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August 22, 2010, MLC Ocean View NJ., Pr. Hartmut Fege, D. Min.

Lectionary 22/ Lk. 13.10-17, 6.6-11, 4.16 21. Deut. 5.12.

 

MLC constitution Chapter 12. Article 4. The Congregational Council shall have oversight of the life and activities of this congregation and in particular its worship life to the end that everything be done in accordance with the Word of God and the faith and practice of the ELCA.

Like all officers in places of worship, the leader of the Synagogue wanted to follow the rules. And that particular Sabbath the congregation had a special guest, the Rabbi Jesus.

It was the custom of a visiting Rabbi to be given the opportunity to read from Scripture.

Luke says there are several places where Jesus is asked to read… Lk. 6.6-11; 4.16ff… for example and of course today’s Lesson.

That is what Jesus was doing when he spotted a woman in the crowd that was bent over… arthritis, osteoporosis…?

Luke speaks of it as a demonic thing – which of course all illness in the sense that illness distorts God’s intent for his creation.

In Jesus' day illness was often seen as punishment for sin, either of the person or her ancestors… so she did not fit in.

Stopping in the middle of the sermon Jesus called to her “woman you are set free from your ailment.”  GYNAI ‘Hapilelusai tes ‘ASTENEIAS SOU.

He touched her… and all this on the Sabbath!

Touching a sinner and healing the sick… and she did what? Anortwte kai edoxzaen…And immediately she stood up straight and gave God glory!

All well and good… but Lutherans have a prescribed liturgical form for worship.

Confession, absolution, collect, Psalms, lessons, sermon… You know the routine, right?

You just heard that it is the responsibility of the Leadership team and especially the President to make sure that worship life be done in accordance of the practice of the ELCA.  Ok Pat, are you still with me?

The leader of the Synagogue had the same mandate in Jesus' day… some things don’t change much.

At this point in Luke’s story we can see a few raised eyebrows… especially that of the leader of the Synagogue.

Speaking of Old Testament Laws and those who like to use them as a measure of others, I am reminded of something that was written by someone who wanted to respond to a conservative radio talk show hostess who was lambasting gays, women and others who did not quite meet her standards of morality.

The letter went something like this: Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding the laws of God. I have learned a great deal from you and try to share my knowledge with as many people as I can.

1. Leviticus 25.44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans but not Canadians. Can you clarify?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21.7. In this day and age what do you think would be a good price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her menstrual period (Lev. 15.19-24). The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar of sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor to the Lord (Lev.1.9) The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Ex. 35.2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev.11.10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality.  I don’t agree. Can you settle this? Are there degrees of abomination?

7. I know from Leviticus 11.6 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football with gloves on?

The president of the Synagogue was upset. He was not able to rejoice. The Synagogue and these people were his sacred responsibility.

Keeping SABBATH was not an option.

It was and is one of the most important commandments… and as far as he was concerned Jesus had crossed the line.  By the time Luke wrote this Gospel there was much discussion on how to best keep the Sabbath, Deuteronomy 5.14.

Sabbath was a day of rest and worship. Not work.  What is permissible?  Soccer, baseball, tennis, surgery…?

As far as the Pharisee in the Synagogue – Jesus was setting a bad example.

And worse he was disrespecting the laws of God. 

So he did some damage control. He was polite and diplomatic… he did not admonish Jesus, he spoke to the gathered.

There are 6 days to work. If you need medical attention, do it on one of those days, not the Sabbath. Don’t let it happen again.

Technically he was right.  After 18 years she could have waited a few more hours till dusk when Sabbath was over. But Jesus saw it differently. He had had enough of dotting the ‘I’ and crossing the‘t’ when it came to religion.

He saw too much self-righteousness, too much suffering because of it.

You hypocrites. You untie the ox or donkey and lead them to water and this woman one of your own – a daughter of Abraham, who has been bound by Satan for 18 years…

Is it not more important to set her free (to untie her) not tomorrow but today?

The irony here is that the president of the Synagogue, obsessed with rule keeping and doing everything in good order… forgot the most important rule of all.

“You shall love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind and your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus once said “before you take the speck out of your brother’s eye – first take the log out of your own eye... and how can a blind man lead a blind man... will they not both fall into a ditch?

There were good reasons for Sabbath laws.  Our Hebrew forefathers were always in danger of being assimilated into the surrounding culture in which they lived.

By Jesus' day very few people could read or speak Hebrew, even among the educated class. That is why 300 years B.C. the Old Testament had been translated into Greek… the language of the day and by the time Luke wrote the Gospel from which we read today, the Temple in Jerusalem had been knocked down… all that was standing was an outer wall…which is there today!

Shabbat rules come in many forms. There are those who interpret scripture to exclude those who are different.

There are those who make worship a lifeless rigid, dismal thing – rules about the right hymns or music, or whether only organs and or even pipe organs can be used in worship…

There are others who insist that only worship without instruments is appropriate.

None of us would withhold medical care from anyone because it is Sunday.

Or in some churches women are to be seen but not heard. Rev. Ratzinger, the man in the Vatican, has it all wrong.

 We go too far in the other direction, forgetting that Sabbath or Sunday for us is a day to worship… like the Israelites who remembered Sabbath as a way to celebrate their liberation from Pharaoh's yoke; we are enslaved just as much as they were.

No, there is no Pharaoh who keeps us in servitude… but I don’t see very many happy, healthy, whole people out there these days teeing off on the golf course or in the long lines heading in and out of Sea Isle on the weekends.

I have to ride my bike to get to the Ocean View post office on Saturday because the traffic is backed up in all directions… I don’t hear a lot of alleluias and amen's!

It is not a good time for these folk and then they do all again just about the time we leave here. We too are in danger of being assimilated and co-opted into the culture, which is not Christian… even though that is what we say on our currency.

It was not the observance of Sabbath that Jesus questioned but a religion that valued  the externals of worship more than God who stood in their midst and whom they did not recognize…

We are a Sabbath People, a Sunday People marked with the cross of Christ forever. Amen.