Proper 16
Preaching
Preaching Luke's Gospel
A Narrative Approach
We have seen that the material in the Travel Narrative consists primarily of Jesus' giving instruction to his disciples and to others. There is very little narrative here. This week's Gospel text marks an exception to this rule. Luke tells us the story of a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. Jesus saw the woman and called her to stand straight and be healed. Jesus did this act of healing even though such "work" was forbidden on the Sabbath.
Acts of healing are extremely rare in the Travel Narrative. Luke 14:1-6 (a text that does not appear in the lectionary) reports another act of healing on the Sabbath. This time the healed person is a man. A woman and a man are healed on the Sabbath. In both cases the Pharisees protest mightily. They have the Law on their side!
But Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath (Luke 6:1-5). In the passage that immediately follows this, Luke 6:6-11, the story of Jesus' heal-ing of the man with a withered hand is told. They were looking for evidence that would enable them to make an accusation against Jesus (6:7). See also 14:1. The Pharisees were true upholders of the Law. The Pharisees most certainly had the Law on their side. It is clear, however, that for Jesus people are more important than laws. Jesus has the Gospel on his side!
Neither of these Sabbath stories in Luke 6 are included in the appointments for the Lukan year. These texts in Luke 6 and Luke 14:1-6 are texts that most certainly could be put in narrative analogy with this week's text in constructing Sunday's sermon.
There is another kind of parallel narrative to this week's text in 7:36-50. (See Chapter 16.) Here, too, the Pharisees are offended when Jesus befriends a woman „ in this case a woman who is a sinner. Jesus acts gracefully toward the women in 7:36-50 and 13:10-17. Women did not count for much in the society of Jesus' time. They count for Jesus! "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because ... God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives ... to let the oppressed go free" (Luke 4:18).
David Tiede speaks eloquently about Jesus' healing touch with this woman with the bent-over back:
... he touched her. This is almost as shocking an act as when he touched the litter of the dead man from Nain (7:14) or when the woman with the flow of blood touched him (8:44-46). Luke's sense for the human dimensions of these encounters is most impressive. We are drawn directly into the drama of the moment and instructed by her appro-priate response, praising God. As the sermons in Acts will verify (see 2:22-24; 10:38) such healings are mighty works of God, and God is to be praised....1
The crux of the matter with this story is in verse 14. The Phar-isees are indignant over Jesus' healing „ healing on the Sabbath. The crowd is divided (cf. 12:51-53) over Jesus' deed of healing. Jesus' adversaries are put to shame, however, and all the people rejoice (13:17). The Travel Narrative speaks increasingly of division and judgment as Jesus moves on his way to Jerusalem.
In his defense of his healing touch with this woman Jesus points out that she is a "daughter of Abraham." She is an heir of the promise made to Abraham and Sarah. In like manner, Jesus describes Zacchaeus as a "son of Abraham" (19:10). A woman who is bound with a bent-over back and a man who is a tax collector (read sinner!) are recipients of grace because they are heirs of the promise made to Abraham. God's promises are good! They do not fail.
God's promises, however, can be taken for granted. They can be presumed upon. They can be wrenched from the human need of repentance in God's sight. This is John the Baptist's warning as he prepares Abraham's people for the coming of Abraham's heir. "Repent," John cries. "Bear fruit worthy of repentance!" he thunders. "Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham" (Luke 3:8). The heirs of the promise to Abraham and Sarah are to live in repentance and forgiveness. That's a strong theme of Luke's Gospel. (See Chapter 4.)
Finally, we note that Jesus chose to give life back to this woman because she was bound by Satan. Tiede believes that this is a sig-nificant aspect of this story.
Jesus is challenging the dominion of Satan, and those who are piously defending the Sabbath have not discerned what is happening. More is at stake here than mere human religiosity. Jesus has suggested that his critics are in danger of aiding Satan in his reign of bondage.2
The context of this story is Jesus "on the way" to Jerusalem where he will encounter all the powers that threaten human life. Luke's Gospel sings out constantly with the note that Jesus has come to put human life back together again (Luke 1:46-55; 4:18-19; 7:18-23). Jesus has come to push back all the powers that threaten human life. Satan is the chief of those who wish to bind and constrict human life. The showdown between life and death lies just ahead „ in Jerusalem „ on a cross. To quote another New Testament writer, it is there that Jesus "... disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it [the cross]" (Colossians 2:15).
Homiletical Directions
This text presents rich possibilities for narrative preaching. The first possibility presented for us is the bracket of Sabbath day healing stories that we discussed to open this chapter. We have probably said enough about these four texts to guide your sermon preparation on this topic.
A second vital reality here is the power of God's promise. The bent-over woman is a "daughter of Abraham." As an heir of the promise she is a candidate for Jesus' healing deed. A narrative sermon built around a theme like "heirs of the promise" would work very well with this week's text. Such a sermon should begin with the promise made to Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 12:1-3. This promise governs the material that follows it throughout the Hexateuch. Joshua 21:43-45 and 23:14 announce a kind of ful-fillment of the promise made to Israel's ancestors. Land has been promised. Land has been taken. These simple realities give purpose and destiny to the stories of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel. These simple realities give purpose and destiny to the stories of Joseph and Moses. A promise has been made. A people is on the move from promise toward fulfillment.
Once the land has been taken a new nation that will be a blessing to the nations emerges. Israel is born as a nation. The story of Israel from conquest to David is also a story moving from promise to fulfillment. The nation can now be a blessing to all. David's heir will always rule in this nation (2 Samuel 7:8-16). The Anointed One, the Messiah, will usher in an everlasting kingdom. The promise made to Abraham lives on. An entire people await the ful-fillment of God's promises.
Something of this promise-fulfillment sweep of the promise recorded in Genesis 12:1-3 is important to tell in order that we can better understand that the Messiah could come and look gracefully upon a bent-over woman because she was a daughter of Abraham. Likewise, the Messiah could look gracefully upon a sinner like Zacchaeus because he was a "son of Abraham." The stories of the bent-over woman and Zacchaeus ought to be told with this accent. This is what it is like to be people of the promise.
The story of John the Baptist provides a warning to all who would take the promise for granted. Promise never cancels out the need for repentance. In his Small Catechism Martin Luther talks of our baptism (a time of promise!) as leading us to a life of daily repentance.
The structure of this sermon is: 1) The promise to Abraham and its Old Testament heirs. Something of this story is needed to demonstrate what it might mean to be a "daughter of Abraham." 2) The story of the bent-over woman (Zacchaeus, too?) is told to demonstrate the power of the promise made in Genesis 12:1-3. 3) John the Baptist's warning about taking the promise for granted is told. Promise never replaces the need for repentance. 4) We are sons and daughters of the promise. We are the modern-day heirs of the promise made to Abraham and Sarah. We have heard the promise spoken over our lives countless times. God's promises do not fail! This part of the sermon should probably be in proclamation form so that our people hear Jesus speak promise to them!
A third and very important possibility for preaching on this week's text is to apply it to the deep seated problem of lack of self-esteem. The bent-over woman is a metaphor of low self-esteem. People with low self-esteem live truncated lives. This take on this text might well begin with the story of Eve and Adam in the garden (Genesis 3:1-21). Sin has two faces in this story. The story of sin in the face of Eve is pride. She wants to be like God. The Christian Church has majored in sermons which deal with pride as the funda-mental human sin. We humans always want more. We want to be like God.
But the Genesis story also tells of the sin of Adam. The story of sin in the face of Adam is sin of low self-esteem. Adam didn't want more. He yearned for less. Adam couldn't even look God in the eye! He ran for cover in the cool of the day. He knew himself to be naked and he was ashamed of himself. This, too, is sin. If Eve thought too highly of herself, Adam thought too lowly of himself. He was ashamed of himself and thought himself to be a kind of worthless creature. The sin of low self-esteem is to fail to grasp the reality that we are the worthy creatures of God. We feel ourselves to be small. We live bent-over lives.
As we indicated, the bent-over woman is a wonderful metaphor of low self-esteem. Jesus says to this woman: " 'Woman, you are set free from your ailment.' When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God." This is the antithesis of Adam! It is as if Jesus had said to this woman: "Stand tall. Look me in the eye. Don't hide your life from me. You are a good creature of God's good creating." Words similar to these can be used as a proclamation for this sermon as we address the many people in our congregation who are like Adam, the many people who live bent-over lives.
The story of the healing of the man with the withered hand in 6:6-11 could be used as a parallel story here. To have a withered right hand was to be a social outcast in Jesus' day. You couldn't work. You certainly couldn't engage in social intercourse with your left hand. To have a withered right hand was to have a withered hand and a withered life. "Stretch out your hand," Jesus said to the man (6:10). The man stretched out his hand and it was restored.
One of the things Jesus is about in the world is the business of straightening backs and stretching out hands. Jesus has come to enable us to live up to our full created potential. "Stand tall. Stretch yourself out. I have come to make you whole."
____________
1.aDavid L. Tiede, Luke: Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minne-apolis: Augsburg, 1988), p. 250.
2.aIbid., p. 251.
Acts of healing are extremely rare in the Travel Narrative. Luke 14:1-6 (a text that does not appear in the lectionary) reports another act of healing on the Sabbath. This time the healed person is a man. A woman and a man are healed on the Sabbath. In both cases the Pharisees protest mightily. They have the Law on their side!
But Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath (Luke 6:1-5). In the passage that immediately follows this, Luke 6:6-11, the story of Jesus' heal-ing of the man with a withered hand is told. They were looking for evidence that would enable them to make an accusation against Jesus (6:7). See also 14:1. The Pharisees were true upholders of the Law. The Pharisees most certainly had the Law on their side. It is clear, however, that for Jesus people are more important than laws. Jesus has the Gospel on his side!
Neither of these Sabbath stories in Luke 6 are included in the appointments for the Lukan year. These texts in Luke 6 and Luke 14:1-6 are texts that most certainly could be put in narrative analogy with this week's text in constructing Sunday's sermon.
There is another kind of parallel narrative to this week's text in 7:36-50. (See Chapter 16.) Here, too, the Pharisees are offended when Jesus befriends a woman „ in this case a woman who is a sinner. Jesus acts gracefully toward the women in 7:36-50 and 13:10-17. Women did not count for much in the society of Jesus' time. They count for Jesus! "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because ... God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives ... to let the oppressed go free" (Luke 4:18).
David Tiede speaks eloquently about Jesus' healing touch with this woman with the bent-over back:
... he touched her. This is almost as shocking an act as when he touched the litter of the dead man from Nain (7:14) or when the woman with the flow of blood touched him (8:44-46). Luke's sense for the human dimensions of these encounters is most impressive. We are drawn directly into the drama of the moment and instructed by her appro-priate response, praising God. As the sermons in Acts will verify (see 2:22-24; 10:38) such healings are mighty works of God, and God is to be praised....1
The crux of the matter with this story is in verse 14. The Phar-isees are indignant over Jesus' healing „ healing on the Sabbath. The crowd is divided (cf. 12:51-53) over Jesus' deed of healing. Jesus' adversaries are put to shame, however, and all the people rejoice (13:17). The Travel Narrative speaks increasingly of division and judgment as Jesus moves on his way to Jerusalem.
In his defense of his healing touch with this woman Jesus points out that she is a "daughter of Abraham." She is an heir of the promise made to Abraham and Sarah. In like manner, Jesus describes Zacchaeus as a "son of Abraham" (19:10). A woman who is bound with a bent-over back and a man who is a tax collector (read sinner!) are recipients of grace because they are heirs of the promise made to Abraham. God's promises are good! They do not fail.
God's promises, however, can be taken for granted. They can be presumed upon. They can be wrenched from the human need of repentance in God's sight. This is John the Baptist's warning as he prepares Abraham's people for the coming of Abraham's heir. "Repent," John cries. "Bear fruit worthy of repentance!" he thunders. "Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham" (Luke 3:8). The heirs of the promise to Abraham and Sarah are to live in repentance and forgiveness. That's a strong theme of Luke's Gospel. (See Chapter 4.)
Finally, we note that Jesus chose to give life back to this woman because she was bound by Satan. Tiede believes that this is a sig-nificant aspect of this story.
Jesus is challenging the dominion of Satan, and those who are piously defending the Sabbath have not discerned what is happening. More is at stake here than mere human religiosity. Jesus has suggested that his critics are in danger of aiding Satan in his reign of bondage.2
The context of this story is Jesus "on the way" to Jerusalem where he will encounter all the powers that threaten human life. Luke's Gospel sings out constantly with the note that Jesus has come to put human life back together again (Luke 1:46-55; 4:18-19; 7:18-23). Jesus has come to push back all the powers that threaten human life. Satan is the chief of those who wish to bind and constrict human life. The showdown between life and death lies just ahead „ in Jerusalem „ on a cross. To quote another New Testament writer, it is there that Jesus "... disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it [the cross]" (Colossians 2:15).
Homiletical Directions
This text presents rich possibilities for narrative preaching. The first possibility presented for us is the bracket of Sabbath day healing stories that we discussed to open this chapter. We have probably said enough about these four texts to guide your sermon preparation on this topic.
A second vital reality here is the power of God's promise. The bent-over woman is a "daughter of Abraham." As an heir of the promise she is a candidate for Jesus' healing deed. A narrative sermon built around a theme like "heirs of the promise" would work very well with this week's text. Such a sermon should begin with the promise made to Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 12:1-3. This promise governs the material that follows it throughout the Hexateuch. Joshua 21:43-45 and 23:14 announce a kind of ful-fillment of the promise made to Israel's ancestors. Land has been promised. Land has been taken. These simple realities give purpose and destiny to the stories of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel. These simple realities give purpose and destiny to the stories of Joseph and Moses. A promise has been made. A people is on the move from promise toward fulfillment.
Once the land has been taken a new nation that will be a blessing to the nations emerges. Israel is born as a nation. The story of Israel from conquest to David is also a story moving from promise to fulfillment. The nation can now be a blessing to all. David's heir will always rule in this nation (2 Samuel 7:8-16). The Anointed One, the Messiah, will usher in an everlasting kingdom. The promise made to Abraham lives on. An entire people await the ful-fillment of God's promises.
Something of this promise-fulfillment sweep of the promise recorded in Genesis 12:1-3 is important to tell in order that we can better understand that the Messiah could come and look gracefully upon a bent-over woman because she was a daughter of Abraham. Likewise, the Messiah could look gracefully upon a sinner like Zacchaeus because he was a "son of Abraham." The stories of the bent-over woman and Zacchaeus ought to be told with this accent. This is what it is like to be people of the promise.
The story of John the Baptist provides a warning to all who would take the promise for granted. Promise never cancels out the need for repentance. In his Small Catechism Martin Luther talks of our baptism (a time of promise!) as leading us to a life of daily repentance.
The structure of this sermon is: 1) The promise to Abraham and its Old Testament heirs. Something of this story is needed to demonstrate what it might mean to be a "daughter of Abraham." 2) The story of the bent-over woman (Zacchaeus, too?) is told to demonstrate the power of the promise made in Genesis 12:1-3. 3) John the Baptist's warning about taking the promise for granted is told. Promise never replaces the need for repentance. 4) We are sons and daughters of the promise. We are the modern-day heirs of the promise made to Abraham and Sarah. We have heard the promise spoken over our lives countless times. God's promises do not fail! This part of the sermon should probably be in proclamation form so that our people hear Jesus speak promise to them!
A third and very important possibility for preaching on this week's text is to apply it to the deep seated problem of lack of self-esteem. The bent-over woman is a metaphor of low self-esteem. People with low self-esteem live truncated lives. This take on this text might well begin with the story of Eve and Adam in the garden (Genesis 3:1-21). Sin has two faces in this story. The story of sin in the face of Eve is pride. She wants to be like God. The Christian Church has majored in sermons which deal with pride as the funda-mental human sin. We humans always want more. We want to be like God.
But the Genesis story also tells of the sin of Adam. The story of sin in the face of Adam is sin of low self-esteem. Adam didn't want more. He yearned for less. Adam couldn't even look God in the eye! He ran for cover in the cool of the day. He knew himself to be naked and he was ashamed of himself. This, too, is sin. If Eve thought too highly of herself, Adam thought too lowly of himself. He was ashamed of himself and thought himself to be a kind of worthless creature. The sin of low self-esteem is to fail to grasp the reality that we are the worthy creatures of God. We feel ourselves to be small. We live bent-over lives.
As we indicated, the bent-over woman is a wonderful metaphor of low self-esteem. Jesus says to this woman: " 'Woman, you are set free from your ailment.' When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God." This is the antithesis of Adam! It is as if Jesus had said to this woman: "Stand tall. Look me in the eye. Don't hide your life from me. You are a good creature of God's good creating." Words similar to these can be used as a proclamation for this sermon as we address the many people in our congregation who are like Adam, the many people who live bent-over lives.
The story of the healing of the man with the withered hand in 6:6-11 could be used as a parallel story here. To have a withered right hand was to be a social outcast in Jesus' day. You couldn't work. You certainly couldn't engage in social intercourse with your left hand. To have a withered right hand was to have a withered hand and a withered life. "Stretch out your hand," Jesus said to the man (6:10). The man stretched out his hand and it was restored.
One of the things Jesus is about in the world is the business of straightening backs and stretching out hands. Jesus has come to enable us to live up to our full created potential. "Stand tall. Stretch yourself out. I have come to make you whole."
____________
1.aDavid L. Tiede, Luke: Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minne-apolis: Augsburg, 1988), p. 250.
2.aIbid., p. 251.
