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THE GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL ALLEVIATES ANXIETY

(Mark 5:25-34)
March 1, 2009
Purpose: To explain how the Gospel alleviates anxiety.

    The Good news of the Gospel alleviates anxiety.  Anxiety is characterized by suffering, discouragement and fear.  If the Gospel can alleviate these problems, it’s truly good news.

    But, how does it do that?

    Once, after a terrible earthquake, many victims were buried under the rubble of shoddy buildings.  Crews worked feverishly to find those who were still alive.  One little girl was pinned down by heavy timbers.  Her throat was so dry she couldn’t call and her legs were immobilized.  She could only reach out one hand toward a faint patch of light.  In her desperation, as the hours passed, she kept thinking, “If only I could touch my father, he would save me.”  In fact, her dad was nearby.  He never gave up, even when the other rescuers told him it was hopeless. 

    Fortunately, her determination to keep reaching out and her faith in her father paid off.  As she groped blindly in the debris, she finally touched a living person.  The response was immediate.  A joyous father reassured her anxiety, relieved her suffering and obtained the necessary equipment to free her.  Many people felt that need to touch Jesus.  The Scripture said, “Some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch and heal the man” (Mark 8:22).

    On another occasion, “Those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him” Mark 3:10, niv).

    Then, “Some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch them and bless them . . .” (Mark 10:13a).

    All of us need a spiritual connection.  That’s what one woman needed when she reached out for help.  Let’s consider Jesus’ encounter with the woman who touched the hem of his garment.  The Scripture says, “A woman was there who had?been bleeding for the past 12 years.  She had suffered very much, and many doctors had tried to help her. She had spent all the money she had, but she was not improving. She was getting worse.  When the woman heard about Jesus, she followed him with the people and touched his coat.  The woman thought, ‘If I can even touch his coat, that will be enough to heal me.’  When she touched his coat, her bleeding stopped. She could feel in her body that she was healed.  At once Jesus felt power go out from him. So he stopped and turned around. Then he asked, ‘Who touched my clothes?’  The followers said, ‘There are so many people pushing against you! And you ask, “Who touched me?” ’  But Jesus continued looking around to see who had touched him.  The woman knew that she was healed.  So she came and bowed at Jesus' feet. Shaking with fear, she told him the whole story.  Jesus said to the woman, ‘Dear woman, you are made well because you believed. Go in peace. You will have no more suffering’ ”  (Mark 5:25-34).

    Now, what happened in this story?

I.  FIRST, THIS WOMAN WAS SUFFERING.

    She had lived this way for many years.  The physical pain was only part of the problem.  In that culture, she was considered unclean.  Anyone touching her would be instantly contaminated. 

    The laws were merciless against women in this regard.  The Old Testament Scripture said, “When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time . . . or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge . . .  Whoever touches them will be unclean; he must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening.  You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness . . .” (Lev. 15:25,27,31).

    Such harsh words humiliated this lady and made her condition a disgrace.  Therefore, her life was miserable and her anxiety was evident. 

    Our lives are also full of anxiety.  No one has a trouble-free life.  Everyone has stress.  But what we do with it determines our future.  We can say, “This is just the way it is.  I deserve it; and resign ourselves to our fate.  Or, we can say “This is not fair.  Others have better luck,” and become bitter; or we can be realistic and seek answers.

    Jesus’ life and ministry demonstrate that he cared and offered help to those in need.  In fact, such deeds were the marks of his identity.  When John the Baptist asked if he were really the messiah, Jesus didn’t quote Scripture or argue theology.  Instead, he said, “Go back to John and tell him about what you have heard and seen—the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor” (Matt. 11:4-5).

    Hurting people need to touch Jesus.  One lady told about a funny habit of her naughty little boy.  She said, “When he’s in trouble with me, he yells, ‘I want my daddy.’  When he’s in trouble with daddy, he yells, ‘I want my mommy!’  And when he’s in trouble with both of us, he yells, “I want Jesus!”

    That’s what this woman wanted and that’s what we want.  The Gospel alleviates suffering.

II.  NEXT, THIS WOMAN WAS DISCOURAGED.

    She had spent all her money and wasted all her resources on false claims from the medical profession with no results.  According to the known circumstances, this woman was hopeless.  She had tried everything, but she didn’t give up.  The poor sufferer had probably been told many times to go home and die; but she didn’t listen.  She persevered.

    She still ventured out into a society that condemned her.  She braved the sneers and taunts of her associates.  She had courage and determination.  Jesus was talking to those like her when he said, ““Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened” (Matt. 7:7, nlb)

    It’s hard to keep going when all the authority figures tell you it’s useless.  Over and over great inventors and innovators have been discouraged by “Nay sayers.”  The president of McDonnell-Douglas Corporation, was told while studying aeronautical engineering that, “A plane will never break the sound barrier.  It’s physically impossible.  If you could invent an engine big enough to fly that fast, it would shatter to pieces”  But, he persevered, and planes break the sound barrier every day now.

    A great old poem says:

    Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
        but he with a chuckle replied,
    That “Maybe it couldn’t” but he would be one
        Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
    So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
        On his face.  If he worried, he hid it.
    He started to sing as he tackled the thing
        That couldn’t be done.  And he did it.
    . . . . . . 

    There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
        There are thousands to prophesy failure;   
    There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
        The dangers that wait to assail you,
    But just buckle right in with a bit of a grin,
        Then take off your coat and go to it.
    Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing
        That cannot be done, and you’ll do it.
                —Unknown

    Sometimes we get so depressed that we feel like quitting.  This woman had every reason to be discouraged, but she kept trying.
    The Gospel gives us encouragement.

III.  FINALLY, THIS WOMAN WAS AFRAID.

    She was so beat down and fearful that she hesitated about seeking help.  That’s why she reached out secretly.  Remember, to have personal contact with a man, in her condition, would have been a capital offense.  Therefore to touch even the hem of Jesus’ garment was a real risk.  That’s what Jesus meant when he said her great faith had enabled her healing.  He constantly emphasized the power of faith.  Once, he told his followers:  “I assure you, even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible’ ” (Matt. 17:20).

    Ernest, productive risks can be evidence of faith.  In 1929 when the Stock Market crashed some people committed suicide.  But, another man named J. G. Roscoe was achieving success.  Just before the onset of the depression, he had a dream.  That dream was to build the tallest skyscraper in the world.  Many people scoffed and ridiculed the idea.  Others prophesied that it would be a financial disaster.  But he sold all of his stock at the height of the market and convinced a few  others to do the same.  Days after he and his supporters had cashed in their stock, the market crashed, bringing poverty to thousands.  If he hadn’t had the courage to invest all he had in his dream, he would have lost everything.

    Instead, he began construction on the Empire State Building.  His faith was vindicated.

    Robert Kennedy paraphrased George Bernard Shaw when he said, “There are some people who look at the way things are and ask,‘Why?’  There are others who look at the way things could be and ask, ‘Why not?’ ”

    This takes vision and courage.  Likewise, when this woman overcame her fear and took a risk, her faith was vindicated.
    The Gospel helps us overcome fear.

CONCLUSION:

    So the good news of the Gospel alleviates anxiety and rewards faith.  The woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment experienced suffering, discouragement and fear.

    We, too, may be encountering pain and suffering.  We, too, may be discouraged and depressed.  We, too, may be afraid to reach out and seek help.  But, it’s never too late.  Jesus said, “(He) who comes to me I will most certainly not cast out — I will never, no never reject one of them who comes to me” (John 6:37, amp).

    Faith is not just experiencing a feeling.  Faith is not just holding a thought.  Faith is not just having a belief.  Faith has feet.  Faith involves movement.  Faith involves action.  This woman bucked the crowd.  She risked criticism and condemnation.  She reached out in desperation and she was rewarded.  And Jesus said that’s why she was rewarded.  He didn’t say, “My power made you whole.”  He said, Your faith made you whole.”

    An old poem says:
    Thou shalt know him when he comes,
        Not by any din of drums.
    Nor the vantage of his airs,
        Nor by anything he wears;
    Neither by his golden crown,
        Nor his white and shining gown.
    But his presence known shall be,
        By the peace and harmony
    Which his coming makes in thee.

    This happened to the woman who touched the hem of his garment, and it can happen to you.  The good news of the Gospel alleviates anxiety.

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(WC1823)

Copyrighted 2009 by Miles and Maralene Wesner, Idabel, OK.  PLEASE FEEL FREE TO USE THIS MESSAGE IN ANY WAY YOU THINK IS APPROPRIATE.  The only thing we ask is that you give credit for original material in PUBLISHED works. 

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Miles E Wesner