Proper 16 :: Isaiah 58: 9b–14; Psalm 103: 1–8 ; Hebrews
12: 18–29; Luke 13: 10–17
This is a
homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at St. John's Church in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
on Sunday, August 21, 2016.
“RESTORATION”
(Homily text: Luke 13: 10–17)
This morning’s Gospel reading provides us with the wonderful account of
Jesus’ healing of a woman who’d suffered from a debilitating condition in her
back for eighteen years. Since the importance of Jesus’ regard for her goes
beyond a simple demonstration of God’s power to heal, let’s do some theological
work on this event, and for its implications for the ways in which God works to
restore each and every human being to an ongoing, vital relationship.
When the word “theology” (or “theological”) gets mentioned, our
temptation might be to shy away from the discussion of the event(s) at hand, or
to want to move on to some other subject that won’t be so challenging. But, in
fact, theological exploration – or the topic of theology – needn’t be the
off-putting exercise many persons might think it to be.
Theology can be simply understood as an inquiry into two main areas:
- What is God’s nature?
- How does God interact with human beings?
Following up
on these two questions, as we focus on the first question, we should notice
that the things we know about God’s nature are (often) made known to us by the
actions that God takes. (We can see this in our human relationships: We discern
something about the unseen aspects of a person, things like their thoughts and
intentions, by observing their actions.) So God’s self-revelation forms the
basis for understanding something about God’s nature.
The second
question has to do with the effects of God’s acting within the realm of human
affairs. Put another way, we can ask the following question: How does God’s
acting and moving within human relationships change those relations and the
actions that take place within those relationships? Sometimes, we might see the
effects a bit better by asking the question from the reverse position, asking
it this way: How would events be
different if God weren’t involved in them somehow?
Now, equipped
with these theological tools, let’s look at the healing incident which is
before us this morning.
But we should
begin our exploration by looking at God’s original relationship with Adam and
Eve in the Garden of Eden, for the pattern we see there will inform our
investigation into the situation that the woman who was healed by Jesus faced.
So, in the
beginning, God established a pattern of relating to our original parents, Adam
and Eve. We can summarize theological aspects of this relationship and the
unfolding drama that took place by stating the following:
- Adam and Eve had it pretty good in the Garden of Eden. They had an intimate, face-to-face relationship with God.
- They lived in a world that was created by God’s Sabbath rest, for Genesis tells us that “God rested from all His labors”[1] on the seventh day of creation. Adam and Eve, having been created on the sixth day,[2] the day before, enjoyed and knew God’s release and rest on the seventh day. And as creation began to work in the first new week of creation, Adam and Eve’s work of tending the garden took place in the shadow of that Sabbath rest and release.
- But, of course, all this goodness, their close relationship with God and the relative ease of their lives in the garden, wasn’t enough, for they disobeyed God by eating of the fruit of the tree.[3]
The results
of Adam and Eve’s actions were:
- The destruction of their close, face-to-face relationship with God,
- Estrangement from one another and from other human beings,
- The end of their living in the knowledge of Sabbath rest, for their lives, from that point on, would be marked by hardship, toil and tears.[4]
Hold these
three points in view as we move forward into today’s Gospel text.
In the
fullness of time, God sent His only-begotten Son, Jesus, to take on our
humanity to the full.
Theologically
speaking, Jesus’ mission from His Father was to restore the conditions that
existed in the Garden of Eden prior to Adam and Eve’s disobedience. Put another
way, Jesus came to:
- Offer us a renewed, face-to-face relationship with the Father through the Son,
- To break down the walls of distrust, dislike and hatred with divide human beings, one from another,
- To renew the sense of release and restoration that God’s Sabbath promises.
At this
point, let’s look at the healing incident that is before us in our Gospel text.
Notice that
Luke tells us that Jesus is teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. (Luke
does not tell us where this synagogue was located.) As He is teaching, Jesus
notices the bent-over woman. Though the text does not explicitly tell us, it’s
possible that she was standing within His view, perhaps at the door. Jesus
calls her before the assembly, and – most likely – into the building itself.
Touching her, He heals her condition, and she is able to stand upright for the
first time in eighteen years.
We would do
well to examine these things from the perspective of theology.
First of all,
it’s possible that this woman had no close and ongoing relationship with God.
The reason is that, because of her physical condition, she would not have been
able to go into the Temple in Jerusalem. It’s also possible that she would not
have been allowed into the synagogue, for she would – most likely – have been
regarded as a sinful person. Remember that, in those days, illness and physical
deformity was often thought to have been the result of some sin in a person’s
life. Furthermore, the Law of Moses, forbade a deformed or ill person from
entering into God’s presence in the Temple.
Secondly,
this unfortunate woman may well have been ostracized by the other residents of
the village in which she lived. Here the matter of who is “clean” and who is
“unclean” according to the Law of Moses comes into play…..the matter of who is
“clean” and who is “unclean” had to do not only with being able to enter the
Temple, but it also played itself out in daily life, for a person who was
considered to be “unclean” was to be avoided for the sake of avoiding
contamination. So, continuing our theological exploration of the woman’s
situation, we see that there were dividing walls of suspicion and distrust
which isolated her from others in her community.
The third
observation has to do with restoration and release. For this woman, there was
no respite from the burdens she bore socially and religiously. Life, for her,
was a relentless cycle of suspicion, and of distrust and dislike, for she was
an outcast, more than likely.
But, as we
see so often in Jesus’ ministry and in the things He does, the walls which
divide a person from God and the walls which divide one person from another are
breached.
Jesus not
only calls this (possibly) “unclean” woman into the midst of the synagogue, but
He touches the woman, thereby becoming (possibly) “unclean” Himself in the
process, according to the prevailing wisdom of that day. He cures her
condition, and explains His action in the terms that His audience could
understand, as He links her condition to the power of Satan.
It’s worth
noting the release that is given to the woman, for Jesus describes His action
in terms of release from bondage. That is a Sabbath release, a release which is
given on the Sabbath day.[5]
What
importance does this event hold for you and me?
Whenever we
read or hear a passage from Holy Scripture, that is a question that ought to be
foremost in our minds, for Holy Scripture has a forward-looking aspect to it.
That is to say that it’s truths are timeless truths, truths that were as
trustworthy in ages past as they are trustworthy today, and which will be
trust-able into the future.
Perhaps one
way in which this text challenges us is that we are called to continue Jesus’
ministry of restoration.
To do that,
we must act – as He did and does – to restore all persons to an ongoing,
personal, face-to-face relationship with the Father through the Son. We do this
by modeling such a relationship ourselves. We nurture our relationship with the
Father through a life of work, study and prayer, these three aspects which
arise from a Benedictine pattern of living out the Christian life. By doing so,
we can offer by our outward actions indicators of the inward, spiritual grace
that an intense and personal relationship with God brings about. This is – in
summary – sacramental living.[6]
To do that,
we must examine ourselves to see if there’s any evidence that we think and act
as those who were present in the synagogue on the day of Jesus’ healing of the
woman, to see if we believe that some people are simply “unclean”, people who
are forever beyond God’s ability to reach, to restore and to be given a new and
holy life.
To do that,
we must offer Sabbath rest and release to those who know no peace and who know
no rest. Often, such ministries might take the form of addressing physical
needs for food, clothing, and shelter, but they make take the form of forming
personal relationships with those who are suffering from some sort of an
addiction. They make take the form of working to give a single parent a day of
relief from the care of children, or they make take the form of offering some
form of recreation to a family that wouldn’t have the means to enjoy such a
thing otherwise.
The
possibilities are endless, if only we will ask God to enlighten and empower us
to take up the mantle that Jesus has put upon our shoulders. If we accept this
mantle and act upon its demands, then the watching world will know something
about God’s nature, and they will know something about the ways in which God
interacts with humankind.
May that ever
be the case with those of us who claim the Name of Jesus as Lord and Savior.
AMEN.
____________________________
[1] Genesis 2: 2, 3
[2] Genesis 1: 26–31
[3] Genesis 3: 1–20
[4] See Genesis 3: 16–19.
[5] By the way, it’s significant that the
beginning of Jesus’ ministry, as Luke tells it, begins in the synagogue in
Nazareth on the Sabbath day. Quoting, Isaiah, Jesus says that His ministry is
to “proclaim good news to the poor….to proclaim liberty to the captives and
recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4: 18, 19)
[6] A definition of a Sacrament is that it is “a
visible and outward sign of an inward and spiritual grace”.
