12th Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 16
Luke 13:10-17
Freedom
"Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And there was a woman who had had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your infirmity." And he laid his hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight, and she praised God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the sabbath, said to the people, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be healed, and not on the sabbath day." Then the Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger, and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?" As he said this, all his adversaries were put to shame; and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him." Luke 13:10-17, RSV.
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen
When somebody has a passion for something, it shows.
Glenda, the kids, and I attended the Perry County Fair on Thursday afternoon and evening. When we first arrived, we took a walk around the whole grounds, just to get the "lay of the land".
During our walk, I remember seeing this ancient car parked near one of the exhibition buildings. It was an old Dodge Aspen two door, probably from the late 70’s, 76 or 77. It was sort of a beige off - yellow color. It was near Regester Chevrolet’s display, but I knew it couldn’t be one of theirs. Who would want it? It was ugly and it was old! I wondered what on earth it might be doing at the Fair.
My answer came after supper. Tammy and Chris were off riding on the carnival rides. Glenda and I had Patrick on the kiddie rides. All of the sudden I heard this banging. At first I was puzzled, wondering what this could possibly be. A little while later I walked toward the noise. Then I saw it. A young man was standing on top of that old Dodge and beating the day lights out of it with a sledge hammer! Fascinated with the sight, I drew closer to the booth and discovered that it was a fund raising project for the Cub Scouts. One dollar would buy you a chance to take three swings at the car.
Later on in the evening, after Patrick got tired of riding the kiddie rides, he and I went over to watch them beat at that old Aspen. The spectacle drew quite a crowd! People, mostly young men, were taking turns whacking at the Aspen. Some swung at it about half heartedly. Others put their whole bodies into it.
The scene was dominated by three or four young men. They might have been twenty but they probably weren’t out of their teens. These men were really into it. When one of them was up, you could tell! They put their heart and soul into the task. Each time one of them were up, he climbed right up on the car to take his whacks. They whacked at it time and time again. They must have spent a week’s pay a piece in order to beat on the car!
There was a sense of purpose to their action. They had a system. You see, if you knocked a door off the car, you won $5. If you knocked a hole large enough to put an egg through, you won $1. Each of these men were trying to make holes in that car. When one of them were up, he would choose a spot and beat on it. When he finally made a hole, he stayed on the car and spent the dollar he earned on extra whacks.
Those men were into it! They were into beating that car into a hunk of twisted metal. On Friday morning, there is no doubt in my mind that they woke up quite sore. But they had fun giving money to the Cub Scouts and impressing their friends with their physical strength. They were passionate about the task!1
When somebody has a passion for something, it shows.
Jesus had a passion to be kind, caring and compassionate for those people suffering around him.
A little background. The synagogue was a place for men to worship. There was a place off to the side for the women and the two did not mix.
So this lady should not of even been in the same room with Jesus and the other men, but she was.
My her thought process went something like this.
"I have been ill for many years. This new rabbi is not like the others. He seems to care. The other people accuse me of having a since or something that caused this condition, but I have heard that Jesus does not accuse, but heals. Blind men, another women who was bleeding, so maybe if I very quietly walk over the the other side, he might see me and heal me. I am going to give it a try."
She very quietly walks over to the other side. Stays in the shadows. But Jesus sees her and says: "Woman, you are freed from your infirmity." 13 And he laid his hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight, and she praised God.
Can you imagine her delight, her excitement at this event.
Her thoughts might of been these:
"He did it, he made me free! He healed me! He did not yell at me or accuse me of having a since or my family of having sinned, no He just healed me. Period. I am free, praise God."
And I would imagine that she walked over to the other side, showed the other women what happened, and then worshipped God praising Him for this freedom.
I received an e-mail for a lady this week who uses a wheelchair for mobility. She preached a lay srmon at a church in Washionton DC awhile back and she shared it with me.
As usual if you want to keep something you loose it. I lost the orginal e-mail so I don’t even remember the lady’s name, but i do remember her thoughts.
"She wondered why Jesus only healed a few people in the Bible, why not everyone? This turned her off to religion as she wondered why aftr much prayer to she herself was not healed. But then she learned that healing comes in many ways.
Maybe her healing was letting go of the hurt, the shame, the not accepting her situtation of the wheelchair and allowing the healing peace of Christ to enter her live. After she did that, she came to realize that the stories of Jesus were more than a few miracle for a few people, but a way of life, a relationship with Christ that daily allows her to accept and to be free and comfortable in her own skin."
When I was young maybe in 5th grade our teacher asked up to write a short easy about if I had a wish what would I ask for.
I wrote:
I wish that when i wake up in the morning that the first thing I could do was to get dressed in no certain order. For with wearing a long lef brace, I always had to put my socks on first, then my leg brace with the shoe attached to it, then lace up all the straps on the brace, pull my pants over the leg brace, etc. A very tendious affair.
But in my dream, wish, I would run out of the room with one shoe on one shoe off down the stairs without hanging onto the rail, outside, skipping and hoping trying to get the other shoe on. I would run as fast as I could and let the breeze flow through my hair.
I would jump as I high as I could just to feel what it was like to be off the ground.
I think from looking back on the situtation, i surprised the teacher with my wish because it most kids asked for things or the ability to go places, I wished for what others had taken for granted.
All of us at one point or another wish to be free from something. We pray, we beg, we try any thing, but then reality sinks in and we know our wish will be be answered. So we pray for the strength to live each day at the fullest with the peace and comfort and strength of Jesus Christ to lead the way!
Healing comes in many forms, and it just might be the ability to live with the reality of life and then to be comfortable in our won skins.
When somebody has a passion for something, it shows.
Then the leaders of that synagogue turned their attention to Jesus. They accused him of working on the Sabbath.
But Jesus counters that with a statement about untying an animal on the Sabbath to lead it to water and then saying or implying that if you can water an animal on the Sabbath, can’t I, Jesus, do about the same thing. Let a lady be free her bonds of this infliction.
Jesus had a passion for people not rules and regulations. Yes some rules are needed, but Jesus saw through all those artificial rules to the most basic rule that being kind to people and helping them is the most important rule.
Jesus gave only two commandments in the New Testament. We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and soul and to love our neighbor as our selves.
That is it.
Loving God means for one thing to come to worship to praise Him and listen to his word in the bible and relive God’s actions on earth through the live of His Son, Jesus.
Loving our neighbor means we are to reach out with the compassion of Christ that is in us to those around us who are hurting.
When somebody has a passion for something, it shows.
Amen
1From and sermon by Bob Stump
