15 August 2010
Psalm 118; Judges 16:15-31; 2 Cor. 13:1-11; Mark 5:25-34

The end of Samson, a man of strength but not of great wisdom. How in the world he could have trusted Delilah with any secret after her previous treachery is baffling. She became a rich woman through this deceit and Samson became essentially a circus performer with no sight. It is a sad ending for this man whose birth foretold greatness. He had been given great gifts, his great strength was only of his gifts, but we see that his giftedness or cleverness was also a part of his downfall, along with his appetite for the things of the world. His real strength was in the Lord as is shown in his ending. The Lord answers his prayer for one last burst of strength and receives it so that he can avenge himself on these Philistines. He died knowing truly that his strength was not in his hair but in the Lord.

This woman not only had a physical condition that had to have been a misery to her but she also had a spiritual and community problem. She was not allowed into the temple and had to be careful about contact with other Jews. If they had contact with her then they, too, were defiled and unfit for the worship of God. Her condition would have made her a social pariah and would surely have made her wonder about why God would keep her at a distance from Him and others. Here she sees her opportunity and in faith reaches out to Jesus simply to touch his clothes in the belief that this would heal her. Jesus knows power has gone out from Him and she takes the great risk of identifying herself, knowing that her uncleanness has gone from her. She has risked defiling Him and all the others in the crowd in pursuit of her final hope for herself, but has been rewarded with healing and wholeness and finally to hear herself called daughter by the Living God.

Paul’s great concern is that the Corinthians are not living into the faith they profess. We do not know what the particular sin is that Paul is writing them to cease but what this tells us is that church discipline has a place in the body. It isn’t Paul’s desire to come among them for the purpose of dealing with sin but if that is necessary he is prepared to do so. He reminds them that Christ lives in them so they have the power to overcome sin and live according to the Spirit. In the church of Jesus Christ we should be less tolerant of sin among us and should seek to deal with it when it arises. Paul was not afraid to have someone in sin separated from the body in order to have them deal with that sin if they were unwilling to repent. Just as the woman in the Gospel lesson was outside the church while she had the issue of blood, so we should be careful about sin in the body lest we send the message that such things are acceptable and such sin infect the entire body.

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvellous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.