Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Luke 13:10-17
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  October 22, 2023

I’m guessing that most of you have seen the Wizard of Oz. Maybe it’s been a while, but you’ll recall that Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tinman, and the Lion went to Oz each looking for something. The Wizard of Oz told them that if they wanted him to help Dorothy get back to Kansas, to help the Scarecrow get a brain, to help the Tinman get a heart, and to help the Lion get some courage, they needed to do something for him first. They needed to defeat the Wicked Witch of the West (which of course he didn’t think they could do). But you know the story. Against all odds, they do! Dorothy melts the witch with a bucket of water. So they go back to Oz, back to the wizard and Dorothy says, “We’d like you to keep your promise to us, if you please, sir.” 

Shocked that they’ve actually returned and asked him to make good on his promise, he says, “Not so fast. Not so fast. I’ll have to give the matter a little thought. Go away and come back tomorrow.” Tomorrow?” Dorothy asks with such disbelief and sadness. “Oh, but I wanna go home now!” 

“Do not arouse the wrath of the great and powerful Oz! I said come back tomorrow!” shouts the wizard, who is neither great or powerful; he’s stalling because he has no idea how he might help.

At the beginning of our reading, the great and powerful Jesus is holding an audience. “Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.” All the usual suspects were there, the every-Sabbath worshipers, the synagogue ruler, the upstanding members of the community. But then, in walks a woman even smaller and more meek than Dorothy. We read she “had a spirit that had disabled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not stand up straight.”  Unlike Dorothy, she doesn’t seek an audience; she’s done no great deeds, she’s slain no witch–she can’t do anything–she’s so bent over, her spine so curved and so damaged that she can’t even straighten up. She has no companions with her, no one to notice her–who would want to? In some way or another, she’s been afflicted by a demon! And Jesus, the great and powerful? Well, he’s a little busy teaching at the moment, maybe she should just come back tomorrow.

There a little word in the Greek that is often left untranslated, but it demands our attention. It can be translated as “look” or “behold.” And we have it here. The Holy Spirit is telling us, “Look! Pay attention to this woman.”  And were tempted to think, “her?” Why? Because normally we wouldn’t. Sitting in the back pew–feeling like she doesn’t belong like the others. Ready to duck out at a moment’s notice.

Behold! Who sees her? Behold, the Holy Spirit says, telling us to look with the eyes of the main character here–and who is that? Not the synagogue ruler–he would prefer that she come back tomorrow. Not the pious listeners–they’re ignoring her. Look with whose eyes? Those of Jesus. He’s not too busy to pause, to stop his sermon, to interrupt it when he sees her. Who? Her? That woman? The disabled woman for the last 18 years. Helpless, outcast, doesn’t belong–her?

“When Jesus saw her, he called her over…”  “Oh no, this is the part where he scolds her, right? He’ll say, ‘You’re dealing with a demon, this must be your fault. Pay attention everyone–don’t be like this lady!’ Or maybe he scolds her–you don’t belong here! Not in the synagogue, just look at you! Why can’t you come when I’m teaching in the streets or something? Come back tomorrow!”

No? What does Jesus say? “Woman, you are freed from your disability.”” What? I’m sorry–what did you say? Without delay? No “come back tomorrow?” Behold as Jesus looks with his compassionate eyes. This can’t wait until tomorrow. He doesn’t want to wait one more moment to restore her. He calls her up to the front! “Yes, you belong here!” And Jesus the great and powerful says, “Woman, from this moment on–without a moment to lose–you are free!”

I don’t think she can believe it for a second. She can’t even react! She’s been hunched over for 18 years; she doesn’t know what it means to stand up straight. So, Jesus guides her. “He placed his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight and began to glorify God.” 

Can you picture it? Jesus straightening her out, this woman standing tall and able to look into those compassionate eyes! And notice what else happens. Until this moment, she’s done nothing. We’ve heard nothing from her. She was just there–hunched over, unseen, uncared for. But what do we see immediately after Jesus heals her? “Immediately she stood up straight and began to glorify God.” Not only is her body made straight. Through Jesus’ power and love her soul is raised up, and Jesus as quickly as Jesus had compassion on her, she responds in praise to her God.

You step into church, maybe sliding into the back pew, not because it’s where you always sit, but today you don’t want to be noticed. Or you come to your normal pew and try to look normal, but inside you are hunched over with the demands and demons of this life, fighting against a soul that is curved in on itself because of sin and the devil. You are helpless. You don’t deserve to be here, in the audience of the great and powerful Jesus, not with all these other people who look like they have it all put together. He’ll teach here, but it won’t be for you. Maybe you can try him again tomorrow.

Behold! For a moment, don’t look at yourself through your own eyes, or the eyes of the other people here, or the pastor’s eyes. Look through Jesus’ eyes. Behold! He sees you–oh yes, all of you. Every last crack and creak of spine and soul. Look at your weekday morning through Jesus’ eyes. You open your Bible–the coffee hasn’t kicked in yet, you can barely see the words on the page. Behold! In every devotion, you have more of Jesus’ attention that he has of yours. You gather the family for a devotion; you feel self-conscious, “we’re not that  family, we’re not put-together enough. Behold! See yourself with his eyes. He sees how helpless you are without him, how you can in no way raise yourself up. So he doesn’t wait–he speaks. He has to–this can’t wait until tomorrow! He speaks with the living and active Word of God: “Woman, man, child, you are freed…” And once again, from that moment on–you, yes you, even you, are free!

That’s what the Sabbath was always about. That was the day when God allowed the Israelites time to pause, time to enjoy the rest only he can provide. That’s still what our gathering here is all about, that we take the time to pause, to listen to the preaching and teaching of God’s Word, because in those things God gives us rest from our sins and troubles. Jesus knows our every weakness, and so he knows that this can never wait until tomorrow–we need his presence every passing hour.

And if you want even more proof of that, look no further than the rest of our reading. Jesus does this incredible miracle, giving further testimony to the fact that he is the one everyone needs–the promised Messiah who would suffer and die and rise so he could “ preach good news to the poor…proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed.” And how does the synagogue ruler react? He’s indignant!  “He said to the crowd in response, “There are six days to do work. So come to be healed on those days and not on the Sabbath day!”” 

Unfortunately, this is proof that wherever Jesus’ word is, there’s going to be opposition. Wherever Jesus does something wonderful, the devil is working hard, our sinful nature is working hard to ignore it, or avoid it, or to put it off. The synagogue ruler isn’t the only one who comes with sorry excuses to tell Jesus that he should come back tomorrow. We can do that too. How many times haven’t we, when given the chance to pause and rest in his Word, found something else to fill that time. How many times haven’t we thought, “Can’t this wait until tomorrow?”

Jesus’ reply to the synagogue ruler hits home with us as well. “The Lord answered him, “Hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you untie his ox or his donkey from the manger on the Sabbath and lead it to water? Here is this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years! Shouldn’t she be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?””

We too, are good at putting off what’s really important. But today, Behold! Look through Jesus’ eyes. He sees our hearts. He sees how Satan wants to bind us again. He sees how much difficulty we are facing in this world. He sees sin at work and how helpless we are against it. And whenever he sees us, he knows: This can’t wait until tomorrow. 

Friends, Jesus can break our routines. He can help us avoid the excuses and do glorious things for us, just like he did here in Luke 13. And when he does, how awesome it will be as he gives us yet another opportunity to glorify him!

In the Wizard of Oz, when the wizard tells them to come back tomorrow, Dorothy responds, “If you were really great and powerful, you’d keep your promises.” The Wizard of Oz isn’t; he’s a fraud. But Jesus is really great and powerful, and he always keeps his promises. So come back to him, day after day, weekend after weekend. Take the time to pause and seek the rest that only he can give. And as you see opportunities to serve and glorify him in return, you too will say, “This can’t wait until tomorrow!” Amen.