LUKE 13:10-17
10Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her
for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up
straight. 12When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are
set free from your ailment." 13When he laid
his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.
14But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on
the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work
ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath
day." 15But the Lord answered him and said,
"You
hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from
the manger, and lead it away to give it water? 16And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for
eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?"
17When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire
crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.
***
It’s hard not to be like the leader
of the synagogue. I have heard myself make the same arguments about the lack of
Sabbath. I have grumbled about the youth’s sports schedules, which seem so
pervasive, that church life often gets the short end of the stick. The youth
are unable to commit to PYG events, not knowing if there is a game, and their
parents miss a meeting because a game came up. Both the PYG and their parent run
ragged, from over-commitment and a feeling of responsibility. I myself, have no
one day where I do not check my e-mail, and often, I also reply on my days off.
Sometimes…, okay oftentimes, doing a fair bit of work. I give myself a grief
trip, but it seems just easier to get stuff done. Likewise, my days off loom
with the call of chores on a never-ending list, of which I am sure you can
relate. Somehow God was able to create the whole world in six and then rest,
and I can’t even take one day when we have lot less work to do. Sabbath is no
longer observed culturally. Growing up in a big city, in the time I did, I
don’t remember anything ever being closed. The only time I really ever thought
about Sunday being a time off was those annoying Blue Laws, when I lived in
South Carolina, where you couldn’t buy wine or alcohol on Sundays. Didn’t they
know for us church workers, Sunday was not the Sabbath? I know, for many of
you, if a cow is calving, or the field is ready for harvesting, it cannot wait;
nature does not come on a schedule.
Still too, I look at the working
poor, in restaurants, and in stores, and I wonder if they get a day off, a day
to rest and to be with family, or are seven days, and multiple jobs, barely
enough to make ends meet. Sabbath becomes an issue of justice, rather than
choice in these circumstances. Perhaps it is these more venerable for whom the
leader of the synagogue is sticking up. He is referenced in Deuteronomy,
“Six
days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to
the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter,
or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your
livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female
slave may rest as well as you,” (Deuteronomy 5: 13 - 14).
I notice the part of the law that
reads, “as well as you.” The law seems to be written to the owner, in
protection for the poor. So the slave, the resident alien, and your children
and animals shall rest, as well as you. I understand why the leader of the
synagogue finds it important to stick up for the oppressed.
As your pastor, I too worry, when I
see you so worn out from a myriad of commitments. I so deeply want for you to
have a time away, a time to be, rather than a time to do. I want us to be able
to notice the presence of God, to feel surrounded by that presence, to reflect
on that presence, to rejoice in that presence. I want us to have that feeling
you get when you’ve climbed a mountain, and without anyone telling you, your
whole being knows to stop, and sit, and look out over the trees and the lakes,
and to watch a bird soar, and then when you feel ready, you get up, and start
again. I want there to be a day like that for us each week. I want there to be
an hour like that each day. I want there to be times of prayer like that
throughout the day. Maybe that’s the goal, but it’s also wishful thinking, and
perhaps not realistic in today’s society.
And this is where Jesus’
reinterpretation comes in. He says,
"You
hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from
the manger, and lead it away to give it water? 16And ought not this
woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set
free from this bondage on the sabbath day?"
For Jesus, Sabbath isn’t about
recreating a day of rest like in the book of Genesis. For Jesus, Sabbath is
about honoring God. Jesus references Deuteronomy also,
“Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the
Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched
arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day,” (Deut.
5: 15).
For Jesus, the Sabbath is about
remembering when God brought the slaves out of Egypt. Jesus compares the
Israelites slavery, to the slavery the crippled woman. He compares the
Israelites freedom from slavery, to the crippled woman’s freedom from illness.
Jesus debates, “Ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham,... be set free
from this bondage on the sabbath day?" What could be more fitting, than to
free someone from oppression on the Sabbath, just as God had freed the
Israelites? What could be more fitting than to do God’s work on the Sabbath?
For Jesus the Sabbath is a call to honor God, be it in rest, or in doing God’s
work.
And I wonder, if we could be
likewise. I wonder, if there is work we do that sets others free. Is it the
work of our teachers in their classrooms, taking the time and energy to bend
down beside a desk and show a lost kid the way. Is it the work of our ranchers,
making sure they are there when the calves are born, finding a mother for a
calf whose mother has died. Is it the work of our lawyers representing each
person and making sure they are supported and have a fair trial. Is it the work
of farmers, caring for their crops, and the land they occupy, a hard work, that
people might not hunger. Is it our firefighters battling blazes, keeping fires
from homes, and prescribing burns, that our communities might be safe. Is it
our foresters taking the time to plant again. Is it our mom and dad’s traveling
to sporting games, to cheer their kids on, and to get have that half hour in
the car, where they hear about the lives of their teen. Is it our retirees who
volunteer and take time to serve breakfast to middle schoolers, to bag
backpacks for little kids, to build homes with habitat all of over the country,
to go to Lions meetings, or support the arts in our community. Is it your
pastor, who takes a quiet afternoon outside, to sculpt a sermon and reflect on
God. Is it the way we do the simple things, the to-do list things, that has us
stop and say hello in the grocery store, or simply hold the door for the next
person coming in. Is it the way we cook a meal, or clean the house, or fix
something that broke, that welcomes and invites our families to find the
comfort of home. Each day, all seven of them each week, we have the opportunity
to do work that sets others free. Each day, all seven of them, we have the
opportunity to do the work of God. Each day, all seven of them, can be a Sabbath.
When Jesus said his point, “all his
opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the
wonderful things that he was doing.” I think the crowd might not be all that different
than our culture today. I am sure they too knew, how hard it is not work on the
Sabbath. I am sure there was water to fetch, people to feed, and animals to
care for on the Sabbath in Biblical times as well. Part of me wonders if you in
your pews are rejoicing a little, from the lifting of the hard and fast rule of
rest on the Sabbath, the hard and fast rule that seems a condemnation of
practicality. I wonder which is harder, to take one day of rest, or to make
each day, a day of God’s work? Neither are easy, but only one is really
possible.
But perhaps you too are a little
intimidated with the idea of attempting to honor God every day in all we do.
Maybe instead how Jesus honored God in his work is why the people cheer. The
Scripture says, “the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things
that he was doing.” It is not easy to honor God in our work, and here Jesus was
doing so. It’s not easy. We have bad days and good days. It’s not easy, we get
tired, and worn out, and sometimes we do simply need a nap, a day of rest. But
sometimes, Sabbath comes, and we are able to honor God by setting another free.
And I pray that just like crowd around the synagogue, that there is cheering
when it happens. The people of God are rejoicing at all the wonderful things
you are doing.
