Sermon - Trinity XXIV 2021 - Matthew 9:18-26

The Healing of a Bleeding Woman, The Catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter near Rome, 4th Century

“And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Quite obviously, this woman experienced shame. Shame is the feeling of being guilty, of being filthy, unclean, embarrassed. Shame has two aspects, it comes when you do wicked things and it comes when wicked things are done to you. Regardless of the type of shame you wear, Jesus cleanses you from all shame.

In some cultures shame is still a pretty big deal, especially in the East or particularly throughout Asia. But in the West, and particularly in the US, we’re not big on shame, in fact we’re fairly anti-shame. For example, in nearly every large town and city across the country people march in gay pride parades. These parades are dedicated to feeling pride, instead of shame, for the same perverse things that St. Paul says he doesn’t even want to mention because they’re so shameful. Today these perverse things are portrayed in tv shows and movies that many watch as entertainment with their kids.

Our anti-shame culture isn’t just in the realm of sexual perversions, but it’s regarding all sorts of things in many facets of our lives. So another example that hits much closer to home for probably all of us here today, myself included, is gluttony. We eat and drink a lot of unhealthy foods. Now recently there’s a big movement against feeling ashamed of being a glutton, that we shouldn’t feel bad that we live an unhealthy lifestyle. There are many doctors who won’t even talk about healthy diets because they’re afraid of making their patients feel ashamed.

I should also say that we didn’t get here overnight. We didn’t just wake up one morning and decide not to be ashamed of anything anymore. This has been a slow gradual progression over the course of generations, and we’re just starting to see in recent decades how extreme our anti-shame has become. So here’s one example of a change that was made about a hundred years ago: women stopped wearing head coverings in church. Today you might think that’s just something that Apostolics or Amish do, but at the turn of the 20th century and in all previous centuries of church history women wore head coverings in church, including in all Lutheran churches. Why? Because St. Paul said in 1 Cortinithans 11, the same chapter where he taught us about communion, he said that women cover their heads while praying in submission to their husband and to Christ, it was part of women’s worship. To not wear a head covering, St. Paul said, was disgraceful, shameful. Just a hundred years ago this was the case, now we don’t give it a second thought.

My point being that we do live in an anti-shame culture, and have for a long time, and we need to be aware of that fact so that we can fight against it. God created us to feel shame upon committing sin. Do you remember what happened immediately to Adam and Eve when they first sinned? They realized they were naked and they were ashamed. The first consequence of sin was to feel ashamed of our own bodies because sin had entered into our bodies. Still to this day it’s shameful to be naked, so much so that’s awkward and embarrassing just to talk about it. But it’s good that we feel that shame because it teaches us that our sin which dwells within us is serious and needs to be cleansed.

When a person feels ashamed of having done some terrible thing, that’s a good thing. Shame, not much unlike pain, is designed to make us stop doing the bad thing that hurts us, that makes us ashamed. More importantly, when we feel ashamed we are driven to find that thing which takes away shame. Shame is often likened to feeling dirty, and when you’re filthy there’s nothing better than washing off the dirt and feeling clean!

So when you feel ashamed because you did or said something stupid or wicked, as much as it pains you, savor that shame for a moment so that hopefully you don’t wind up doing the same thing again. But then use that shame to drive you to the One who cleanses you from shame! Run to Jesus because His blood washes your filthy robe to be white again! 

It’s no coincidence that God chose to use water when He baptized you. In the waters of baptism you are washed clean of all of your shame! It’s not just your sins that are washed away, but the stain, the shame of sin is cleansed from you. Your baptism is a treasure which continues to wash you of your shame. Confession and Absolution is an extension of your baptism, so when you kneel at the rail and the pastor lays his hand on your head to absolve you of your sins, he lifts his hand reminding you that the shame from your sins is also lifted from you as well!

Now, I mentioned that there’s two aspects to shame, thus far we’ve just talked about shame from our own sins. But there’s also shame from evil which has happened to you. That’s the kind of shame that this woman with the discharge of blood experienced. She didn’t do anything wrong, at least that we know of, which would’ve given her this problem. This was an illness that she was afflicted with, it just happened.

This kind of shame often happens with those who’re raped or abused. They didn’t do anything wrong to give them shame, but they still feel filthy and dirty, because a wicked thing happened to them. They didn’t make this happen, someone else did this to them. But now they feel shame. 

This happens also to a lesser degree, but much more often, when you’re exposed to wicked things. For example, if you watch Schindler's List, seeing the atrocities done to those people, it makes you feel dirty, like you need to take a shower and scrub off those horrors. Sometimes just watching TV shows or movies today can make you feel shame, filthy, because of the disgusting things which you saw. 

This type of shame is similar to a stink. We live in rural Iowa, there’s lots of hog houses, but it doesn’t matter the animal because they all have an odor. So you know how this works, you don’t even have to do anything or get yourself dirty, because simply being in their presence makes you stink too. You’re not a pig or a cow, but just being in their presence can make you smell like one. 

That’s how this type of shame works. You didn’t do the bad thing, you’re not the pig, but the shame of the bad thing rubbed off on you, the odor of the pig is on you. So what do you do with an odor? Change clothes and wash! What do you do with this shame? God exchanges your filthy garments for His clean ones and washes you in the waters of baptism. When the woman touches Jesus’ garment, it’s as if her filthy rags have been exchanged with Jesus’ clean and righteous robe!

When you feel ashamed because of what has happened to you, because of what someone has done to you, don’t just try to ignore the shame or convince yourself that you deserve it, instead let this shame urge you to run with vigor to Jesus who cleanses you of all shame! Like this woman in our reading today, push your way through the crowd of people, and touch the hem on Jesus’ robe, and let your shame be taken away.  Jesus used the hem on His robe just like He uses water in Baptism, the pastor’s hands in Confession, and bread and wine in Communion. Here we have an abundance of God’s mercy which cleanses us from shame.

Dear Christian! These words of comfort are for you who are ashamed! “Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.” Jesus sees you in your shame, calls you His daughter, his child, and He is not ashamed of you. He gladly lets you take not just the hem of His robe, but He clothes you in His righteous garment of salvation! 

Whichever type of shame you’re suffering under, however long you’ve endured this shame, Jesus has come to cleanse and purge you from all shame and vice. Even if the world laughs at you and mocks you, like the professional mourners did to Jesus, our Lord would never be so unkind. If our Lord can raise the dead to life, and Himself rise from the dead, then so too will He raise you out of the pit of your shame and crown you with glory from on high.