Set Free to Be
Luke 13:10-17
August 26, 2007
Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf
Can you imagine what it must have been like for the woman in Luke's
story? Can you imagine how she felt? What she thought? What life was like for
her? For eighteen years she had been imprisoned by a force beyond herself; a
force opposed to the ways and will of God; a force that kept her from knowing
the wholeness and joy God desires for each and every person. For eighteen
years this force had weighed her down with its power, bent her over with its
force, held her so tightly in its grip that she could no longer straighten her
back, raise her head or look people in the eye.
We don't really know what this crippling force was, but as I thought about
this woman and tried to imagine what it was like for her, I thought of so many
people in our own society, who, like her, are bound and crippled by forces that
keep them from the life God wants us all to know.
Luke 13:10-17
August 26, 2007
Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf
Can you imagine what it must have been like for the woman in Luke's
story? Can you imagine how she felt? What she thought? What life was like for
her? For eighteen years she had been imprisoned by a force beyond herself; a
force opposed to the ways and will of God; a force that kept her from knowing
the wholeness and joy God desires for each and every person. For eighteen
years this force had weighed her down with its power, bent her over with its
force, held her so tightly in its grip that she could no longer straighten her
back, raise her head or look people in the eye.
We don't really know what this crippling force was, but as I thought about
this woman and tried to imagine what it was like for her, I thought of so many
people in our own society, who, like her, are bound and crippled by forces that
keep them from the life God wants us all to know.
I thought about abused women -women who are put down verbally,
battered emotionally, beaten physically for so long that they have no selfesteem,
no sense of self worth. They cannot stand tall. They cannot raise their
faces with pride or look into the eyes of another without feelings of shame,
humiliation, fear and sometimes even a sense of self-loathing.
I also thought about those who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. The ones
who are so imprisoned by the need for their next fix, the craving for their next
drink that they are powerless to resist it. They too are bent over, weighed
down, unable to hold their heads high with pride and self-confidence.
When I thought about the woman in today's story, I thought about all those
who accept less than what they really want in life because they are imprisoned
by fear of failure, held captive by self-doubt or weighed down by a sense of
their own inadequacy. The ones who don't have the strength to stand tall, dare
to reach for what their heart desires or risk taking a step beyond their comfort
zone and thus do not know the fullness of all that life is intended to be.
I also thought about the times when life seems so hard; times when every
thing that can go wrong does go wrong. Times when -oh say your spouse is
out of town and your power goes off in the midst of severe rainstorms and
your basement floods, all the generators in the world have been rented or
purchased and you just can't figure out what to do; and it's impossible to stand
on your own and feel any sense of self-worth.
When I thought about the woman in today's story, I thought about times
when our burdens seem so huge that we are completely weighed down by the
force of it all -unable to stand, unable to breathe, unable to laugh or love or
live.
No doubt about it, there are many things that can weigh us down, keep us
in bondage, prevent us from standing tall and walking with confidence, certain
that "with God all things are possible." None of us is immune. Each of us -at
O:\Sermons\Sermons 2007\08-26-07-lk 13-10-17.doc Last printed 10/5/2007 11:32:00 AM
- 2 -
some time or other in our lives- will know what this woman knew, feel what
she felt, experience what she experienced. Sometimes it seems like a lifetime,
sometimes just a few hours, but we know her pain, her need, and also her
faint but enduring hope that that life can be more than what it is at this
moment.
When she came to the synagogue that day, I don't know if she came with
thoughts of healing. After eighteen years I'm not sure I would still hold on to
such hope. Maybe she came simply out of habit, tradition or a sense of
obligation -expecting nothing more than the reading of the Torah and the
teaching of the Rabbi. But maybe, just maybe she came longing to encounter
the love of God, hoping to be touched by the grace of God, ready to be
changed by the power of God.
But however she came, whatever she thought might happen, as she
entered the synagogue on that particular Sabbath, she was met by the power
and presence of God radiating from the heart and the life of a simple carpenter
from Nazareth. In the midst of his teaching, Jesus sensed this woman's need.
In the midst of his teaching, Jesus felt her pain. In the midst of his teaching,
Jesus saw her, stopped what he was doing, turned his attention to her, met
her where she was, called to her, touched her and set her free to be fully who
God dreamed she could be.
Sabbath after Sabbath, year after year this woman came. Sabbath after
Sabbath, year after year God longed to set her free. But it was not until she
met one whose heart was open to the love of God; one whose life was shaped
by the Spirit of God; one whose touch was filled with the power of God that
she was set free.
Now I don't know for sure, but I suspect that whether or not we recognize
it, every time we gather for worship there are some who come bent over,
pushed down, crippled in some way. They might come out of habit or tradition
or a sense of obligation -expecting nothing more than the reading of the
scripture and the words of the preacher. But they might also come longing to
encounter the love of God, hoping to be touched by the grace of God, ready to
be changed by the power of God. And every time they come God longs to set
them free -free to stand tall, free to free to be fully who God dreams they can
be.
But just as God needed the physical presence of one who was open to the
love of God, shaped by the Spirit of God, and filled with the power of God to
set this woman free, God needs you and me to set one another free. Each
week, at the close of our worship celebration, we say what we believe God is
calling us to be and do as we acknowledge that that individually and
collectively we are called "...to embody and celebrate God's love by being a
community that lives Christ's compassion and promotes justice, healing and
wholeness of life.." In other words we are called to be open to the love of God,
shaped by the Spirit of God and filled with the power of God, as we worship, as
we fellowship, as we work -together as a community of God's people and
scattered as rays of Divine Love in the day to day living of our lives.
O:\Sermons\Sermons 2007\08-26-07-lk 13-10-17.doc Last printed 10/5/2007 11:32:00 AM
- 3 -
When you allow God to move in you, it just might be through the solo that
you sing, the music that you play, the songs that we sing together or they way
we greet one another that God will touch the heart of one weighed down by
burdens we cannot see. It just might be that when you step outside yourself to
welcome the stranger or talk to the one standing alone during fellowship time
God will touch the life of one bent over by pain you cannot discern. It just
might be that when we surround and lift people in prayer day after day and
week after week that fact alone allows God to help them stand a little taller. It
just might be when we work together to build a wheelchair ramp that God
touches the spirit of one whose burdens feel too great to carry alone. It just
might be when you go out of your way to deliver a generator, provide technical
assistance or offer to help with clean up when someone's home is flooded God
will renew their strength and empower them to meet the challenge. It just
might be that when you journey with someone through difficult times -
listening to their pain, holding their anger, surrounding their sorrow- God will
bring hope. It just might be that when you visit someone in the hospital or
send a card God will bring comfort.
In Jesus, God met this woman, lifted her burdens, and set her free to live
fully and joyfully.
In so many ways, through so many people who open their lives to Christ,
God still moves to lift our burdens, heal our pain, help us to stand tall and set
us free -free to live, free to love, to be all that God dreams we will become.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
battered emotionally, beaten physically for so long that they have no selfesteem,
no sense of self worth. They cannot stand tall. They cannot raise their
faces with pride or look into the eyes of another without feelings of shame,
humiliation, fear and sometimes even a sense of self-loathing.
I also thought about those who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. The ones
who are so imprisoned by the need for their next fix, the craving for their next
drink that they are powerless to resist it. They too are bent over, weighed
down, unable to hold their heads high with pride and self-confidence.
When I thought about the woman in today's story, I thought about all those
who accept less than what they really want in life because they are imprisoned
by fear of failure, held captive by self-doubt or weighed down by a sense of
their own inadequacy. The ones who don't have the strength to stand tall, dare
to reach for what their heart desires or risk taking a step beyond their comfort
zone and thus do not know the fullness of all that life is intended to be.
I also thought about the times when life seems so hard; times when every
thing that can go wrong does go wrong. Times when -oh say your spouse is
out of town and your power goes off in the midst of severe rainstorms and
your basement floods, all the generators in the world have been rented or
purchased and you just can't figure out what to do; and it's impossible to stand
on your own and feel any sense of self-worth.
When I thought about the woman in today's story, I thought about times
when our burdens seem so huge that we are completely weighed down by the
force of it all -unable to stand, unable to breathe, unable to laugh or love or
live.
No doubt about it, there are many things that can weigh us down, keep us
in bondage, prevent us from standing tall and walking with confidence, certain
that "with God all things are possible." None of us is immune. Each of us -at
O:\Sermons\Sermons 2007\08-26-07-lk 13-10-17.doc Last printed 10/5/2007 11:32:00 AM
- 2 -
some time or other in our lives- will know what this woman knew, feel what
she felt, experience what she experienced. Sometimes it seems like a lifetime,
sometimes just a few hours, but we know her pain, her need, and also her
faint but enduring hope that that life can be more than what it is at this
moment.
When she came to the synagogue that day, I don't know if she came with
thoughts of healing. After eighteen years I'm not sure I would still hold on to
such hope. Maybe she came simply out of habit, tradition or a sense of
obligation -expecting nothing more than the reading of the Torah and the
teaching of the Rabbi. But maybe, just maybe she came longing to encounter
the love of God, hoping to be touched by the grace of God, ready to be
changed by the power of God.
But however she came, whatever she thought might happen, as she
entered the synagogue on that particular Sabbath, she was met by the power
and presence of God radiating from the heart and the life of a simple carpenter
from Nazareth. In the midst of his teaching, Jesus sensed this woman's need.
In the midst of his teaching, Jesus felt her pain. In the midst of his teaching,
Jesus saw her, stopped what he was doing, turned his attention to her, met
her where she was, called to her, touched her and set her free to be fully who
God dreamed she could be.
Sabbath after Sabbath, year after year this woman came. Sabbath after
Sabbath, year after year God longed to set her free. But it was not until she
met one whose heart was open to the love of God; one whose life was shaped
by the Spirit of God; one whose touch was filled with the power of God that
she was set free.
Now I don't know for sure, but I suspect that whether or not we recognize
it, every time we gather for worship there are some who come bent over,
pushed down, crippled in some way. They might come out of habit or tradition
or a sense of obligation -expecting nothing more than the reading of the
scripture and the words of the preacher. But they might also come longing to
encounter the love of God, hoping to be touched by the grace of God, ready to
be changed by the power of God. And every time they come God longs to set
them free -free to stand tall, free to free to be fully who God dreams they can
be.
But just as God needed the physical presence of one who was open to the
love of God, shaped by the Spirit of God, and filled with the power of God to
set this woman free, God needs you and me to set one another free. Each
week, at the close of our worship celebration, we say what we believe God is
calling us to be and do as we acknowledge that that individually and
collectively we are called "...to embody and celebrate God's love by being a
community that lives Christ's compassion and promotes justice, healing and
wholeness of life.." In other words we are called to be open to the love of God,
shaped by the Spirit of God and filled with the power of God, as we worship, as
we fellowship, as we work -together as a community of God's people and
scattered as rays of Divine Love in the day to day living of our lives.
O:\Sermons\Sermons 2007\08-26-07-lk 13-10-17.doc Last printed 10/5/2007 11:32:00 AM
- 3 -
When you allow God to move in you, it just might be through the solo that
you sing, the music that you play, the songs that we sing together or they way
we greet one another that God will touch the heart of one weighed down by
burdens we cannot see. It just might be that when you step outside yourself to
welcome the stranger or talk to the one standing alone during fellowship time
God will touch the life of one bent over by pain you cannot discern. It just
might be that when we surround and lift people in prayer day after day and
week after week that fact alone allows God to help them stand a little taller. It
just might be when we work together to build a wheelchair ramp that God
touches the spirit of one whose burdens feel too great to carry alone. It just
might be when you go out of your way to deliver a generator, provide technical
assistance or offer to help with clean up when someone's home is flooded God
will renew their strength and empower them to meet the challenge. It just
might be that when you journey with someone through difficult times -
listening to their pain, holding their anger, surrounding their sorrow- God will
bring hope. It just might be that when you visit someone in the hospital or
send a card God will bring comfort.
In Jesus, God met this woman, lifted her burdens, and set her free to live
fully and joyfully.
In so many ways, through so many people who open their lives to Christ,
God still moves to lift our burdens, heal our pain, help us to stand tall and set
us free -free to live, free to love, to be all that God dreams we will become.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
