sermon 7th oct

Luke 8 v 43-48
The “seet see” (Tzitzit) first appear in Numbers 15 God says to Moses, throughout the generations you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel, you will have these tassels to look at so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not chase after other religions
God tells the people to attach tassels so they will be visually reminded to live as he created them to live. The word for corners is “kanaf”, the word for tassel is “seet see”
To this day many Jews wear a prayer shawl to obey this text, the prayer shawl appears in interesting places in the bible, one of the most significant is in the prophet Malachi with the prediction of the messiah which says the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, the Hebrew word for wings is kanaf, the same word in numbers to refer to the edge of a garment, so a legend grew that when the messiah came there would be healing powers in the tassels of his prayer shawl.
Fast forward to the time of Jesus, a woman has a an illness for 12 years, no one can cure her, she grabs his cloak, Jesus is a torah observant Jewish rabbi, he would be wearing the prayer shawl, the woman grabs the cloak believing he is the messiah, that his tassels have healing powers, this is the one she feels that Malachi is talking about
If you were in the crowd, what would you think of this woman, this woman believes this man is the messiah, she touches the tassels and is healed just as the prophet said it would be, but the physical healing is not what Jesus is about in this story, it is what he says as they part ways that really counts, “Go in peace”
The Hebrew word for peace is “shalom”, it is very important in the bible, it is not completely accurate to say it is simply “peace” Many of us understand peace as the absence of conflict, we talk about peace in the home, or in the world of giving peace a chance, but the understanding of shalom in the time of Jesus is far more than the absence of conflict or strife
Shalom is the presence of the goodness of God, it is the presence of wholeness, completeness
So when Jesus says go in peace, he is placing the blessing of God on all of her, not just her physical body, he is blessing her with God’s presence in her entire being, and this is because for Jesus, salvation is holistic, for Jesus being saved is not simply a legal transaction, where he takes our sin and we take his goodness, for Jess being saved or reconciled to God involves far more than the saving of the body, or the soul, it involves all of you, God’s desire I for us to live in harmony with him, body, soul, spirit mind, emotions, every inch of us.
Too often we think it is a wiping away of sin and then we go on our merry way, fire insurance if you like, but Jesus actually gives us eternal life today, which fundamentally changes who we are, salvation is a way of life, and I think too often we see Jesus as a means to an end rather that a new way of living, that brings peace, that brings shalom. That is what I am looking for, that is what I have found.
To say salvation is for every part of our lives, means it is not all about the legal transaction where God has to deal with sin as he is holy, so Jesus gets what we deserve, and we get what he deserves, salvation is more, it is living today and everyday in harmony with God, it is a process that goes on forever. It is one thing to be forgiven, which I thank God for everyday, but it is another thing to become more and more and more and more the person God made you to be.
Jesus did not teach us that eternity kicks in when we die, because we have the golden ticket to heaven, Jesus said when we believe we have crossed from death to life, God always has been and always will be, when I enter into a relationship with Christ I am connected with God now and for ever. Salvation is now!
I need God now, I need healing now, I need help now, yes greater things will happen someday but Salvation is now, for all of you, not simply about getting somewhere better in the next life, giving life with God today, body mind soul, spirit, emotions all of us. The point is it is not about us, it is about God and what he has designed us to be
It is one thing to be saved, to believe in Jesus, but it is another to be healed by him body and soul, we can be saved and be miserable, it is possible for the cross to have done something for you, but not in them.
The cross is not a one off, we need healing from it everyday, which brings forgiveness, but the point of the cross is not simply forgiveness, but restoration, God isn’t interested in covering over our sins, he wants us to be the people we were originally created to be, it is not simply wiping the slate clean, it is God pulling us into the people he created us to be.
This is why Jesus’ message is to call us to be kind, generous and compassionate people, the goal isn’t simply not to sin, it is to increase the peace, the shalom of God in the world, God is calling to us all, with our sins, with our anger, with our hate, with our guilt, with our hurt with our pain, he is calling us all to receive from him as the woman who was cured when she touched his cloak
and to go in peace, and to live in peace, and to share the peace and to never be the same, because everyday we will choose to go in peace.