Sermon Proper 16C: Deacon Bonnie Matthews
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Sermon
August 21, 2016
Year C Proper 16
Isaiah 59:9b-14 Psalm 71:1-6 Hebrews 12:18-29 Luke 13:10-17
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord my strength and my redeemer.
Today I have chosen to switch up the appointed lection for this week. This being year C in the lectionary we should have followed tract 1 with our Old Testament reading coming from Jeremiah. However, as preacher for this week, I elected to follow my heart with the appointed tract 2 Old Testament reading. I chose to take license by changing the lectionary readings because for me the words of Isaiah and The Gospel of Luke are intricately woven together.
Today’s reading from Isaiah is God’s response to the Israelites who have been complaining and blaming God for injustices they feel they have suffered.
What of God’s response?
God tells the people of Israel that salvation has already been granted. God tells them to stop looking inward. God tells them to look outward, to act outward. God tells them to stop berating themselves.
To paraphrase, God replies
“Look and care for those around you who are in need, your faith can remove your need. Remove the burdens you feel you carry. Look outward, stop imposing shame on others, don’t point fingers of blame. Rather, tend to those who are in need, feed the hungry, care for the afflicted. If you do this, your faith will make you strong.”
This message, God’s message, has not changed. These words from the Prophet Isaiah are just as appropriate today as they were when the Israelites began their return from exile.
This message is rooted in our belief. Our Baptismal Covenant is an expression of this care for all of God’s creation.
We are called to continue in the apostle’s teaching and fellowship through the breaking of bread and through prayer.
We are called to respond by proclaiming (evangelizing) the Good News of Christ through our actions.
We are called to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves.
Finally, we are called to strive for justice and peace among all people, respecting the dignity of every human being.
For me this is the link between our reading from Isaiah and The Gospel of Luke.
Over the past few weeks we have been traveling with Jesus to Jerusalem. We have heard lessons of salvation, salvation that has been granted to us through the blessings of a gracious God. These blessing are for all, not just some.
Jesus teaches this to the disciples through his action of healing the bent over woman.
In the Gospel of Luke, appointed for today, Jesus teaches the disciples about the character of God. Salvation has been granted to the woman who has been bent over for 18 years. She has been afflicted, she may be somewhat ostracizised by the community. Perhaps because of her faith and not her lineage, Jesus calls this woman a daughter Abraham. I wonder, does Jesus call this woman the daughter of Abraham because of the faith Abraham had?
This woman has been walking with her head face down, not held high. She has not been able to look up or forward, most likely her head is turned sideways in what might be described as a look of shame.
This woman doesn’t ask for healing. She is one in a crowd of many. Jesus notices her. He calls to her and heals her.
Because this healing occurred on the day of Sabbath, the synagogue leaders are outraged. Through Luke’s account of healing on the Sabbath, I believe Jesus teaches his disciples, that in healing this woman, he has kept God’s day holy.
Jesus is acting out ministry for the Kingdom of God by healing this broken woman.
During the course of our lives we are both the bent over woman prior to healing and the bent over woman who has been healed. We are the person who is in need of emotional, spiritual or physical healing. We are the person who has been healed with a kind word or a smile, healed with medical intervention, healed by generosity, and most importantly healed through the miracle of direct or intercessory prayer.
As each of us has had a different experience, I put before you several thoughts I ask you to dwell on during your personal prayer:
If you are at times the bent and “broken” woman, who has God placed in your life to offer healing?
How do you respond when you have been the recipient of healing grace?
Do you rejoice and offer praise to God for those who have been placed in your path, offering love and healing?
What amount of faith has brought you to receive such grace?
Perhaps the bent over woman is a mirror image of people we meet today. People who have been afflicted with shame, afflicted with addictions, people who are hurting from lack of financial security, food security, and housing security. This bent over woman may be an example of people who have been made to feel less human by those who have more privilege.
Trinity Church has responded to this need, Trinity has been an instrument of God’s healing grace
Recent examples of this have been our generous donations of back-to-school supplies for children who can’t necessarily afford them, Loaves and Fishes lunch program, participating in Church by the Pond and its food program, participation in the first Women’s Empowerment Work Shop at Asylum Hill Community Center.
As early as late September we, in collaboration with the community of Trinity College, will have been trained to provide support to a refugee family.
Most likely this will be a family that has been afflicted with pain like the bent woman. We don’t know what country they have fled, nor do we know how broken they may be. We do know that we will support them by escorting them to healthcare appointments, we will find a place for them to live, we will furnish that home, and we will assist them in finding their way in the community, work and perhaps school. We will help them financially and spiritually, locating a community that shares their faith. I imagine the fall will be a time where both Trinity and the family we support will fully experience God’s grace.
And it doesn’t stop there. As this faith community further matures in to a more missional church, we have ample opportunity to respond to God’s call, offering grace and through that grace, healing.
Individually, each of us has had the opportunity to be the instrument of healing grace for another broken person. Perhaps they have been someone you know, or even someone with whom you have a chance encounter.
Again I ask that you dwell on these questions during personal prayer:
What has your response been?
Did you follow the teachings of Jesus and the words given us from the Prophet Isaiah in keeping each of God’s days holy?
May God grace us with healing during times when we are broken. May God grace us with the call to be instruments of healing the broken. May we rejoice with praise to God when healing occurs.
Amen