Difference between revisions of "Sermon for September 16th, 2018"

Revision as of 15:56, 14 September 2018

Luke 8:43-48

43 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. 45 Then Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and press in on you.” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me.” 47 When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

Miracles: Who Touched Me?

Football season is now upon us, and for some people that means a difficult choice on Sunday mornings. By the time Bobby arrived at his friend's house to watch the game, the first quarter was more than halfway over. “Why are you so late?” asked his friend. “Because I couldn’t decide between going to church and going to the football game," said Bobby. "So I tossed a coin and asked God to help me decide.” His friend looked puzzled: “That shouldn’t have taken too long.” “Well," said Bobby, "I had to toss it 35 times.”

My thanks to those of you who only flipped the coin once this morning, and are here as a result! While the rest of the world focuses on touch-downs, this morning our scripture passage focuses on an entirely different kind of touch: the woman who touches the fringe of Jesus' clothes, and is miraculously healed by her faith.

We have been exploring for several weeks now the "miracles of Jesus," but just like other miracles we have discussed, this one might more accurately be labeled a miracle *near* Jesus, or through Jesus...since Jesus himself doesn't actually DO anything to initiate the miracle, and he makes it clear to the woman in question that her faith is what has made her well.

And also as usual, I'm less interested the "miracle" than I am in other questions this story points us to, like "What does faith look like?" and "What does salvation look like?" and of course, "Who are we in this story?"

Leviticus 15:19