Your Faith Has Made You Well
June 29, 2003
Mark 5:34
3rd Sunday after Pentecost
Galena-Warwick United Methodist Charge
Warwick & Galena, Maryland
Rev. Dr. Lawrence D. Jameson
larry@larryjameson.com
back to our church home page
"Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." Mark 5:34
Jesus said this phrase a lot:
“Your faith has healed you” (Matt 9:22, Mark 5:34, Luke 8:48)
“Your faith has saved you” (Luke 7:50)
“Your faith has made you well”. (Luke 17:19)
If Jesus said this phrase only once, it would be significant.
But the fact is, he said it several times,
so it must be very important.
“Your faith has made you well”
Let’s take a look at that phrase.
WHAT FAITH IS NOT.
You all know I like to consider the flip side.
Let me tell you what this phrase does not mean.
It does not mean
that if you, or someone you love gets sick
that it is your fault
for not having enough faith.
That’s just wrong.
This line of thought is pretty common.
We reason:
if faith makes you well,
and there is a terrible illness,
then I must not have what God requires.
It’s my fault!
Again, this is soooooooo wrong.
Faith does not work like that.
God does not work like that.
God does not go around with a faith meter
and say, “Hey, here’s a person with a low level of faith.
Let’s give him cancer.”
That contradicts the nature of God.
God isn’t cruel or unjust.
Actually, he is kind and merciful.
WHAT FAITH IS
Faith is simple.
It is our response to God’s initiative.
It is based on the fact that God first reaches out to us.
“We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)
God always takes the first step.
He is the creator. We respond to him.
If we respond with humble trust,
accepting his offer of forgiveness and restored relationship
then THAT is faith.
We didn’t invent this situation. God did.
Faith does not start with us. It starts with God.
It’s like a tennis match
where you never serve.
You just wait for the ball
to come flying over the net,
and when it does
you smack it back.
Faith is simple.
And the great thing is,
the ball ALWAYS comes flying over the net
because God loves us big time.
If we miss the ball the first 500 or 1,000 times,
God is so generous
that he just keeps on serving it until we decide to swing.
WOMAN WITH FAITH
One day a woman with a chronic illness
heard that Jesus was in town.
She thought,
"If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed."
Guess what lady?
Jesus came to town just for you.
It didn’t seem that way to her.
She never considered the fact
that God
would send his only Son
all the way from heaven just for her.
She thought,
"If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed."
Well, she was right, AND she was wrong.
She was so humble
that she figured Jesus would never take time for her.
That’s why she came up with this plan
to only touch his clothes.
Touching his clothes meant
he wouldn’t be bothered.
Touching his clothes meant
she was not worthy of his attention.
The humble part is good.
The part about thinking Jesus wouldn’t be bothered.
Wrong.
Jesus was there for that woman.
He came to earth,
was born in a manger,
died on the cross,
and rose from the dead,
so that the woman with a chronic illness would be healed.
The same is true for you and me.
Humble attitude, GOOD.
Heart willing to repent, GOOD.
That’s where healing starts.
That’s where miracles begin.
EPHESIANS 2:8
Ephesians 2:8 tells us
that faith is a gift from God.
That’s right.
Faith comes from God.
He built it into you.
It’s part of what it means to be human.
You and I have the ability
to respond to God’s love and grace.
We didn’t give this ability to ourselves.
God gave this gift.
When we acknowledge God,
and respond appropriately to him
life happens.
What can we do to have more faith?
The first step is to realize
that faith isn’t something you earn,
it isn’t something you buy,
and it isn’t something you deserve.
Faith comes from God
and it grows
as our relationship with God grows.
CONCLUSION
There is no blame in faith.
There is no
“I must have done something very bad”.
The focus isn’t on us at all.
The focus is on God,
who really is kind,
who really is faithful,
who really is willing
to come all the way from heaven
just to visit with us.