THINGS DISEASE CANNOT TOUCH
(Sermons2011/Things Disease Cannot Touch) NCBC 5/1/2011 Mark 5;24b-34
Pink in the Pew Sunday
Storms left us with lots of stories this week. Cancer leaves everyone with a story.
Introduce you to my Aunt Millie. She was full of life and laughter.
We spent every Christmas Eve at Millie’s house.
We laugh about a trip to the Israel and Egypt. She was a big hit among the Egyptian men who had not seen many blonds.
Mid 1970’s she discovered breast cancer. 3 years later it was in her bones.
Millie fought courageously for six years more years
My mother gave watch care to her, including lots of trips to M.D. Anderson.
When I proposed to Michelle, Millie said that it was a good thing I did because otherwise my dad would have to adopt her.
She died in the Spring of 1983 at 54 years old, just a couple of months before Michelle and I got married.
Bible story about a sick lady.
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.” Mark 5:24b-34 NIV
I do not know if her condition was the result of cancer. They did not have the medical understanding we do now. I do know many types of cancer are related to the reproductive system. And I know that cancer is a disease that can do many of the same things this lady endured
If you have not experienced Cancer yourself, chances are that someone in your family has.
Prayers to West Cleveland Baptist Church and their pastor Jeff Bentley who is battling cancer that, apart from divine intervention, seems terminal.
Qualities of Disease … you can think of the word Cancer
DISEASE CAN TOUCH YOUR TIME
And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years Mark 5:25 NIV
Twelve years. Most health issues we deal with on the short run.
A cold lasts a few days.
The flu maybe a week to ten days.
Some injuries may take several months to rehab.
So many folks who deal with cancer are in a grinding marathon
It is there every morning and every evening for days, weeks, months, and years.
Outpatient treatment, In patient treatment, Surgeries, Recovery, etc.
· Sister-in-law Nancy fought Ovarian Cancer for 12 years
DISEASE CAN TOUCH YOUR STATUS
And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years Mark 5:25 NIV
This woman’s condition meant that she was considered religiously unclean and anyone who touched her would be considered unclean.
This woman’s condition meant she could not bear children. And thus she lost a lot of the status and respect women had in that society.
Some things should not be… but sometimes cancer brings a stigma.
Maybe it is in the physical toll of chemo and radiation.
Maybe it is the appearance of the cancer itself.
Some cancer patients feel as if folks treat them as if their condition is contagious.
Extraordinarily sad are those would say that your cancer is the result of some kind of sin in your life for which you are being punished. Or that, if you just had enough faith God would heal you.
DISEASE CAN TOUCH YOUR FINANCES
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. Mark 5:26 NIV
I don’t read that verse as an indictment against first century doctors. I imagine they were doing the best they could with what they could understand.
Medical treatments are expensive.
Even if you have good insurance, the out of pocket expenses are formidable.
DISEASE CAN TOUCH YOUR STRENGTH
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. Mark 5:26 NIV
Don’t miss that phrase…she grew worse.
Cancer patients know well that in facing their disease they can get worse before they get better. The affects of chemotherapy and radiation can, at times, seem worse than the disease itself.
Cancer, illness can do a lot of terrible things to us.
These people are heroic.
They would never choose that battle. But they face it daily.
It is the greatest physical challenge and stands above other physical, financial, emotional accomplishments of a life.
(more than climbing high mountain, running a marathon, lift weight, dunk a basketball, etc)
Those who face it head on experience their greatest hour.
But that is ALL it can do.
In June of 1992 Jim Valvano was diagnosed with bone cancer
· Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever. March 4, 1993 Jim Valvano closes his speech at Espy’s. He died 8 weeks later.
DISEASE CANNOT TOUCH YOUR FAITH
When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Mark 5:27-28 NIV
Remember that Jesus affirmed that it was her faith that made her well.
And without faith it is impossible to please God Hebrews 11:6a
Don’t get the idea that if sickness is due to a lack of faith.
Great faith is not the utopia of the mountain top.
Great faith is moving forward in the grind.
While I would not wish illness on anyone, often it is in this battle that our strength increases.
God is going to heal me one way or another.
DISEASE CANNOT TOUCH LOVE
One of the products of cancer is the love of relationships.
Helping hurting people brings out the best in us.
It shakes up our priorities, reminding us that the greatest things in life are not things at all.
· In illness, C.S. Lewis and Joy Grisham discovered their love for each other.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 NIV
DISEASE CANNOT TOUCH ETERNITY
Eventually this lady died of something.
We can cheat death…sometimes…for a season.
man is destined to die once, Hebrews 9:27 NIV
But there is only one way to BEAT death and that is through Jesus.
“cancer can’t kill me because I’m going to live forever....”
It cannot follow me some places… it cannot follow me to heaven.
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Philippians 3:20 NIV
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, Romans 6:5 NKJV
Jesus kept his scars with him in his resurrected body.
· I shared a few weeks ago on a Wednesday night the story of Professional golfer Paul Azinger was diagnosed with cancer at age 33. He had just won a PGA championship and had ten tournament victories to his credit.
He wrote, "A genuine feeling of fear came over me. I could die from cancer. Then another reality hit me even harder. I’m going to die eventually anyway, whether from cancer or something else. It’s just a question of when. Everything I had accomplished in golf became meaningless to me. All I wanted to do was live."
Then he remembered something that Larry Moody, who teaches a Bible study on the tour, had said to him. "Zinger, we’re not in the land of the living going to the land of the dying. We’re in the land of the dying trying to get to the land of the living."
Golfer Paul Azinger recovered from chemotherapy and returned to the PGA tour. He’s done pretty well. But that bout with cancer deepened his perspective. He wrote, "I’ve made a lot of money since I’ve been on the tour, and I’ve won a lot of tournaments, but that happiness is always temporary. The only way you will ever have true contentment is in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I’m not saying that nothing ever bothers me and I don’t have problems, but I feel like I’ve found the answer to the six-foot hole."
Last week we sang the chorus In Christ Alone. It ends with these words of affirmation.
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From a life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Could ever pluck me from His hand
Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I stand
Best counsel I can give you in life, in death, in sickness and in health, on good days and in difficult ones, when all is well in your world and when all is falling apart:
Do what this lady did: reach out and touch Jesus…and be healed. Not cured..healed.
HE WAS HEALED
Tony Campolo tells a story about being in a church in Oregon where he was asked to pray for a man who had cancer. Campolo prayed boldly for the man’s healing. That next week he got a telephone call from the man’s wife. She said, “You prayed for my husband. He had cancer.” Campolo thought when he heard her use the past tense verb that his cancer had been eradicated! But before he could think much about it she said, “He died.”
Compolo felt terrible. But she continued, “Don’t feel bad. When he came into that church that Sunday he was filled with anger. He knew he was going to be dead in a short period of time, and he hated God. He was 58 years old, and he wanted to see his children and grandchildren grow up. He was angry that this all-powerful God didn’t take away his sickness and heal him. He would lie in bed and curse God. The more his anger grew towards God, the more miserable he was to everybody around him. It was an awful thing to be in his presence.”
But the lady told Compolo, “After you prayed for him, a peace had come over him and a joy had come into him. Tony, the last three days have been the best days of our lives. We’ve sung. We’ve laughed. We’ve read Scripture. We prayed. Oh, they’ve been wonderful days. And I called to thank you for laying your hands on him and praying for healing.” And then she said something incredibly profound. She said, “He wasn’t cured, but he was healed.”
Reach out and touch Jesus…and be healed. Not cured..healed
