13th Sunday after Pentecost
August 22, 2010
Luke 13:10-17 -- The Healing of the Bent Woman.

Focus (means): God invites us to come together on the Sabbath and to receive his gifts. Function (Goal): That the hearer would come to Jesus to receive the gifts that he has to offer.
Malady: We are too busy trying to serve God that we don't come to worship on Sunday mornings to receive his gifts.
Form: Hegelian Sermon Structure

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Let me introduce you to my friend Tim. Tim is your ideal church member. He really is. He is in worship every Sunday. He almost always brings his family with him and if his son should happen to fall asleep during the service, he has no problem with the pastor yelling the boy's name during the middle of sermon to wake him up.

Tim is on the parish council of his congregation. He is the vice-president. Before that, he served on the board of elders. He rings with the handbell choir and is always using his professional skills to help the congregation. He spends countless hours fixing the congregation's computers and assisting with many other technologically related matters. Tim also takes care of his congregation's website. It seems like Tim spends more evenings at the church than just about anybody else in his congregation.

Every Sunday morning, Tim is helping out in some way. Some mornings he is responsible for the readings. Others he helps with the distribution of communion. Still others he volunteers his time as an usher or greeter. During the Bible class hour, you can find Tim in the Audio/Visual booth at the back of his congregation's sanctuary -- helping the pastor use PowerPoint to enhance Bible Class.

What most congregations wouldn't give for ten guys just like Tim. He is very dedicated to his congregation and isn't afraid to step in and do the work. He doesn't shy away from rolling up his sleeves and getting his hands dirty once in a while.

This is the type of people that we want to have in our congregation as well, isn't it? Every congregation has things that need to be done. We need people who are willing to put time and work into the life of their congregation. People who are ready to take on the responsibilities that make a congregation healthy and successful. Tim is a great example of this.

In our gospel lesson for today, Luke presents us with a man like Tim. A man who is heavily involved in the life of his congregation. In fact, this man is the synagogue ruler -- he is not a rabbi or pastor, he is more like the president of the congregation. He is responsible for the life of the congregation and part of his duties are to make sure that the weekly worship services are conducted in a way that glorifies God.

One Saturday, this congregation had the distinct privilege of having a guest preacher. He wasn't just any preacher but the best preacher that the world has ever known. They had the honor of hearing God's Word come straight from the mouth of God's Son. So here Jesus is, teaching the people. And in walks a woman who is in bad shape. She is hunched over. She can't straighten herself up. Luke tells us that she has a disabling spirit. She has been this way for 18 years! Jesus has compassion on this woman when he sees her. Jesus puts his hands on her and he heals her. She straightens up and the whole congregation praises God. Pretty cool, huh?

Most of the people thought so. But there was one person sitting in the congregation who wasn't too impressed with what has just taken place. It is the 2 synagogue ruler. The one who is like Tim. The one whom we wish we had ten more of in our congregation. He gets up and he rebukes the people, “You have six days to come and seek healing. Come during the week! Not on the Sabbath!”

Jesus comes to the defense of those who were coming to be healed by him. He shows the synagogue ruler the error of his ways. As I was thinking about the synagogue ruler. It may seem like this man was just a stickler for the Sabbath and for the law. But I came to realize that he has a fundamental flaw. He was operating under the assumption that the people should come to worship to give something to God. Perhaps it was money or praise or service...whatever. He was there to render service to God and so should everybody else.

But the woman who was healed, she had come to the synagogue for a totally different reason. She hadn't come to give but to receive. Perhaps she came because she heard of the things Jesus had been doing -- however it was that she arrived at the synagogue when Jesus was preaching, she was there to receive, not to give.

And this got me to thinking, perhaps what our church needs isn't more people to come and give. Not more people who are willing to serve on boards and committees. Not more people to be lectors, ushers, greeters, or communion assistants. Perhaps what our church really needs is people like the woman with the disabling spirit. People who come expecting to receive. People who come to church believing that God is up to something. That he is actually going to do something for them. Individuals who meet here expecting to receive God's gifts. God's grace. God's salvation. God's forgiveness. God's eternal life in Christ Jesus.

It's impossible to know what was actually going through this synagogue ruler's mind when he rebuked the people for coming to be healed by Jesus. Let it suffice to say that his problem, at least in part, was that he came to his congregation desiring to give instead of coming to receive.

So now what? Should we all just give up the ways that we are serving God and our neighbor in this congregation? Please don't misunderstand me, I am not saying that you should just quit serving here at Immanuel Lutheran Church. I am not telling you that you should resign from any of the boards or committees which you serve on. "

All I am saying is this: God has invited you here to receive his gifts. When you come, come expecting that you are going to receive far more than you will ever be capable of giving. It is more important for us to come to worship in a spirit that expects to receive than a spirit which is willing to give.

Any giving that we do. Any ways in which we serve our Lord and each other. These come naturally as a response to the things that you have received because you are here. Our service should never be coerced, it should be freely given in response to what God has given to us.

As I was reflecting on our gospel lesson for this week. I couldn't resist the temptation to ponder what became of this woman who was healed. Rarely do any of the gospel writers tell us must about a person's life after he or she has encountered Jesus. But can you imagine how much this woman's life must have changed after her encounter with Jesus? All Luke tells us was that the crowd at the synagogue “was rejoicing at all the wonderful things [Jesus] was doing.” But I can picture this woman. I can see her joy at being freed from her disabling spirit. And I wouldn't be surprised to 4 find that she had become one of the most diligent and dedicated members of her congregation. And you know what? I'm sure that all that she did, she did it with great joy because of what she received from Jesus when she walked into the synagogue that day.

God has invited you here to bless you with many great and glorious gifts. In response, we serve our Lord and each other. Amen. "

Now may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keep our hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.