Musical Prelude and Service.

Jeremiah 1:4-10 & Luke 13:10-17
One of the lessons I have learned in my studies, my reading, and listening to other
preachers and scholars, is to give time to other perspectives than those traditionally
favoured. One of the teachings around reading and hearing scripture that they have
impressed upon me, is the idea of considering the perspective of different people in
the stories. To re-centre the stories so to speak.
While there is clear value in the view of the disciples, and of course, Jesus, we should
be encouraged to keep looking for other perspectives.
Let’s take the story of the healing of the bent over woman for example. Whose
perspective do we favour in this story? Jesus? He sees someone in pain, heals her,
and then is forced to defend his actions since others argue he broke the sabbath by his
actions. It is a perspective of compassion and anger, or impatience with those who
can’t see past their protection of laws that protect their status and authority.
The disciples? Wonder and fear at Jesus’ actions, teaching and the potential
repercussions for running afoul of the temple authorities? Maybe we should consider
the perspective of those authorities. Why are they angry that Jesus provided comfort
and healing to this long-suffering woman? Do they truly fear God’s wrath? Or is it more
about them maintaining their control and authority over the populace through their
interpretation of scripture?
Or perhaps we can turn our attention to this woman. A woman trapped in a body that
keeps her contorted and bent over for decades. What is her perspective in this story?
Literally, let’s consider her view of the world as she has spent the past 18 years bent
over – her gaze fixed on the ground in front of her, unless she forces herself to look
up try and see what is around her.
Almost a lifetime of seeing the ground or paving stones near her feet, viewing the feet
and the knees of those she encounters. Until one day at temple this man, this rabbi
that is causing so much commotion, touches her, acknowledges her and heals her.
All of a sudden, she can straighten her body and truly look up and see the world anew.
And her first reaction is to praise God. To sing of God’s love and power; God’s mercy
and grace.
What kind of life does this woman live prior to her healing? I struggle to imagine how
she experiences life. How she relates to the people in her life, and how she goes about
her day. But as much as I struggle with that perspective, I cannot let myself forget
that there are people all around me that can in one way or another relate or empathize
with her struggles. People who live with mobility issues, with chronic pain, with mental
health challenges that present barriers to their full participation in much of our world.
What’s their response in that moment to the authorities telling Jesus that today was
not the day to free her of her yoke? Because that is how Jesus frames her affliction.
She is forced to carry a yoke or is bound. Why should he wait for a more convenient
time to liberate her from her suffering?
Can we try and listen to this story from the experience of this woman who has been
trapped by her body for 18 years? To imagine her experience as Jesus and these other
powerful men debate whether it was proper to answer her needs without taking the
time to talk with her?
This is not the only time Jesus challenges views of the Sabbath. He argues on other
occasions the Sabbath was made for people, not for God. The Sabbath is about
liberation – of giving people a respite from their burdens, from their toil.
Jesus took the time to invite her to come to him and then told her she was free from
her ailment. The other authorities barely acknowledged her presence. They were more
concerned with the propriety of Jesus’s actions. Jesus saw her, recognized her in that
moment, and responded with compassion. He calls her to him. God sees who we are
and what we are capable of. This is the story we have been told over and over again.
In Jeremiah today, we hear the story of the prophet’s call. It’s a call that is at first
resisted – another common response.
Jeremiah was a prophet and priest in Judah from the early 600s BCE to around 572
BCE, during the reign of Josiah. He foretold the rise of Babylon and the coming
invasion of Judah and siege of Jerusalem. He accused the rulers of Judah of bringing
this on Judah and its people. They had abandoned God and failed to treat the people
with the love and justice God desired for everyone.
This is the work God calls Jeremiah to take on in today’s reading. It is not a task the
prophet is eager to take on. He knows this message will not be well received. He will
provoke anger and hostility. Jeremiah will suffer, and eventually be imprisoned for
speaking out against the king and the ruling elite. No one wants to hear of the
destruction that is coming to Jerusalem.
So Jeremiah voices his doubt that he is right for this call. I’m but a child.
I can imagine him thinking, surely there is someone better equipped to deliver this
message; a message he delivers for a few decades, by the way.
But God has already answered his doubt. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew
you. Before you were born, I consecrated you. Do not be afraid of them. I will be with
you.
God knows us. God knows us better tan we know ourselves. God sees what we are
capable of and recognizes how we are prepared to answer the challenges of our time.
It can be truly disturbing to recognize that you are being directed to take a more
active part in healing our world. It can mean making yourself visible to the world
around you a way that can feel very uncomfortable.
Jeremiah was frightened; even as God says don’t be afraid of them.
Afraid of whom? The Babylonians? Or his own king and high priests?
The other prophets who told KingJosiah what e wanted to hear?
But God assures Jeremiah that he will not be abandoned. That God will protect him.
That protection may seem limited. Jeremiah is persecuted and he is jailed. They try to
silence him, but he does survive. Although we do not learn of his ultimate fate, God
remains by his side.
And his message, as much as it is one of sadness and loss, of violence and death, is
also one of promise and hope, of new growth. That in the shadow of destruction and
loss, a new Jerusalem will be built. There is new life to come if we continue to hope
and keep faith.
God knows us; sees us and never forgets us. For 18 years, a woman suffers with a
rippling affliction. But she persists in going to the temple – offering her prayers and
her devotion, even as she is overlooked by the priests and the crowds that are also
attending. She persists even as her view of the world – her idea of what her place in
the world might be is shrunken and limited. But God sees her. God calls to her, lays a
hand on her, lifts her burden from her and lets her see the world from a new
perspective; allows her to lift her gaze and sing out in praise.
One of the suggested readings for today is from Psalm 103.
I can imagine these words from the mouth of this woman upon standing up straight.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits — who forgives all your
iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns
you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good as long as you live so
that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The LORD works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed.
God works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed. This is not just about
Jesus healing the physical ailment of a woman. This is about God responding to those
who are forced to the margins, those who are forgotten and exploited. This is about
those who have their view of the world shrunken by the unfeeling forces of this world.
God desires for us to be free of our burdens and calls us to take time to broaden our
perspectives. To take time to consider the experiences of those whose lives are so
different from our own. To remember that none of us walk an identical path, but those
paths will cross.
Can we take time to acknowledge one another and greet one another with love, with
mercy and with respect? Amen.
Rev. Warner Bloomfield

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789