Kairos Community Church
Message Notes: Seeing Interruptions As Divine Appointments
February 17, 2019
John H. Selert
“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.” – C.S. Lewis
18 While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. 20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21 She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” 22 Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment. 23 When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, 24 he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. 25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up.26 News of this spread through all that region. Matthew 9:18-25
• Familiar Story > Faith; Healing > Also Told in Mark & Luke
• One has Power & Position; the other Poverty & Privation > Jesus SEES the whole person
• Ceremonial Clean/Unclean > Leviticus 15:25-27 & Numbers 19:16
The Mosaic Law is reversed.
16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” Matthew 9:16, 17
Look at the passage through the lens of a Wounded Healer/ Agent of Reconciliation.
1. Be Aware Of Those Who Have A Broken Heart.
a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died… Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years
The woman’s faith in others was shattered. People had failed her; Doctors, Resources; Rules of her Religion
Feelings of Isolation & Loneliness
We have drugs for people with diseases like leprosy. But these drugs do not treat the main problem, the disease of being unwanted…. The sick and poor suffer even more from rejection than material want. Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.” – Mother Teresa
“
Listen to God with a broken heart. He is not only the doctor who mends it, but also the father who wipes away the tears.” ? Criss Jami
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” Psalm 34:18
God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
4 God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.
Healing comes through “Seeing & Touching” those in pain.
2. Expect God To Act. Jesus Has Authority Over Death & Disease.
“But come and put your hand on her, and she will live… She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”
Sometimes we are tempted to give up on people or situations that have not changed for many years. God can change what seems unchangeable, giving new purpose and hope.
Break-Down or a Break-Through
Connection Between “Hem or Tassels” of garment & Malachi 4:2 "But for you who fear My name the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings & Jehovah Rapha—" I am the Lord who heals you.” Exodus 15:26
Direct Your Faith Towards Jesus. (Faith in faith is not faith)
Believe That You Are God’s Beloved Child.
Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,”
3. See Interruptions As Divine Appointments To Dispense God’s Grace.
Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.
20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21 She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” 22 Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment
"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” 1 Peter 3:15
• Accept An Invitation To Be A Healer.
“Other people are going to find healing in your wounds. Your greatest life messages and your most effective ministry will come out of your deepest hurts.” – Rick Warren
• Be Available To Reach Out In Compassion. (Karen’s Story)
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-7)
“Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into the places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears. Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.” ? Henri J.M. Nouwen
• Connect With Those Who Are Hurting Through The Gift of Touch.
Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment “
"God cares as much about the body as he does the soul, as much about the emotions as he does the spirit. The redemption that is in Jesus is total, involving every aspect of the person - body, soul, will, mind, emotions, spirit." – Richard Foster; Prayer: Finding the Hearts True Home
4. Refuse To Listen To Words of Disbelief.
23 When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, 24 he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. 25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up.26 News of this spread through that entire region.
"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)
Song Oceans: Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders. Let me walk upon the waters Wherever You would call me Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger In the presence of my Savior
Some Closing Questions To Consider:
1. Have you ever felt isolated or found yourself in a desperate situation? Did it cause you to seek God, cause you to give up or cause you to be a scoffer? Why did you react that way?
2. In today’s Scripture reading, we read: Jesus turned and “SAW” her.
What does it mean to you that Jesus “saw her”? How do you see Jesus “seeing” you?
3. Do you see interruptions in your day as an annoyance or as an invitation to have a Divine Appointment? How does making yourself available grow your faith?
4. In which ways have words of disbelief (internal or external) affected your faith journey? What are some ways you can overturn these “voices”?
This Week’s Memory Verse:
“Take heart…your faith has healed you.” Matthew 9:22
