May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
My
sermon this morning is heavily influenced by the thoughts of my friend and
colleague, Deacon Michelle Collins of the MNO Synod.
What
is it like to feel bent over and unable to stand up straight? Some of us have experienced
spending a few hours in the garden or doing a task that requires us to bend over
and then groaning as we stretch back into a standing position. Others of us are
familiar with the impact and effect of age as we realize that our joints and
muscles aren’t working the way they used to. Others just learn to live with the
bodies that they have, which may not fit the expected norm in one way or
another. But more significantly, I would imagine that all of us know the
limitations of perspectives, feelings, or experiences that restrict us from
leaning into our full selves.
Standing
up straight is just as much a matter of confidence in your identity as it is a
matter of stature and stability. Throughout much of my life, I walked a little
bit hunched over, my face pointed to the ground. I was shy. I had braces. I
didn’t like the way I looked. I didn’t want people to look at me. I didn’t like
looking into people’s faces. That changed a little bit during my time in air
cadets. I excelled in that program, gaining confidence in myself and in my
abilities. But that really only showed when the uniform was on. It was like I
was a different person then.
Mostly,
I was bent over, in big sweaters, with my arms across my body. I had no confidence
in my identity. And when I look back on those years, knowing who I am now, it
makes complete sense. I was self-conscious about my body, knowing deep inside
that it didn’t look or feel the way it was supposed to. Hindsight is 20/20, but
it doesn’t change that I spent decades looking down at my feet as I went through
the world.
In
our gospel reading today, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue on the sabbath and
notices a woman who has been bent over for many years. She was unable to stand
up straight. Most scholars suspect this woman was suffering from a physical
ailment that was affecting her spine. Maybe it was scoliosis, or arthritis. But
what if it was more spiritual than physical? What if the weight of her life was
so heavy that it caused her to look down at her feet as she moved through her
life? After years of looking down, your shoulders and your back are likely to
start hunching over. In the time of Luke’s gospel, this woman would have received
a barrage of messages about her lack of self-worth. And whether these messages
were direct or indirect, they would have informed her identity – a person of
low worth, undeserving of respect, and someone to be ignored.
Our
virtual and physical spaces are filled with people who cannot stand up straight
for a variety of reasons. Some are bent over from physical disease and
disorder. Some are bent over from trauma they do not know how to process. Some
are bent over from prejudice and bias against various aspects of their
identity. Some are bent over from their age and what the common opinion is
about what value they bring to society. Some are bent over from generations of
internalized shame. Our world is full of people who are bent over and unable to
stand up straight.
And
Jesus sees these people. Jesus sees the woman in the synagogue, and Jesus sees
you and me. Jesus’ first word to the woman is a word of freedom and validation.
“Woman,” Jesus says, “you are set free from your ailment.” Jesus extends a word
of invitation and freedom without hesitation. He doesn’t confirm her faith. He
doesn’t ask her all sorts of theological questions. He doesn’t even demand that
she becomes one his followers. Jesus healed this woman because he saw her pain
and wanted to give her relief, and he demanded nothing in return. For Jesus,
this was not a quid pro quo situation. He sees the woman, validates her existence,
gives her the freedom to live her life with confidence, and brings her into
full inclusion into God’s covenant community.
While
the woman is the main focus of today’s reading, there is a secondary story of healing,
of being set free, but this character’s ailment isn’t as obvious as the stooped
over woman. The religious man in our Gospel reading isn’t too happy with Jesus
healing the woman. Not because he has a problem with her being healed, but that
Jesus did so on the Sabbath, a day where people are to be resting and worshiping
God.
The day of Sabbath is meant to be a day of rest, and the religious law at the
time stated that no work was to be done on this day. This is because on the 7th
day, after God created the universe, calling it good, God rested and created
the Sabbath. Therefore, religious law observes this day of rest as a holy day,
where your only task is to give thanks to God for creating the universe. The
religious leader objects to what Jesus is saying and doing because it goes
against the rules – specifically the commitment to rest on the sabbath. He’s
not as upset that Jesus healed the woman as that he did it on the sabbath.
But
Jesus argues back and asks how the woman is to rest if she is hunched over the
way she is? In fact, she won’t be able to rest because of what it is that is
keeping her hunched over. We cannot say we value a day of rest when a person in
our gathering is being excluded from that rest. We cannot say we value rest
when those who are bound by disease, prejudice, oppression, inequality or our
ignorance are excluded from experiencing rest. We cannot say we value rest when
some among us are excluded from experiencing that rest because of something
that is limiting their wholeness.
God
created the universe and called it good, and then God rested. The day of rest
is meant to be holy but are we fully deserving of that kind of a Sabbath? Is
the world fully and truly good? Or do we have more work to do? Our communities
are filled with people bent over from a spirit that is crippling them. Our systems
are bent over from attitudes and beliefs that are crippling us. Jesus desires
and proclaims healing and restoration for both. We who profess a commitment to
rest are both those in need of healing, and those who are called to participate
in making that rest possible – rest for children and youth burdened by limiting
expectations and assumptions; rest for marginalized communities exhausted by
the burden of systemic injustice and generational trauma; rest for housing and
food insecure neighbours exhausted by the burden of finding the very basic
necessities for life; rest for those exhausted by the burden of labels,
prejudice, hatred, and exclusion; rest for those exhausted from working for
justice, reconciliation, and equality for the most vulnerable; rest for you and
me, exhausted by the burden of grief, loneliness, shame, fear, and insecurity.
Jesus
saw the woman bent over from the burdens of disease and daily life. Jesus saw
the religious man bent over from the burden of trying to follow the law of the
Sabbath. Jesus sees each and every one of us bent over from the burden of whatever
it is we are carrying today. Jesus sees us, reaches out to us in love, and says
to us, “You are set free.” Through the waters of baptism, we are washed and
made clean. We are set free from the ailment of sin. Through the bread and wine
of communion we are fed, nourished, and forgiven. We are set free and included
in God’s promise of eternal life.
Whatever
it is that’s keeping you bent over today, you are seen and loved by the One who
knows your name and who stays by your side through the darkness of sin and
death. You are seen and loved by the one who defeated the power of death so
that you might eternally hear the words, “You are set free.”
Amen.
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