Faith Big Enough To Move
Notes
Transcript
This morning, I would like for us to examine the subject of Faith together. Turn with me, if you have your Bible, to the 5th chapter of the Gospel of Mark and let’s pick up the narrative in verse 25.
And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 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 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 power had gone out from 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?’ ” And 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. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
(Read introductory illustration)Transposing the Gospel
How would you get young people interested in classical music? A few years ago Richard Dreyfuss starred in the movie Mr. Holland’s Opus. You’ve probably seen it. Mr. Holland is a high school music teacher who is passionate about music. He loves Beethoven, Bach, Mozart. For Mr. Holland “music is…about heart, it’s about feelings, moving people, and something beautiful, and it’s not about notes on a page.” But how do you communicate that passion to a bunch of teenagers who have as much energy for Bach as they do for household chores? When Mr. Holland starts talking about the classical composers, he meets a sea of blank faces and bored looks.
And then one day Mr. Holland discovers something amazing. He starts playing one of the hit pop songs of the time. All of a sudden the students perk up, their feet start tapping to the beat, their heads start nodding with the rhythm. “You like that huh?” asks Mr. Holland. “Do you know what it is? It’s Beethoven.” This pop song has taken one of Beethoven’s melodies and set it to a rock beat, played it with electric guitars rather than violins, and given it lyrics that speak about boys and girls falling in love. All of a sudden Beethoven is not some ancient relic of a bygone era. All of a sudden, Beethoven is relevant, Beethoven has become meaningful to Mr. Holland’s students. Beethoven connects.
When people hear about Christianity, they can sometimes become a bit like Mr. Holland’s students. Their eyes glaze over, their face goes blank, and they’re bored by it. They’re telling me, “I’m not interested in a faith which is nothing more than an ancient relic of a bygone era. I’m interested in a faith which is a dynamic force in my era. I’m not interested in a faith that speaks to the questions of yesterday, I’m interested in a faith that speaks to the questions I face today. I’m not interested in a faith that dredges through the issues of the past. I’m interested in a faith that engages with the issues of today.” Do you ever find yourself feeling like that?
You know the wonderful thing about the Christian faith is that it can be like Beethoven was for Mr. Holland’s students. It’s a song that can be played anew in every era; a melody line that repeats through history, but played using the instruments of our time, with a beat we can dance to. And the task of the Christian church is to take this ancient song and play it in such a way that it connects with the people of our time, the mood of our time and the issues of our time.
Source: Scott Higgins
Honestly, people today, especially “millinials”, desire a purpose for their lives. They desire to believe in something that is bigger than themselves. They want something that will move them. Move them from a mere existence to having meaning, move them from complacency to conviction. If we display a faith that moves us to action, perhaps that faith we display for the world to see will move someone else to action also. Too many times, we talk about faith like something that used to be, not something we walk in and talk in and move in today. Let’s ask ourselves this morning, “Which type of faith am I showing the world?” I believe by the end of our time together today, God will challenge some of us in some way.
Most of you are familiar with the text but for those who might not be, let me start by giving you the backstory here. Jesus had been teaching through parables to a crowd so large that He had to get up in a boat and sit down to teach. When he finished teaching, they sailed to the other shore. While on the water, a storm blew up and Jesus calmed the waters and the wind. All that takes place in chapter 4. Chapter 5 starts with a bang. As soon as they reach the shore and Jesus gets out of the boat, he is confronted by a demon possessed man. Jesus cast the demons into a herd of swine and all 2000 ran into the sea and drowned. Wow. Then they get back in the boat and go back to where they had been before. A large crowd gathered around him again. Enter Jairus. Jairus was a believer and his daughter was deathly ill. He asked Jesus to heal her. So Jesus started home with Jairus. I want to draw your attention to the last part of verse 24. Remember that. Now we are introduced to a sick woman. This woman had not just been sick but had suffered for 12 years. She had spent everything that she had on many doctors but nothing helped. Let’s look at
1. The Condition of the Woman:
Our text says that she had a hemorrhage for 12 years. Many times the implications of that malady in this time escape us today. According to Leviticus 15, her condition made her unclean. That means that her family can’t eat food prepared by her, they can’t sit in a chair where she has sat, they can’t even touch her without becoming unclean also. She wasn’t allowed into worship. Anything she touched was then unclean as well. Can you imagine the isolation she must have felt? Can you imagine the sense of despair and hopelessness? How about the embarrassment she must have been subjected to? Does that resonate with any one here? Can you relate to her situation on some level? Of course you can, we all can.
2. The Conviction of the Woman:
Here we have this woman who is physically and mentally weakened by her disease and socially unaccepted. Note that the text mentions many physicians but doesn’t mention any rabbi or priest. Think about that for a minute. She had done everything in her power to get well. Nothing had helped, she had even gotten worse. Then she heard about a man named Jesus. Can anyone remember when they heard about a man named Jesus? The bible says when she heard about Jesus, she came behind him and touched his garment. I want this to sink in right here. She was considered unclean. She couldn’t touch anyone or anything without them or it becoming unclean as well. She wasn’t concerned with the crowd or what people would say or how they might react. 12 years of being told what she couldn’t do meant nothing when her faith told her what she could do. Her faith MOVED her into that crowd and close to her savior. Is faith moving you right now?
3. The Cleansing of the Woman:
There are 2 important things to notice here. First, she touches Jesus. This unclean woman touches Jesus, which according to Mosaic law, makes him unclean. Nope, not today. Not only is He not made unclean but she is purified and made clean by him. Think about it, the Mosaic law which had governed the lives of the jewish people since the time of Moses was just turned upside down. Secondly, her healing is immediate and she feels in her body that she has been healed. She didn’t have to go stand under a waterfall somewhere, she didn’t have to say 10 our fathers and 7 hail marys. It was instant. It was complete. She was totally healed and made new. She didn’t have to change any thing. She only had to move in her faith that Jesus could cleanse her and give her a new life. Move in your faith that He can do the same in your life today.
4. The Compassion for the Woman:
Why did Jesus ask the question, “Who touched my clothes?” It wasn’t because he didn’t know who had touched his clothes. He asked the question for her benefit. He wanted her to look him in the eye to reinforce her faith and what she had just received. He wanted her to know that she no longer had to walk in shame; but, she could hold her head high and look people in the eye now. Then he calls her daughter. He was on his way to heal Jairus’ daughter when he stopped and had compassion for one of his daughters. Oh, what a savior.