Rev. Linda Fernandes-Bailey
July 2, 2006
Reaching Towards Wholeness
Reading this story again in preparation for preaching reminded me of a class I took at Hartford Seminary. I don’t quite remember what the class was but the professor was Miriam Therese Winter or MT as she is known. She is a vibrant, creative, radical and wonderful professor! She has had a huge impact on my own faith journey. Anyway it was the last class and we gathered as a mock council of some sort to talk about our experiences encountering Jesus. We each played a character from the bible. I was Jairus’ wife. My daughter who was 10 years old at the time was Jairus’ daughter…the one healed by Jesus brought back from a near death experience. I remember MT went up to Shannon and said “What was it like being brought back to life…and this Jesus what did you think of him?” “It was amazing” replied my daughter “I feel great this Jesus is awesome!” On the way home from class Shannon looked at me and said “Wow that was the best day of my life” And why not she had encounter Jesus in a real way. She had felt the healing touch….the power of God that flowed through Christ into her…even if only in her imagination!
Then I remembered when I was in the Associates in Christian Education program we were again asked to come to class in the role of a character from the bible. I selected the woman with the hemorrhage. I don’t quite remember what I said but what I do remember is that there was complete silence afterwards. The others in class followed with their stories. I noticed that there was lively and engaging conversation afterwards. What happened? Was it me? I talked to the teacher afterwards and asked “Why was everyone silent after my presentation? Did I do something wrong?” “Well that’s a very powerful story…I think it might make some people uncomfortable.” Was his reply.
A powerful story indeed! The woman with the hemorrhage doesn’t ask for healing. She breaks through the crowd and reaches towards wholeness without anyone’s permission. She never asks Jesus to heal her. She is so grounded in her own faith she is confident that if she just touches his clothes she will be healed. Suddenly Jesus feels the power leave him…he knows something has happened…someone touched him…but it was more than just a touch. He felt the power of God flow right through him towards someone else…who was it? An un-named woman who has been hemorrhaging for twelve years! Untouchable (according to purity laws) because of her flow of blood yet she reaches towards wholeness and touches him anyway. She’s tried all the conventional ways of healing. She has spent all her money. She is desperate for wholeness. She breaks through the crowd and takes it for herself. There is no man asking on her behalf. (Like Jairis who comes on behave of his daughter) When Jesus calls her forth…she comes even though she is afraid and trembling. Trembling because the power of God has touched her…She is whole. That’s enough to shake anyone up. She is in the presence of the Holy One. Jesus affirms her courage….Daughter your faith has made you whole…YOUR FAITH…You had the courage to reach towards wholeness. You chose to reach out and touch the holy one that you might live life fully. I suspect that healing for this woman is more than just a physical healing…it seems more like mind, body and soul. It means living life in all its fullness…no longer isolated or alone. So impressed with her faith Jesus tells Jairus to have the same faith when he asks for healing for his daughter….”Do not fear only believe” (like the woman) he says. And then to the daughter “Get up little girl” Reach towards wholeness like this woman….this brave courageous woman whose name we don’t even know!
The woman encounters Jesus and is made whole and then returns to her home…returns to her community….returns to her temple…returns to her life. SO I started to think, “What happened next?”. How was she received back into her family…her community…her place of worship?
You’ve seen it happen in your life maybe you or someone you know has made a huge change in their life….maybe you’ve lost a lot of weight, or have given up an addiction, maybe you’ve even healed from an illness or maybe decided to respond to life in a different way and are not as angry as you used to be…OR you’ve resigned from being the caretaker of the family or some other role assigned to you from your childhood that no longer fits. Or maybe your faith has become so strong others are a little uncomfortable. Whatever it is… your life has been transformed….or maybe it’s someone you know. You’ve reached out towards wholeness…your faith has made you well. But the people around you don’t seem to like it. “You’re too skinny” they say. “What do you mean you don’t drink anymore.” “You don’t need me to take care of you anymore…(how will I feel useful?). What do you mean you won’t help me….you’ve always been there for me… I am helpless you know that. You have to be strong for me!” Transformation has taken place we’re feeling great and suddenly nobody likes it! It’s a strange thing but hence the saying misery loves company. We like to keep people in the roles we’re used to them being in it. We’ve gotten used to it. We don’t remember any other way.
SO the woman goes back to her life…and how is she welcomed? Are people leery of her touch because she has been considered ritually impure for 12 years. Can we even imagine what it might be like to go without touch for 12 years? It is no coincidence that her faith compels her to just touch Jesus and she will be whole. How will she hold onto her wholeness….her healing?
I hope she remembers that power of God flowing through her. I hope she remembers the power of touch. I hope she remembers how strong her faith is. I hope we do too.
I was recalling my ordination service. There is a part in the service in which I was kneeling at the kneeling bench and clergy and family and friends gathered around me and laid their hands upon me as a reminder of my call to ministry and asking the Holy Spirit to confer on me the gifts needed for ministry. It was a powerful moment. I could feel the Holy Spirit move through me….the power of God flowing through each of the hands into me. It was a moment of wholeness. And when Gordon gave me my charge to Ministry he said at one point and I paraphrase…when things in ministry get rough and it feels too hard… remember the laying on of hands. Remember the touch…remember that God’s power has flowed through you.
What will sustain us when people around us can’t quite support us is remembering the healing touch of Jesus. Remembering that if we just reach out…Jesus is there waiting to give us new life and make us whole. All we have to do is have faith enough.