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This is quite a straightforward story. What happens? Jesus is teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. A woman enters. She is bent over, and quite unable to stand up straight. Jesus sees her. He calls her over. He says, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." He lays hands on her. The woman stands up straight and begins praising God.
Sometimes the most straightforward stories raise more questions than answers. I've got a lot of questions for this text. The plot is there, but what about character development? What about background?
Who was this woman? The text tells us that she was a daughter of Abraham, one of God's chosen people. There was a spirit that had crippled her for 18 years. She was bent over and quite unable to stand up straight.
Why was she bent over? One commentator has gone so far as to identify her ailment as spondylitis ankylopoietica, a disease which causes spinal joints to fuse. [Reference given in Fitzmeyer, "The Gospel According to Luke."] Could be, I suppose. My paternal grandmother was bent over by osteoporosis. But in her case, it was more than that I think. She was not a joyful woman. She was also bent over by bitterness and mistrust and unhappiness and irritability.
The prophet Isaiah identifies several conditions that can cause a person to be bent over and quite unable to stand up straight. A person might be oppressed, literally 'pressed down'. They could be pressed down by external circumstances beyond their control. They could be pressed down by internal demons that will not let them go. A person might be brokenhearted. Surely, the hurt of massive disappointment or betrayal can be enough to cause a person to be bent over and quite unable to stand up straight. Captivity can cripple a person, whether the prison is made of bars of iron or bars of fear and despair or even bars of ambition and insatiable drive to succeed.
Take a moment to think back over your life, and the lives of those you love. I think that most of you know what I mean.
The prophet talks about oppression, a broken heart, and captivity. And then the prophet mentions mourning. Surely the death of a loved one or the loss of a life-long dream can press a person down. The loss of hope. The loss of meaning. The loss of a place to belong. The loss of a circle of love and caring. The loss of memories of youth. The loss of joyful anticipation of the future. When so many tears have been shed that that none are left, and the eyes are dry while the loss still aches, it can happen that a person is left bent over and quite unable to stand up straight.
What was the cause of this woman's affliction? That's not my only question though.
I also want to ask: Why did she come to the synagogue that day?
Maybe she came every Sabbath. Maybe for eighteen years she came to worship every Sabbath day, hoping to be cured. Maybe she gave up hoping, or even longing, for a cure a long time ago, and she still came to worship every Sabbath just to be with her God. Maybe she came to worship every Sabbath because it's just where she had to be, perhaps without even knowing exactly why.
On the other hand, maybe she stopped going to worship years ago. Maybe she stopped going because she couldn't bear the silence anymore from the God who seemed to refuse to answer her prayers. Maybe she stopped going, not because of God but because of the people. Maybe she stopped going because she couldn't stand the pity in their eyes anymore. Maybe she stopped going because she couldn't stand it when folks tried to ignore her affliction, never asking her about it because they really didn't want to know. Maybe she stopped going because she couldn't stand it when people saw nothing in her but her bent over back, feeling sorry for her but never giving her the opportunity to do or give. Maybe she stopped going because she couldn't stand it when people looked past her, unwilling to see her affliction and therefore unable to see her.
Maybe she stopped going to worship years ago. Maybe she came this one day because Jesus was there. Somehow she knew he was there, and for reasons that were not clear even to her, she had to come and be near him.
On this particular day, the leader accuses her of coming of to be cured. There's nothing in the text, though, to support that conclusion. Nothing in the text suggests that she does anything to get Jesus' attention. Nothing in the text suggests she asks him for anything. There is no reason to conclude that she came for any other reason but to worship.
Of course, what does it matter? If she was in need of a healing touch from Jesus, where else should she go besides church? If one is hungry, it makes sense to go where the food is. If one is thirsty, it makes sense to go to where the drink is. If one needs help to stand up straight because of the burdens being carried, it makes sense to go to the one whose burden is light and whose yoke is easy. If one needs healing and hope and new life, it makes sense to go where Jesus is.
Maybe the story doesn't give us any information about why she came because that is not the point. Maybe the point of this story is not what the woman does, but what Jesus does.
Maybe the main question I need to be asking is this one: What does Jesus do?
Jesus sees the woman. He notices her. As soon as she enters, he knows she is there. He knows she is there, and he cares that she is there. He does not file her presence away for future reference. He sees her. He responds to her.
Jesus calls the woman over. He takes the initiative. She has taken the steps to come to the place. He calls her to come to him.
Jesus talks to her. He says, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." Jesus is the one with authority over the winds and the waves, over diseases and demons, over everything. He speaks with authority like no one else.
Jesus lays hands on her. He reaches out and touches her. The woman is alone, perhaps isolated by her affliction, perhaps lonely. He reaches out to her.
Which brings me to my next question. What does this text say to you and me?
Well, it depends on who we are this day. Are you bent over today, and quite unable to stand up straight? Are you oppressed? Are you brokenhearted? Are you captive behind prison bars that maybe no one else can see? Are you mourning? Has it been eighteen long years? Or eighteen months? Or eighteen hours?
Then look at Jesus. Look at what Jesus does. Take heart, because Jesus was sent to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners, to comfort all who mourn. Jesus was sent to give you a garment of praise instead of a faint spirit. Take heart.
I can't tell you when it will happen, or how. But I do know this. When the time is right, he will call you over. Come to him when he calls. And when he reaches out to touch you, let him. Don't turn away. When, finally, he throws that garment of praise over your shoulders, let its warmth sink in. Then stand up straight, and praise God.
Come to him when he calls. Welcome his touch. When your shoulders finally are wrapped in that garment of praise, then stand up straight and praise God.
What about those of you who are already wearing a mantle of praise this day? Maybe there was a time when you were bent over and quite unable to stand up straight. Maybe that day will come again. But this day you are wearing a mantle of praise.
Again, I say to you: look at Jesus. Look at what Jesus does. Loosen that garment around your shoulders and share it with another. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, you too are sent to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to comfort all who mourn.
Here at church today, back in your neighborhood this afternoon, at work tomorrow, at the December Dinner next Saturday, keep your eyes open, for you may come across another who is bent over and quite unable to stand up straight. Notice this person. Take the initiative with this person. Welcome them to be with you. Talk with this person. Do not declare, "You are set free from your ailment!" You cannot do that. But you know the one who can. You can wait with this person.
You can share the garment he has given you with them. Not forcing them to praise your praises, but simply, quietly, gently sharing the warmth of your garment. Perhaps, when the time is right for them to stand up straight, they will less stiff because of the warmth you have shared.
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