Sermon for September 16th, 2018 - Revision history

Iraneal at 04:00, 15 September 2018

2018-09-15T04:00:23Z

Iraneal at 03:28, 15 September 2018

2018-09-15T03:28:01Z

Iraneal at 03:15, 15 September 2018

2018-09-15T03:15:47Z

Iraneal at 03:06, 15 September 2018

2018-09-15T03:06:51Z

Iraneal at 02:54, 15 September 2018

2018-09-15T02:54:09Z

Iraneal at 02:23, 15 September 2018

2018-09-15T02:23:13Z

Iraneal at 02:06, 15 September 2018

2018-09-15T02:06:29Z

Iraneal at 01:07, 15 September 2018

2018-09-15T01:07:04Z

Iraneal at 23:57, 14 September 2018

2018-09-14T23:57:04Z

Iraneal at 23:31, 14 September 2018

2018-09-14T23:31:36Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:00, 15 September 2018
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	And rather than pointing their attention to what they took from us (power, energy, resources)...we could point their attention to what is beautiful, valuable, and worthy in them.		And rather than pointing their attention to what they took from us (power, energy, resources)...we could point their attention to what is beautiful, valuable, and worthy in them.

−	My daughter...my son...YOUR faith has made YOU ~~whole~~. Go in peace.	+	My daughter...my son...YOUR faith has made YOU well. Go in peace.

@@ Line 59: / Line 59: @@
 We could make them consent to all of our doctrines and creeds and statements of belief in order to prove to us that they really come in good faith.
-We could just ignore them after they touch us...after all, they've already taken what they came for and would probably be content to hide in the crowd.
+We could just ignore them after they touch us...after all, they've already taken what they came for and would probably be content just to stay hidden in the crowd.
-Or...we could stop and freeze everything the second we felt the touch.
+Or.  Or... we could stop and freeze everything the second we felt that touch.
 We could seek out the lost the broken, the desperate, hiding in our midst.

@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 But this woman breaks all the rules.  She's supposed to announce herself, and yet she sneaks up behind Jesus so quietly he doesn't even notice.  She's not supposed to touch anyone, and yet she probably touches *everyone* forcing her way through the crowd.  She takes something from Jesus (in this case, power) without even asking, and when he asks who did it, at first she denies it along with everyone in the crowd.
-What does faith look like?  For some Christians, faith means believing certain things about Jesus--like that he is the son of God, born of the virgin Mary, who died for our sins and was raised again on the third day. Faith means acknowledging Jesus as your savior and making him lord of your life.
+What does faith look like?  For some Christians, faith means believing certain things about Jesus--like that he is the son of God, born of the virgin Mary, who died for our sins and was raised again on the third day. Faith means acknowledging Jesus as your personal lord and savior and inviting him into your heart.
 At the precise moment when the woman's faith heals her, she could not possibly have known some of these things about Jesus.  Some of them haven't even happened yet.  After she is healed, she expresses no desire to become his follower or disciple--she only comes forward when it is no longer possible for her to hide. The only thing she clearly believes at the start of this story is that somehow, in some way that she probably couldn't even express, something about Jesus (whoever he might be) could change her life.

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:06, 15 September 2018
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	We could just ignore them after they touch us...after all, they've already taken what they came for and would probably be content to hide in the crowd.		We could just ignore them after they touch us...after all, they've already taken what they came for and would probably be content to hide in the crowd.

−	Or...we could ~~follow in~~ the ex	+	Or...we could stop and freeze everything the second we felt the touch.
		+
		+	We could seek out the lost the broken, the desperate, hiding in our midst.
		+
		+	We could welcome them into our family (that's what it means when you call someone "daughter" or "son").
		+
		+	And rather than pointing their attention to what they took from us (power, energy, resources)...we could point their attention to what is beautiful, valuable, and worthy in them.
		+
		+	My daughter...my son...YOUR faith has made YOU whole. Go in peace.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ==Luke 8:43-48==
 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?==
@@ Line 42: / Line 41: @@
 For the woman in this story, faith is real, tangible, concrete and it boils down to just one simple thing:  Reaching out and touching the fabric of Jesus' robe. That's all she wants to do, that's all she needs to do, that's all she believes in. Incidentally, tangible literally means touchable.
-So What does faith look like?  Sometimes it looks desperate, willing to break the rules and sacred traditions.  Sometimes faith just looks like need--the need for a changed life, the need for human touch.
+So what does faith look like?  Sometimes it looks desperate, willing to break the rules and sacred traditions.  Sometimes faith just looks like need--the need for a changed life, the need for something or someone to touch.
 Ernest Campbell was a Presbyterian minister and the pastor of the historic Riverside Church in New York.  Someone once asked him to explain the crisis in our churches, the decline of faith in the 20th century.  He responded, "The reason we seem to lack faith in our time is that we are not doing anything that requires it.
+It's also possible that we are not the woman in this story.  We might be the crowd or the disciples--when Jesus asked who touched him, the crowd "all denied it."  The truth is (as Peter points out) there were probably many people who touched Jesus, and they knew they were touching him...but when asked they still denied it. Sometimes we press in close to Jesus, we come to church, we read the Bible, we do all the things that Christians are supposed to do...except allow our lives to be transformed by that touch.  Maybe we're afraid of that kind of power.  Our perhaps, once again, we just don't realize the depth of our need.
 Who are we in this story?

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 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 things 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?"  More on those questions later.
+And also as usual, I'm less interested the "miracle" than I am in other things this story points us to, like "What does a miraculous faith look like?" and "Who are we in this story?"  More on those questions later.
 First, some necessary background:  Turn with me in your Bibles to the 3rd book of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Book of Leviticus, chapter 15.  The chapter is subtitled "concerning bodily discharges."   These are rules about who is allowed or not allowed to enter into the temple for worship in ancient Israel.  Although I won't even pretend that ancient Israel was a model of gender equality, please do notice that in this case, the first half of the chapter pertains to men, and the second half to women, and the rules are pretty much the same.  We'll start reading at verse 19 (women).
@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 Menorrhagia is the clinical term for uterine bleeding that is abnormally frequent, irregular, or profuse.  Today, it affects 53 out of 1,000 women, so it's not rare, but through a variety of medical treatments and modern conveniences, those affected are able to live normal, healthy, sanitary lives.
-In first century Israel, however, that wasn't the case.  The woman in today's scripture passage would have been deemed "unclean," and would have been required to live outside the city, away from family, away from safety, protection, and all human touch.  When going into the city, she would have been required to announce herself loudly and constantly, so that people would know to stay away from her, because anyone she touched would also become unclean.  After 12 years of this, she had exhausted all of her resources, and I imagine she was pretty lonely, pretty desperate, too.  And yet, what Jesus saw in her, and what all future generations would remember her for, was none of these things.  It was her faith.
+In first century Israel, however, that wasn't the case.  The woman in today's scripture passage, according to those rules from Leviticus, would have been deemed perpetually unclean. She would have been required to live outside the city, away from family, away from safety, protection, and all human touch.  When going into the city, she would have been required to announce herself loudly and constantly, so that people would know to stay away from her, because anyone she touched would also become unclean.  After 12 years of this, we read that she had exhausted all of her resources. I imagine she was pretty lonely, pretty desperate, too.
 So what does faith look like?
-Ernest Campbell was a Presbyterian minister and the pastor of the historic Riverside Church in New York.  Someone once asked him to explain the crisis in our churches, the decline of faith in the 20th century.  He responded, "The reason we seem to lack faith in our time is that we are not doing anything that requires it.
+What does faith look like?  For some Christians, faith means believing certain things about Jesus--like that he is the son of God, born of the virgin Mary, who died for our sins and was raised again on the third day. Faith means acknowledging Jesus as your savior and making him lord of your life.
-What does faith look like?
+At the precise moment when the woman's faith heals her, she could not possibly have known some of these things about Jesus.  Some of them haven't even happened yet.  After she is healed, she expresses no desire to become his follower or disciple--she only comes forward when it is no longer possible for her to hide.
-What does salvation look like?
+What does faith look like?  For some people, faith is an abstract concept
 Who are we in this story?

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:57, 14 September 2018
Line 24:		Line 24:
	Menorrhagia is the clinical term for uterine bleeding that is abnormally frequent, irregular, or profuse. Today, it affects 53 out of 1,000 women, so it's not rare, but through a variety of medical treatments and modern conveniences, those affected are able to live normal, healthy, sanitary lives.		Menorrhagia is the clinical term for uterine bleeding that is abnormally frequent, irregular, or profuse. Today, it affects 53 out of 1,000 women, so it's not rare, but through a variety of medical treatments and modern conveniences, those affected are able to live normal, healthy, sanitary lives.

−	In ~~the~~ first century, however,	+	In first century Israel, however (during the time of today's story) menorrhagia could still result in complete isolation and ostracism from society. Those who were deemed "unclean" from this or any other circumstance (like, for example, leprosy) would have been required to live away from the city, away from family, and away from any protection those things usually offered. When going into the city, they would have been required to announce themselves loudly and constantly, so that people would know to stay away from them, lest they too become unclean.
		+
		+	We don't know a lot about the woman in today's story beyond speculation. Was she once married? Did she have children? Was she once a woman of means or high station--someone who could afford to hire multiple physicians in search of a cure? Regardless, by the time she encounters Jesus, she has exhausted all of her financial resources; she would have been ejected from the city and whatever home she might have had; and she would not have been able to come anywhere near her family for the past 12 years. Add to this the possibility of persistent headaches, cramps, anemia (weakness from loss of blood) that can accompany untreated menorrhagia, and I think we probably know all we really need to know about this woman: She was lonely, destitute, and desperate.

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 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?"
+And also as usual, I'm less interested the "miracle" than I am in other things 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?"
+But first, some necessary background:  Turn with me in your Bibles to the 3rd book of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Book of Leviticus, chapter 15.  The chapter is subtitled "concerning bodily discharges."   These are rules about who is allowed or not allowed to enter into the temple for worship in ancient Israel.  Although I won't even pretend that ancient Israel was a model of gender equality, please do notice that in this case, the first half of the chapter pertains to men, and the second half to women, and the rules are pretty much the same.  We'll start reading at verse 19 (women).
-−
-Leviticus 15:19
+"When a woman has a discharge of blood that is her regular discharge from her body, she shall be in her impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. Everything upon which she lies during her impurity shall be unclean; everything also upon which she sits shall be unclean. Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening. Whoever touches anything upon which she sits shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening; whether it is the bed or anything upon which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening."