Presented to 614 Warehouse Mission, 13 May 2018, Mother’s
Day by Captain M Ramsay
For a
Mothers’ Day promotion today the Blue Jay are giving away Pillar T-shirts with
a Superman cape on them at the game. As cool as that sounded, we didn’t think
that would be the best Mothers’ Day present for their mom. Susan is not necessarily
the biggest sports fan.
The
other day Sarah-Grace and I went to a Blue Jays game. It was a lot of fun. The
good guys won. It was exciting. The Blue Jay were behind until their last at
bat and then they just came to life. The scored 5 unanswered runs and won the
game. It was exciting.
The day
we went was the day after the Blue Jay pitcher, Osuna, was arrested and we did
not know for what yet. Sarah-Grace and I support the Blue Jays and even before
we moved to Toronto one thing Sarah-Grace always knew she wanted to do was to
see a game; we don’t, however, know all that much about baseball. With Osuna
arrested, we thought that they would be at quite a disadvantage without their
pitcher. We especially thought that in the first inning when whomever the Blue
Jays had pitching let the first runner score and then loaded the bases – I
think maybe even without an out – all in the first half of the first inning.
The guy pitching for the Jays seemed to be pitching so badly that everyone at
the park would cheer if he even threw a strike! We thought and someone said,
‘wow this guy is so bad! Can someone break Osuna out of jail?’ It was only
later in the game we realized that the Jays actually had a lot of pitchers as,
I think, they put a new one in every inning down the stretch.
We also
found out that the following night was supposed to be a giveaway night and they
were going to be giving away free Osuna t-shirts: as he was in custody, someone
asked if they were striped t-shirts. Another person asked if they came in
prison orange. The truth is they decided not to give away Osuna t-shirts until
after that whole mess has a chance to be cleared up – or not as the case may
be. That is probably the best choice. We had a lot of fun at the game anyway.
It has
been a fun time lately. Last night we had a lot of fun here at the talent show
and I think the ladies all had a lot of fun at the women’s breakfast Saturday.
Today’s
scripture, however, is about a lady who is not having a lot of fun until she
met Jesus, anyway. Picture this scene from Mark 5 with me, as I read it again.
Verse 24…:
A
large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had
been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal
under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of
getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up
behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I
just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped
and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned
around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered,
“and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.
33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at
his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her,
“Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your
suffering.”
This
lady had been bleeding for twelve years. I’m not a doctor but that can’t be
good. I love what the Bible says about the medical care she was getting too: it
says, “She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had
spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.”
Have we heard
that story before? How many people here have suffered under the care of
doctors? I can think of one doctor Susan had – I think Susan’s hand still
doesn’t work properly. I am only thankful that in Canada, unlike Japan or the
USA, medical care won’t cost us all we have to get absolutely no better. This
was the lady’s case though. There was no Medicare in Roman Judea.
She had
spent all her money and now she was ready to try anything. Can we relate to
this desperation at all? I have had friends who were dying of cancer or other
diseases, ailments, or causes, who tried everything that they could think of –
whether they were covered by medical or not: herbal remedies; drugs: tested or
not, legal or not; physiological remedies; psychological remedies; tests done by universities; tests done by
companies; studies where you might not even receive the potential drug but may
be in the control group that gets a sugar pill; sometimes they fly to other
countries where other doctors might try other procedures – at a cost…. This was
this ladies plight. After 12 years, “She had suffered a great deal under the
care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better
she grew worse.”
It was
at this point that she sought out Jesus, Verse 27 on…
When she heard about Jesus, she came up
behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I
just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped
and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
Now
this is interesting, and I think this is important. This lady isn’t just
‘throwing up a Hail Mary’, as they say. She hasn’t simply run out of every idea
and just thought that I will try this too. When we have tried everything to
solve a problem and then try one more thing, how much faith do we usually have
that that one more thing will work? Not very much usually: Faith for many of us
usually works in a diminishing capacity, the less success one has, the less
success one expects. Example: we have elections in this country all the time:
who thinks with each new election that everything is getting better and better?
Not many people; that is why voter turnout is dropping. When we feel frustrated
our faith in people or institutions or other usually falters.
This
lady however, really believes that Jesus will save her. She has faith. “she
thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her
bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her
suffering.” She had faith. She was freed.
This
week, Susan and I were at the OCE Spiritual Retreat Day. Danielle Strickland
was the guest speaker. Danielle and her husband Stephen Court actually send
Susan and I into the work. We served with them in Vancouver’s DTES and they
were the ones who signed off on us to go to CFOT, seminary, to become Salvation
Army Officers.
She
told us many interesting things and many very good stories, some of which I have
heard before and some of the scenarios we had experienced ourselves, such as
three hour prayer shifts on Vancouver’s DTES.
Danielle
has also done a lot of work with especially women who were oppressed. She told
us also about some men who were involved in activities that led to the
oppression of women and how some of them had become oppressed themselves. One
observation that she made was that the language of oppression is often lies.
People who are oppressing others often lie to others and even themselves. And,
she said, the currency of oppression is fear. This really resonated with me
because I can think of a person recently who a number of us have experienced
his less-than-truthfulness and we observed that this person seemed nervous,
fearful, even speaking with us. (This is not to say that everyone nervous
around you is lying, or oppressing you, or oppressed; there are lots of reasons
to be nervous, this is just to say that God had revealed a real life object
lesson to us about someone who seemed caught up in this oppression.) Danielle
then said to us Officers that if you are feeling fearful in your agency and
have seen a lack of honesty, maybe there is oppression in your organization.
She said, Quoting 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love
drives out fear…
The lady touched Jesus clothes and, Mark 5:29, ’Immediately her
bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her
suffering.’ This next part I think is important. Mark 5:20-34:
30
At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in
the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered,
“and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.
33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at
his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her,
“Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your
suffering.”
There
actually are a couple of things here to consider. Jesus asked who touched his
clothes. There were lots of people touching his clothes. People were pressing
up against him. People wanted to get his attention. People wanted to get his
help. People wanted to get his healing. You can probably imagine the
incredulousness of the disciples here. This story we are looking at today is
actually a part of another story, don’t forget.
Jesus is on his way to heal Jairus’ daughter. She is about to die. The
disciples could be in a bit of a hurry here.
There is a girl who could die if they don’t get there.
Anyone ever been
in a hurry? Anyone ever had to wait for someone when you are running late and
really just want to get going? Have you ever sat in the car or stood by the
door waiting for someone to get their coat, find their shoes or do their hair?
Have you ever looked at your watch and wondered why are they making us late?
Here the disciples seem to be in a bit of a hurry and all of a sudden Jesus,
instead of moving along, stops in the middle of a crowd of people touching him and
says, ‘who touched me?’
You can
see how the disciples might be a little bit frustrated like a husband or a dad
trying to herd hi kids in the car. Hurry up! We’re going to be late. Hurray up!
I don’t want to be late. Hurry up! We don’t want to miss it. In this case,
hurray up Jesus or the girl we’re racing off to heal will die! And she did,
while Jesus stopped to look for one person who touched him while everyone was
touching him in the crowd.
People
were swarming around and bumping into Jesus and everyone else. One lady,
however, this lady, reached out her hand to touch his cloak with the intention
to be healed. This was an intentional act to seek healing. The disciples were
asking Jesus what He is talking about: all kinds of people are touching you.
Jesus though is surveying the crowd; he is looking for who it is that reached
out and grabbed hold of the healing spirit of God. The disciples may not have
understood but the lady did and she came forward. She was afraid; she had been
oppressed with this condition for years. Remember she had spent time and all
her money seeking freedom from this oppression. NT Wright reminds us that this
story is one of both faith and fear.
This
lady was afraid as she looked at our Lord who had just healed her (I don’t want
to say by accident but certainly by her reaching out to him). This lady comes
forward. She comes clean to the Lord who has just made her clean. The
Scriptures say, Verse 33…:
Then the woman, knowing what had happened
to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole
truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and
be freed from your suffering.”
This
woman by facing Jesus faced the fear that was oppressing her through her
ailment and possibly other ways as well and Jesus drove it from her. 1 John
4:18, “But perfect love drives out fear…” Jesus loves her: she is
freed from her suffering. 1 John 4:18, “perfect love drives out
fear…” Jesus’
love drove out her fear and Jesus said to her “Go in peace and be freed from
your suffering.” And she was.
And
more than that: the girl who died while Jesus was looking for this lady, Jesus
raised her from the dead. He brought her back to life. Nothing is too difficult
for God.
Jesus
freed the lady in our text today from her fear and her suffering. Jesus can
free you from your fear and your suffering. I know there are many people here
who are fearful of and suffering from many things. Specifically in the last few
weeks, I have heard people express that even some in this organization have
apparently, seemingly, possibly been less than open with all of us about what
is going to happen. When is River Street going to closed? I don’t know. Who is
going to lose or keep their jobs? I don’t know. Which ministries will continue?
I don’t know. Will this service continue here on Sundays? I don’t know. I don’t
know if anyone knows. If they do know, they have not been clear and they have
not been honest; they have preferred darkness to light and lies to truth, fear
to faith and oppression to freedom. But even if this is so and the devil is
trying to cause the faithful here to hemorrhage, we don’t need to because as we
reach out our hands to the Lord like the lady who had been suffering for 12
years did, then God promises that He will turn the darkness to light, the lies
to truth, the fear to faith and oppression to freedom.
This is
true in all matters in our daily life as well. If there is anything that is
oppressing us, the Lord can deliver us. If there is anything at all that is
oppressing you and I in our lives here such as the lady in our text today was
oppressed, The Lord can deliver us from whatever it is! He is the one who can
turn the darkness to light, the lies to truth, the fear to faith and oppression
to freedom!
Do you
believe this? If so than let us each reach our hand in faith as we pray: Dear
God, in my life, please turn the darkness to light, the lies to truth, the fear
to faith and oppression to freedom.
Please let me experience the perfect love that drives out all fear and
the salvation that comes from you alone both for now and forever more. Amen.
Let us
go from here in peace and be freed from our suffering because perfect love
drives out fear.
daily blogs at
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[1] Cf.
William Hendriksen, Mark (New Testament Commentary: Baker Academic: Grand
Rapids, Michigan: 2007), 203 and NT Wright Mark for Everyone: Chapters 1-8 (Louisville,
US: WKJ, 2004)[2] Walter W. Wessel Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Pradis
CD-ROM:Mark/ Book Version: 4.0.2: Mark 30-32[3] NT Wright Mark for Everyone:
Chapters 1-8 (Louisville, US: WKJ, 2004)
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