Reflections...

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 12th August 2007 by Ms Phyllis Wong Mei Fung. The scripture readings that day were Genesis 15:1-6; Psalm 33:1-5; Hebrew 11:1-3 and Luke 8:43-48.


Faith, hope and love are the three core Christian values. Today, I would like to share with you the value and essence of faith.

Let me begin by sharing a story. A tourist went for a tour to the Grand Canyon. He fell down the cliff by accident. He struggled very hard and eventually he was able to grasp a branch of a tree and hanged on in the middle of the cliff. At this dangerous moment, he managed to keep calm and shouted for help: “is anyone up there to help me?” Immediately there was a voice answering him. “I am here to help you. I am God.” The man was very pleased and asked God to rescue him. God said to the man, “do you believe in me” The man said: “of course, I go to church every Sunday and read scripture and pray everyday. I am very supportive to many of the church activities too”. God then said, “if you truly believe in me, release your hand from the branch that you are holding now.” The man was very hesitant and asked if there was any alternative. God once again asked the man to get his hand off the branch before He saves him. After a minute of silence, the man shouted again, “is anyone up there to help?”

How would you respond to the man’s reaction and God’s way of salvation? If you were the man, what would you do? While some of us may laugh at this man and how little faith he has on God, or thinking that God is giving the man too harsh of a test, let us think and reflect on the subject of ‘faith’.

This morning when we read the letter of the Hebrews 11:1, it says “faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of realities that are unseen.” Faith is a matter of trust to God. It is essential but not sufficient. Faith is more than trust and believes. As the theologian John Hick points out, “faith offers us a new understanding of the world. Faith is also about interpretation (or reinterpretation) of our ongoing experiences”.

When we face tremendous troubles and uncertainties in our lives and the world, have you ever thought that our faith in terms of a new understanding of ourselves, the world and God, can help to transform our lives? Let us go to the story in Luke 8:43-48. It is a story about a woman suffering from discharge of blood/haemorrhage, and her encounter with Jesus. At the end of the story, Jesus assured the woman, “daughter, your faith has saved you, go in peace.” (Luke 8:48) How does this story inspire us about faith? What can we learn and reflect from her encounter with Jesus?

With reference to the religious and cultural tradition in ancient Israel society, discharge of blood (haemorrhage) during or apart from menstruation is impure, and impurity is a sin. It is because in their religious understanding by that time, discharge of blood belongs to the sphere of death and impurity, it is in contrast to living blood. Living blood is the gift of God and carrier of life (Leviticus 17:11).

For the ancient Israelites, they tried to uphold God’s law and human traditions of preserving life. They then determined with utmost seriousness the extent and degree of impurification that had already taken place.

Impurity is regarded as contagious. The discharge of blood (haemorrhage) in women was discussed in Leviticus 15:25-30. Discharge of blood for a woman was ritually impure. In Leviticus, it listed the objects and people became impure through contact with any woman with haemorrhage. Lastly, it described the offering to be made upon recovery. In Leviticus 15:31, valid for all the cases described the impure person must be kept separated, and any contact of the sanctuary for this woman was strongly prohibited. Therefore, the impure person had to be segregated from the community and even from God.

With an understanding of such religious and cultural background, it was obvious that the woman suffering from discharge of blood was miserable. Not only because she spent all her money for medical treatment in vain, but also her religious impurity drove her to isolation, she was separated from God, and from other people. The woman not only suffered physical illness, but also psychosocial sickness of isolation, segregation and rejection by her community.

The woman presented to us that she had a strong intention to restore life. She dared to break through the religious taboo and regulations; she went out to the public and secretly touched the clothes of Jesus. She tried all her efforts to live and cheat death, at least not passively waiting to die. More importantly, the woman tried to define her life on her own by taking proactive actions and refused to act according to the traditional rules that were discriminative and destructive to her life. Through the courageous act of the woman, we can see the creative power of life rooted in her, instead of the passive destructive power of death. The affirmation of life by this woman is fundamental to her faith.

The woman with haemorrhage reminds us when we are in great trouble and have been leading a miserable life for long time without much signs of improvement, we should not give up. Life is a gift of God. Fear not and to choose life is the will of God. As said in the Deut 30:19, God said “I called heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendents may live.” Through the Words of God, our Lord not only gave promise to ancestor of Abraham, God is also speaking to us today.

I guess most of you heard about Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa who was imprisoned for 27 years for his struggles against apartheid. It was the conviction of Nelson Mandela and his people who affirm the rights and freedom of black people as equal, after almost three decades of struggle they finally succeeded in bringing an end to apartheid. For the sake of bringing peace of life to the people and overcome the multi-racial conflicts in South Africa, Nelson Mandela switched to a policy of reconciliation following his release from prison in 1990. To lead a life in full is also a promise of God to his people. Jesus has also said in the Gospel of John (John 10:10), I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. May our living God be our basis of faith, source of strength and hope.

Let us go back to the narrative again. This time I want to focus on the woman’s touching the fringe of Jesus’ clothes from behind and immediately her discharge of blood stopped. (Luke 8:44) The touching of Jesus’ clothes and the cure of the woman, to many people is a miracle and a demonstration of God’s healing power. When we look into this incidence in the context of the religious background of Jewish history, we will be inspired of the deeper theological meaning. Jesus wore his garment with the fringe as demanded by Moses who proclaimed the laws to the people that he received from God. In Number 15:37-39, I quoted in brief, ‘the Lord commanded Moses to the people of Israel to make fringes on the corners of their garments and put a blue cord on the fringe at each corner. The fringe served as reminders of God’s commands and Israelites should obey them. The people of Israel would not then turn away from God and followed their own wishes and desires. The fringes were taken as reminder for Israelites that they belonged to God.’

The touching on the fringe of Jesus’ clothes from behind by the woman conveys two messages to us. Firstly, the woman although being segregated by the religious law from God and rejected by the community, she had the intention to be in touch with God and follow the commands of God. When the healing power flowed from Jesus, it indicated clearly that Jesus as the representation of God was receptive to this woman. Not only did he allow her to touch him, but also released the power of healing to her. The touching of the fringe symbolized the reconnection between the woman and God. She was not left alone anymore. She was valued in the eyes of God. She was the people of God. Secondly, the biblical scholar Francois Bovon gives us an insight that the woman who touched the fringe of Jesus clothes from behind, symbolize that she did not go after her sinful thoughts, but after the commands of God. (Number 15:37-39). The woman represents not only a model of faith, but the new obedience. From then on, the woman was no longer controlled by the sins. Maybe I should share a bit about the understanding of sin here, I would adopt the definition of contemporary theologian Paul Tillich’s understanding, sin is alienation of oneself with God, oneself with other people and with his/her own self. In the case of this woman, as mentioned she was segregated from the other people and God. When a person for a long time is regarded as nobody and is rejected, from a psychological point of view, it is easy for her to develop a very low self-image and self-esteem. Consciously and unconsciously that person rejects herself as a unique and worthy person. Because of this, they may isolate themselves for they fear that other people may not accept them. In my experience of working with women suffering from domestic violence, who have been abused for a long time by their husbands, they do always have a very low self-confidence.

Reconnection with God is another significant basis of faith that brings the power of transformation to us. The woman who represents the impure and the marginalized people are unconditionally accepted by Jesus. They are no longer segregated from God, but are being reconnected to God. Jesus Christ, as representative of God, manifests the divine’s compassion to the people who are being stigmatized and oppressed. Jesus has liberated the oppressed for friendship and solidarity. Our Lord is a triune God who is a God of relationship. God takes very seriously the relationship with anyone of us as we are the children of God, we are God’s people.

Working in the field of social service for over ten years and providing pastoral care in recent years, I have many opportunities to share with different people of their struggles. It was heart breaking to hear many of the suffering and pain induced by social discrimination and exclusion. In some occasion, tears could not help rolling across my face. At some other time, my heart was touched by people’s courage to resist and overcome difficulties. Admitting and sharing of one’s problem and pain does require much courage. It is God’s blessing and grace for any opportunity that given to share with people their sorrow and hard time in their lives. Whenever there are sharing go in depth with sincerity and acceptance, I felt strongly God’s presence of his compassion and love. It seems to me Jesus Christ who is the wounded healer is right there in our heart. Those who are willing to share somehow are breaking out of the isolation and segregation. The opportunity to talk and share, to gain support and comfort is a blessing of God to them. The moment of sharing of pain is a holy moment for people’s connection with God and with each other. As human beings are created with the holy image of God, we are unconditionally accepted no matter who we are and what we do. No one or any system and tradition can take away our rights to love ourselves, to connect with people and God.
From the scripture we read today, the Word of God help us to reflect once again on the subject of faith. Faith is a radical attitude towards life. It is about change and transformation in life.

We choose to hope and act that something happening to us is far beyond our own imagination. Sometime, our faith requires us a never giving up spirit with courage, while in some time, faith call for giving up control over our future and letting go God defines our life. It is a living with conviction that God molds us in love, holds us in tenderness, and moves us away from the sources of our fear.

As said in Psalm 33:5, our God loves justice. His faithful love fills the earth. No matter how tough our condition seems to be, we trust that God is right here with us. Our God never leave us alone because God is full of compassion.

Today, we have seen how the woman with haemorrhage is saved by her faith, and how is her life being transformed by faith with the grace of God. For you, do you have any areas that require changes and or transformation? Will you engage yourself to experience the transformation power of faith in the love of God?