Women’s Sunday

January 16, 2005
Clare Lindsey

As I read today’s scripture, I was struck by the faith of the woman who touched Jesus’ cloak.    I wondered how she had so much faith.  She had enough faith in Jesus for her to go to meet him, push her way through the crowd, and reach out to touch his cloak.  This was a huge effort for someone who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years.  And think about it, here was a woman who had been to many doctors for a cure.  I would assume that these doctors were among the more “learned” people of the time, but they still had been unable to help her.  Despite these disappointments, she was still able to have faith in this unlikely person…a “mere” carpenter.  And Jesus was just one of many men at the time who were traveling around the countryside time referring to themselves as the Messiah.  He was referred to as the King of the Jews… yet this seemed rather unlikely since he had no crown or gold.  So, how did she know????????  How did she have such faith????????

I had the privilege of taking the Disciple I Bible Study course this past year.  This course is a 34 week class devoted to studying, questioning, and listening to the Scriptures.  Our class consisted of a wonderful group of young and middle aged women who loved to talk, listen, and learn from each others’ insights.  One night we were discussing whether or not we receive God’s word in the same way as it was received during Biblical times.  You know the stories… Noah receiving instructions on how to build the ark… Jacob wrestling with God the night he received his new name of Israel…. Joseph receiving a message from an angel…and so on.  As we talked and shared, we realized that we all had stories of times when we did hear from God, often through unlikely sources, and those times were often life changing.  Whether they were major messages from God, or simply a sense of peace that comes when the right decision or conclusion was made, it was our faith that allowed us to hear God’s word at the time.  If you will bear with me, I would like to share with you a time that I feel that God was trying to speak to me through the most unlikely of sources, and I was sure doing everything I could, to not hear the message.

As a few of you may know, there was a period of time during my adult life that I was physically disabled.  If I wasn’t using a cane, I was using crutches.  If I wasn’t using crutches, I was using a walker or a wheelchair.  The source of my disability was an illness coupled with, in my view, mismanagement by my doctors at the time.  Now, I want to be sure to say that I have the highest respect for doctors and the work that they do.  However, in this case, I had come to view these particular doctors as being guided by their egos and reputations rather than by God and sound medical judgment.  And I truly thought that perhaps God wasn’t even bothering to try to guide my doctors.  Perhaps I was in this alone, with no divine help at all.   To make matters worse, my situation was unique enough that, as I looked for new doctors, each doctor was giving me different advice.  I was one confused woman who had lost her faith in God!

For the sake of this story, it is important for you to know that, at this time in my life, I was also very careful with what I ate.  I rarely ate unhealthy foods.  The fact that I avoided foods that were not good for me is important because, one morning, in the midst of my confusion and lack of faith in God and doctors, I woke up craving a hot dog.  A HOT DOG!!!!!  With all those nitrates?????  But yes, I had to have one.  I called my best hotdog eating friend and said, “Take me to your leader!”  Well, she told me that this honor belonged to Al of Al’s hotdog stand in Naugatuck, the town in which I lived at the time, and she promised to take me there for lunch. 

As I crutched up to the window at Al’s, I had one thought on my mind, and that was whether or not I wanted sauerkraut.  I noticed that a man was leaning against a small red convertible sports car and staring at me.  Now, those of you who have been on crutches, you know how much attention it can bring on you.  I was used to people staring at me, and I had learned to ignore it most of the time.  But this was unusual in many ways.  He was a small man in a sports cap with a gray, well trimmed, but nicotine stained, mustache.  He also went beyond just staring at me by asking me some unusual questions in an intense way.  “What happened to me?  Did I have jaundice?  How did I get my infection?”  And the questions went on and on.  I answered these in the briefest way possible, trying to give him the message that I was far more interested in getting a hotdog than answering his “silly” questions.  He told me he was a cardiologist at a prominent hospital, and then he started to give me advice.  My thought was that this really was a rather obnoxious, nosey little man, and I excused myself and crutched away as fast as I could.  After all, who ever heard of a cardiologist, with nicotine stains on his mustache, eating a hot dog????  After I moved on, however, my friend stayed and continued to talk with him.  And talk.  And talk.  She continued to talk with him until he finally zipped away in his little red sports car.

On our way home, my friend told me that the man had suggested an orthopaedic hospital in New York City as a possible source of treatment for me.  I argued with my friend the whole way home, saying that I doubted this man was even a cardiologist, and I wasn’t going to waste my time looking into what he said.  Luckily, however, my friend had more faith in God’s guidance coming from unlikely sources.  She went home, researched the hospital, found out that it truly has an excellent reputation, and encouraged me to make an appointment, which I did.  

That appointment was the beginning of my true recovery from my illness.   At this hospital, I was blessed to meet a team of doctors who were skilled enough, and humble enough, to be able to help me.  All because God saw that I did not have the faith I needed to listen, nor the wisdom to know, that God so often picks the most unlikely of people to carry messages and provide guidance (including hotdog eating, cigarette smoking, sports car driving, cardiologists), and God was persistent enough to use my friend to bring the message home.

I wonder, how often does this happen?  How often are we not open to the possibilities of receiving God’s message because of the way in which it is delivered?  Most of us have times that we expect to hear God’s word…when we are in church, when we are praying, when we are participating in a small group.  But what about the other times?  What about the times we are conversing with someone at work with whom we have struggled?  What about the times we are standing in line at a convenience store in Waterbury, watching some inner city teenagers interact?  What about when we are standing in the home of an indigenous Mexican listening to her speak about her life?   Keith Titus, the founder of the Re-Member Outreach Project on Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, reminds people during the week-long mission trip on the reservation “No expectations, just possibilities.”  We have to be open to the possibility of hearing God’s word at all times, even when we seem to be in the most unlikely of situations.  

I am struck by Jesus’ last words to the woman who touched his cloak.  He tells her, “Go in peace.”  Go in peace.  Go with the faith in God and the humility she needed in order to be open to God’s word, no matter the way that word is shared.  I wonder, if we have the faith that we need to see God, hear God’s wisdom, and follow God’s guidance, even when it comes through unlikely sources, will we also “go in peace?”  One thing I do know, whenever I crave a hotdog these days, I go and get one.  I never know if it might be part of God’s plan for me.