By Angela Ryo

What does faith have to do with me and my life? How would I be different if I weren’t a person of faith? And what exactly do I have faith in? As I ask myself such questions, the person that comes to mind is the woman in the Bible who had been bleeding for 12 years. I had preached on it not too long ago and wanted to share an excerpt from my sermon:

And here’s the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years, a woman without a name at the lowest rung of the society—she shouldn’t even BE in the crowd. A menstruating woman was considered ritualistically unclean and couldn’t touch another person, let alone a man, until the bleeding stopped…To make the matter even worse, in the gospel of Mark, it mentions that she spent ALL she had on the doctors to heal her, but she only grew worse. Not only is she socially shunned, she’s also financially broke.

And yet, she hears about Jesus and brings herself to where he is! Even after 12 years of being sick and isolated, she hasn’t given up hope. She is in the crowd and finally musters enough courage to touch the edge of his cloak. And when she does, her bleeding stops. She is healed. Interestingly, Jesus turns around and sees her and doesn’t say, “I have made you well” or “GOD has made you well.” He says, “your FAITH has made you well.” Faith becomes the agency in her healing process. Faith becomes the key to being made well. And faith always chooses life.

If blood symbolized life in Jesus’ world and it did as it also does today, then you can say that life had been slowly draining out of her for 12 years, rendering her almost lifeless. Socially, financially, spiritually, and physically, she was becoming lifeless. It would have been so much easier for her to say, “I give up. I choose defeat and death rather than life because they are so much closer to me than life right now. Whatever I do, life blood just keeps draining out of me!” But even through 12 years of getting life drained out of her, she doesn’t say that. Rather, she says to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” If I only connect to Jesus, I will be made well. If I only connect to the life source, I will have life. Her faith allows her to step out and choose life.

And that takes courage. 

How long have you been part of something that has been draining life out of you? When was the last time you chose convenience over life? When was the last time you chose toxic relationship over life? When was the last time you chose shame over life? When was the last time you chose to be silent in the face of injustice over life? When was the last time you chose doubts about your worthiness or standing in your family or society over being made well? Faith is about having the courage to choose life again and again. Just like the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years.

But too many times, we don’t give ourselves the permission to dream and imagine a future that’s different from the one we have because we’re afraid of rejection, uncertainty, repercussion. We don’t give ourselves the permission to exercise our faith and choose life because we don’t think we’re worth it. Because we think it’s too risky. Because –you fill in the blank. The woman who had been bleeding for 12 years could have easily said all of those things. YET she gave herself permission to reach out and touch Jesus—nobody in that crowd would have or could have given her that permission. What permission are you giving yourself today to step out in faith and choose life?

And when you choose life, that’s when you hear Jesus calling the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years, “daughter”. This is the ONLY time Jesus calls someone a “daughter” in the gospels.  She finally means something to somebody—she’s no longer defined by her disease but by a relationship. Jesus embraces all 12 years of his daughter’s suffering, pain, bleeding, loneliness and rejection and says to her, “Whatever you believe about yourself, whatever the world tells you about who you are, whatever life you’ve lived until now, take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” The bleeding woman is now somebody’s daughter, connected to her father, connected to a family, connected and restored to her rightful place in her society.

Faith, then, is what connects us to life; faith is what gives us permission to choose life; faith is what brings us healing. And I can’t think of anything that’s more relevant than that!

Angela Ryo currently serves as the Associate Pastor for Christian Formation at Kirk in the Hills in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. She enjoys taking long walks, reading, listening to NPR, and drinking good coffee with friends and strangers alike.