only as “a certain woman”.  She has no name that he can recall, perhaps he never heard it, or knew it.  In recalling the story of Jesus’ third hit in the spiritual grand-slam going on near the edge of the Sea of Galilee to John Mark in his gospel in chapter five, Peter does not know the identity of this woman.  Perhaps this was by intent from God to you and I.  Perhaps Peter is unable to personalize this story by listing the woman’s name, because God wanted for you to substitute your name where Peter and John Mark say simply the words “a certain woman”.  If only our own imaginations could allow us to dream past our limitations the story of this woman might actually be the same as our own.  Imagine for a brief moment, that you are her.  Imagine for a brief moment, that the biggest challenge of your life could be substituted for the one she was facing.  Then using your imagination, see if how she conquered her own problems, might not be exactly the same as how you see your biggest challenge overcome in an instant.  How hard it is to imagine, might be an indication of how deeply you have limited your ability to really live.

John Mark picks up the story in verse 25 saying … “And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, [verse 26] And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,”  This woman was likely a hemophiliac.  She had a degenerative health condition which in her time had no cure, nor effective treatment.  She was losing blood constantly over a twelve year block of time.  She did not take this ailment without attempting to fix it.  She did what all of us do, she went to the doctor for it.  But when the first doctor failed, she got a second opinion, and then a third, until she had seen every doctor she could find.  And in the end, all of her best efforts, all the best of humanity had to offer, was only a further level of misery from the original condition she faced.  How many times, have you faced a challenge in your life, and done your best efforts to meet it, only to find you have actually made things worse?  The temptation to give up all hope becomes even stronger when everything you do, only makes it worse.  But for her to give up, meant to die, so giving up was not an option for this certain woman … or perhaps for you.

Mark continues in verse 27 writing … “When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. [verse 28] For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.”  Here is where a certain woman puts me to shame.  No one told her this would work.  No one had ever tried it.  No one had ever experienced it.  In point of fact, she concocted this idea completely in her own imagination, and set about to carry it out.  There were no sermons outlining a 5 part plan that begins with her own acknowledgement of her need, a donation into the offertory, and then an effort to touch the hem of Jesus’ clothing.  This idea was crazy, and had never been done.  It was going to be a first.  It was the product of her imagination.  But it was something more than that.  This woman did, what you and I, have refused to do.  She let go of her limitations.  She determined that her problem not only could be solved by Jesus, but that it was going to be solved by Jesus, and all she had to do was imagine that truth. 

If she had shared her plans with the other drones in her life, they would have surely and universally, condemned it.  Just like your family and friends would do to you, if you came up with such a clearly hair-brained scheme.  Her pastor or Rabbi, would have pointed out to her, that NOWHERE in scripture (at least up to now) has this EVER been tried, let alone been successful.  There were ZERO documented cases of people walking around that had personally experienced any such thing, and many, many, people had touched Christ before on their own, without any such results.  Up to now, Christ had to make some sort of effort to heal people.  They did not just encounter him anonymously and walk away healed.  They had to interact with Christ, talk to Him, ask Him for what they wanted, and then wait for Him to respond.  Her plan was completely different.  She would not bother Him to talk to Him.  She would not even ask Him to stop doing what He was doing, or going where He was going.  She would just attack Him from behind, get a quick anonymous touch of His clothes, and then resume her life in complete secrecy. 

Her challenge, or issue, was a lethal one, and she had already exhausted all her money, time, and effort on conventional means with only worsening results.  Human limits had been fully employed and fully failed.  Perhaps it was only in this condition, that she was able to imagine a solution beyond human limits.  Must it be so with us?  Must we face a life threatening issue before we even begin to imagine a solution to our problems beyond the limits of humanity?  What if the fact that there is NO money, and NO prospects to finding any, or finding enough; was NOT the limitation we chose to impose on ourselves when it comes to spending on a ministry for others?  Or putting what we have in the offering plate.  What if our very real looking human limitations, could be seen through the lens of imagination, and faith in a God of infinite Love.  Could we too come up with a plan where God solves our problems without so much as a formal request to do so.  The plans of this certain woman were banking on God’s love and ability to solve a problem He would not even have to slow down to do.  That is some radical faith folks.  That is some life altering ideas there, and reflects a complete lack of self-imposed limitations.

So how does it turn out?  Mark continues transcribing in verse 29 saying … “And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.”  It worked.  This crazy plan worked.  Her challenge was overcome by a Divine power of infinite Love, that could work even without a formal request for it.  A miracle could happen just by following the crazy plans of her imagination, combined with a belief that “no” was not the answer from God in this situation.  She did not do this plan thinking “maybe” it would work.  She did it, believing there was NO limit to the love of God, that God’s Love could flow to her just by touching clothing anonymously in the crowd.  And it worked.  What if we put the money we cannot afford to give in the offering plate when it passes by?  Would we find ourselves destitute as a result, or perhaps blessed beyond what we could have imagined instead?  What if our church spent money it does not have on missions for the poor and those in need, instead of heeding the limits of frugality and financial responsibility it self-imposes?  What if, instead of being devastated by our diagnosis, we imagined that just a mere prayer to our Lord, could heal us of whatever illness we faced, with 100% certainty?  Would we find our crazy imagination was more real than our limited and self-imposed reality we too had constructed?

It is our limitations, that cause us to think, there is only one way we can be healed by God.  It is our limitations that cause us to think, that God often says “no” to us when we face a challenge instead of “knowing” He has an answer for what our collective human might could not solve.  The entire Bible is a series of stories of how God solves problems we could not, including our redemption and reclamation.  Yet we believers are content to construct limits on how God can and will interact with us.  We see limits in our lives when no such limits even exist.  We construct limits, instead of seeing beyond our perspective, that from His viewpoint no such limit exists.  What for us is difficult, is for Him child’s play.  But Jesus did not want this incident to be a private one.  He wanted you and I to know that crazy imaginations can and will be real.  He wanted you and I to know that “we” can be a certain woman who ignores her own limitations and those of her family and friends and see done, what no one believed could be done.  So Jesus decides to see this story recorded.

Mark continues in verse 30 saying … “And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?”  So one crazy plan deserves another.  The very nature of a press, is that people are pressing in on you, they are touching you, crowding you, and in effect are all over you.  They are patting Jesus on the back, trying to hug Him, trying to be as close to Him as a person can be.  They touch His arms, try to hold His hands.  They just want to be close to Him.  This is what a press is by definition in this instance.  And in the midst of His walking with Jairus to the home of Jairus to heal His daughter, Jesus pauses to ask who touched His clothing?  The question makes NO sense to anyone there … except this woman.  She knows, that Jesus knows, what she has done.  But the disciples have no clue.

John Mark continues in verse 31 saying … “And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?”  The disciples decide to take on the role of Captain Obvious, and ask the question, “what are You talking about?”  A thousand people are trying to get close to you and touch you, and you want us to identify everyone who might have been close enough to do so, a moment ago?  But the disciples are viewing this question through the lens of humanity, Jesus is viewing it through something wider than just this view.  Mark continues in verse 32 transcribing events … “And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. [verse 33] But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.”  Jesus begins looking at the crowd to find this woman.  It won’t take Him long.  But the woman realizes her anonymity is not going to last.  The idea that God did not need to be bothered to see her healed was actually not as true as she had imagined.  God wanted to be bothered.  God wanted her to know, He had the time to make time, just for her.  She too was special to Him.  She too mattered.  Just like you do.  Just like I do.  He wants to slow down to meet our needs, He is willing to be delayed in going where He is going, to take a minute for us.  She needed to know this.

So Jesus reveals a deeper truth to her and us about the nature of His infinite love to her beginning in verse 34 saying … “And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”  He does not refer to her as “a certain woman”, nor does He state her name.  Instead He has a much more intimate term for her.  He calls her Daughter.  He has made her family.  He has rewarded her imagination with more than just a physical healing, He is adopting her into His family, and making her know just how important she is to Him.  He is not humiliating her, He is uplifting her.  He lets her know that He knows exactly what she was healed of.  He lets her know that He wanted all along to bring her and you and I this kind of healing.  We too can be healed of our plagues.  We too can see our challenges melt away, if we are willing to embrace the crazy.  If we are willing to let our imaginations become our reality, instead of denying His love and power because of our ideas of facts.  We need to be like a certain woman, who recognized the power and magnitude of His love was big enough to reach her in an unconventional means.  It did not take a pastors intercession, or a group of prayer warriors, or a donation into the plate.  It only took a crazy scheme she made up in her head, that banked on the size of His love for her.  Perhaps our own crazy ideas about how much God loves us, are not so crazy after all.

But the spiritual series of miracles had one more hit to yet put on display …