But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him. Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.” Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. And He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
This story is about an unnamed woman who was an outcast, and at her last ditch effort. In the time of Jesus, a woman who was menstruating was unclean. She was untouchable. In general, menstruating women at the time were kept separate from the rest of society. Now, because the woman in the story never stopped bleeding, she had lived as an untouchable for 12 years. Imagine how lonely she must have been. Imagine how desperate she was. We know that she was desperate because the text tells us that this unnamed woman had spent all of her wealth trying to buy a cure. She had used all of her resources in efforts to buy freedom of her isolation. Freedom from her unclean state. Freedom from what caused her fear and pain. I think this unnamed woman represents how many of us feel today. We feel isolated. We feel as though God has left the room, and corruption, deceit, and anger have take over the world.
We are stressed. Maybe we are unemployed, and the financial strain is causing trouble in our relationships. Affairs, arguments, or just plain apathy, have replaced the love we had before. Maybe we are living in a neighborhood that has been taken over by gangs and drug dealers. The strain is causing trouble in our bodies in the form of high blood pressure, migraines, or obesity. Like the bleeding woman, we spend all of our wealth in efforts to find relief. We stand in long lines to buy the newest iPod and best ear phones we can afford so that we can shut out the world. We get the best video games so that we can distract ourselves from the things that hurt us. Or, scare us. Or, make us angry. But the state of the world today and the way we feel tells us that none of these things work.
Then one day we wake up and realize that, like the bleeding woman, we are at our last ditch effort. We have used all that we have to find relief. Yet every night before we go to bed, the very feelings that we try to escape, creep into our minds just as we start to relax. We are that woman who is sick. We are that woman who is lonely and desperate. We stand alongside her and reach out to touch Jesus.
She reached out to get the health and connection that she had craved for so long. She took control for her own health. She stopped looking for places to purchase relief from the physical world, and found what she needed in her spirit. The fact that Jesus felt her touch tells us that she was healed spiritually first. And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.” The fact that her spirit had to be healed before her body, tells us that this is what we need to do.
I want to share a story about me with you. Many of you know that over the last 6 months or so, I have been training to run in my first marathon. This was the most difficult and the most healing thing that I have ever done in my life. I say that because to be successful, I had to not only see my body as an extension of my spiritual health, I had to treat it that way. You see, many of us—myself included—give lip service to the belief that our bodies are temples. We say this, but we do not live this. We do not exercise, for instance. We do not listen to what our bodies are telling us. We mask a sick spirit and the bodily signs of that sickness with make-up, loose fitting clothing, and scented lotions. Some of us even refuse to look in the mirror because we do not want to see what our bodies reveal about our spirits. This is important to understand and accept because it is how we start turning things around. Today, you can start living what you believe in your heart; that your body is the temple for your soul.
I want to give you lifework. Lifework is like homework that people in school have. Students have homework so that the lessons they are learning are reinforced and become part of their knowledge base. I give people lifework so that the habits that we all need to live full and happy lives can become something we simply do as easily as breathing in and out. Your lifework until next time is to set aside 10 minuets of each day. The time you set aside can be the last thing you do before you go to bed, the first thing you do when you get up, or any time between. For 10 minutes, turn everything off. No television, radio, or music. Eliminate as many distractions as possible. Find a part of your body that you like or that you are comfortable seeing. This could be your hand, or your foot. Maybe you like your legs. Whatever part of your body that you are comfortable with, use the 10 minutes to look at the color and shape. Feel and if you can, smell your body part. Let yourself feel the energy that is there. This may seem a little odd at first, but as you do this every day, you will become more and more comfortable. Now, as you look at your body, think to yourself: My body is home to my spirit. My body is home to my spirit. Continue to do this, and we will expand the lifework as part of the journey to turning yourself around.
Until next time, may God continue to bless and keep you,
Amen
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