Proper 16, Yr C (August 21, 2022) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield

Proper 16, Yr C (2022)    St. Andrew’s On-the-Hill Episcopal Church, Canton                                                         

Jeremiah 1:4-10                                                                            

Luke 13:10-17

In the name of the one, holy, and living God:

            in whom we live, and move, and have our being.  Amen.

According to the Gospel of Luke,

            when Jesus was about 30 years old,

       he began his work in this way:

Jesus was baptized in the Jordan,

            led into the wilderness by the Spirit

      and then returned to Galilee,

                        filled with the power of the Spirit.

He went to the synagogue in Nazareth on the sabbath day

            and began to read from the prophet Isaiah:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

            because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.

“He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

            and recovery of sight to the blind,

                        to let the oppressed go free,

      to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Jesus rolled up the scroll,

handed it back to the attendant and said,

     “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  (Lk 4:1, 16-21)

This is how Jesus began his public ministry,

and from that point on in Jesus’ life,

he is about setting people free!

And that is exactly what Jesus is about in today’s gospel story.

Some are set free,

            and others are not.

Such are the responses to Jesus’ invitation to new life.

In today’s story Jesus once again finds himself teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.

As he is teaching,

he sees a woman who is bent over and unable to stand up straight.

We are told that a spirit has crippled her for 18 years…

            that is a long time!

When Jesus sees her,

            he calls her over and says to her,

      “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.”

“You are set free.”

Now, mind you, this woman doesn’t approach Jesus to ask for healing.

Jesus simply sees her in the midst of a crowded room and offers her freedom.

That is one of Jesus’ gifts:

            to see people.

And when I say “see people,” I mean that Jesus REALLY sees people.

He sees straight through them.

He sees the thing that binds each individual person.

Everyone has something unique that binds us.

And Jesus sees it clearly.

So, when Jesus spots this woman across the room,

            he stops his teaching and calls her over.

“Woman,

            you are set free from your ailment!”

“When he laid his hands on her,

            immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.”

She is ecstatic!

We don’t know what spirit has bound her these 18 long years,

            but she is grateful to be free and stands up and praises God!

The very next word in our story is the word “but.”

But, 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.”

I imagine Jesus was both stupefied by and expectant of this response.

He responds, “You hypocrites!

            Does not each of you on the sabbbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger,

                        and lead it away to give it water?

“And 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?”

Jesus is, in effect, saying:

            “Wake up, my friends!

       The sabbath has been established for rest and renewal…

                        to recognize our dependence upon God for life.”

It was, in fact, considered “work” to lead an animal to water.

So, Jesus is saying that if folks will, in fact, do the work of leading their animals to water on the sabbath, why should this woman (or anyone else in distress for that matter) not be healed on the sabbath?

Jesus is not only offering freedom for this woman…

            He is offering freedom to this leader of the synagogue and to Jesus’ other opponents.

He is offering the life that God offers!

This woman stands up straight and rejoices,

            and many others in the crowd rejoice as well.

But…some remain bound.

I would wager that each of us gathered here today are bound by some spirit…

            a spirit of shame

                        or indignation

                                    or false expectation either from ourselves or someone else

     or anger

                        or resentment

                                                or fear and anxiety.

There are innumerable spirits that can bind us…

            that can keep us from living life fully.

Jesus sees us

            and offers to set us free.

And Jesus may also call upon us to set others free.

And lest we say along with Jeremiah,

            “Ah, Lord God! I am only a child.”

Remember that God responds to us:

            “Do not be afraid…for I am with you.”

We don’t have to be preachers and teachers in the midst of great crowds,

            but we might be.

Or we may instead find ourselves sitting next to a lone neighbor

or friend

or family member

or even a complete stranger

     who is in need of being set free.

As an example, I share with you a story as told by one of my seminary professors, the Rev. Helen Pearson.

She relates this story of simple presence…

            and of truly seeing the person in front of you

      and what difference that can make.  She says,

“Jonella was twelve years old.

“She was a victim of oppressive circumstances:

inadequate health care, improper diet, poverty, racism, and child abuse.

“She moved frequently from place to place and from school to school.

“When I met Jonella, I was a volunteer in her learning disability classroom.

“Jonella had been attending this school for over six months.

            She had never spoken a word in her teacher’s presence,

                        nor would she respond to any request to read or write.

“I sat beside her day after day at her desk.

“Sometimes I talked to her.

“Mostly, I was just there…present.

“Occasionally Jonella would haltingly whisper something to me,

but she would not pick up either pencil or crayon.

“One day, as I was leaving, Jonella ran after me, took my hand, kissed it, and thrust a wrinkled piece of paper at me.

“Jonella never came back to school,

but years later I remember her.

“I cannot forget her, f

or she gave me one of the most precious gifts I’ve ever received.

“It was a letter written in big, bold, bright, orange letters – Jonella’s favorite color!

‘Dear Mrs. Pereson.

            I no you like buterflys and rainbos.

Now I like them to.

When you came to my room no budy ever talked to me or nuthin.

Nobudy choze me.

Nobudy tuhced me.

No budy called me by my name.

I was invizible to most everbudy, but you.

You sat with me close in my seat.

You talked with me not past me.

You tuhced me.

It felt good to have sumone hug me

When you say my name I’m not invizible any mor.

I’m ME!

I didn’t understand about buterflys and rainbos at furst but now I do.

My heart has helped open my eyes.

I see buterflys and rainbos a lot of places now.

I even feel safe to tell you I love you.     Jonella

(taken from “The Power of Freedom: The Bent-over Woman,” in Do What You Have the POWER to Do: Studies of Six New Testament Women by Helen Bruch Pearson)

My friends, whether we ourselves are in need of being set free

            or find ourselves in the place of being able to offer healing to others,

     I pray that in our hearts we all may be able to stand up,

     rejoice,

       and praise God for new life.

Amen.