SHE STOOD UP STRAIGHT
AND BEGAN PRAISING GOD
LUKE 13:1O-17
I thought it would be
fun to live out of a rucksack for a while.
Ten days on the holy
island of
Everything I needed in
a single rucksack – carrying my home on my back – being self sufficient and all
that sort of thing.
I packed and repacked
my luggage time after time, but however hard I tried to lessen the load, as
soon as I set it on my back, I was bent over double by the weight of it.
The scenery from St
Bees Head to Robin Hood’s Bay is stunning – so they tell me.
The truth was that as
I struggled along I spent much of my time looking down at the path - such was
my stooped over state because of the heavy pack – it was only when calling for
a five minute breather – I could cast it thankfully to the ground and at last take in
the beauty.
I call to mind the
woman in our Gospel reading who had been bent over double for eighteen years,
not through her own foolishness but because she had been beset by a spirit of
infirmity. It is the Sabbath day when Jesus sees her, calls to her, lays his
hands upon her and brings her healing
“Immediately she
straightened up and began praising God”
There are several
levels at which we might look at this story – for the miracles of Jesus always point
to so much more than a proof that he was someone special.
At one level this
woman represents all those for whom the law had become an oppressive thing. A
burden laid upon God’s people by the lawyers and the Pharisees so that they
could control everyone’s religious life. Thus it is the fact of the healing being
carried out on the Sabbath that seemed to be of more concern than that a woman
had been freed from pain.
Jesus came to lift the
burden of the law from his people so that they could stand straight and begin
to praise God – on any day of the week.
Perhaps more
importantly – this miracle reminds us that Jesus wants to touch our lives to
bring them to full stature. A disciple is never to be bent double by the
burdens of life – but is called to stand tall in the dignity of one who knows
God’s saving love.
His stature in us – in
all its fullness – quite a prospect, quite a promise.
The healing ministry
of our Lord was wide ranging but it began on the margins. With people on the
edge of the crowd, with those who could not get to him easily, with those
despised by others, with those who had a low opinion of themselves.
It was these that he
came to literally raise up as a sign of what the Gospel looks like.
Redeemed humanity – by
His word and touch.
These healings were
not just to relieve people from pain – each one was for a purpose – that the
life of the restored one might give glory to God.
Hence the woman
straightened up – and immediately began to praise God.
We learn from this
miracle that the healing we might seek tonight has a further, deeper motive
than our personal comfort – the proclamation of His love through our very
selves.
My backpack made me so
bent over that I could not stand straight to enjoy the beauty of the views all
around me. It’s easy for our spiritual lives to get into a similar state.
Hell bent to endless burndensome tasks with never a moment to stand back and
simply drink in His grace.
I call to mind those
beautiful comfortable words that always make me stop and marvel
“Come unto me all who
labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest” (Matt
This is a wonderful
invitation offered to the likes of you and me when the doing things crowd out
the being moments.
Finally, we need to
remember that the body in need of straightening up is a corporate one – many
individual parts called to form His body
on earth – the church and it is easy to become stooped.
The care of our buildings, the balancing of
the finances, diminishing attendances, differences of opinion, lack of
confidence about our faith, a draining away of the thought that what we have to
offer is dynamic, powerful and life changing, not responding to the call to
take risks and be creative.
All these and more can
have us bent double without realising it.
I stood in a queue in
a bank that had closed circuit television and I glanced up at the screen, I saw
the back of a little old man with thinning grey hair who looked slightly
hunched and a bit bedraggled. I looked round that I might glance at his face –
there was no one there – the little old man was me.
Bent double and in
need of healing that we might walk tall and praise God.
Perhaps we don’t feel
as if we need such a healing tonight.
But how does God see
us I wonder – and how do others see us.
God knows the full
extent of our unnecessary burdens before we ever do ourselves.
His touch will mean
that we can walk from here with a new dignity and a fresh eye for the beauty of
his presence.
R 12.11.06