Say it with me, “There is more than enough.”
There is more than enough love. There is more than enough concern. There is more than enough healing. There is more than enough time. In Jesus Christ there is more than enough. Say it again, “There is more than enough.”
I want that phrase to be embedded in your mind as you move on through the day because it is easy to be convinced that scarcity rules the world.
You feel the fear of scarcity as you read this gospel story. It is right there, hovering under the surface of these two female’s stories. Their stories do not start with fear though. These two intertwined stories start out quite normal, with faith, revealing a synagogue leader who faithfully asks Jesus to come and quickly heal his daughter who is at the point of death. Jesus agrees and follows the synagogue leader to his home. But, along the way the fear of scarcity starts to set in.
You see, there was this old woman who had been pushed to the edge of her society, and most likely literally pushed to the edge of town, because she had been suffering from a continuous, menstrual type of bleeding for years and years. Doctors had not helped her. They had actually made matters worse by draining her both physically and financially. She was ruined and suffering.
This old woman sees Jesus coming and takes her chance. She mixes in with the crowd that boxes Jesus in as he tries, unsuccessfully, to move quickly to the ailing little girl. Getting close, she reaches out with the tips of her fingers and touches the edge of his cloak. And, it is in the next words of the story where we see the fear of scarcity setting in: “Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’"
Yes, you read that correctly, "the power had gone forth from him." It was like her neediness sucked the power right out. And, his ominous question has us wondering if the little girl’s healing had been stolen for the benefit of this much older woman?
Scarcity. It is the notion that there is a limited supply of something, and the fear that you or your loved one might not get any. It is having only 12 peanut butter cookies in a room of 30. Worse yet, it is having 12 cups of coffee to go with those cookies for a room of 30. It is having a small reservoir of water for a vast plain of fields. It is having two jobs available and 15 applicants. It is having one kidney and 5 patients waiting for the transplant.
And, in this story, it is having the power of healing intended for a young girl of a high member of society (a synagogue leader) with limited time to do the healing, and both appear to be stolen by an old woman who invades Jesus’ personal space, leaches away the healing, and causes Jesus to stop his life saving mission. “Who touched my clothes?” Jesus demands to know.
At this very moment, when the fear of scarcity has climbed very near its climax in the story, the disciples provide a little bit of comic relief. That is always a good thing when there is a lot of tension in the air. “What do you mean, ‘Who touched my clothes, Jesus.’ You are in this crowd, being knocked back and forth like a pinball in a machine and you want to know who touched you?” I can imagine the disciples spitting out today.
The comic relief clears a space and reveals an old woman on her knees, apologizing profusely, telling her story…the whole story…ashamed at her theft of power, all so that she might be healed.
Here is where my heart breaks. It breaks because this woman has been stripped of everything good in life and is still caused to feel selfish for desiring the most basic of needs.
I think of the story of Jean Val Jean in Les Miserables who is sent to jail for years because he stole some bread to save his sister’s son from starvation.
I think of the guy who was fired from his well paying job and lost his medical insurance because he had to leave the job site suddenly to care for his daughter in the ER; the first sign of a deadly and expensive cancer.
I think of the woman who lost her home and business in a flood and found herself, jobless and homeless just days later (two states away from her flooded home) on the side of the street next to her little girl with hands out; people spitting on her and telling her to just "Go get a job."
I think of a mother and child who have courageously left the only home they have ever known, escaping rape and violence in Ecuador, only to be detained and ripped from each other at the border of the US.
I think about all of these people who have been brought to the lowest of low, and are still kicked while on the ground.
I wonder if the old woman feared being kicked while she pleaded on the ground? I wonder if she feared the retribution that comes when you have nothing and reach out in desperation for healing?
Jesus looks down at the old woman, who stole the power and stole the limited time and says, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease." Jesus says these amazing words of healing and wholeness because Jesus knows a truth that we often forget: “There is more than enough.”
The truth is that in Jesus there is more than enough love. There is more than enough concern. There is more than enough healing. And, we will see very soon that there is more than enough time.
The climax of the fear of scarcity comes right after Jesus' kind words to the old woman when, suddenly, some people come from the synagogue leader’s home to report that too much time has been wasted. The little girl is dead. There is no need to bother Jesus any longer. If only Jesus had not been stopped and had not wasted so much time listening to that old woman’s story!
But, Jesus knows the truth. Jesus, the Word of God, who breathed life into a dark nothing and gave rise to the entire universe, responds confidently, "Do not fear, only believe." Because, guess what? “There is more than enough.”
There is more than enough time. Jesus reaches out to the seemingly lifeless little girl and says, “Little girl, get up,” and she does. In Jesus we discover that we need not fear, there is more than enough.
We can be concerned and show love for both old women and little girls because in Jesus there is more than enough.
We can care about separated families in our communities and at our borders because in Jesus there is more than enough.
We can care about homeless, starving veterans and homeless, starving children of God in war-torn African nations because in Jesus there is more than enough.
We can love our own families and love our neighbors because in Jesus there is more than enough.
We can love ourselves, care about our own dignity, and we can love our enemies, caring about their dignity also because in Jesus there is more than enough.
Have faith people of God. There is more than enough love. There is more than enough concern. There is more than enough healing. There is more than enough time.
In Jesus Christ there is more than enough to heal all that is broken. Through the cross of Christ which saves the entire world, there is more than enough.
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