Holy Textures

Luke 13:10-17

This lesson invites all of us who seek to follow Jesus today to ponder the ways in which our own rules, customs, and habits of what is right and proper have in fact become "Bad News" for the poor, the blind, and the oppressed - and to break those bonds so that we might ourselves be proclaimers of Good News of release, recovery, and freedom.

(c)GoTell. Used with permission.

Year C
Pentecost 11
August 25, 2019 
Sunday Between August 21 and August 27 Inclusive
Proper 16, Ordinary Time 21

Read the passage at the bottom of this post: Luke 13:10-17, The Message   or   Luke 13:10-17, The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. George Hermanson, "To be added."

This is the second of 3 healings on the Sabbath that only Luke reports:

1. Luke 6:6-11. Man with a withered hand.
2. Luke 13:10-17. Bent over woman.
3. Luke 14:1-6. Man with dropsy (swollen legs).

These stories may have caught Luke's attention and not Matthew, Mark, or John because Luke himself is a physician. Or it may also be because, it is Luke alone who presents Jesus proclaiming a Year of Jubilee - a year-long Sabbath, Luke 4:18:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
  because he has anointed me
     to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release
     to the captives
  and recovery of sight to the blind,
      to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

Questions about proper Sabbath observance will be a key source of conflict between Jesus and the religious authorities because Sabbath observance is the heart of Jewish practice - established by God in the very fabric of Creation; commanded directly by God to Moses in the Ten Commandments.

New teachings about the Sabbath could only come from God - or one authorized directly by God.

Nothing is more challenging to any religious community than changes to its Sabbath!

In our modern ears, we tend to focus on the woman's symptom - she is bent over - and skip over the cause of her ailment - a spirit: "And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years." Eighteen years! A powerful spirit indeed.

As Malina and Rohrbaugh note (Page 281, see footnote below), anyone with a physical deformity would also be socially deformed - that is, they would be shunned and outcast - lose their family support and become poor.

In other words they were precisely the people for whom Jesus has come! See Luke 4:18 above.

Verse 12. Notice that Jesus sets the woman free. This is not "healing" as we understand it - it is freeing someone from what has bound them; it is having authority over powerful inner demons.

The process of healing-freeing begins with Jesus speaking to the woman - in so doing, he initiates a relationship with her that everyone else would have studiously avoided - this may have been the first time in 18 years that anyone has ever directly, personally spoken to her in public.

Jesus addresses both her, "Woman," and her reality, "you are set free from your ailment." And so he restores both her social and her physical well being. The social aspect of healing will be emphasized in Verse 16 where Jesus further identifies her status as a member of the community, "a daughter of Abraham," that is to say, "one of us, as we too are all daughters and sons of Abraham."

Verse 13. Notice that the woman rightly praises God - not Jesus - for her freedom. Everyone in the room would have been awed by what has just happened, and they would be very aware that a powerful Holy Man, Jesus, was in their midst.

Aside: Remember that at the time of Jesus it was dishonourable to boast, to draw attention to oneself, to claim higher status, power or authority than one was born with. And Jesus was born at the bottom of the social ladder. So as Jesus goes about preaching, teaching and healing - others start gossiping about him and his public status does grow. That is fine. Others can honour you, but you must never deliberately seek such honour or even explicitly accept it. And it is especially important for an honourable son to NEVER act as an equal with their Father. They must always and only be seen as acting on behalf of the Father, with the Father's permission. Thus when Jesus says, "You are set free," the woman, and everyone else, would understand that the authority and power to set free is God's alone - it is not Jesus, but Jesus on behalf of God. And so it is God, not Jesus, who is to be praised and thanked.

Verse 14. However, since healing violates the Sabbath requirement for doing no labour, Jesus' action is a challenge that rightly provokes a response from the leader of the synagogue whose "job" is to enforce Sabbath laws.

Verses 15 and 16. Jesus meets this rebuke by first demonstrating his familiarity with Sabbath law - the permitted care of animals. And then asks an unanswerable question that silences his opponent.

Verse 17. Jesus' opponents are NOT ashamed because they have suddenly realized that, "Of course! How could we have been so stupid! Of course, it is OK to heal on the Sabbath!"

No. They are ashamed because Jesus has out-debated them; because he has crafted a legitimate question for which they can give no honourable response that would also be acceptable to the watching crowd.

Shaming authorities - those who control armies, police, and courts with force of arms - is dangerous today, and was more so at the time of Jesus.

This lesson invites all of us who seek to follow Jesus today to ponder the ways in which our own rules, customs, and habits of what is right and proper have in fact become "Bad News" for the poor, the blind, and the oppressed - and to break those bonds so that we might ourselves be proclaimers of Good News of release, recovery, and freedom.

Might the watching world - and God - also rejoice at all the wonderful things we were doing?

David Ewart,
www.holtextures.com

Note: Historical background information is primarily from Bruce Malina and Richard Rohrbaugh, Social Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels (see link below), pages 281-282.

* Link to Amazon.com Bibliography for Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, et. al., Social Science Commentary on ... The Synoptic Gospels; The Gospel of John; The Book of Acts; The Letters of Paul; The Book of Revelation; and others.

Luke 13:10-17 (NRSV)

   ¹⁰ Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. ¹¹ And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. ¹² When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." ¹³ When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. ¹⁴ But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day." ¹⁵ But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? ¹⁶ And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" ¹⁷ When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.  

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Luke 13:10-17 (The Message)

   ¹⁰ He was teaching in one of the meeting places on the Sabbath. ¹¹ There was a woman present, so twisted and bent over with arthritis that she couldn't even look up. She had been afflicted with this for eighteen years. ¹² When Jesus saw her, he called her over. "Woman, you're free!" ¹³ He laid hands on her and suddenly she was standing straight and tall, giving glory to God.

   ¹⁴ The meeting-place president, furious because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the congregation, "Six days have been defined as work days. Come on one of the six if you want to be healed, but not on the seventh, the Sabbath."

   ¹⁵ But Jesus shot back, "You frauds! Each Sabbath every one of you regularly unties your cow or donkey from its stall, leads it out for water, and thinks nothing of it. ¹⁶ So why isn't it all right for me to untie this daughter of Abraham and lead her from the stall where Satan has had her tied these eighteen years?"

   ¹⁷ When he put it that way, his critics were left looking quite silly and red-faced. The congregation was delighted and cheered him on.  

Scripture quotations from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

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Permission is granted for non-profit use of these materials.
Acknowledgement in oral presentations is not required.
Otherwise, please acknowledge source as, "David Ewart, www.holytextures.com."

Luke 12:49-56

It is difficult to over-emphasize how revolutionary Jesus is being in stressing loyalty to him - and kinship with those who are also loyal to him - over family.

Households will be divided

Year C
Pentecost 10
August 18, 2019 
Sunday Between August 14 and August 20 Inclusive
Proper 15, Ordinary Time 20

Read the passage at the bottom of this post: Luke 12:49-56, The Message   or   Luke 12:49-56, The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. George Hermanson, "To be added." 

Rats! Just as I'm dusting off my fire and brimstone sermon Bruce Malina and Richard Rohrbaugh (See footnote below.) point out that "the earth" in Verse 49 refers to an outdoor oven:

"To bring fire to the earth" refers to lighting an outdoor oven, called "earth." It is an idiom for getting things started, or, as the USA idiom has it, "start things cooking."
Page 279.

And commenting on Matthew 5:13, "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot," Malina and Rohrbaugh add:

The "earth" is an outdoor earthen oven (Job 28:5, "As for the earth, out of it comes bread;" Psalm 12:6, "silver refined in a furnace on the ground") found near the house. The ideal house had a house fronted by a walled courtyard that contained (1) an earthen oven with (2) a double stove, (3) a millstone for grinding, (4) a dung heap, along with (5) chickens and (6) cattle. ... The earthen oven used dung as fuel. The dung heap was salted, and salt plates were used as a catalyst to make the dung burn. Salt loses its saltiness when the exhausted plates no longer serve to facilitate burning. Unlike Matthew, Luke specifies that salt without saltiness is "fit neither for the earth nor the dunghill; men throw it away." (Luke 14:34-35)
Page 41.

So let's read this text as Jesus being eager for constructive cooking and not destructive conflagration.

Verse 50. Just as "earth" in Verse 49 was used in a non-literal idiomatic way, so too Jesus here speaks of a "baptism" that does not refer to the ritual act using water. Since Jesus has already been baptized with water, we can only assume that the baptism yet to come which is causing him such stress until it is completed is his execution and resurrection.

Verse 51. Now here is an interesting question: "Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth?"

It would be a mis-reading of this verse that Jesus' mission / purpose is solely to bring division. This is not to be taken as justification for going about wreaking havoc in the name of Jesus.

Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

But on the other hand, it is also a mis-reading of Jesus' mission / purpose to believe that it is identical with unity.

All change - even Good News change - will cause conflict and grief for the simple reason that all change - even Good News change - means giving up / losing something, and it means valuing one thing over another.

Personal aside. In my not-so-humble opinion, too many congregations die because they will not face the inevitable conflict, division and losses that core identity / values / vision change requires. Sometimes you really do have to make an either / or decision and give up the false unity of both / and.

Verses 52 and 53. Notice that Jesus refers to division between family members and not divisions between nations or races. At the time of Jesus, such divisions among family members would not be simply painful family fights. Such separation from blood family in order to form comparable relationships within the new "family" of followers of Jesus was a shocking - and extraordinary - demand. Malina and Rohrbaugh comment (Page 280, see footnote below.):

Given the sharp sense of social stratification prevalent in antiquity, persons engaging in inappropriate social relations risked being cut off from the networks on which their positions depended. In traditional societies this was taken with deadly seriousness. Alienation from family or clan could literally be a matter of life or death, especially for the elite, who would risk everything by association with the wrong kind of people. Since the inclusive early Christian communities demanded just this kind of association across status lines, the situation depicted here is realistic indeed. The alienation would spread beyond the biological family to the larger kinship network formed by marriage.

It is difficult to over-emphasize how revolutionary Jesus is being in stressing loyalty to him - and kinship with those who are also loyal to him - over family. And we especially need to remember that for Luke, and all other non-Jewish and/or higher status people, joining the early Christian community did have these real-life consequences.

Verses 54 to 56. These verses use common local lore about weather - a topic that would be crucial in an agricultural society. The hypocrisy is to claim to be able to interpret God's purposes expressed in nature, but not do the same in human nature - the "present time."

Just as natural consequences follow from the weather, so do natural consequences follow from human behaviours. The "present times" presage the future, and it is hypocrisy to plead innocence or naivete when that future unfolds.

A warning that is as true now as it was in the time of Jesus.

David Ewart,
www.holtextures.com

Note: Historical background information is primarily from Bruce Malina and Richard Rohrbaugh, Social Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels (see link below), pages 278-280.

* Link to Amazon.com Bibliography for Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, et. al., Social Science Commentary on ... The Synoptic Gospels; The Gospel of John; The Book of Acts; The Letters of Paul; The Book of Revelation; and others.

Luke 12:49-56 (NRSV)

   ⁴⁹ "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! ⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! ⁵² From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; ⁵³ they will be divided:
      father against son
         and son against father,
      mother against daughter
         and daughter against mother,
      mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
         and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

   ⁵⁴ He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, 'It is going to rain'; and so it happens. ⁵⁵ And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. ⁵⁶ You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?"  

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Luke 12:49-56 (The Message)

   ⁴⁹ "I've come to start a fire on this earth—how I wish it were blazing right now! ⁵⁰ I've come to change everything, turn everything rightside up—how I long for it to be finished! ⁵¹ Do you think I came to smooth things over and make everything nice? Not so. I've come to disrupt and confront! ⁵² From now on, when you find five in a house, it will be—

      Three against two,
         and two against three; 
   ⁵³ Father against son,
         and son against father;
      Mother against daughter,
         and daughter against mother;
      Mother-in-law against bride,
         and bride against mother-in-law."

   ⁵⁴ Then he turned to the crowd: "When you see clouds coming in from the west, you say, 'Storm's coming'—and you're right. ⁵⁵ And when the wind comes out of the south, you say, 'This'll be a hot one'—and you're right. ⁵⁶ Frauds! You know how to tell a change in the weather, so don't tell me you can't tell a change in the season, the God-season we're in right now."  

Scripture quotations from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

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Permission is granted for non-profit use of these materials.
Acknowledgement in oral presentations is not required.
Otherwise, please acknowledge source as, "David Ewart, www.holytextures.com."

Luke 12:32-40

Wow. God, for no other reason than it simply pleases God - delights God - for this reason alone - God gives us the kingdom. No worries. So get over all your anxiety, guilt, shame, unworthiness, wretchedness, etc., etc. You don't deserve it, but God is giving it to you anyway.

Where your treasure is, your heart will be also

Year C
Pentecost 9
August 11, 2019 
Sunday Between August 7 and August 13 Inclusive
Proper 14, Ordinary Time 19

Read the passage at the bottom of this post: Luke 12:32-40, The Message   or   Luke 12:32-40, The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. George Hermanson, "To be added."

Every time I first look at this lesson, I do a double take to make sure I haven't mis-read the starting Verse number - shouldn't that be "22" and not "32?" Have the Lectionary planners really omitted Luke's telling of the birds of the air and the flowers of the field? Why yes, yes they actually have. No worries I guess. But personally I'm inclined to correct this oversight and change the reading back to Luke 12:22-34.

As it is, the Lectionary gives us about 6 different possible sermons in 9 verses. Oh well, no worries, right?

Verse 32. We could probably just stop and spend 20 silent minutes - or 20 years - letting this verse sink into the depths of the heart of our being. Everything else follows from this one verse:

it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Wow. God, for no other reason than it simply pleases God - delights God - for this reason alone - God gives us the kingdom. No worries. So get over all your anxiety, guilt, shame, unworthiness, wretchedness, etc., etc. You don't deserve it, but God is giving it to you anyway - not because of who you are or what you've done - but just because it tickles God no end to give it to you.

Verses 33 to 34. Now I suppose we could take that good news and start living recklessly - sinning even more boldly - eating, drinking, and being merry to the max. After all, God's gonna give us the kingdom.

But Jesus has another present in mind. What if we too started giving things away just for the great good pleasure of it?

We live in a world that wants us to treasure acquiring more and more stuff. Jesus wants us to find the fun in giving stuff away.

Verses 35 to 40. And just in case you're wanting to take a minute, or a decade, or the rest of your life, to mull this over, Jesus then tells a parable to remind us that right now, right this minute, is the time to act:

You must also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

And when you stop and think about it, what exactly is holding us back? Why not let go? Right now. Just for the fun of it. No worries.

David Ewart,
www.holtextures.com

Note: Historical background information is primarily from Bruce Malina and Richard Rohrbaugh, Social Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels (see link below), pages 278-279.

* Link to Amazon.com Bibliography for Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, et. al., Social Science Commentary on ... The Synoptic Gospels; The Gospel of John; The Book of Acts; The Letters of Paul; The Book of Revelation; and others.

Luke 12:32-40 (NRSV)

   ³² "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. ³³ Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

   ³⁵ "Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; ³⁶ be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. ³⁷ Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. ³⁸ If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

   ³⁹ "But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰ You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."  

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Luke 12:32-40 (The Message)

   ³² Don't be afraid of missing out. You're my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself.

   ³³ "Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can't go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bankrobbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. ³⁴ It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

   ³⁵ "Keep your shirts on; keep the lights on! ³⁶ Be like house servants waiting for their master to come back from his honeymoon, awake and ready to open the door when he arrives and knocks. ³⁷ Lucky the servants whom the master finds on watch! He'll put on an apron, sit them at the table, and serve them a meal, sharing his wedding feast with them. ³⁸ It doesn't matter what time of the night he arrives; they're awake—and so blessed!

   ³⁹ "You know that if the house owner had known what night the burglar was coming, he wouldn't have stayed out late and left the place unlocked. ⁴⁰ So don't you be slovenly and careless. Just when you don't expect him, the Son of Man will show up."  

Scripture quotations from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

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Permission is granted for non-profit use of these materials.
Acknowledgement in oral presentations is not required.
Otherwise, please acknowledge source as, "David Ewart, www.holytextures.com."