I. Touch (If I may touch)
To see this woman you need to look low. Look down. That’s where she lives. Low to the ground. Low on the priority list. Los on the social scale. She’s low.
Can you see it? Her hand? Gnarled. Thin. Diseased. Dirt blackens the nails and stains the skin. Look carefully amid the knees and feet of the crowd. They’re scampering after Christ.
He’s walking…She’crawling.
People are buming…But she’s not stopping.
Other’s are complaining…she’s not caring – she’s crawling after the God-man.
Why? This woman is desperate!
• Worship calls out in desparation to the point that it moves every external trapping out of the way and runs after God with a singleness of purpose.
Psalm 27:3 – “One thing I have desired of the Lord” – singleness of purpose
Philippians 3 – “This one things I do” – singleness of purpose
Matthew 6:33 – “Seek ye first the kingdom of God” – singleness of purpose
Psalm 42:1 – “As the deer pants for the water…” – singleness of purpose
D.L. Moody says that ‘it is better to say this one thing I do than these 40 things I dabble with”. You may get a myriad of other things wrong, but you need to get worship right.
Because until worship is right it ceases to be worship – it is only a mundane act of pomp and circumstance. But it isn’t worship! Illustration – those who say ‘true worship’. That may not be an accurate statement. If it ain’t ‘true’ then it is not worship.
Verse 25 tells us that this woman has had a hemorrhage for twelve years.
Twelve years of treatments. Herbs. Prayer meetings. Incantations.
Verse 26 reveals every source with which she depended upon failed her.
Now…no health. No money. And no family help. Unclean, according to the law of Moses in Leviticus. In this woman’s case severe application to the Law left her no untouched, but untouchable, ceremonially unclean. The hand you see in the crowd? The one reaching for the robe? NO ONE will touch that hand.
This woman is desperate: This woman’s desperation births an idea.
Verse 27 – she heard that about Jesus.
Romans 10: Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. (faith)
She says, if I may touch but his clothing, cloak, hem of His garment – I will be healed. At the right time, she scurries through the crowd. Knees bum her ribs. “Move out the way”, someone shouts. She doesn’t care and does not stop. Twelve years on the streets have toughened her anyway.
• Worship doesn’t mind inconvenience.
• Worship will break tradition – tradition says you are not allowed in the crowd.
To worship God is to recognize his worth or worthiness; to look God-ward, and to acknowledge in all appropriate ways the value of what we see. The Bible calls this activity "glorifying God" or "giving glory to God," and views it as the ultimate end, and from one point of view, the whole duty of man (Ps. 29:2; 96:6; 1 Cor. 10:31).
Scripture views the glorifying of God as a sixfold activity: praising God for all that he is and all his achievements; thanking him for his gifts and his goodness to us; asking him to meet our own and others’ needs; offering him our gifts, our service, and ourselves; learning of him from his word, read and preached, and obeying his voice; telling others of his worth, both by public confession and testimony to what he has done for us. Thus we might say that the basic formulas of worship are these: "Lord, you are wonderful"; "Thank you, Lord"; "Please Lord"; "Take this, Lord"; "Yes, Lord"; "Listen everybody!"
This then is worship in its largest sense: petition as well as praise, preaching as well as prayer, hearing as well as speaking, actions as well as words, obeying as well as offering, loving people as well as loving God. However, the primary acts of worship are those which focus on God directly -- and we must not imagine that work for God in the world is a substitute for direct fellowship with him in praise and prayer and devotion.
James Packer, Your Father Loves You, Harold Shaw Publishers, July 1986, P. 15.
Jesus asks, “who touched me?” This was not a normal Sunday morning touch.
Worship has a tendency to change and re-arrange God’s schedule.
• He’s got an appointment with Jairus, to meet the need of Jairus’ daughter. But in the crowd there is this unknown, nameless, anonymous woman (we don’t even know her name) but her need is great.
¬ It reminds and/or informs us that God is moved and motivated by worship that moves one’s heart simply on the prompting of faith.
II. Down
Neil Marten, a member of the British Parliament, was once giving a group of his constituents a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament. During the course of the visit, the group happened to meet Lord Hailsham, then lord chancellor, wearing all the regalia of his office. Hailsham recognized Marten among the group and cried, "Neil!" Not daring to question or disobey the "command," the entire band of visitors promptly fell to their knees!
Can we blame the woman for falling. Maybe she’s embarrassed. After all, He was her last choice. But know that worship is not about giving Him what is lost…it may be about giving Him what is left. The point is…she falls. Verse 33
Defining Worship
1. Worship is Mystery
Example: Kids who say, “That’s awesome”…but only God is awesome!!!
I can only be awestruck by the mystery of God.
2. Worship is celebration – celebration of the acts of God in human history.
Worship is so much more than celebration but it is celebration. Worship, however, is not an ‘hour of celebration’.
a. We celebrate His acts
b. We celebrate His providence
c. We celebrate His acts of Redemption
(there is nothing in the Koran that talks about a Savior who redeems of us)
d. We celebrate the redemptive revelation through Jesus Christ in the incarnation, cross and the resurrection.
Hymn: At the Cross, At the Cross where I first saw the light
e. We celebrate the manifestation of God’s power through the coming of the Holy Spirit.
3. Worship is LIFE
Example: When you ate a sandwich today…did you say “Wow…this is an amazing sandwich I have eaten al day”. But there is a lesson in taking the ordinary and seeing the extraordinary dimension of God and His creation.
4. Worship is Dialogue: Both revelation and response.
a. God is always revealing Himself through His creative order.
b. God is always revealing Himself through His only begotten Son.
c. God is always revealing Himself through His Word.
Our Call? Respond.
5. Worship is Offering
The purpose of worship is not just to receive blessing from God, but to make offerings to Him.
We come not to get, but also to give.
Example: Only using your wife to GET…not give?
The act of what we give monetarily is an act of what we do out of obedience.
6. Worship is Eschatological Fulfillment
It is the working out of salvation in history which ends to total adoration to our God. When I get to the end of my life, it will only be the beginning of God’s glory. (Revelation 4:8-11)
In a recent number of the "Sunday School Times" a story is told of an Eastern king which illustrates at once our delusion respecting natural processes, and also God’s work and presence in them. The king was seated in a garden, and one of his counselors was speaking of the wonderful works of God.
"Show me a sign," said the king, "and I will believe."
"Here are four acorns," said the counselor, "will you, Majesty, plant them in the ground, and then stoop down for a moment and look into this clear pool of water?"
The king did so, "Now," said the other, "look up."
The king looked up and saw four oak-trees where he had planted the acorns. "Wonderful!" he exclaimed, "this is indeed the work of God."
"How long were you looking into the water?" asked the counselor.
"Only a second," said the king. "Eighty years have passed as a second," said the other. The king looked at his garments; they were threadbare. He looked at his reflection in the water; he had become an old man. "There is no miracle here, then," he said angrily.
"Yes," said the other, "it is God’s work, whether he did it in one second or in eighty years."
