"Stolen Cure"

28 June 2009

Fourth Sunday in June

U.S. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Ken Harris

Fortress Chapel

Contingency Operation Site (C.O.S.) Sykes

Tall-afar, Iraq

BIG IDEA: God through Christ honors our faith.

REFERENCES: Mark 5:25-34 (ESV); Leviticus 17:11b (ESV) … life of the flesh is in the blood … Hebrews 11:6 (ESV) … without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.; Mark 10:27b … “with man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God; Luke 8:43 (ESV) woman had a discharge of blood for 12 years … and though she had spent her living on physicians, she could NOT be healed by anyone; Leviticus 15:19 (ESV) When a woman has a discharge, and the discharge in her body is blood, she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening; Psalm 130 (ESV) Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to my pleas for mercy! If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning. O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities

; 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 (ESV); Leviticus 15:19-27 ESV (Laws about a woman and bodily discharges of blood); 1 Samuel 1:16-17 (ESV) (Hannah struggling with her situation and misunderstanding) Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation. Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.”; Matthews 9:20-22 (ESV);

I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: Mark 5:25-34 (ESV)

II. READ THE PERICOPE: Mark 5:25-34 (ESV)

III. READ THE TEXT: Mark 5:34 (ESV) And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

IV. PURPOSE: To motivate the hearers to affirm to others that God through Christ honors our faith.

V. SERMONIC THEME: “STOLEN CURE”

VI. INTRODUCTION:

God through Christ honors our faith in the midst of our struggles and misunderstandings!

The Psalmist says in Psalm 130 (ESV):

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to my pleas for mercy! If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning. O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities

******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******

MOVE 1: God is a forgiving God who honors faith in the midst of struggles and misunderstandings! For who can ever forget the Story of Hannah, in 1 Samuel 1?

a. As you may recall, she struggled daily with her faith in God and misunderstandings from others.

b. The scripture even paint word pictures of her crying out to God for help in the midst of what must have been very painful circumstances.

c. Likewise, in our text today, we find a woman in the New Testament with Hannah-like Faith in action!

d. A woman of prayer and supplication. And like Hannah, she too had a medical situation.

e. But, I will not stand here and pretend to really know what an “Issue of Blood” is equivalent to in our day in time.

f. Because it is really NOT possible to know.

g. So, please excuse me from NOT pretending; and from NOT defining “new testament” diagnosis by modern day standards.

h. However, I can share with you that tradition believes that this woman suffered from abnormal bleeding from the womb.

i. And – as one might imagine - it was extremely important to STOP the bleeding.

******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******

MOVE 2: Everyone is aware that if you bleed continuously without an end in sight – you’re going to bleed to death.

a. A wounded Soldier becomes unconscious after having lost a certain amount of blood. And if the bleeding doesn’t stop – the Soldier will die.