Isaiah 58:9b-14, Luke 13:10-17
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
So many of our thoughts are centered on the possible consequences of our actions; inside we (most of us) believe that all that we do, in some way, will either benefit or hurt us in the future. And why not? Much of our way of life is based on this concept (we do something stupid and we fall and maybe later on in life we feel the aches and pains caused by our youthful indiscretions.), Scripture describes a cause and effect life code (sin and punishment are described as going hand in hand); and our legal system dictates that crime and punishment are supposed to be linked. Yet there are realities of life that challenge all of these; some people do all kinds of dangerous things and tend not to get hurt, there are passages in Scripture that challenge the whole idea of sin resulting in punishment and our legal system fails more often than not, to impart the appropriate consequences upon the guilty. With regard to God’s Law Jesus said a lot to suggest that God will right all wrongs in eternity, but he also suggests that God through his sacrifice will simply forgive all the sins committed.
Everything is not as black and white as we might like to think.
Look at the Sabbath Law as it is highlighted by Isaiah; you would think that the Sabbath was sacrosanct, that the Sabbath was not to be set aside for any reason, that it is to be honored and never to be trampled upon. Then we have the leader of the synagogue, of our Gospel story of today; we criticize him because he seemed to oppose Jesus, but he was doing nothing more than expressing the acceptable interpretation of the Sabbath Law from Scripture, as understood in his day. To give him credit, he was not telling Jesus not to heal the woman, in fact, he does not address Jesus at all, he yelled at the woman and anyone else in the crowd who may be wanting Jesus to heal them, simply to come back for healing on another day. Jesus’ response (though) was strong; he came right out and called the gathered worshippers’ hypocrites (which included that synagogue leader), and reminded them of how they all without fail cared for and rescued (when needed) their livestock, even on the Sabbath.
I had a couple of weeks away from regular TV on the ship while on vacation, so when I came home my awareness of the content of TV commercials and such was heightened. (There were no commercials on the TV aboard the ship.) It struck me, just how often the channels that I watched, aired those commercials about abused animals and about the agencies that provide care for abandoned and unwanted animals or that protected endangered species. Part of what I realized was that, except for the occasional commercial for St. Jude’s Hospital and the rare commercial about starving children in Africa, there were almost no commercials concerning the care of human beings. There were no commercial about caring for abused or abandoned children explaining how we can help such children, and there plenty of such children.
As I thought about it, I began to consider the possibility that we might care more about our four-legged companions than we do our fellow human beings; I know I have friends, one in particular that I joke about, who would quicker come to the aid of an animal than a human. And, it appears that this isn’t new; this is a part of Jesus’ message to the leaders and worshippers within the synagogue. Now don’t get me wrong, I have a cat; in the past I’ve had dogs, birds, lizards, frogs, turtles, hamsters, you name it; I understand that when you accept a pet and even a farm animal, you make a commitment to care for it; I agree; I would never suggest that we abandon or mistreat or fail to take care of an animal in my care. Jesus’ concern was that we should commit to take care of each other with equal or greater zeal. Like, the woman that he healed. She needed God’s healing and it would not be right to allow her to suffer even one more day. If they were to learn nothing else, they were to learn that their commitment to care for their fellow human beings was of greater importance than caring for the animals they care for and the Sabbath.
That is a part of Jesus’ message. But it is not all of it.
Jesus also wanted to give that suffering woman the opportunity for Sabbath rest. By taking away her suffering he was giving her the opportunity to experience shalom, to be able to stand up straight, to be at peace, to enjoy a feeling of wellbeing and to bend over (by choice) to humble herself and give thanks to God. Something she had not been able to do for at least 18 years. By Jesus’ response to the leader and the others he was humbling them and lifting the woman up, making her important, maybe more important than the leader and the others in attendance. The woman, now healed, could truly honor the Sabbath in all the ways described by Isaiah.
Back in Philly, there was this homeless guy, Gilbert, who would come to the church on a Sunday (once in a while); a member would help him out a bit, but before that, someone would invite him in to sit down and worship with us, which he did; and for a short time Gilbert was accepted, he was safe, he was warm or cool, he could rest and he was at peace; he had sabbath. Maybe that is what this healing was all about. Jesus and the woman were not breaking the Sabbath Law, Jesus was making it possible for the woman to truly celebrate the Sabbath. I’m pretty certain that, initially, Gilbert did not come to church on Sundays to celebrate the Sabbath, but I believe he continued to come back occasionally on Sundays as much for the opportunity to worship and be in peace, as for the food or money that he was given.
You too can give the opportunity for sabbath, for peace just as did Jesus, as did that congregation in Philly with Gilbert, as you do now with each other and visitors. I here of this care that you give again and again, how you provide comfort and the opportunity for sabbath to those who come her, to each other; well you can expand that by offering this to a friend, by inviting a neighbor, by bringing a home bound member to church, or by inviting a coworker. Sabbath is something we all very much need. Jesus set for us an example by healing and giving Sabbath to that woman. We can follow his example by offering Sabbath to those around us and especially to those whom we meet who need God’s peace.