Sabbath Healing: Where Law and Grace Collide

 Luke 13:10-17         

            There was a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare & serious disease.  Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness.  The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister.  He hesitated for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes I'll do it if it will save her."  As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as everyone else did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks.  Then his face grew pale and his smile faded.  He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?”  Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.   

            Our text for today enacts a similar type of healing.  Healing that is done to provide life more abundantly.  Healing that puts the neighbor’s interests at a high priority.  Healing provided by Jesus, the one who would later give his life for the life of the world.

            This text finds Jesus in the synagogue on the Sabbath.  On this holy day Jesus enters a holy place.  For the Jewish community the Sabbath is a day for rest and renewal.  Keeping the Sabbath was part of the law.  This law, along with others, was given to the Israelites after their Exodus from Egypt.  This law commanded them to rest, to set aside time, one whole day, to rest their bodies and their livestock.  This was good news for them after spending time in Egypt as hardworking slaves, never having any time off. 

            So, Jesus enters their holy place on this holy day of rest and he breaks the law of the day.  He works on the Sabbath.  More specifically, he heals on the Sabbath.  Now he is not an uninformed citizen, he knows the laws.  He knows what is acceptable and what is not.  Regardless, he makes an exception to the law.  He sees a woman who is crippled and bent over.  She has been this way for eighteen years.  He thinks she shouldn’t live one more day like this.  So right then and there, Jesus sets her free from her ailment and heals her.

            The leader of this synagogue is upset with Jesus.  He cannot believe that Jesus would break the law of the day and heal this woman.  The leader of the synagogue is probably worried that if we start making exceptions to the law then we will never stop.  If there are enough exceptions to a law then it doesn’t carry much power anymore.  This exception to the law is more than just an exception.  This is grace.

            Often there are moments where the law needs to be interrupted with a little bit of grace.  Sure, the law is important because it helps order our lives and keep the peace.  The law sets boundaries.  Jesus doesn’t just forget about the law, but he provides a new interpretation of the law, which has some grace in it.  He does not think the law should have the ability to withhold life, grace, and freedom from this woman.  He thinks she deserves to be healed and she deserves that today, not tomorrow, when it would be more socially acceptable.

            So, what can we, as people living in the 21^st century, take away from this lesson of healing on the Sabbath?  First we can learn the importance of the law.  The law of the Sabbath is also a law that is important in our lives.  It is part of the law, the Torah, the Ten Commandments.  The 3^rd commandment, as you may remember, is “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.”  We are all in need of some rest and renewal.  We each need to find some time, preferably a whole day, to call our Sabbath.  When we factor in our work schedules and other events that day will not likely be the same for all of us, but it should provide the same rest and renewal.  I am often reminded that we all do not rest on the same day when I have my day off on a day that is a work day for most and when I work on days like today, when many others are allowed a day for Sabbath time.

            We can also be reminded of the new commandment and the greatest commandment that Jesus gave “Love God and love your neighbor.”  In summarizing the whole law he gave us this ultimate command of love.  This is the love that Jesus shows to the synagogue leader and to the crippled bent over woman.  In so doing, it is the love he calls us to share as well.  Love that knows no boundaries.  Love that crosses all boundaries.  This commandment of love is what bridges the gap between the law and the grace of this healing story.

            Through this lesson we also learn the importance of grace.  This is grace that often breaks into our world and provides healing and wholeness.  It is grace that sometimes interrupts the law and comes when we least expect it.  Nevertheless, it heals us.  It picks us up when we are crippled and bent over from the weight of the world, either physically or metaphorically.  It gives us life and life more abundantly.  It reminds us of the one who gave his life for the life of the world. 

Just like Liz’s brother said, “I will do it if it will save her,” Jesus says to us and to the bent over woman, “I will do it if it will save her.”  Jesus’ grace can and will save our lives on this day of Sabbath and everyday, and for that we say “Thanks be to God.”  Amen.

Homelessness and The Rich Man

 Luke 12:13-21

           Last week I had the opportunity to travel with the high school youth to Seattle for a mission trip.  Our trip was organized through Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp in Montana.  Our main mission was to better understand homelessness in the city of Seattle and at large.  We spent time assisting with a variety of feeding ministries throughout Seattle.  We served dinner at three homeless shelters, prepared and served a lunch for over 200 people, and visited the compass center, which is the umbrella of services for the homeless population in Seattle. 

The opportunity to serve was wonderful, but I think the conversations we had were even more meaningful.  We were able to sit down and talk with our homeless brothers and sisters at each of these service opportunities.  It was through those conversations that we learned that the face of homelessness is different than our preconceived ideas had led us to believe.  Homeless people are a lot like us in many ways.  They are educated.  They have traveled.  They have had or still do have items that are worth a decent amount of money.  They have nice clothes and look put together.  If you saw them on the street you might not even know that they are homeless.  They don’t carry all their belongings around with them.  They have jobs.  They are appreciative of what they have.  They are trying to get out of homelessness.  Of course all of those things are not true for every homeless person we met, but many of them shocked us with their stories of somewhat normal lives that had been turned upside down in one swift moment.  Often it was difficult for them to talk about that one moment that had changed their life and made them homeless, but they were very quick to tell us about how their lives had been and what they had done.  Their willingness to share their stories helped us recreate the image of homelessness in our minds.  Homelessness is no longer faceless for us.  We now know some of the faces of homelessness.

This experience made me read our text for today in a different light.  In the homeless shelters that we visited individuals have permanent beds.  At the foot of each bed is a space for them to keep their belongings.  That space is two plastic totes or bins.  The lids must be able to close and they are stacked.  I tried to imagine what I would put into those two plastic containers and I couldn’t even begin to think of what I would have to get rid of to downsize that far.  All it takes is an immersion in urban homelessness to realize that I am like the rich man.  We are like the rich man. 

Want to make this parable more contemporary?  Ariel, from the Little Mermaid, is also like the rich man.  You remember her little tune:

Look at this stuff, isn't it neat?

Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?

Wouldn't you think I'm the girl

The girl who has everything?

Look at this trove, treasures untold

How many wonders can one cavern hold?

Looking around here, you'd think

Sure, she's got everything.

I've got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty

I've got who's-its and what's-its galore

You want thing-a-mabobs?

I've got twenty

But who cares? No big deal. I want more.

It is so very easy to be greedy.  It is so easy to tear down our barns and build bigger ones, doing so only so we have more room to keep things for ourselves.  This text confronts us, you and me, and it confronts our habits of greed.  It confronts our sinful nature.  “St. Augustine once said that God gave us people to love and things to use, and sin, in short, is the confusion of these two things.”  Our love of things is what gets us in trouble.  It distracts us from loving the people around us, which was God’s intention.

            Sure having money provides stability for us and our family, which is important.  Money creates jobs, which allow others to have an income.  Money provides shelter, food, clothes, and transportation.  Money does benefit us, but it is not meant to be stored up in a greedy way.  Money can be used to bless the lives of others, too.  It can be shared.  Money in some ways gives us life.  It does not give us the life that Jesus promises to us.  It does not provide full, abundant, eternal life.  Money is only temporary.  It is only needed here on earth.  It is not needed in death.  “A seasoned pastor once said, “I have heard many different regrets expressed by people nearing the end of life, but there is one regret I have never heard expressed. I have never heard anyone say, ‘I wish I hadn’t given so much away. I wish I had kept more for myself.’” Death has a way of clarifying what really matters.”

All it takes is the words Jesus says to the rich man to make us consider how we live our lives.  Jesus says, “You fool!  This very night your life is being demanded of you.  And the things you have prepared whose will they be?”  If your life was demanded of you today who will inherit your things?  Will they benefit your next of kin, maybe a spouse or child?  Are they intended to be given to some of your favorite causes?  Will they be used richly toward God?  Jesus’ words, even though they may sound a bit scary and fearful, should point us in the right direction.

That direction is back to the promises made at our baptism.  In the waters of baptism we shed our sinful clothing and are clothed with Christ.  We die with Christ and are raised with him as well.  In that dying we are to put to death our earthly desires, according to Colossians.  That list of earthly desires includes greed and a myriad of other things.  In letting go of greed and other earthly desires we are made new by Christ and his love for us.  In letting go of greed we also are freed to be rich toward God.

So, instead of living like the rich man, tearing down our barns and building larger ones, or like Ariel, singing of all the things that we want, let’s live proclaiming a different story, let’s live singing the story of the abundant gifts God has given. Let’s proclaim the story of salvation that was given to us in our baptism through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.  And in response to all that has been given to us let’s be rich toward God.  Amen.

Go: Apostle and Disciple

Luke 10:1-11,16-20   

          As I first read this text I immediately focused on the word “go.”  Which made me think of one of my favorite pieces of Scripture, Matthew 28:19, which says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  This verse makes me feel motivated.  It lights a fire within me.  It inspires me.  Whenever the going gets tough I remember that Jesus has sent me to evangelize, to make disciples, and that he has sent the Holy Spirit to empower me for the mission.  I guess that word “go” just really gets me going.  This verse took on new meaning while I was on internship in Washington DC.  On Ash Wednesday Regina, a member from the congregation, and I had made our way to the Van Ness Metro Station.  Regina had her easel and paints and I had some ashes in a container.  Our hope was to remind people that it was Ash Wednesday and to place ashes on their foreheads reminding them that they are dust and to dust they will return.  As we began I was very hesitant.  I guess you could say that I was listening to what my mom had taught me as a young girl on the prairie, “don’t talk to strangers.”  Eventually it became a little easier to greet people walking down the sidewalk.  After all that is the first step in evangelizing.  Of course, we got a few crazy looks as we greeted people on that brisk morning.  But as Regina and I walked back up Connecticut Avenue later that morning we couldn’t help but talk about how we had made a difference.  Even if we only put ashes on one person’s forehead, we had begun to make disciples.  That was a great reminder of why we had gone on our mission that day.  We were not expecting to return to St. Paul’s with ten new members or even one.  We had gone because I felt like God was telling me to go.  God was showing me that in this busy city where almost everyone works over forty hours, they may not be able to make it to church on Ash Wednesday.  God was telling me to take the ashes to them.  For at least one moment on that morning, I imagine that most people were reminded that it was Ash Wednesday and even if they didn’t know what that meant they asked us, asked a friend, or googled it on their Smartphone.  That day Regina and I were on a mission.  We were commissioned.  We were apostles, sent to make disciples.  We were sent by God to go.

            The point, my friends, is not about gaining new members or increasing our income from the offering plate.  The point is that we have been commissioned to make disciples, to baptize them, and to teach them.  And it’s not about what we, the church, might get out of it.  It is because God told us to go. 

In our text today Jesus tells us once again to go.  More specifically he says, “Go on your way.”  And with those words he sends out the 70, in pairs.  They are sent to cure the sick and tell others that the kingdom of God has come near.  Really their task was twofold: teamwork and proclamation.  Those are both difficult jobs.  And as if that isn’t hard enough, throw in the persistence that Jesus is asking for here.  He tells them whether they are welcomed or not by the people they are sent to that they are still supposed to proclaim that the kingdom of God has come near.

            Jesus sends them out in teams, because he expects that there will be some resistance to their work.  That is where the “lambs into the midst of wolves” part comes into play.  As a team, when one fails, struggles, falls down, or falters the other one will be there to assist.  Jesus didn’t send them out as lone rangers.  I remember that being a big part of my seminary education: “Don’t be the lone ranger.”  Instead I was taught to know that I am surrounded by colleagues that are doing similar work.  They have days of success and days of failures.  The same is true for each one of us as we go about our work as Christians, as we share the good news; we are not meant to be lone rangers.  Rather, we are meant to be part of a network of people, a part of the whole church, who work together in proclaiming that the kingdom of God has come near.

            The other part of being on a team is knowing that others have your back.  When we can’t come up with the right words to proclaim the good news, we can step aside and let another member of the team do that part.  When we are unable to assist the church in one thing we can use our gifts in another area.  We don’t always have to be on the starting line-up. 

That is part of the difference between being disciples and being apostles.  Now, likely you have heard those words and thought they were being used interchangeably.  They are similar words, but they do have different core meanings.  As disciples we are the learners.  As apostles we are the sent out ones.  That being said, there are times when we need to be disciples learning through personal study and group study.  There are other times when we are called to be the sent out ones or the ones on the front lines of proclamation.  We are not meant to be both apostles and disciples at the same time and all the time.  We need to have something flowing in and filling us, in order to have something productive flowing out from us.  A life-giving faith requires an inflow of learning and an outflow of being sent with a message.

            Now you might not be sent to put ashes on people’s foreheads in Washington, DC.  But you are sent and commissioned by Jesus to go.  You are called to be a disciple and an apostle.  You are sent to go on your way as a laborer in God’s vineyard.  And if you know anything about vineyard work or labor during harvest time, you know it doesn’t stop.  Once the harvest is ready you go 110% non-stop.  So, let this life of faith consume you and let it spill over into all you say and do.

Today you are sent and commissioned to go, but remember that you are not alone; you are part of a team.  You need to be filled and nourished as a learner before you are sent out to be a proclaimer.  So go with these words from St. Teresa of Avila “Christ has no body on earth but yours; no hands but yours; no feet but yours.  Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ looks out to the world.  Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good.  Yours are the hands with which he is to bless others now.”  So, go.  Amen.

Jesus is Coming to Dinner

           Luke 7:26-50

            I remember a skit that we used to do when I worked at Bible camp.  It was called “Jesus is coming to dinner.”  A visitor comes and knocks on the host’s door and asks for food.  The host turns the visitor away without any food.  Another visitor comes and knocks on the host’s door and asks to use the bathroom.  The host says no and shuts the door.  The next visitor to knock on the door asks to use the phone.  But the host again closes the door providing no help to the visitor.  The host was too busy preparing for Jesus to come to dinner, to assist the visitors with their needs.  Lo and behold, Jesus never comes, or at least Jesus doesn’t come in the form that the host was expecting.  Actually it had been Jesus that had come asking for food, a bathroom, and to use the phone.  Jesus had come, but the host was too busy preparing for Jesus’ arrival to even take time to extend hospitality to the one at the door.

            In today’s text, Simon is hosting a dinner party and Jesus has been invited.  You can about imagine what the other guests are thinking, “Jesus is coming to dinner!”  Jesus arrives and dinner begins.  And then in walks a woman—a sinful woman.  I am sure the mood of the guests took a nosedive.  Who does this sinful woman think she is that she can just waltz into our dinner party, uninvited?  And then the woman begins washing Jesus’ feet with her tears and drying them off with her hair.  She kisses his feet and anoints them with ointment.  Who does that?  Surely Simon didn’t do that when Jesus arrived.

            In fact, Simon was not a very good host at this dinner party.  It was custom at the time for the host to provide a basin of water for the guests to wash their feet when they arrived at the host’s house.  After all, Jesus had just come from walking the dusty roads in sandals or maybe with no shoes at all.  His feet were dirty and tired.  They probably could have used a good soak in some warm water.  Simon must have been too busy preparing for Jesus to come to dinner to take the time to extend a hand of hospitality to him when he arrived.  So here we have it—Simon the inhospitable host.

            The hospitable one in this story is actually the uninvited sinful woman.  She takes it upon herself to welcome Jesus properly.  She does the unthinkable by using her tears to wash Jesus’ feet and using her hair to dry them off.  She kisses his feet and anoints them.  Simon thinks this is absolutely inappropriate.  He wonders why Jesus is allowing such a woman, a sinful woman, to wash his feet.  After all, as Jesus allows this sinful and unclean woman to wash his feet, he is becoming unclean in the process.  Simon thinks this is crazy, but we know that this is not new for Jesus.  Jesus often spends his time with the outcasts, poor, the unclean, and sinners.  In fact, Jesus appreciates this sinful woman’s hospitality.

            Jesus takes this opportunity to prove a point to Simon by telling a parable about two debtors.  Their debts are of differing amounts, but both of the debts are canceled.  Now I would love it if Jesus were really talking about canceling debt.  I know I have a large amount of educational debt that I would love to be canceled.  But, Jesus is talking about another type of debt here.  This debt is sin—the same sin that we are in bondage to, as well.  The debtors are meant to resemble Simon and the sinful woman.  The one who has the greater debt loves more.  The sinful woman in this story shows more love to Jesus.  She is hospitable.  She does this because she knows she is sinful and knows that she is in need of forgiveness.  Simon on the other hand is also sinful.  In fact, we are all sinful.  But Simon seems unaware of his sin.  He does not seem to know that he needs forgiveness.  Those who are forgiven much, love much.  Those who are forgiven little, love little.  Their debts are canceled.  Their sins are forgiven. 

            As a result of the forgiveness granted, the other guests at the dinner party begin to question the identity of this person that is granting forgiveness.  I imagine we might have done the same thing if we were guests at Simon’s house that day.  They wonder if this person may be a prophet.  In fact, this person is more than just a prophet.  This person is Jesus.  This person is God’s Son.  This person is God.  This person is the one who has the ability to forgive the sins of the sinful woman, of Simon, and of us.

            So who am I in this story?  Who are you in this story?  Sometimes we might be like the sinful woman.  We might know that we are sinful and are in need of forgiveness.  This happens when we are able to honestly look inward at our own sinful nature.  At other times, we might be like Simon.  We might be completely oblivious to our sin and therefore unaware of our need for forgiveness.  Most often this happens when our eyes are so focused outward on the sins and shortcomings of others that we are unable to recognize our own sin.  Regardless, our debts are canceled.  Our sins are forgiven. 

            Do we receive forgiveness for our sins because we have already shown love?  Or are we forgiven of our sins so that we may begin to show love?  On one hand, love is a response to forgiveness.  On the other hand, the ability to love can be related to the ability to receive forgiveness. 

            Love and forgiveness are so closely related.  This story from 2005 illustrates that point, as well.  In June of 2005, Pastor Eileen Harris’ life was changed forever. She came home one evening to discover that her home had been robbed by, Russell, the man who cleaned her home.  Her husband, who was also a pastor, and her 24 year old daughter were killed and their home was set on fire.  The housecleaner was sentenced to life in prison and if the case would have gone to trial he likely would have received the death penalty.  However, Pastor Eileen did not let the case go to trial.  She said, “Because I value the gift of life and I know God forgives and loves all of us, especially you, Russell, I support a sentence of natural life.”  Pastor Eileen took forgiveness and love to the nth degree.  That level of forgiveness and love might be one we cannot even fathom, but may it set an example for us.

            Now I don’t want it to seem like I am telling you that you must do x, y, and z in order to be forgiven.  We know that is not true.  We know that our forgiveness was secured through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  However, we are not just off the hook and free to do whatever we please, knowing that we will just automatically be forgiven.  We, as Christians, are called to act in response to the forgiveness we have been given.  One possible response is that we are called to be hospitable to the stranger—the one in our midst.  In doing this we are also being hospitable to Jesus.  We are showing love to God and the stranger.

            Now I know that we do get some strangers, some visitors here at South Canyon.  What would you do if someone showed up and you knew that they were new to our community.  What if you got to church and someone was already sitting in your pew—you know the one that has your imprint on it?  Maybe you would just go and sit somewhere else and ignore the stranger in your pew.  Maybe you would sit next to the stranger and still ignore them.  Maybe you would sit next to the stranger and actually welcome them.  If their feet were tired and dirty would you be willing to use your tears and hair to wash their feet?  What if this person was Jesus?  May we, who continue to be forgiven much, continue to love much, because we never know when Jesus might actually show up for dinner.  Amen.