Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 13:10-17; Jeremiah 4:1-10; Hebrews 12:18-29
So much rain. For the past week rain is about all we can talk about. And the storm that came through on Thursday was one of awesome power. At one point there were 300,000 people without electricity in the greater Chicago area. When we called our son Tim in Togo, West Africa on Friday morning the local newspapers were filled with stories of the storm and the radio reported extensive electrical outages still persisting around the city. I couldn't help but rather excitedly tell him of the storm and I concluded by dramatically noting that some 200,000 people were still without electricity. I finished my rather enthusiastic updating report and awaited his reply. There was silence on the other end of the phone line. Then Pastor Chris, who was on the phone extension commented, "I don't think reports of being without electricity mean much to Tim." At which point I realized how strange I must sound speaking of such things to someone who has lived for the past two years without electricity.
I suspect that our Gospel lesson for this morning has a similar effect on most of us. It would appear to be a case law study on the rules concerning keeping the Sabbath in the time of Christ. And while that may be of some passing historical interest to us, the fact is that we no longer have such debates. At least not within our modern society. To be sure there are religious folks who periodically raise the issue, usually as it relates to Sunday sports programs and certainly the car dealers in Illinois still regularly try to change the laws so they will be allowed to open car sales on Sunday. But on the whole this is about as important a topic to the average American as discussions of electrical outages are to people in Togo, West Africa.
That is not to say that people in Togo wouldn't like to have such worries. And, truth be told, there are many who wish that they could be so engaged with their faith that they also could participate in active discussions of truth, justice and right living. Of course there are more important issues in life than what hours stores are open on Sunday or whether or not the soccer team should play on Sunday morning. Yet definitions, rules and laws of what is and is not allowed have long been used to shape religious, social and political communities. Every community is normally governed by hundreds of such rules. Some formally enshrined in the laws of the community while others are established by tradition or ritual. Rules and laws are not all that important in themselves. It is which ones that are highlighted and stressed that define a community.
When I was growing up in a small southern Minnesota town, Sunday was a day for church and family. The person who did not go to church on Sunday morning was the exception. Occasionally some of the men went fishing or hunting but only once or twice each year. The camp grounds at the state park, the YMCA camp and the Boy Scout camp all offered Sunday morning services which were all very well attended. In a town of 15,000 people there was only one gas station that opened and then only on Sunday afternoon. Most restaurants were closed although the Dairy Queen and A&W were open in the evening until 9. I still remember the Sunday the movie theater opened for the first time. It was the same year two drug stores also opened on Sundays and the pizza place started making Sunday evening deliveries.
There are still parts of our country where certain religious restrictions or limits define the life of the community. There was a time when at least one night each week the schools would schedule no extra curricular activities which allowed the religious community a time to offer instruction, choir practice and worship opportunities. Now days in our community it is not only the schools but the whole social calendar created by parents and child that compete for time that once was dedicated for the religious and spiritual upbringing of a child. The truth is that the church in every time and place, has found itself sooner or later having to define itself over against the priorities of society and popular culture. At various times in history there have been religious restrictions on the clothing worn, the food eaten, the music heard, the instruments played, the books read, the plays performed, even the holidays celebrated. Most of us would probably agree that we are much relieved to not have to worry about legal or overly restrictive religious restrictions on our lives yet we might also recognize that with such openness comes a certain loss of religious definition. We know who the Amish are because of their funny hats and their horse drawn carriages. We know who the Sikhs are because of their white turbans. We think we know who the Moslem is when we see a woman wearing a certain type of head covering but we struggle to identify the men. And what about the Christian community?
As students head off again to college the inevitable questions come our way, usually by e-mail. A significant number of our young people actually do want to have a spiritual life when they leave home. So already again this year I have received e-mails asking "Which religion is acceptable?" The question usually comes from a student who has not found a Lutheran church near by. I always reply that the whole Christian community is open to them. That as Lutherans we can even embrace many who might not easily embrace us. That seems to be one of the things Jesus was trying to make clear in our lesson for today. The defining characteristic of a religion or faith community should not be what it teaches or even says that it expects. The real question is what is done in the name of God. Belief and action must find a connection with each other or else you become what Jesus declared, "Hypocrites". We establish the rules, legislate the laws, define the rituals as a way of creating the needed boundaries that protect and direct our lives. But we all know the truth. I was always taught that rules are meant to be broken- carefully. The important word here is "carefully". As an English major I know that the rules of good grammar are to be observed in order to communicate properly and yet an incomplete sentence may sometimes be created for impact but don't do it too often. As a worship leader I know that most of the rituals can be modified or changed without any damage to the faith although the number of people worshipping may change if there are too many changes too often. Certainly we all know that the speed limit posted on Riverwoods Road provides safety for all who travel that route but in an emergency we expect the speed limit to be broken. These things do not bother us because we have come to believe that no rule, law or ritual is absolute or eternally true. That may sound a little strange, especially coming from a preacher who is supposed to proclaim the truth, but it was true even for Jesus.
From the earliest times, every religious rule or restriction has been challenged by the need for some exception. The simplest rule to order society is quickly found to be wanting. Of the 613 laws that had been defined for the Jewish community of Jesus' day, one of the seemingly simplest was, No one works on the Sabbath. It seems simple enough except there was the whole question of what constituted work. Theological scholars worked endlessly at clarifying this term. The debate continues to this very day.
Modern Jewish scholars determined, for example, that turning on a light switch or pushing a button was a form of work which created significant challenges to Orthodox Jews living in a modern world if they were going to keep the "no work" rule each Sabbath. I remember while visiting modern day Jerusalem discovering that on the weekends the elevators were set to automatically stop on every floor all Sabbath day long, thus sparing any Orthodox Jew from the dilemma of being unable to push a floor button which is defined as an act of work. Even when the modern Christian community attempted to reverence Sunday as a day of rest and no work there was always the question of emergency personnel. Police, fire, ambulance, hospital staff all are somehow exempted from a no work rule, as are those who maintain our utilities. (No one wants to declare one day a week a time without electricity or water, unless you live in Togo.) And let us not forget those employed by religious institutions. Certainly Pastors, organists, and choir directors are "working". Jesus knew this too well as he pointed out the exceptions made to any "no work on the Sabbath" rule when it came to caring for livestock. Which is what caused Jesus to turn the criticism of his healing a woman on the Sabbath back at those who were judging him. Hypocrites, he called them. Those who say one thing and do another. Some have said this is the business of politics.
Our view of the Sabbath today is quite different from that of Jesus' day. Sabbath has become Sunday, just another day of the week. We still try to make it a special day but usually for secular rather than religious reasons. There is no doubt that for many, Sunday is known each fall as the day for pro football all leading up to what has been declared to be Super Sunday. Sunday has become for most of us a day that is really no different than any other day of the week in terms of its demands. Our schedule may include different activities than the rest of the week, but most folks are just as weighed down on Sunday with as many obligations and commitments as any other day of the week, except that we might be allowed to dress a little differently. Jesus knew that the Sabbath was not a day. Sabbath is a gift. God's gift to humanity. It is so easy to get caught up worrying about all the wrong things. The woman who interrupted Jesus' sermon was bent over. It is interesting that no mention is made of any cause for her condition. We are not told that she had sinned or that she was somehow possessed by an evil spirit. We are simply told that she was bent, stooped over, and Jesus straightened her out. And then after he was confronted about breaking the law by working on the Sabbath, Jesus also straightened out the priorities of those who were judging him. Jesus set the bent woman free not only from the burden of her life but also the burden of the law. Jesus lifted the burden of the law, set us free from the law. Jesus declared that what we do and how we live was no longer to be cause for fear of punishment, guilt, failure, and being disliked. Jesus sets us free to live and do the things that we want to do for the right reasons. We all know what that means, even when we can't quite live it.
I remember asking my mother one time, "Will I have to go to church every Sunday when I get older?" (I was not planning to be a minister at the time.) "Yes," she replied, "but only until you want to go." That proved to be very effective parenting since all my brothers and sister are active to this day in their respective church communities. To be set free to live and do the things that we want to do for the right reasons. We know that caring for children should not be a matter of doing those things that need to be done to avoid prosecution under the law. We care for children because we love them and we want to do what is best for them. But the laws against child abuse and neglect are still there as a guide if we should ever need it, and for those too bent, who need our help to stand. We are set free of the burden of the law. We still come to God's table and kneel to receive the sacrament. We bow our heads in prayer and ask forgiveness for our sins, our failures before and under the law. But then, having heard the proclamation of Christ's word, "Given and shed for you" we rise, we stand, we look up. We sing our hymns with voices raised. We confess our faith standing and facing God boldly. Here we embrace the full meaning of Sabbath. Here we hear Jesus saying, "you are set free."
What Jesus revealed to the people gathered at the synagogue, what Jesus would have us to understand from today's gospel, is that what defines the Sabbath is not the things that are not done. It doesn't matter how many stores are closed or how many athletic events we do not participate in. What defines the Sabbath is what is done and how we do it. Jesus worked on the Sabbath. Worked a miracle of healing and that was what made that Sabbath holy. To act in faith, to witness to God's love, to share God's grace. Having been renewed at God's table we too can so sanctify this day.
And so our service will end this day with each of us rising, standing straight and tall before God. And in the end we will be guided by the command to, "Go in peace, serve the Lord." In other words, do something with your faith. To which we will reply, "Thanks be to God."
"and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing. "
Amen