Set Free on the Sabbath

(Note: due to scheduling issues, video of this week’s sermon is unavailable.)

One thing we can say about Jesus – he was not very good at following the rules. Jesus was not afraid to be disruptive; to shake up the status quo; to do something new for the sake of the coming of the kin-dom of God.

Today we find Jesus teaching at the synagogue on the Sabbath. That, in itself, was not unusual. Jesus was a devout Jew; he knew the commandments; he had studied the law. It was his practice to observe the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment God had given the Hebrew people: Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. (Ex 20:8)

Jesus knew God intended the Sabbath to be a day of rest: Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work. (Ex 20:9).

Jesus also knew the Sabbath was a day of liberation: But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. (Deut 5:14-15).

Rest and liberation. Gifts from God for the people of God. Life-giving practices intended for all people.

So, when Jesus is leaving the synagogue on this particular Sabbath and he sees a woman right in front of him; bent over on herself; unable to stand up straight; unable to move freely; unable to see the world around her; crippled and impaired by an evil spirit (Satan), he does not hesitate to do what is right. Jesus calls the woman over to him, speaks to her and lays hands on her; he sets her free from her ailment.

The woman stands up. Now she’s able to move freely, without pain and stiffness. She is set free to be the person God created her to be; set free to love and serve within her community. She responds with praise and thanksgiving to God; worshiping God; giving thanks for the new life she has been given by Jesus.

This is what the kin-dom of God on earth as in heaven looks like.

Such is the power of God to restore and repair the world through the healing Word and touch of Jesus.

Not everyone is happy about the woman’s sudden good fortune, that she is has been healed after eighteen years of suffering. Curing someone on the Sabbath is “work”, according to the leader of the synagogue and it is not allowed. Rules are rules and they must be followed. No deviation allowed. After all, this is the way we have always done it.

Now it is the religious leaders who are bent over on themselves; unable to move freely; unable to see the world around them; crippled and impaired and held in bondage by an evil spirit. In their mind, it is better to follow the letter of the law and live in bondage and pain rather than follow the Spirit of truth and live in freedom and in love.

No wonder Jesus gets angry and calls out the hypocrisy of the leaders’ way of thinking; their belief that rules are more important than loving the people standing right in front of us.

Perhaps Jesus is angry that the religious leaders do not see that he is standing right in front of them, calling them, ready to set them free from what ails them, if they only turn and listen to his words and receive his healing touch.

In Jesus’ world – that is, in the kin-dom of God – there are two great commandments to follow – love God and love your neighbor.

In Jesus’ world, remembering the Sabbath – the day God created to be a day of rest and liberation – is one way we love God – worshiping God with praise and thanksgiving – and one way we love our neighbor – by giving and receiving and sharing the healing Word and touch of Jesus with each other.

Giving and receiving and sharing healing on the Sabbath releases us from the pain and bondage of our own past suffering – releases us from whatever has us bent over on ourselves; unable to move freely; unable to see the world around us; crippled and impaired by an evil spirit.

Sabbath healing opens up the way to new life for you and me and for all people. It creates space for something new to happen. It offers the possibility of change.

Oh – there it is – I said it out loud – Sabbath healing offers us the possibility of change.

And perhaps that is the leaders in the synagogue feared the most. Perhaps that is what we also fear – that when we open ourselves up to the healing Word and touch of Jesus, that healing will change us…in ways we neither predict nor control.

Healing changes us…to be more open…to love God more deeply…to follow Jesus more faithfully…to listen more intently for the Holy Spirit to guide us…to love our neighbors – ALL our neighbors – as quirky and diverse and bent over on themselves as they might be.

Healing changes us…and breaks us open…and expands our capacity to love and serve and grow and adapt, as circumstances change around us (and, let’s face it, we are living in time when circumstances are changing every day).

God’s healing love for us, given to us through Jesus Christ, changes us…and that’s the point.

That’s why Jesus came to this earth – to live among us and show us and tell us and heal us with the good news that God loves each one of us, for God is full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. (Ps 103:8).

Then Jesus says Follow me. (Luke 5:27; 9:23).

The good news for today is that Jesus is standing right in front of you, right here and now, ready to heal you; ready to set you free from whatever has you in bondage and in pain; ready to set you free to love God and love your neighbor; to set you free to have life and have it abundantly.

Turn to Jesus when he calls you. Listen to his healing Word speaking to you through scripture and song and prayer. Receive his healing touch in the bread and wine; the waters of baptism; the cross on your forehead; the blessing in your ear.

Then leave this place, rejoicing and praising God, and follow Jesus. Tell everyone you meet all the wonderful things Jesus has done for you and for all the world.