Outfit of Grace

When I was in grade school I had a shirt of the dream team. Remember that elite basketball team who won the Gold Medal in basketball?  The shirts had every member of the team in those old cartoon-faced pictures. I loved Michael Jordan, and since he was on my shirt, it was one of the t-shirts I treasured. I would wear it with my favorite blue Umbros (shorts), which matched perfectly. You see, even back then I was structured and systematic in my thinking. This outfit made me feel cool. I felt like I could do anything. I felt better at basketball, and just life in general. I am pretty sure I wore that shirt out.

As I grew up, my clothes and how I dressed became even more important to me. I worked in clothing stores and got cooler clothes, yet I always felt like other people looked cooler than me. I had some buddies in college that no matter what they wore, they always looked like the coolest guys on the planet.

It is intriguing to me how dress can catch our eye, and how we associate some kind of power or coolness to it. The honest truth is, like me, each of those people I thought were cool were really hiding their brokenness. They had areas of life they did not feel like they could ever fix. They felt as if they were stuck, and no matter what they did, they could not break loose. Sometimes all of our resources are spent trying to fix the problems we are covering up until we have nothing left, and then we feel like we have no alternative but to give up.

The Gospel reading this week has an odd way of connecting those dots. Here is a lady who has attempted to deal with her physical illness in every way possible. She has seen many physicians. The Apostle Mark comments that she has seen so many that she spent all her money. Spending all your money means your resources are tapped out, and ultimately, the next step is to give up. Just before she takes that step, she finds Jesus, the true healer, and touches His garment. Unlike our clothes, which supposedly make us look cooler, feel beautiful, or provide some kind of emotional support for the brokenness hiding behind them, Jesus’ garment really has power! Jesus is outfitted in grace. His clothes even send off grace! Wouldn’t it be great to have clothes that would take away the brokenness and give us grace? We could cover up all the nasty things about ourselves and have only the good things showing. Well, Jesus came to heal all the nasty things and restore us, showing us that we are clothed in grace! For this woman, Jesus was able to do what the physicians could not do, heal and restore her. She knew the only one who had truly won the victory over her illness – Jesus.

Jesus’ defeat of illness is a key understanding for us today. No matter what stage of the healing process we are at, or acknowledgement of the sin or illness we are covering up, embracing that we could find a garment that could truly heal our struggle and not just cover it up seems impossible. It is in this moment of doubt that the devil has us right where he wants us, believing we are incurable. Like the woman, it is an important moment for us to come back to the promise that Jesus can do things that no human can do, no matter what their profession. This week we take time to talk about that.