Loving God, you call us to come to you for healing, and for renewal, and for new life.  Help us to trust you by the power of your Spirit, coming to you in thanks and praise even as we bring you our deepest needs; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    If I were to ask you to come on up here and join me, how many of you would be ready to come?  Anybody willing to come up and join me? – Are you scared?  Nervous? – Why? – Do you have any idea what I’m going to ask you to do? – Thank you.

    You have just gotten some idea of what the woman in today’s gospel might have felt like.  She might have just walked into the synagogue (we really don’t know for sure), and Jesus calls her over to come and join him at the front.  He touches her – lays his hands on her – and says to her, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment” (Lk. 13:12).

    She doesn’t cringe and yell out, “Why are you touching me?”  She doesn’t faint from embarrassment.  Instead, she stands up straight for the first time in eighteen years and gives praise and thanks to God.  And then an argument breaks out between Jesus and the leader of the synagogue over what is or isn’t allowed on the Sabbath.  Even animals are led to the water on the Sabbath.  Wouldn’t you think that God would be pleased to set a woman free from bondage on that day?

    And so, why did Jesus single out this particular woman?  Surely there were other sick people there besides her.  So why this woman?  Some have suggested that it was because of her attitude of praise.  Perhaps Jesus knew that she was ready to praise and thank God.  At the same time, this woman was brave enough to come to Jesus when he called her.  She placed herself in his hands.  She trusted Jesus.  And so Jesus laid his hands on her and set her free.

    It seems to me that it continues to be a big question for people today as to why some people are healed while others are not.  After all, the healing power of Jesus is unmistakable in the Scriptures.  So how does healing work for people today?

    Some people, of course, focus on the faith you need to be healed.  In fact, some will tell you that if you’re not healed, it’s because you don’t have enough faith.  However, I don’t believe that this is helpful, and I don’t believe that it’s true.  After all, Jesus teaches that if you have faith that is so tiny it’s the size of a mustard seed, that’s all you need to move mountains (Mt. 17:20).  So I don’t buy that somebody who is praying to God for healing in the name of Jesus Christ is denied because they don’t have enough faith.

    So why does healing seem to come only to some people?  The first question I would ask when somebody is sick is, Are they coming to God in the name of Jesus Christ, placing themselves in God’s care and seeking healing?  When the answer to this question is “no,” it’s no wonder that healing isn’t taking place.

    However, even for those who do come to God in prayer and in faith, God’s answer is not always a miraculous and immediate healing.  Sometimes it is, and it’s good for us to always be open to that possibility, and even to pray for it.  However, sometimes God has other answers.  For example, sometimes God works through health professionals and medical treatment in order to bring healing over time.  Sometimes God knows that we need mental or spiritual or emotional healing before we can get better physically.  And in some cases, our prayers for healing are answered when that person is taken from this world and released from their physical limitations and given full and complete health in the life to come.

    We don’t always understand God’s wisdom, and we don’t always understand God’s reasons.  In fact, there is another possibility for God’s answer to our prayers for healing that we learn because of the apostle Paul.  Paul, as you may know, had something that he referred to as his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor. 12:7).  Whatever it was, it tormented him, and he prayed to God to take it away from him.  And do you know what God’s answer to Paul was? – “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).  Sometimes God is content to work through us just the way we are, so that we learn to rely on God’s power, and not just on our own.

    Whatever our situation may be, we have something to learn from the woman in today’s gospel.  For, she is brave enough to come to Jesus when he calls her.  She places herself in his hands.  She trusts him, and she stands ready to praise and thank God for all his many blessings.  This is what we know about the woman who is set free from the burden that kept her bent over for eighteen long years.

    However, we also know that there is more to this gospel story.  For one thing, Jesus could have healed this woman any time, yet he deliberately chose to do it on the Sabbath.  It would seem that Jesus wanted to get into a discussion about what is appropriate behaviour on the Sabbath.  It is not only a discussion about what should be permitted on the Sabbath, but also a discussion about what is God-pleasing worship.

    The religious leaders of Jesus’ time were agreed that it was acceptable to God to take your ox or your donkey and untie them and lead them to water on the Sabbath.  However, they were not convinced that it was appropriate to heal somebody on the Sabbath.  Jesus, however, makes their rules sound silly.  Why on earth would God not be pleased to release somebody from bondage to illness on the Sabbath day?  Does not such a thing lead many people to give thanks and praise to God?

    Enter our reading from Hebrews today, which also makes mention of acceptable worship.  Giving thanks to God is mentioned, and also worshipping with reverence and awe (Heb. 12:28).  These are part and parcel of worship that is acceptable to God.

    Today we can also throw into the mix our first reading from Isaiah, which also talks about what is appropriate on the Sabbath.  What we can take from Isaiah is basically this: that the Sabbath is a day for God’s interests, and not for our own (Isa. 58:13).  When Isaiah and the other prophets talk about the Sabbath, usually the issue is that people wanted to continue to do business rather than setting the day aside for rest and for worship.  And really, are things any different today?

    God did not design us to work seven days a week or to go weeks at a time without pausing to worship and to praise.  We all need a day each week that is different from all others – a day for rest and renewal, and a day that consists of God-pleasing activities rather than activities to please ourselves.

    Of course, God-pleasing activities, and even worship, do not need to be limited to only one day.  In fact, we are called to worship God with our lives – giving thanks and praise in all that we do, coming into God’s presence with reverence and awe, and pursuing things that bring healing to those who are broken and food to those who are hungry and relief to those who are in need.  These are things that belong to every day, and not just to the Sabbath. – And so, where does all of this leave us?

    Today, we are invited to come to Jesus, the source of all healing and new life, and to place ourselves in his hands, standing ready to praise and thank God for all his blessings.  We are also invited to think about the Sabbath and to live not only that day, but every day in a God-pleasing way.  We are invited to drink deeply from the springs of living water that are the Spirit of God, for in this Spirit is our life, our salvation, and our power, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Lectionary 21(C)                                Luke 13:10-17
August 22, 2010                                Isaiah 58:9b-14
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church                        Hebrews 12:18-29
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2010 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved