PROPER 16 (21) Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost Year C August 21, 2022
· Jeremiah 1:4-10 and Psalm 71:1-6 • Hebrews 12:18-29 • Luke 13:10-17
It
might seem to us, that these ancient people were a little dim. Surely, they could understand the sense in
Jesus’ healing of the crippled woman. On
the Sabbath they would untie their donkeys and lead it away to give it
water. These were their work animals,
not pets, and they needed to be cared for. Yet the simple act of Jesus curing a crippled
woman on the Sabbath… well to put it in today’s terms, it was simply not
politically correct. You just didn’t do
those kinds of things on the Sabbath!
Actually, those kinds of things didn’t happen everyday… this was a
miraculous healing and Jesus was causing a stir.
As far
as the matter of the Sabbath goes, it is possible that today we have thrown out
the baby with the bath water… in a manner of speaking. We have long been aware that Jesus did all
kinds of good works on the Sabbath and so we don’t really bother worrying about
keeping the Sabbath “holy”.
For
many years, both Saturday and Sunday were days of limited trading, partly in
respect for a time of rest and church attendance. But that has almost all disappeared. I notice that since covid and staff shortages
that some businesses are choosing to only open for certain days or times… and we are all fatigued. We threw out the baby with the bath water,
it seems, and paid the price of exhaustion, until covid hit and gave us an
excuse – a valid one, to claim back a time of rest. But we have yet to understand how to make
that a holy time.
It’s
not just those ancient people who were a little dim. We all have times of not being able to see
the good from the bad of things clearly, our eyes being blinded by the many
attractions and temptations of ideas and opinions other than those from God.
This
crippled lady had been suffering for 18 years.
I always imagined that this was an elderly lady, but there is actually nothing
to indicate her age. If she was an
elderly lady here today, would we be less inclined to beg Jesus for her healing? I have noticed a tendency in the dental/
medical and other professions that sometimes things are seen as less important
because you are older. We put braces on
an eight year old’s teeth, concerned about how the teeth look, yet there is not
the same concern in the appearance or care for an older man or woman.
On the
flip side, we greatly care about our animals.
We have insurance and spend time and money ensuring they are cared for
and yet some of our elderly (and not so elderly) men and women are left
forgotten on the streets. Do we,
figuratively or literally, send them away without so much as a cup of tea on a cold
winter’s morning? You know, it is never as simple as it sounds.
Street
Chaplaincy is not a ministry to the homeless, as we work mostly with those in
the night clubs, however we do regularly run into the homeless and those with
mental health issues also - the two overlap often. There is a lady we meet regularly on the
streets who isn’t homeless – as I was told by one of our chaplains, who was not
keen on us giving her too much help, as she had a home to go to. Then another chaplain informed me that she is
subject to domestic violence at home, which is why she spends a lot of time on
the street. There are other homeless
who could go to stay in shelters provided, but they are on the streets because
they refuse to obey the curfew time. It
is not a simple one size fits all issue, but if we had the power to heal what
is hurting these people, would we?
We are
challenged to see things through God’s eyes and not through the eyes of
tradition or societal norms. Challenged,
not to see a crippled, old woman, but a treasure… a precious soul for whom
Christ came, suffered and died.
Speaking
of seeing things through God’s eyes, our first reading shows us a glimpse into the
extent of God’s investment in our lives.
An element that we might not have considered.
Take a
look at this reading from Jeremiah and you will note that God forms us in the
womb. Jeremiah is told that he was put
together by God in his mother’s womb. This
means that the collection of genes and hereditary possibilities were carefully
designed by God. You and I are also
purposefully constructed in our mother’s womb.
I think we should just pause for a moment and consider the implication
of this. You and I were uniquely and purposefully
designed by God himself. Others are also
uniquely and purposefully designed by God.
We
might look at our lives now and wonder where it all went wrong, feeling a long
way from a perfect creation. I’m sure
the crippled woman felt that way also.
Make no mistake, God desires us to be whole and unhindered. God’s original plan for humankind was not for
sickness, pain, injustice and all other kind of evil. In God’s heart, is the heart of a parent who
only wants good for his children…. But all children have to make
their own decisions and are subject to the consequences of those choices… and
so evil entered our world and it is a sad reality of our lives.
You and
I are that crippled woman. We, as
humans, were hindered by the consequence of sin, but Jesus came on a holy day
and set us free. Jesus had the power to
heal the crippled woman and he did not hesitate. He did not wait to run her through a program
so that she understood some basic theology.
He did not check into her background to see if she was worthy – none of
us measure up anyway. Jesus immediately
acted to set that woman free because he knew God’s desire. God’s desire is that we are all healed and
well. He doesn’t delight in our harm,
but his plan is for all that is good for us.
We
might not be physically crippled, but instead there may be something else that
causes us to “limp” – something that impedes our life… and maybe it has been
impeding our life for 18 years or even longer.
For many years women were crippled.
They were not allowed to vote.
Similarly, in Australia, our indigenous brothers and sisters were also
crippled as they also were not allowed to vote.
Our lives have been disabled by the imposition of others. It is not always an obvious injustice that
cripples. There are still people in
Christian churches that will declare that a woman can’t preach – in many
denominations there are women who feel crippled because they have a God given
call to speak God’s message, but can’t. In
the Bible there is a story about how God opened the mouth of a donkey to speak
his message, but for some reason some people believe that we can’t have a woman
tell us about God.
Another
thing that cripples us is our internal struggles. Perhaps it is a guilty conscience… something done or not done… unresolved
relationships and relationship failures.
Our relationships are crippled by perceptions of rejection caused by
whispers, true or untrue.
Good news is in our Hebrew reading that explains that
Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant.
In this new covenant the righteous are “Made Perfect”. It may seem like a mysterious statement, but
it is part of the imagery of Jesus as lamb of God whose sacrifice takes away
our sin... our imperfections. Earlier in
the letter to the Hebrew it is explained that we can draw near to God having
our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience. When we truly understand what God has done for
us, we realize that every transgression is dealt with… we are made whole and
healed.
You and
I are that crippled woman in the Gospel story.
Regardless of social propriety or religious traditions, God wants to
heal us and set us free to walk up-right and whole, so that we can also go,
praising God.
Our
first reading, from Jeremiah is known as the call of Jeremiah. In some sense there is a hint of the ministry
of Christ in this prophetic calling, and this shouldn’t surprise us, as all of
us are called into the ministry of Christ.
Our calling is to be working alongside with Christ who set captives
free.
The Good News message, that Jesus set us
free, is the base of everything and our reason for responding to the challenge
and answering the call.
We like Jeremiah are called. God says to each of us; "Before I formed
you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you…” Jeremiah’s initial response is; "Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how
to speak, for I am only a boy."
How often do we feel inadequate to answer the call of
God?
My guess is that if you don’t feel some sense inadequacy,
you might not be truly human. However,
scripture gives us consolation. God knew
us and formed us in the womb. The
implication of this is that we were designed with love and purpose.
We have been purposefully designed to accomplish all that
God calls us to do and be. You are the
exact right person in the exact right place, but you might be crippled by
relying on your own strength. On our own
and left to rely on our own talents we will fall. But rejoicing in who we are created to be with
the miraculous touch of Christ we can and will accomplish that to which He is
calling us. A great Christian leader
used to say, “If you have Christ, you have all you ever need right now, and you
need never have more.”
In the body of Christ, not all are the same… and our
particular call may be different, but we can rest assured that all of us are
called by God. How do you know that God
is calling you? Answer; You are breathing.
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