- You can be fined $25 for flirting.
- You can get the death penalty for jumping off a building.
- You can’t walk around with an ice-cream cone in your pocket on a Sunday.
- You can’t wear slippers after 10 pm.
Now there’s a good story to be told about the genesis of each and every one of those laws. I’m sure that if we had the full history we’d find out that there was a logical reason for the law in a specific time in a specific locale. (I’m sure today that the State Supreme Court could strike these laws down as being overly broad or already covered by existing laws, but why waste our tax dollars? Especially when the highway department already is doing such a good job of it!) If you ever want to browse around some funny stuff like this, check out www.dumblaws.com.
England has a lot of laws like this because their judicial history goes back so far. For instance, you can’t have an open flame on a boat on the Thames. Well, when that law was passed, an open flame would be a sign of aggression and the people on the boat were obviously going to set fire to Londontown. But what about today? Wouldn’t it seem crazy if the London Police arrested a chef on board one of the many dinner cruises that go up and down the Thames?
Our reading this morning is from the Gospel of Saint Luke, Chapter 13. We’ll begin at verse 10.
On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. (Luke 13: 10 – 13)
I’m going to remember this woman the next time I’m having a hard time getting out of bed on a Sunday morning. She was a crippled woman, bent over like a question mark. Over the course of eighteen years she had gone from looking people in the face to just being able to see her feet in the dirt. It must have been hard to navigate around town; it must have been a physical hardship to get there. That’s not even mentioning her emotional hardships—in her culture, a person who developed a handicap or sickness would have been viewed as someone God was punishing for a sin. But despite all of her sufferings she was at the synagogue, worshipping. She was faithful above and beyond the call of duty.
Jesus sees her and reacts with compassion—“Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” He touches her, and suddenly her body changes from the shape of a question mark into an exclamation point! She praises God! It’s party time!
Or is it? There’s always one Debbie Downer in the crowd! Look at verse 14.
Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”
The Sabbath. We commonly call it the day of rest. In the Book of Genesis, Chapter 2, we read that God created the world in six days, and on the seventh day he rests. I was taught that God established a pattern for us to follow. I still think that’s a valid argument.
That’s where the synagogue ruler is coming from. He knows his scriptures. It’s the Sabbath. Nobody can do any work—that’s the rules. And they apply to everybody—including this Jesus guy.
But listen to what I found in Deuteronomy, Chapter 5. Moses is giving the Ten Commandments to the Israelites. Listen to this little bit he says after telling them to keep the Sabbath:
Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
The Sabbath isn’t just some weird regulation that we keep to somehow placate God… It’s not a huge burden meant to weigh us down. It’s about liberation from bondage! When the Jews were slaves they were on the leash of the Egyptians twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, including Thanksgiving and Christmas. God delivered them and said on the seventh day no one in Israel is at anybody’s beck-and-call. Doesn’t matter if you’re the richest man or poorest pauper everyone experiences liberation that day. I’m not implying that this contradicts the on the seventh day God rested bit, I’m just saying that this scripture puts it in a little different light.
The legalists had turned the Sabbath into just another way to point the finger at people and condemn them, while God intended it to be a day of celebration where Israel could say look how much better it is to serve God than some Pharaoh!
When Jesus healed this crippled woman, wasn’t he really delivering her from bondage? Let’s move onto Jesus’ response, starting in verse 15.
The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?"
It’s questionable who was more in bondage that morning—the crippled woman or the people that were so dogmatic about their religion that they weren’t free to praise God for the miracle done in their midst? In a similar situation in Matthew, Chapter 12, Jesus feels the need to remind the finger-pointers that it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. Isn’t that what it’s all about?
Does God want religious people or compassionate people? Does God want religious people or loving people? Does God want religious people or merciful people? I’d like to say those all those terms are always synonymous, but human history demonstrates otherwise. Those times in my life when I’ve let my nice, tidy, color-in-the-lines religion create a wall between me and someone in need I have been just as truly bound as if I had a crippling disease. Christians should have clean hearts, but we should be willing to get our hands dirty when we can make a difference.
I presume Jesus could have waited until the next day to heal this woman. He wouldn’t have rocked the boat with anyone. After eighteen years, what difference would another twenty-four hours have made? But Jesus didn’t hesitate when he saw a burden he could lift. As servants of Christ, should we do any different? We can waffle all day and all night the best course of action—but that doesn’t lift anyone’s burden. In the words of Martin Luther King:
Cowardice asks the question, "Is it safe?" Expediency asks the question, "Is it politic?" And Vanity comes along and asks the question, "Is it popular?" But Conscience asks the question, "Is it right?" And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right. (Address to SCLC Ministers)
A spontaneous celebration was squelched by the most religious people in the room. The Bible says [that when Jesus confronted them] all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing. Let’s not get so dogmatic in our thinking that we miss what’s obvious to the average Joe in the street.
Life presents us with some pretty difficult decisions. We will make mistakes. But in those moments when we’re so conflicted about what’s the right thing to do, let’s decide to ere on the side of compassion.
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