She was bent over. For eighteen years. Imagine being this woman. All she could see were other people’s feet – and her own. Her back must have been killing her. Every day. And yet, she was there for worship. She showed up. Maybe she was there to pray for release. Or maybe she had given up on the idea of healing… but she went to worship anyway.
She had heard that a travelling Rabbi was going to speak that morning but by time she got to worship – it takes a long time to walk with your head always faced down--all the best seats close up were taken. But she couldn’t see him anyway. All she could see was her feet.
It turned out that she didn’t need to see Jesus – because Jesus could see her. Jesus and could see that she is hurting. He calls to her – and, even though she could feel the eyes of the whole congregation on her, she comes. She hobbled over, head down, not knowing what would happen. She might have been afraid.
For there was a belief at the time – it’s still around today – called the Prosperity Gospel. This belief holds that anyone who was afflicted – like the bent-over woman -- must have done something wrong. This belief assumes that God gives prosperity and wealth to those God favors – that these are the ones whom God loves – and that the ones who are in poverty and hurting are that way because …they have done something wrong.
But that’s not what Jesus teaches. Luke calls the cause of her suffering a spirit. Jesus calls it Satan – which is to say, the forces of evil.
In the Magnificat, Jesus’ mother Mary proclaims that her child will be the Savior of the world who has come with mercy to lift up the lowly. And in his first sermon, Jesus proclaims that the Spirit of the Lord has anointed him to bring good news to the poor, release to the captive, sight to the blind and to set free those who are oppressed.
When Jesus sees this bent-over woman, a daughter of Abraham, a child of God, he sees a woman who is oppressed. And he acts to set her free.
Jesus calls her to himself, proclaims her released from her ailment and places his hands on her back – even though touching a woman, especially one with an ailment, was forbidden for a rabbi. Yet Jesus doesn’t hesitate. As he places his hand on her back, she immediately straightens up and responds by praising God with a shout of JOY!
What a miracle! There should have been dancing in the street. And yet… not everyone was rejoicing. The leader of the congregation stood up and said, “This is against the rules.” It’s the sabbath. If you want to heal her, fine. But it could have waited until your office hours in the morning. Today you should be honoring God – and not working.”
At that moment, I can just imagine all the air suddenly going out of the room. It sounds like a clash of values. What’s better? Healing a poor woman or “honoring the Sabbath?” It’s wonderful to see this woman healed, miraculously – but honoring the Sabbath is not only a strong value, but it’s a commandment, one of the big 10 Commandments. So what were people to think?
Jesus shows the leader – and us – that the best way to honor the Sabbath, the best way to honor God, is by showing love – to God and to the neighbor. For every day is a good day to show God’s love and mercy.
This is in keeping with God’s law and Christ’s way. Jesus teaches us that the two greatest commandments are to love God and love the neighbor. Every other law from God depends upon following these two commandments FIRST. For every day is a good day to show God’s love and mercy.
This is why Jesus not only heals the bent-over woman but names her as a daughter of Abraham. By naming her as part of the family of God, he restores her to the community. This is important because even though the woman is now healed, she still needs community – maybe more now than ever before. For her situation has changed. When first healed, the woman rejoiced and praised God. And when Jesus restored her to the community – they can join in to rejoice with her.
When I was in college, I decided to take a phy-ed class in swimming because I was not born here in the land of 10,000 lakes and did not even learn how to swim until I moved here. And I still wasn’t very comfortable in the water. So I took this class, hoping to learn a few strokes and improve. However, unbeknownst to me, the swim team also took swimming as a class – just for the phy ed credit and as a way to practice. Every week, the instructor would pick a new stroke and ask everyone do the stroke across the pool. Then he would invite everyone to get out of the pool –except for three people – who would do the stroke again -- two good examples and one bad example of the stroke. Guess who was always the bad example. Yep. It was me. I was the perfect bad example of how to do the stroke – and apparently the swim team learned from me what not to do.
In the same way, the leader is a great “bad example” for us to learn from. He was trying to follow the law. He clearly saw himself as a gatekeeper, a rule-follower. So I have some sympathy for him – but I also see in him an example that we need to avoid. He thought he knew all the rules. He thought he knew exactly what God wanted and saw himself as an enforcer of God’s law.
But Jesus gave us a much better understanding of what God wants us to do and how God wants us to act toward our neighbor. This past week I was talking with some of our neighbors next door whose rent was messed up during the pandemic. They were bent over with anxiety about their housing. I don’t know much about housing rules but I was able to call someone who did know someone who could help.
What I did wasn’t much – but what I can do and what you can do is find ordinary ways to encourage one another and show love and kindness to each other. After all, EVERY day is a Good Day to share God’s love and mercy.
The other day I was talking with a woman who was clearly in absolutely the right job. She was serving as a nurse – and she loved it. And yet, she told me that she was almost stopped from pursing this career. Apparently, she hadn’t been a very good student in high school and so when she told her counselor that she wanted to be a nurse, the counselor tried to steer her another way, suggesting that she wasn’t “college material.”
To be fair, the counselor was just looking at the data available and from her perspective all she could see was a student who was bent over. But maybe she – and we -- need to broaden our perspective so that we can see people as Jesus sees them and encourage them. For every day is a good day to show God’s love and mercy – and to encourage one another.
Jesus saw this nurse and empowered her to do the work that she loves. Jesus saw her as part of the family of God who could be set free to love and serve and praise God.
And Jesus sees you.
So…even when you feel burdened with the weight of the world on your shoulders, with cares and concerns about health or work or family or anything else… remember this: Jesus sees you and has come to set you – and your neighbor -- free.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us remember this: every day is a good day to receive God’s love and mercy – and every day is a good day to share God’s love and mercy. So let us bring our cares and concerns to Jesus - regardless of how bent-over you or your neighbor may feel. For Jesus sees you – and your neighbor and Jesus has come to set you all free so that together, you can rejoice and sing God’s praises. Thanks be to God. Amen.
August 21, 2022 Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane