June 29, 2003 - Proper 8, Year B

Sermon preached by Father Armand John Kreft
Associate Rector, Church of St Paul in the Desert, Palm Springs, California

Some of us have been in unfortunate circumstances of ill health, some just passing, some chronic. We may have some idea of what this woman went through. Physically and emotionally drained of energy and probably in pain or at least discomfort. On top of that, according to the custom of the day, by the religious leaders she was viewed as unclean and anyone who touched her was also ritually unclean. Desperate to be healed, she availed herself of all sorts of doctors and remedies, at great cost. Nothing worked.

Yet she had a simple faith. She needed to be in contact with the Savior. Like this woman's quest with various doctors, I have heard of people on spiritual journeys that have taken them far and wide, exploring different paths to God. Today, many have returned to Christianity. According to recent polls, young adults are seeking more traditional forms of worship rather than the radical worship services such as night time religilous rave masses. But no matter how they seek to worship, they want to experience being in the presence of the Lord. They want to be in contact with Jesus.

The crowds that surrounded Jesus were enormous. People were seeking him out, pressing in, reaching out. This woman was one in the crowd. All of them sought contact with Jesus. Some for healing, some for a miracle, some just caught up in the excitement. Yet all of them expected their lives to change and change in a very big way. For the woman, the miracle of healing took place instantly and as the gospel reads, "she knew she was well." When we have been in contact with Jesus, our lives are changed in a big way and we know it. Suddenly we look at the way we approach living very differently. We embrace life rather than tolerate it. Our generosity expands because we are aware of the abundance in our lives rather than the lack. Before meeting Jesus, the woman concerned herself with her health. She was self-focused rather than God-focused.

But wait. There's more. After she sought out the Savior, after she had touched his garments, after she had been healed, Jesus then sought her out. You see, it's not one sided. Jesus wanted to know her as she had wanted to know the Lord. Jesus wanted to hear her tell her story and then commend her on her faith.

It's not one sided with us either. Oftentimes we feel our prayers fall on deaf ears. Life isn't turning out the way we had expected and we become focused only on our interests. Once we earnestly turn our lives over to Jesus, knowing that he will heal us, if we trust in our simple faith that Jesus loves us and wants the very best for us, once we accept this in our hearts, then will he seek us out as well. Jesus will feel the contact as we've reached out for him. Jesus will acknowledge us. In the translation we read on Saturday evening, Jesus speaks: "May God give you peace! You are healed and you will no longer be in pain." The woman knew this, not just in her heart, but she knew it because the pain had stopped. She was well, whole again. The healing was instantaneous. Yet the experience took twelve years. She had to go through exploring the other pathways to healing before her faith took hold and she knew what she had to do.

I dare say, few of us will have the experience of instaneous conversion. Yet it is ours if we want to experience it. The pains we put ourselves through can be taken away by our faith. We too can say to ourselves, we want to be made well and seek out our Messiah. Circumstances outside ourselves can influence us, but they do not control how we approach them. We can either embrace the life experience or succumb to it. We can turn our lives over to the care of Jesus or we can try to do it on our own. We can either look toward the sunrise with hope or look towards the sunset with regret.

As this woman chose to change her life, to allow herself to be healed so too can we chose to change our lives and to take the steps necessary for that change. Why is it that some people seem to thrive on the life experience while others seem to be weighed down with the burden of life? There's a young man who comes to my office. He represents a political group that I don't necessarily agree with, but he's so earnest about it. And he's a man of faith. He's excited about trying to implement his vision into the political realm of this community. His enthusiasm brims over as he sees himself working for the betterment of society, based on his faith in the Roman Catholic church.

To see people embracing the enthusaism of life, all you need to do is watch the children from our Sunday School at play. They scream with delight and laugh. Yes they sometimes get hurt and there are tears, but they are quickly back to the delight of the day. Jesus tells us that our faith must be child-like. Oh that we could bounce back like the children. But that is exactly how Jesus wants us to respond to what life hands us.

If you're like me, there are days that faith seems far away and I wake up not truly wanting to embrace the day ahead. No amount of coffee will alleviate the mood and my prayers seem dry. But for me, it doesn't last long for as soon as I'm engaged in the day the healing begins. Sometimes it's a surprise visitor at the office, a welcome telephone call or good news through the mail. The there are other days that I wake up excited about what the day will bring that I've said my prayers and I'm out riding my bicycle at 6:00 a.m. That's just daily, ordinary life. We can experience life on our own or with Jesus. If we choose to leave our self-focused existence and seek out the Savior, he too will seek us out. He wants to hear our story. He wants to hear our concerns and desires as well as our joys and surprises.

Unlike the woman in the gospel, we do not need to approach Jesus with fear in our hearts. We can approach him knowing that he also wants a relationship with us and that our faith will give us peace and we need no longer be in pain.

Just think...no longer in pain whether it be physical pain or emotional pain or the deep soul-hurting pain of being estranged from God. Jesus says to us "you are healed, and you will no longer be in pain." O happy day.

A simple faith, to be in contact with Jesus. It's ours for the asking, ours for the seeking. Do you want to be made well?