The Reading
Luke 13:10-17
Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day." But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.
The Sermon
Really, Really! Was this
holy man upset that a handicapped woman had been cured of her
suffering on the Sabbath. I think this man, this leader of the
synagogue was afraid. He feared that Jesus with his following and
often challenging words toward the authorities, was going to take
away the power of the leader's position. He was not concerned about
doing God's will so much as holding onto his position as a leader in
the face of this perceived usurper.
I have had leadership
positions in my life and I have observed people who were busy
protecting their positions of power. Also, some people just plain do
not like change. It makes them uncomfortable so they often times
hide behind the rules.
I remember when I was on
the city council we would sometimes make an effort to change the
rules and people would get very upset. Near the end of my time as a
councilman I promoted a change in the residential speed limit from 35
to 25 miles per hour. I had had calls from parents that cars going
that fast on residential streets were posing a danger to their
children. The reality was that if the speed limit was 35 then you
could actually go 40 without getting a ticket. After the change was
finally passed people began to understand that the safety of children
and adults was more important than that ten extra mph.
Jesus was all about the
big picture. He knew this woman had been suffering for eighteen long
years and he had the power to change her condition in a moments time.
Yes, the letter of the law said no work. The spirit of the law was
that for one day out of their week people could rest and spend their
time being God centered. Jesus knew this woman had had no rest for
so many years. Jesus knew and had witnessed people doing work on the
sabbath and it just made sense for him to cure this woman so that
she would be free from her ailment.
Jesus was all about common
sense. If he was thirsty he would ask someone who was considered
unclean by the rules for a drink. He broke the rules by washing the
feet of the disciples in order to send a message of the importance of
humility and servitude. He said to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s
but to direct your spiritual energy to God.
The Episcopal church does
it's best to emulate the life of Christ. Jesus saw scripture as a
guiding principle. He honored tradition when it made sense. He used
common sense throughout his ministry. As followers of Jesus, we
Episcopalians hold true to scripture, tradition and common sense as
well. These three guiding principles of scripture, tradition and
reason give power to our own ministry just as it did for Jesus so
many years ago.
Amen
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