August 25, 2012
Luke 13:10-17
PREACHER: Pastor Carrie Smith
Grace and peace to you
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Last month,
when my family and I started our annual long, long drive to Texas to see my
family, we first made our traditional stopover in St. Louis. This year, in a
break with tradition, we stayed two nights—partly to better appreciate the
city, and partly to break up that long, long drive. Did I mention it’s a long, long drive to Texas?
I was
especially proud of our vacation plans this year because I planned to make liberal
use of Groupons—web-based coupons—for everything from appetizers and drinks to
a pedicure. On the first morning we were there, I was excited to use my St.
Louis coffee Groupon, so I was up and out the door of the hotel before the men
in my life had even rolled over and registered that we were no longer at home.
St. Louis
is, shall we say, “balmy” even at 7 am in July, but I nevertheless walked briskly
through downtown toward the coffee shop. There weren’t many folks on the street
at that time of day, but as I turned the final corner, there she was. She sat nestled back in the
doorway of a defunct business, in the shade, and I could see that she was in a
wheelchair. Even out of the corner of my eyes, I could discern what she wanted.
She was rattling a Styrofoam cup of coins, and quietly mumbling—like her own,
personal, morning prayer liturgy—“Can you help me? Just a few coins, please.
Anything will help. Can you help me?”
I didn’t want to see her, but I looked over
anyway, and immediately saw that her face was completely normal on one side,
but the other side seemed devoid of cheekbones and structure of any kind. It
was as if Salvador Dali had been given the chance to design a human face, and
she was the canvas. Her face was a face only on technicalities. I didn’t want
to see her, but I looked over anyway.
And then I
looked away.
I didn’t want to see her. I was on a quest! I wanted my morning coffee!
I wanted to use my Groupon! Above all else, I wanted to stay on schedule. This
was a carefully planned vacation, with an itinerary and scenic overlooks and
what my dad calls “hysterical markers” along the way. No time for detours or
unplanned stops. Furthermore, what business did she have to interrupt my
vacation in such a way? There are so many
other days out of the year when I have no problem living into my Christian
vocation, listening to people’s stories, and giving to the poor—but today was
different. This was vacation. This was my Sabbath! And I didn’t want to see her.
If I were to
place myself in today’s Gospel lesson, I think it’s pretty clear I would not be
Jesus. In fact, I would say it’s a good practice for all of us to read the
Gospels and realize that we are not Jesus.
Amen? In fact, the truth is, I am probably the synagogue leader in this lesson
today. At least on that day on vacation in St. Louis, I most closely resembled
the synagogue leader, who watched Jesus call up a disabled woman and heal her
on the spot and who then turned to the congregation and said: “There are six
days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not
on the sabbath day.”
The message
was: “I don’t want to see you all doing this next week. This guy is a guest
preacher, a revival preacher, and I
know he’s doing some cool stuff. But rules are rules, and I don’t want to see
you all coming in here for healing on the Sabbath when he’s gone.”
To the
bent-over woman and all who, like her, came to the synagogue in need of healing,
the message was pretty clear: It’s not just that I don’t want to see you coming
here on the Sabbath. I don’t want to see
you.
I suspect you
can see yourself in the role of the synagogue leader in this story, too. How
often have you passed by the homeless person in the doorway without a glance?
How often have you averted your eyes away from wheelchairs, feeding tubes,
scars, or the faces of those in deep grief or pain? Our fear of the pain and
suffering around us leads us to find safety and security behind rules and
regulations: If I don’t look, I don’t have to respond. Everyone says, if you
give them any money, they’ll just spend it on drugs. You should never open your
wallet in the presence of a homeless person. I give to the needy through my
church. I wouldn’t know what to say to someone who just lost a child, so it’s
better if I don’t say anything. The truth is: I just really don’t want to see him.
Yes, more
often than we like to admit, we are the synagogue leader, more concerned with
broken rules than the broken people around us, and if you get nothing else from
the Gospel lesson for today, I hope in the coming week you will take a moment
to see—really see—the people around
you. Awhile back there was a campaign called “Start Seeing Motorcycles”, encouraging
motorists to pay attention to the 2-wheeled folks on the roads with them. Do you
remember that? In this case, I think the Gospel convicts us and reminds us that
we would all do well to start seeing each other. Start seeing what your
neighbor is going through. Start seeing the brokenness in our own community.
Start seeing those whom the world has called hopeless, insignificant, or not
worth looking at.
This week,
on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, we
remember how people of color stood up and said to their fellow Americans “Look
at me! See me! I exist.” Some of the most powerful images of that time period
for me are the photos of the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike, when workers
marched with signs that said simply “I AM a man.” I am a man! See
me! We give thanks to God this week for all those who boldly made themselves
known, as well as for the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the other prophetic
voices who said to the rest of us “Start seeing your darker brothers and
sisters” and helped us to have a vision of what it would mean to be the
“beloved community.” Amen!
Are you
still with me? Good, because I want to challenge you now, sisters and brothers,
to place yourselves not in the role of Jesus or in the role of the synagogue
leader, but rather in the role of the bent-over woman. You may not be afflicted
as she is, but what I know is this: each and every one of you appears in this
place today carrying some kind of burden. Each and every one of you comes
weighed down by something—depression, grief, anger, cancer, divorce,
unemployment, credit card debt, addiction, doubt, mistakes made, or
opportunities missed. It’s so heavy it sometimes causes you to be bent over, and
you can hardly stand up straight. You’re just barely getting by.
But I also
know this: almost all of you have appeared here today wearing your Sunday best,
putting on a smile, and pretending to have it all together. Nod if you know
what I’m talking about! Why do we do this? Because you know very well that
other people don’t want to see that stuff. You know very well that people (and,
sadly, especially church people) would rather keep to the schedule, keep church
under an hour (ha!), and keep all that difficult stuff under wraps, unspoken,
and unseen.
And yet…here
you are. The Gospel according to Luke says: “And 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. When Jesus saw her, he called her
over and said, ‘Woman, you are set free from your ailment.’ When he laid his
hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.”
We only know
a few things about the woman in the synagogue, but none of them are as
important as these key points: Just then,
there appeared a woman….and Jesus saw her.
A woman in
need appeared, and Jesus saw her. She
was bent over in the same way at the market, and on the street, and at the
river washing her clothes, and no one paid any attention, but just then she
appeared…and Jesus saw her.
She came to
pray at the synagogue every week, bent over almost to the ground, quite unable
to pray or praise freely, and no one gave her a second glance, but just then
she appeared…and Jesus saw her.
For eighteen
years she was bound by this spirit, while others told her to sit in the back of
the bus or to come back another day. But on that day in the synagogue, Jesus saw her and proclaimed that it may
be the Sabbath, but now is the time
for restoration. Now is the time for
wholeness. Now is the time for
liberation! Amen!
My dear
people, the Good News of the Gospel is that you are here, and Jesus sees you. Jesus sees you, bent over, weighed down,
and just getting by. Jesus sees you, when no one else wants to stop and look.
On this day,
this Sabbath day, burdened and heavy-laden though we are, we come, wanting to
give our praise to God, wanting to stand up straight, wanting to get it right, and
what we find is that God, in God’s goodness, gives us something even greater
than we could hope for—healing, wholeness, and restoration, through Jesus
Christ. Not when it’s convenient for other people. Not when it’s on the
schedule. Not when we get around to asking for it. Right now. Today. Here—in, with and under the bread and the wine,
through the water and the Word, and yes, sometimes through this beloved
community. Come to the table, all of you, and know that you are set free.
Thanks be to God.
Wow. Outstanding message. Outstanding because it is convicting. I applaud your honesty. We all need to review our daily actions, take this message to heart . . . and then ACT.
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