"Freedom"
Luke 13:10-17
The woman crippled for 18 years and unable to stand up straight does not ask for healing.
Instead, Jesus calls her and sets her free from her disability by laying hands on her.
Her response is to stand up straight and start praising God.
Over the years, she has become used to, if not resigned, to her long and serious illness.
For 18 years this unnamed woman must strain to see the sun, the sky, and the stars.
For 18 years she has become used to looking down or just slightly ahead but never upward without a lot of difficulty.
For 18 years her world has been one of turning from side to side to see what those who stand up straight can see with just a glance.
She is used to this, and no one questions her fate.
Instead, the leader of the synagogue gets terribly offended that Jesus would heal on the Sabbath.
(pause)
What do you suppose was wrong with this woman?
What caused her to walk all bent over?
The term uses for "crippled" or "disabled" or a "spirit of infirmity"--it all depends on the translation of the Bible you are using--literally means "illness."
Have you ever seen someone walk around, stooped over--with bad posture--slumped shoulders, and eyes that will not look you in the face--only at his or her feet?
I see a lot of people like that.
Some of them come to our food pantry during the week.
Over the years, I've known a lot of teenagers that act this way.
When I lived down in Mississippi, I would come along a lot of older African American people who looked this way.
What might cause a person to be like that?
Low self esteem could cause a person to walk bent over.
Guilt can be such a heavy load to bear, that it might cause a person's back to bow.
Abuse can make people hunched over.
Ever seen a puppy that has been severely abused?
People can look like that as well.
Depression can cause people to slump their shoulders, shuffle their feet and look at the ground.
I believe that the problem with the woman in our Bible passage for this morning is spiritual, not physical.
Jesus says she had been "bound by Satan for eighteen long years..."
And haven't we all bound by Satan in one way or another?
We live in a lost and broken world.
Even our own little city has been bound by the recent terror attacks.
But for those who answer the call of Jesus; for those who do not allow hate and darkness to leave them bent over--they will stand up straight and praise the Lord!!!
J.B. Phillip's translation of the New Testament reads that the woman had been "doubled over due to some psychological cause."
This woman's problem is severe and she has had it for years.
For 18 years, she has been walking around looking at passing feet.
She cannot see the smile on the faces of strangers passing her.
Some unnamed burden has sucked the strength from her.
She can no longer stand up straight.
We can probably pretty safely assume that this woman was unhappy.
And it's hard to serve the Lord when we are unhappy.
When we are unhappy we are often focused on ourselves; we are self-absorbed.
It's hard to focus on God and on others when we are unhappy, depressed, bowed over with guilt and shame.
It's impossible to experience the abundant life Jesus promises us when we are living a "stooped over life."
And so, not only do we miss out on life...
...but others miss the blessing that our love and care for them could have on their lives.
I was speaking with someone this past week who is dealing with terrible depression and anxiety.
She doesn't like herself much.
She is convinced that she is not as good or as worthwhile as other people.
She lives with terribly low self-esteem.
As a result, although she is a very skilled trombonist, she has decided to no longer to play in the band.
She can't handle the anxiety which comes from having to perform for others.
She stays inside most days, and avoids other people as much as possible because she is afraid of rejection, afraid of other people really--afraid of herself.
She has given up on her faith in God.
She says she does not believe in Jesus.
She is, quite literally living in hell.
We don't know what caused the woman in Luke Chapter 13 to be bent over, all we know is that it was a serious problem for her...
...it robbed her of life and life abundant.
We also don't know why she came to the synagogue on the Sabbath day when Jesus was teaching there.
Was she searching for something, anything that might help alleviate the burdens she carried?
The world in Jesus' day was, quite literally, a MAN'S WORLD.
Women were considered to be the property of men.
They really had no rights.
And in some parts of ancient Palestinian culture cattle were considered to be more important than women.
Synagogues were strictly segregated by gender.
Only men were allowed in the main worship space.
The synagogue belonged to men.
Men were the only ones allowed to teach, preach and even speak.
Women could attend the synagogue, but they had to sit quietly and listen, somewhere off to the side.
So, as our story opens up Jesus is teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, and there isn't any tension going on.
It's just a regular Sabbath day until Jesus sees this woman, off to the side...this sad, lonely bent over human being.
And Jesus has compassion on her.
Suddenly, Jesus' full attention is on her.
She is extremely important to Him.
We often don't think about it, but Jesus was a radical feminist for His time.
In a day when women weren't even "second class citizens" Jesus considered them equal to men.
That's amazing in and of itself.
Notice, how, in verse 16 Jesus calls her "a daughter of Abraham"?
In other words, she was an heir according to the promise made to Abraham by God.
But women weren't heirs in those days, only men were heirs.
In any event, Jesus is teaching, and as He is teaching His eyes catch this woman--this human being who is loved by God--but who does not love herself.
And Jesus has compassion on her.
When you think of the word "compassion" what first comes to your mind?
Some of us might think of "pity".
But compassion and pity are not the same thing.
We can have pity on something or someone and then do nothing about it.
The meaning of the word "compassion" is quite literally: "with-suffering."
We do not truly have compassion unless we suffer "with" those we have compassion on.
Compassion is standing in solidarity with those who are suffering.
Compassion calls us to action.
Jesus is teaching in the synagogue and then He sees this woman...
...this hurt, broken, daughter of Abraham living a "stooped over life."
Jesus stops what He is doing.
And Jesus calls her to Him.
Jesus suffers with her.
As Jesus suffers with of us who suffer.
Notice that the woman doesn't run up and ask Jesus to heal her.
Jesus looks and sees her, and then He calls to her.
And is this not what Jesus does for all of us?
In Matthew Chapter 15 Jesus says, "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.
Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?
And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.
Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep..."
"...or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?"...
--We are the lost sheep!!!
--We are the lost coin!!!
--Jesus seeks us out...Jesus comes looking for us.
--Jesus calls our name.
--and Jesus rejoices when we come to Him!!!!!!!
Obviously, the bent over woman comes forward from her place on the margins of the synagogue when Jesus calls her because "He placed his hands on her and she straightened up at once and praised God."
Jesus touched her--despite the fact that she would have been considered unclean due to her illness and the fact that she was a female.
Jesus touched her and His touch restored her dignity--He brought her from the margins into the center of the community, but He did it on the Sabbath.
His gracious, and compassionate and life-giving actions toward this woman made the leader of the synagogue furious.
Rules had been broken.
Tradition had been challenged!!!
Starting in verse 14 it reads: "The synagogue leader, incensed that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, responded, 'There are six days during which work is permitted.
Come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.
The Lord replied, 'Hypocrites! Don't each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from its stall and lead it out to get a drink?
Then isn't it necessary that this woman, a daughter of Abraham, bound by Satan for eighteen long years, be set free from her bondage on the Sabbath day?"
So, what is the Sabbath really?
It's part of the Ten Commandments.
It was given after the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt.
It was meant to help the new and free Israelite nation become the people of God by living in ways that honored God and built good relationships.
But through the centuries, the teachers of the law added and interpreted the commandments so that they became legal requirements.
By Jesus' day there were many things that a person could or could not do on the Sabbath.
And so the Sabbath had become a burden rather than a day of rest, a day of delight, a day for transformation and freedom.
We do that with God's Laws and teachings a lot do we not?
Christianity, which is about loving God and neighbor--being freed from the bondage of Satan...
...being freed from self-absorption and self-pity...
...being freed from living the "stooped over life"...
...when it is misinterpreted and misrepresented--it can lead to the "bent over life."
In Mark Chapter 2, when Jesus and His disciples are...
...once again, accused of breaking the Sabbath Jesus declares: "The Sabbath was created for humans, humans weren't created for the Sabbath."
In Isaiah Chapter 58 it says: "If you stop trampling on the Sabbath...and consider it a delight...
...then you will delight in the Lord.
I will let you ride on the heights of the earth; I will sustain you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob.
The mouth of the Lord has spoken."
The Sabbath is to be a delight; not a burden.
The Sabbath was made for renewal, new life, transformation, healing.
The Sabbath was created in order to set us free.
In our Scripture passage for this morning, Jesus gives us insight about what the Sabbath really means.
It is given to enhance life, not stifle it.
It is given in grace and compassion.
It is a positive affirmation of humanity.
And as Christians, the Sabbath is to be every day.
In Christ, every day is the day to stand up straight with confidence and courage.
Every day is the day to live lives of compassion.
Every day is the day to heed the call of Christ on our lives.
Every day is a day of renewal and delight.
Every day, we are called by Christ to be set free from the bondage of Satan and live into that life that is abundant and is only found in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If you haven't yet done so, isn't it time to stop living the "stooped over life"?
Come to Jesus.
He is calling your name.
Allow His love for you to transform your love for yourself, for God, and for neighbor.
Allow Jesus to cause you to stand up straight!!!
And then praise God; praise God; praise God!!!
Amen.
