August 26, 2007
Rev. Linda Fernandes-Bailey
To Live Free and Whole
Last week I preached about the challenge of following Jesus and how Jesus comes to both comfort and challenge us, but that we tend to focus on the comfort, and consequently have turned Jesus into gentle Jesus, meek and mild. BUT in last week’s scripture lesson Jesus says “Do you think I’ve come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” It is a passage that clearly portrays Jesus as edgy and challenging, not meek and mild. Jesus comes to challenge the status quo…to tip everything upside down…to bring about the reign of God where all are loved and fed and justice prevails. If you read the gospels you find that scripture portrays Jesus as both comforting and challenging.
Today I thought I would stay with that theme since it is fitting for today’s scripture lesson. Jesus is in the synagogue on the Sabbath when a crippled woman appears. Her affliction makes it impossible for her to stand up straight. So, for eighteen years she is bent over. Now, if you have ever tried walking around bent over, you will quickly discover it is not very comfortable. When you try to look up or around, it hurts your neck and if you stay there long enough everything starts to hurt. So, imagine EIGHTEEN YEARS. Jesus sees the woman walk in and he approaches her, she doesn’t ask anything of him. But when he calls her over she goes towards him and he says “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” Then he lays his hand upon her and she stands tall and begins to praise God. Free at last. Thank God almighty free at last. But the leader in the synagogue is not happy and tries to remind everyone that the Sabbath law forbids work on the Sabbath. Over and over he tries to remind them. We must follow the law. He’s just trying to be faithful and maintain his Jewish identity. What on earth is this Jesus doing? “You hypocrites!” says Jesus. A favorite saying of Jesus it seems, we heard the same phrase last week, didn’t we? “Does not each of you 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 who Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day? Isn’t this human being, a child of God, more important than your laws? Shouldn’t she be unbound too? The crowd began to rejoice when Jesus said this. The crowd rejoiced and the woman praised God isn’t that what we do on Sabbath….praise God?
Clearly this story is one of both comfort and challenge. This woman has received radical grace now if that’s not comforting I don’t know what is. Although the synagogue leader accuses her of asking for healing on the Sabbath no where does the text indicate that she asked for anything. Jesus sees her affliction and calls her forth, lays a hand on her and heals her. The out stretched hand of radical love sets her free and she stands tall. But the synagogue leader is so bent on law it doesn’t make sense to him that a human being set free could be more important than the law. He’s just trying to be faithful.
Sometimes in our effort to be faithful….to get it right….to live right we become self-righteous. We become judgmental and unloving. It’s us against them. We are Christian they are not. You can only be a Christian if you do it THIS way. So we set up standards of what it means to be a Christian. Some do it by banning gays and lesbians full participation in the life church, some by barring those who have been divorced….there is no end to the ways that we can cling to the letter of the law. We cling so tightly we forget about the hard work of loving our neighbor and our enemies. We forget that throughout scripture Jesus questions the wisdom of putting the letter of the law before love. No matter who someone is or what they have done Jesus stretches out his hand to offer healing and hope, forgiveness and love. When we cling tightly to the letter of the law we often forget human beings. We forget to listen to their story before we dole out our judgment.
In the ancient world during the time of Jesus’ ministry, according to scholar Helen Bruch Pearson, “to be possessed by a spirit of infirmity meant that a person was considered to be demented or demon possessed. Demons were considered noxious and unclean spirits that caused physical abnormalities and mental illnesses of all kinds. These demons were thought to visit persons who were not only disobedient to God’s will, but who also refused to accept redemption that was found in strict obedience to God’s laws.” [1]So, their belief system reinforced their judgment. From their point of view it was this women’s fault that she was crippled. She was not obedient to God’s law. She was not obedient to God’s will. They don’t even want to be around her really. To be near her is to be near evil. She is cast aside to the margins of society. And don’t we continue this same pattern. We say and think things like: People are poor because they’re lazy. All they have to do is pick themselves up by the bootstraps. Isn’t that what we say rather than challenge the laws that keep people in poverty? Before we ban abortion shouldn’t we ask why woman find themselves in the situation to begin with? Before we judge we need to remember behind every life situation is a human being who is hurting. Jesus stretches out his hand to offer healing and hope and challenges the law that keeps people bound. Jesus comes to show us a God of Love. We need to stop using our faith as an excuse to be self-righteous…an excuse to judge others. Jesus doesn’t say to this woman “if you had followed the law…if you had resisted evil…if you had been more obedient to God’s will…this would not have happened. NO! He stretches out his hand and offers healing. He sets her free. She is no longer invisible. She is a child of God, beloved and beautiful.
In her book “Do What You Have The Power to Do” Helen Brach Pearson tells a story of her experience as a volunteer working with a twelve year old girl named Jonella. Jonella was a victim of oppressive circumstances: inadequate healthcare, improper diet, racism, poverty and child abuse. She was in a class for learning disabilities which is where Helen met her. She had never spoken a word in her teacher’s presence or responded to any request to read or write. Helen sat next to her day after day. Sometimes she would speak to Jonella, but mostly she was just there….a presence…someone who showed up day after day. One day when she was leaving, Jonella came up to her and kissed her hand and thrust a crumpled piece of paper in it. It was a letter written in big, bold, bright orange letters…Jonella’s favorite color. And the letter read:
“Dear Mrs. Person,
I know you like buterflys and rainbos. Now I like them to. When you came to my room no budy ever talked to me or nuthin. Nobody choze me. Nobudy tuhced me. No budy called me by name. I was invisible to most everbudy, but you. You sat with me close in my seat. You talked with me not past me. You tuched me. It felt good to have sumone hug me when you say my name I’m not invisible anymore. I’m ME! I didn’t understand about butterflys and rainbos at furst but now I do. My heart has helped open my eyes. I see butterflys and rainbos lots of places now. I even feel safe to tell you I love you. Jonella”[2]
Jesus comes both to comfort and to challenge. He lays his hand upon us and invites us to be free from all that binds us….free from worn-out beliefs…free from clinging to the letter of the law…free from shame, hopelessness and pain. Jesus reveals to us the God of love who in our darkness is a beacon of light. May our faith keep us from judgment and compel us to stretch out a hand offering Christ’s love. Amen