Proper 16 / Pentecost 14 / Ordinary Time 21
Devotional
Water From the Rock
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle C
Object:
When he laid his hand on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.
-- Luke 13:13
As you picture this story taking place in your own mind, you almost feel the weight of eighteen years of illness departing from the woman who Jesus touched. Can you imagine encountering someone who could relieve you of the accumulated stress of eighteen years that had bent you over? Note that the illness that afflicted her was described as a spirit. Whatever the spirit was in her body, there are lots of spirits that cripple us in our time. There are the spirits of anger, envy, strife, pressure to produce, and fear of losing our jobs. It is not hard to observe how such spirits have crippled people in our own churches. Note, in the story, that the power of the spirit was broken on the sabbath.
The leaders of the synagogue wanted the woman to remain bound by her infirmity until the sabbath was completed. In Deuteronomy 5:15, the sabbath commandment was explained in terms of God's liberating work with the Hebrew slaves in Egypt. The sabbath was a time to liberate people from the crushing load of their lives and free them to love God and neighbor. Jesus saw the sabbath as precisely the time when people should experience God's liberating, healing touch. The combination of the sabbath, the synagogue, and Jesus resulted in the relief from that which had crippled her.
Consider that which is crippling or pressing the joy out of your life. Imagine weekly permitting yourself to encounter Christ in the midst of your weariness, allowing him to break the pressure of your stress, and allowing you to stand up straight to praise God. The sabbath is a principle built into the very rhythm of life. Life finds its meaning in being productive and feeling that our gifts are valued. Life also requires the rhythm of work and rest. Even God rested on the sabbath. If we fail to participate in this rhythm and allow ourselves to be consumed by our work, we will discover a strain that can a break the relationship with God and each other that allows us to celebrate the goodness of life. The stress will eventually cripple us and make us unable to praise God.
-- Luke 13:13
As you picture this story taking place in your own mind, you almost feel the weight of eighteen years of illness departing from the woman who Jesus touched. Can you imagine encountering someone who could relieve you of the accumulated stress of eighteen years that had bent you over? Note that the illness that afflicted her was described as a spirit. Whatever the spirit was in her body, there are lots of spirits that cripple us in our time. There are the spirits of anger, envy, strife, pressure to produce, and fear of losing our jobs. It is not hard to observe how such spirits have crippled people in our own churches. Note, in the story, that the power of the spirit was broken on the sabbath.
The leaders of the synagogue wanted the woman to remain bound by her infirmity until the sabbath was completed. In Deuteronomy 5:15, the sabbath commandment was explained in terms of God's liberating work with the Hebrew slaves in Egypt. The sabbath was a time to liberate people from the crushing load of their lives and free them to love God and neighbor. Jesus saw the sabbath as precisely the time when people should experience God's liberating, healing touch. The combination of the sabbath, the synagogue, and Jesus resulted in the relief from that which had crippled her.
Consider that which is crippling or pressing the joy out of your life. Imagine weekly permitting yourself to encounter Christ in the midst of your weariness, allowing him to break the pressure of your stress, and allowing you to stand up straight to praise God. The sabbath is a principle built into the very rhythm of life. Life finds its meaning in being productive and feeling that our gifts are valued. Life also requires the rhythm of work and rest. Even God rested on the sabbath. If we fail to participate in this rhythm and allow ourselves to be consumed by our work, we will discover a strain that can a break the relationship with God and each other that allows us to celebrate the goodness of life. The stress will eventually cripple us and make us unable to praise God.
