Loving God, you are the source of both law and grace, and you show us your love and compassion through your Son Jesus.  Grant us the discernment to be able to see the law of love, as well as the compassion to be able to live it out; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    When the Sabbath law was first given, it was good news.  It was given to people who had just been set free from slavery, and so to actually have a day of rest each week is something that they would have longed for.  It is a law that was given out of love: “Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8).  It was to be a day that was different from all others – a day of worship and of rest.

    And so, when the leader of the synagogue in today’s gospel tells people that there are six days on which work ought to be done, he is absolutely correct.  He takes the Sabbath seriously, and wants to keep it holy.  He doesn’t see why Jesus had to heal somebody right then and there.  After all, once you start making exceptions to the rule where does it all end?  Pretty soon the Sabbath will be meaningless -- kind of like it is for many people today.

    How many people are there who quite simply do not get a Sabbath day?  Especially for people who work more than one job or whose services are required any day of the week, it can be hard to have even one day off, let alone the same day each week.  At the same time, there are those who maybe get a Sabbath day but don’t treat it as Sabbath time.  Instead, it becomes just another day to fit in all of that work and other activities that aren’t done yet.

    When we don’t remember the Sabbath, there are at least a couple of things that suffer, not the least of which is our health.  God gave the Sabbath because people need it!  We are not made to keep going 24/7 without a Sabbath rest.  Our bodies and souls need time to recover.  At the same time, our relationship with God suffers.  Without time for worship and for prayer, we are running on empty.  This relationship can only be life-giving when we are actively engaged in it.  Without that regular worship, pretty soon we are spiritually dry.

    One of the more interesting things in the Holy Land is the way in which the Sabbath is observed.  In Jerusalem, all of the Muslim businesses are closed on Fridays, and all of the Jewish businesses are closed on Saturdays.  Nazareth is the only place where stores are closed on Sundays, because there is a larger Christian population there.  And so each group observes the Sabbath according to their own tradition.

    Jesus, we are told, also observed the Sabbath.  Each Sabbath he is to be found at the synagogue, participating in worship with his people.  And so, why would he purposely break the Sabbath law?  The woman in today’s gospel does not ask to be healed.  In fact, she might have been quite law-abiding herself.  However, Jesus makes a point of calling her over and setting her free from her ailment.

    From her perspective, the experience must have been scary, but ultimately good.  Jesus would have been seated in order to teach, and the eyes of everybody in the synagogue would have been on him and also on this woman.  However, she hadn’t been able to look anybody in the eye for years.  As she draws near to Jesus, he lays his hands on her head and declares that she has been set free from her ailment.  She stands up straight for the first time in years, and quite likely Jesus’ eyes are the first ones she sees.  Then she looks heaven-ward, raises her hands and praises God for setting her free.

    What, exactly, is Jesus teaching the people by doing this?  Certainly, he is showing God’s power and God’s desire to heal and to set people free.  However, as the leader of the synagogue points out, Jesus could have done this any other day.  And so, why purposely challenge the Sabbath law?  Could it be that there are times when love and mercy and compassion are more important than the law?  Could it be that there are times to insist on the law and times to suspend it?

    In Jesus’ response to the leader of the synagogue, he points out how there is work that they do on the Sabbath.  They untie their ox or their donkey in order to give them water (Lk. 13:15).  They would rescue one of their animals if it fell into a pit on the Sabbath (Lk. 14:5).  In other words, they do not make their animals suffer just because it is the Sabbath, but they make sure that they are safe and fed and watered.  And so, if it’s okay to have mercy on your animals on the Sabbath, why wouldn’t it be okay to have mercy on a daughter of Abraham who has suffered for eighteen long years (Lk. 13:16)?

    Of course, when Jesus puts it this way, it makes perfect sense.  So there are some times when the law needs to be suspended out of compassion, mercy and love.  But how are we to know when those times are?

    There are a number of shows on TV these days that at least occasionally struggle with this question – not with respect to Jesus, but with respect to the law and criminal activity.  Every so often there will be an episode of one of the Law and Order or CSI shows where, according to the letter of the law, a person should be prosecuted.  However, sometimes the person in question has already suffered so much at the hands of others that it is difficult to see how prosecuting them would serve any good purpose.  There are always some of the characters who want to uphold the letter of the law and some who want to show mercy and compassion.

    In Jesus’ case, whereas he does uphold the Law and the most important things in it (Mt. 5:17; Lk. 11:42), mercy and love and compassion take precedence in a number of cases.  The woman caught in adultery is not stoned to death, as the Law says to do (Jn. 8:3-11).  People are healed on the Sabbath when the opportunity presents itself, and men are told that they can’t just write out a divorce for their wives whenever they feel like it (which the Law allowed them to do!) (Mt. 19:8-9).

    Time and again, Jesus points to love as the most important thing: Love for God and for one another (Mt. 22:36-40).  And so, in each case we need to ask what is going to show love. What is going to communicate God’s love and mercy and compassion?  Are we called upon to condemn or to share God’s mercy and forgiveness?  Are we called upon to tell people that they are unacceptable or to welcome them in the name of Christ?  After all, it is God who has first loved us and forgiven us and had compassion upon us.

    “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe” (Heb. 12:28).  Giving thanks – worshiping with reverence and awe – rejoicing at all the wonderful things that God has been doing (Lk. 13:17) – all of these are very acceptable Sabbath activities!  

    Let us then continue to worship the one who has loved us with an everlasting love and who treats us with compassion and mercy.  For we, too, have been set free and have been invited to be at one with God.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Lectionary 21(C)                                Luke 13:10-17
August 25, 2013                                Hebrews 12:18-29
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2013 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved