"Shattering the Peace"
Sermon Presented August 22, 2004
(Luke 13:10-17)
What causes you to stop and reexamine your theological beliefs? Do you believe God gives new understanding of scripture for different times and needs? Do you ever want to challenge the religious status quo and yet you remain silent? Does your silence cause guilt, or do you believe faith matters are personal and shouldn't be challenged?
These are legitimate questions and ones we have faced or are facing now. Most of us change our beliefs periodically because of something we hear, read or experience. A life-changing event can force us to reevaluate our bedrock beliefs.
This is what happens one day as Jesus teaches in a synagogue. The day is the Sabbath! There are rules governing this day so that the Sabbath will remain holy. Those rules are broken when Jesus touches a woman who is crippled with cares - bent with burdens.
Luke 13:10-17 (Read Text)
Please take a trip in your imagination and picture yourself as this person who enters the synagogue while Jesus is teaching. You have walked in a stooped position for 18 years. For 18 years you haven't seen faces or eyes or tree branches or stars or clouds or rainbows. For 18 years you haven't been able to stretch your body into an erect position, rock in a rocking chair, drive a car or bicycle, dance, play golf or vacuum. For 18 years you have experienced pain, social exclusion and depression.
As this picture takes shape you can somewhat understand the agony of the woman in our story. Her world-view is feet, dusty roads and piles of manure dropped by passing donkeys. Her mental state is probably no better than her physical condition. She lives in a culture where women are considered of less value than the farm animals and on top of that, she's physically handicapped. She represents the dredges of society.
But something wonderful happens to change her outlook on life. She enters the synagogue as is her Sabbath custom and behold a new rabbi is teaching. Immediately upon entering, Jesus calls for her to come forward. The last thing she wants is to draw attention to herself but she obeys his request.
She asks nothing of Jesus, but he seeks her out. Nothing is said about her faith. Nothing is asked except to approach this compassionate teacher. Jesus acknowledges that she is a person of value - a daughter of Abraham. She hears him speak words of healing and then feels a gentle touch on her back. Immediately she stands erect and begins to praise God. She's cured and everyone knows it. She looks into the kindest eyes she has ever seen. She sees faces, feels joy and praises God. From this moment forward, she will experience life differently. On this glorious Sabbath morning, Jesus shatters the peace of the status quo and an unnamed woman receives new life.
But any time the peace is shattered, even though something positive occurs, there will be repercussions. In this case, the crowd is delighted and the woman is ecstatic. God has worked mightily through Jesus. But the leader of the synagogue sees this miracle from an entirely different perspective. He sees a broken Sabbath rule. Period! The Sabbath is a day of rest and from his viewpoint Jesus is working when he heals the woman. Because the synagogue leader fears attacking Jesus, he chastises the crowd instead. "Stop cheering this lawbreaker! You've got six days a week to be healed. Come then!" Obviously the crowd doesn't pay any attention so he keeps chastising them over and over again.
Finally, Jesus had it! Again he shatters the peace by challenging the understanding of the religious experts. Not only that, he uses strong language - calling them hypocrites. He tells them that if it's acceptable according to Sabbath rules to take a donkey to a watering trough on Saturday, it's surely acceptable to heal a devout Jewish woman who is bent and crippled. He makes it clear that people take priority over rules.
When my son Gary was in high school he was a foreign exchange student in Israel. Several years after that experience, his Israeli brother Michael Salomon came to the states to visit. While he was with us, we took him to Lake of the Ozarks for the weekend. On Sunday morning we attended First Baptist Church in Camdenton and the pastor's text was "Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy." In his sermon he said that Jews kept that law so rigidly that in one instance several people died in an apartment fire because no one would extinguish the flames.
On the way to the car, I saw that Michael was furious! He said that even the most orthodox Jews respond to emergencies on the Sabbath. In trying to make his point, the minister didn't check his illustration. Sabbath rules have changed even among Orthodox Jews.
Jesus taught that day but his teaching isn't recorded. However, his action of healing the woman is recorded and remembered. His challenge to the synagogue leader is also reported. With his action and subsequent words he presents a new understanding for obedience to Sabbath rules. He lets people know that a bent and crippled woman is more important than a rule!
I am a visual learner rather than an auditory learner. I always remembered a science experiment better than a lecture. Jesus showed those in the synagogue that this woman was worthy and he proved her worth by healing her. He didn't present a lengthy teaching about the worth of all people and the need to break rules when necessary to help them because that teaching would be forgotten. However, this miracle and the subsequent challenge to the synagogue leader will always be remembered. When the moment was right, Jesus acted!
As we ponder this story, the questions come. How do we determine when a prophetic voice is needed and then speak that word? When should we shatter an unhealthy peace with our words and actions? How do we open ourselves to God's healing touch? How do we exhibit humility and courage in our every day encounters with God and people?
Religious and social attitudes change because someone has the courage to challenge them. 150 years ago the institution of slavery was challenged and denominations split. As a child I saw "Whites Only" signs over rest rooms and drinking fountains. I saw signs in restaurants that stated: "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone." I saw Blacks attend separate schools with poor facilities, materials and teachers.
My mother couldn't vote for years because she was born a woman and women weren't considered bright enough or independent enough to vote for those who would govern them. Many churches today refuse to allow women to preach or teach or be deacons or elders because women aren't seen by some as equal to men in God's eyes.
We live in a time when women continue to be battered and raped and people wonder what they did to deserve it. (Today the battering of women results in more injuries to women requiring medical attention than auto accidents, muggings and rapes combined.) We live in a time when many people who believe it's all right to destroy the life of a person with a lethal injection, refuse to consider using a frozen embryo to save lives through the development of stem cells. We live in a time when gays and lesbians are beaten and killed because of their sexual orientation. And people past and present base their stand on their interpretation of scripture.
Several years ago I heard Joan Chittister speak at a Benedictine college in Atchison, KS. Joan is a Catholic nun, author and college professor who challenged the Pope and spoke out in favor of women priests even after she was personally ordered by the Vatican to be silent. She risked being excommunicated and losing her teaching position and took a stand on what to her was an important religious issue - one that affects her and thousands of other women in the Catholic Church. Whether you agree with her or not, she takes her prophetic role seriously. And so should we.
One of the key Baptist beliefs is in the Priesthood of the Believer. That means that under the guidance of the Holy Spirit we are free to interpret scripture as we see fit. Others may not agree with us, but we have the right to try to convince them that what we believe is right. They can either accept or reject it. But Baptist ministers can lose our churches if what we say doesn't set right with the majority of the members of the congregation. Members of Baptist churches who don't agree with the majority can be made to feel like outsiders and choose to leave. Baptist churches can be kicked out of the Region. There are consequences to shattering the peace. However, if we never speak publicly what we believe is truth, others won't be challenged to examine their beliefs. Everyone present in that synagogue was challenged to examine their beliefs concerning the Sabbath because Jesus broke the law and healed the woman.
What is an appropriate response to pain and injustice? Jesus gives us an example. Jump into the conflict. Oppose the status quo when injustice is evident. Speak up at student council meetings, School Board meetings and church business meetings. Write letters to the editor and to those with authority as you seek to make changes. Support women's shelters, refugee resettlement, relief for the poor, Habitat for Humanity, the AIDS Resource Center, the Crop Walk. Visit nursing homes and send cards to residents. Give time, money and prayer support to the cause or causes for which you believe justice is needed. Put people first!
Jesus calls us to follow him and that means taking risks. We aren't called to play it safe and remain uninvolved while people around us live in pain. Jesus caused conflict and things changed.
However, I do offer a word of warning. Choose your battles carefully and prayerfully and then allow God to direct your actions. Shattering the peace of the status quo is an important part of Kingdom living, but it's dangerous. It can cause stress in relationships and ruin friendships. It can cause your bank account to dwindle. It can cause you to be ridiculed - or even injured.
How closely are you willing to follow Jesus? You must decide.
BENEDICTION: Go in peace with a renewed determination to follow Jesus - wherever that might lead.
