Bleeding Woman

Mark 5:25-34 | Bleeding for Seven Years
Grace, peace and mercy from God our Lord and Savior Amen.  Dear Lord, we thank you for the gift of this day for the opportunity to be like the woman in today’s lesson who stepped out from the crowd to be healed by you.  Heal us this morning with the power of your word and fill our worship with your Holy Spirit this morning.  In Jesus name we pray, amen.

Dr. Robert Schuler tells a story about a graduate student who overslept and arrived late for his final math exam.  The student rushed to the classroom only to discover that everyone else was deep into completing their test.  On the blackboard, he saw that there were three math equations, and everyone had a big jump on filling out the test.  The student began to work on the first question, and then while he was working on the second question, some of the students began to finish their exams.  The student maintained his focus and managed to complete the second exam.  Then he began to work on the third exam and found it very difficult, and as time went on, he discovered that he was the only one still taking the test.  The exam time was expiring so she approached the professors and requested permission to take the exam home in order to have more time to complete the exam.  The professor granted the student permission.
Later that day, the student’s phone rang, and the professor was on the other end of the line.  The professor was very excited.  The professor said to her, “You are amazing.”   “No one has ever been able to answer the third question right.  The professor said the third question on the board was a brain teaser, and no one had ever been able to figure out the equation.  
The story's point is that when that student entered the classroom that day, she did not know that the equation was impossible.  All she knew was that she wanted to pass the class, and she had faith that she could do so.   Note I did not say she had confidence that she could pass the exam.   I said she had faith that she could pass the exam.  

The big theological question for us this morning is, “Are we here because we have confidence, or are we here because we have faith?    I want you to think of God as that professor, and the third question on the exam for us is to answer the question, “Do we have faith?”   
This morning’s gospel lesson is from Mark, and I want to talk a little about how Mark writes his gospel.  The gospel of Mark starts with one story, and before you know it, you are in the middle of another story.  I like reading Mark's book because I happen to like the way Mark writes; it’s familiar to me.  Mark writes it a lot like Cheryl talks.  I don’t know if you have noticed how when Cheryl tells a story, she begins with one story, and before you know it, she has moved into another story.  Cheryl weaves all kinds of details into her stories, and they can sometimes appear to be disconnected from the original story.  Listening to Cheryl is like going on a journey; it’s an adventure.   You learn to trust that Cheryl knows where she is taking you, and you have to learn to enjoy the journey.  You see, Cheryl is what I call a circular storyteller.  When she tells a story, she has a conclusion but you are going to have to wait to get there because there is all this other exciting stuff she wants to offer along the way.  As a circular storyteller, the point is not just in the details.  Circular storytellers communicate relationships.  As a guy, the way I am wired is to get to the point, but I love watching when Cheryl is telling a story.  When Cheryl is telling a story, I might as well pull up a chair grab a seat and watch the crowd gather around her.  This morning, I want to invite you to go home, and when you read Mark’s Gospel, think that Cheryl is the writer of Mark.  

Last Sunday, I was in beautiful Napa Valley, California, where I performed a wedding for one of my former students.  I was in this beautiful wine country less than an hour from when I was to perform the wedding when I called Cheryl to check in.  Before I came to California, Cheryl and I had some flooding at the house, and I wondered how it was going.  Well, Cheryl started talking about how a friend had suggested calling some repair people, and she started talking about mold and tearing out walls and thousands of dollars in repairs.  I could feel my blood pressure rising, and I felt frustrated as the information piled up.  I just wanted to check-in.  It was meant to be a casual phone call, a formality.  

In today’s gospel lesson, we can imagine that for the disciples traveling with Jesus, surrounded by the crowds was a bit of a formality, too.  They were taking another walk with Jesus, surrounded by the crowds, when a temple leader named Jarius approached Jesus with his cry for help.  Jarius was an important man.  Jarius was a leader in the temple.  He was a person who had influence over getting to preach in the temple.  He was a leader who selected who would get the contracts to clean the temple, supply food, and move up to front-row seats on special occasions.  You get the picture.  Well, as Jesus was walking and surrounded by the crowds, the disciples were reminiscing about how Jesus calmed the storm, walked on water, and chased demons out of the man living in the graveyard.  Then Jarius rolls up with his appeal for Jesus to cure his dying twelve-year-old daughter.  In the midst of this story about Jarius, Mark then introduces the story of a woman in the crowd who has been bleeding for twelve years.  So in the 5th chapter of Mark, he begins with the story about the man living in a graveyard possessed by demons, goes to the story of Jarius, the woman who has been bleeding for twelve years, and goes back to the story about Jarius dying twelve-year-old daughter.   When you read Mark, think about Cheryl; think about someone who is a good circular storyteller.

Now, as for the point of the story...  The story about Jarius is about a religious leader who is connected.  Jarius is like me in my role as senior pastor and director for our non-profit Redeemer Center for Life.  I have power and influence.  If something happens to me, a lot of people see what is going on, and a lot of people are affected.  Jarius and I are highly visible people.   You could say I am high on the food chain.  The woman in the crowd represents the opposite.   She is invisible to the crowd.  She has been menstruating every day for twelve years, which made her an outcast because unholy back at that time.  Mark gives us a picture of how this woman spent all that she had on doctors.  She is the picture of desperation.   Jarius is also desperate, in spite of all that he has, position, power, and social connections.  
Jarius and the bleeding woman in the crow may have been polar opposites, but Mark helps us to see the one thing they had in common: faith in Jesus that Jesus could give them what they wanted.  They knew what they wanted, and they believed in Jesus as the one who could give them what they wanted.  Jarius wanted healing for his twelve-year-old girl, and the woman wanted healing for herself.  

The question for you this morning is what do you want and where will you get it?  
Do you want a house, a safe place to live?  Do you want your health restored?  A relationship, cable?   What do you want,, and where are you going to get it?   Are you looking to your job, friends, the casino, lottery, nightclubs, or Oprah to get what you long for?   
It took the woman in the crowd twelve years to find Jesus.  She spent her life savings on doctors and searching for the cure to her problems.  She found what she wanted in Jesus.  

What do you want, and how long have you been looking in the wrong places? 
Today’s gospel reminds us that God is like that professor who wrote the three questions on the board.  What is it that you want?   Where are you looking to get it?  Do you have faith?   

Do we have the kind of faith that knows no limits?  The kind of faith in Jesus that’s not bound by reason and limitation.  The kind of faith that builds apartment buildings that can keep a restaurant from moving out of the neighborhood.  The kind of faith that buys properties in order to have a strategic future for the church.  The kind of faith that says we can worship together Black and White, young and old, where people come  wanting and believing that they will be healed!  

Mark’s gospel is circular, but it is a circle that points us to Jesus.  The story is about Jesus, the son of God, who invites inside leaders like Jarius and outcasts like a bleeding woman who was an outcast for twelve years, and a man consumed by demons to bring their wants to Jesus.  Jesus' message to us is in the kingdom of God, there is room for us all!   In the kingdom of God, there is healing for all.  Do you know what you want?   Amen.