Luke
13:10-17, Isaiah 58:9b-14
It is the Sabbath
and Jesus is teaching in the synagogue when all of a sudden he stops and calls
someone over. It is a woman. A woman who for the last eighteen years has been
living her life crippled and bent over. When Jesus sees her he desires to put
an end to her suffering immediately. “Woman,” he says, “you are set free from
your ailment.” And upon touching her she stands up straight and begins praising
God.
What a moment of
joy. But there’s a problem. The healing is fine. It’s the timing. For this is the
Sabbath day. The day set aside by God
to rest from one’s labor. Six days, argues the synagogue leader, "there
are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured,
but not on the Sabbath."
Now, it’s all too
easy for us - or at least it is for me - to hear this story and simply cast the
synagogue leader in the role of “bad guy.” To think something along the lines
of, “What a jerk. He’s just way too uptight about rules. Thank God I’m not like
that.” But if that’s our response, we close ourselves off to the transforming
and freeing work that Jesus seeks to do not just in that leader, but in us as
well. For if we are truly honest can’t we all admit that there are some
situations where we get stuck? Where we dig in our heels insisting that the
rules must prevail? Resisting change even when it might benefit others? Of
course we have our reasons. Good reasons, we’d say. Just as the synagogue
leader would say. I mean, you can’t get more righteous and rigid than when you
think you are on the side of God. But even well-meaning rules, traditions, or
theological convictions can be wrong. Sometimes so wrong that they are harmful
to others what Jesus challenges in us today.
For God always,
always preferences people over rules. Now in this particular situation Jesus
rebuts the synagogue leader by pointing out that actually there are allowances
made in the Sabbath law to care for ox and donkey. How much more then, Jesus
reasons, does this daughter of Abraham deserve the same care and consideration
- to be set free from her bondage - now, on this Sabbath day? It’s not that the
Sabbath laws don’t matter, but people - all people - matter more. The
well-being of people always takes priority over traditions, rules or laws, no
matter how cherished or justified they may be.
This message is
nothing new. The prophet Isaiah, among others in the Old Testament, speaks this
word as well. Today we hear Isaiah declare that God’s people will flourish when
they begin to act justly and honor the Sabbath. Acts of religious devotion,
like honoring the Sabbath, are intimately and necessarily connected with social
justice for all. They are so intertwined that one cannot be teased out from the
other. Here God specifically wants his people to remove the yoke of oppression,
to refrain from contempt and slander, to take care of those in need. But the
way our translation puts it, that is to “offer your food to the hungry and
satisfy the needs of the afflicted,” really doesn’t do the original Hebrew
justice. What it literally says is, “extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy
the afflicted soul.” This is not a call to just be a nice person, to do random
acts of charity, and then go about business as usual. This is a call to invest
our very selves into the well-being of all others. For whether we are listening
to the words of Isaiah or watching the deeds of Jesus the message is always
about recognizing the sacred worth of people and responding accordingly.
Freeing people from systems and structures that bind. Bringing into the fold
those who have been cast out. Drawing the circle wider. That’s honoring the
Sabbath and acting justly, loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself.
As I was
reflecting on this message and thinking about today, Emily Rutledge, our
Children, Youth & Family Minister, came to mind. She came to mind because
from the very start, her ministry has been informed by God’s preference for
people and call for inclusion. In fact, one of the first things she did when
she came to Church of Our Saviour was guided by this vision. Up until her
arrival the tradition was that the gathering of teenage kids in our church was
called, like in so many other churches, the Youth Group. Right away Emily
changed that. The Youth Group became the Youth Community because, as I understand
it, she was sensitive to the fact that a “group” can often have a closed,
cliquish feeling about it while calling something a “community” sends a subtle
but important message of openness and welcome - especially to those who might
feel as if they don’t fit in any other place. Then, after some time here, she
made God’s care and inclusion even more explicit when she started using the tag
line, “You BELONG here.” It’s on every message that Emily sends out and infused
in the programs she creates. You BELONG here. In all of her ten years, Emily
has sought to create an authentic and loving community in Christ where everyone
can thrive. And over those years that ministry and community has grown to
include not just teenagers, but all the children of this parish as well as
their parents. Now I’m sure she’d be the first to say that sometimes her hopes
for inclusion and belonging don’t always pan out. Nonetheless, that is her aim
and it’s one of the many reasons we celebrate her presence among us today.
But it’s not just
Emily that has been tapped with the ministry of God’s radical preference for
people. Indeed, we are all called to this ministry. To bring into the fold
those who have previously been left out. To extend our very souls in the work
of justice and equity. To draw the circle ever wider so that all of God’s
children, both daughters and sons of Abraham alike, might know that they
really, really BELONG. This is our vision. This is our call. This is our
privilege. To be partners with God in the healing of this world knowing that
one day we all will stand up straight, set free from the bondage of our
ailments, and praise God together.
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