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14th Sunday after Pentecost, 08/25/2013
Sermon on Luke 13:10-17, by Andrew D. Smith
10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your disability." 13 And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. 14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, "There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day." 15 Then the Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?" 17 As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Jesus is teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath and He sees this poor woman all bent over who can't stand up straight and He heals her. Her problem, says Luke the physician: she has a disfiguring spirit. But before we go running off with a modern diagnosis of scoliosis or even osteoporosis, let's read the Biblical text at face value, with the eyes and ears of first century listeners as much as we can. There's a prevailing attitude about ancient peoples that they were just pre-scientific, superstitious people who thought all disease was caused by demonic possession. I'm fairly certain that's not entirely accurate. When Jesus sends out the twelve at the beginning of chapter 9, He makes a distinction between casting out demons and healing the sick. And there is a interesting distinction in this text too. Did you catch it? While Jesus does lay hands on her to heal her, there is no direct exorcism here. This seems to hint at something about the very nature of disease and disfigurement in the Biblical notion of humanity. Sure, some people do become completely possessed by the demonic, by individual or multiple demons (Mt 17:14-23; 8:28-34). But this woman that Jesus meets and heals is representative of another, more subtle aspect the nature of humankind since the Fall of Adam and Eve.
All of humanity is plagued, oppressed if you will, by power of evil in this world. While this poor woman might not have been directly possessed by a demon in the same manner as others that Jesus encounters, she has been this way for 18 years, the text says, "bound" as in an oppressive state. And here's my point bound up in the language of bondage and oppression. Jesus has come not just to teach about the bound nature of humankind to disorder and disease and the fiendish powers of rebellion against God's good order, He has come to set people free from them.
I just visited an 88-year old woman in a nursing care facility who was distraught over the prospect of the surgical removal of the other 4 toes on her foot. It is an attempt to stop the advance of gangrene up her leg as a result of diabetes. "Why?" she asks. What did she do to deserve this? And the answer, of course, is she didn't do anything. The disease in her body has caused this. Her pancreas just burned out. It's so normal to us now and we forget. We forget that we were not meant to live this way. We were not created to live in a world filled with disorder and decay and disease. We were created to live in God's very good garden where there were no such maladies. When Jesus came, He came to restore the order of God's very good creation. The Church has faithfully preached over many centuries that Jesus' coming was to forgive sins but the kingdom of God is not merely limited to a spiritual renewal. Jesus came to restore God's perfect ordered intent for creation for us. He came to restore this woman bent over so that she could not stand up straight. He came to restore my old friend in the nursing home loosing toes to death creeping into her flesh.
And what better day to do this restoration work than on the Sabbath, the day of God's blessing to His people. This poor woman is loosed from her bond on the blessed Sabbath of God. Jesus is certainly making a larger point than merely a singular healing because this healing takes place on the Sabbath, this bond is loosed on the Sabbath, setting this woman right again, setting one little corner of the kingdom right again, restoring order to one more person who was suffering from the chaos brought by the rebellion of Adam. It's all set right for her on the Sabbath. Jesus not only sets this poor woman right again, He's making a further point about the Sabbath. He's even setting the Sabbath right. The Sabbath, which had been given by God as gift and blessing, had been turned into a measuring stick for one's piety or even worse, a club to hit others with. Jesus comes to restore the blessing to Sabbath sets a precedent for the loosing of sins and the healing that comes from the new Sabbath. Jesus is the Sabbath. He brings the Kingdom of God to lose those bound to sin and its effects.
How are the misguided Jews of Jesus' day any different than us today? What have we turned Sabbath into? Something to get over with as quickly as possible so that we can get on with the rest of our day, so that we can squeeze in a little more shopping, or a little more camping or a little more golf, or a little more football, or so we can beat the Baptists to Cracker Barrel. And that's if we bother to come to church at all. How often do we give into the temptation to ditch church so that we can fit in these other things or make up for having fit in so much of them the night before? I don't think anyone's perfectly remembering the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. I'm certainly not. I realized this, this past weekend as I led a retreat for a group of Lutheran women. With the work done, I did rest, even in the leading of the services. It was a big difference from my anxious Sunday morning "game day" focusing on details to get right rather than on the Word of God to listen and keep. Is there a way to find a balance for even a pastor on Sunday morning, or a Sunday school teacher, or a faithful fellowship hour attendant, or a nursery watcher or a choir member, or an organist, or elder?
Remember we don't do on Sunday morning to do, we come to God's house on Sunday morning to be, not to do. The Lord who gathers us here is the One who does-He calls us together, He speaks, He forgives, He restores, He makes new, He feeds, He sends. All that He does, He does for us, blessing us with His presence, bestowing His gifts on us, serving us from His very own table. In the 1960's and 70's, the leaders of liturgical renewal movement made a big deal about the liturgy being the work of the people, and it is, but the work of the people is not merely limited to the worship hour on Sunday morning, as if the best expression of the people of God would be to get everyone doing something during that one hour on Sunday. A somewhat different understanding is to see the Lord Himself as host, inviting us and gathering us together in His house around His table to serve us. It would be a poor host, indeed, who calls his guests to do the work instead of sharing in the benefits of the work that has already been completed. Liturgy is the work of the people but that work is not limited to Sunday morning and in that sense, our understanding of "liturgy" should expand to encompass all the work we do as Christians in our various callings. The Lord's Day is His gift to us.
Jesus healed this woman, this child of God and made straight her crooked back. He overcomes the evil infested world and corrects even if but a tiny corner of it. Today, Jesus makes straight your crookedness. Your sins are forgiven. You who have turned the Sabbath into your own day rather than keep it as the Lord's Day, you are set straight again. Your life and purpose are renewed. You have been invited to the table to of the Lord to celebrate what He has done for you at the cross. This Sabbath day, the Lord extends to you His blessing and His peace. Keep it all gladly. Receive it as the gift it is for you. Here now and in you now Jesus makes right one more little corner of the world, extending His kingdom on earth, even as it is in heaven. How great a privilege it is to receive such a gift! What will you do with this week? Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Zusätzliche Medien:
Luke 13:10-17 [English Standard Version, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.]