Looking Ahead to August 27, 2017 -- The Bent Over Woman

The Scripture Reading for this week is Luke 13:10-17

The Sermon title is  Stand Up Straight

Early Thoughts: What is holding you back or bending you over? And do you know when it is time to allow the interruption to take precedence?

This has long been one of my favourite of the healing stories. And there are two things that jump out at me this exploration.

One is the first question above. Sometimes we don't even know the answer. I have known people who have lived  with undiagnosed depression for years. Then they hit the crisis point and start to get treatment. Suddenly the world changes for them. Sometimes we assume that something is "normal" when in fact it is because we have adjusted to and accepted the weight that is sitting on our shoulders. I wonder if that was what the woman felt like. After 18 years of being weighed down did she think that life without that weight was even possible? What was it like to adjust to her freedom?

The story of Scripture is, among other things, the story of a God who wishes God's people to be free and whole and healthy. The work of Jesus was, in part, to bring the good new that we are set free. From what chains do you need to be set free?

The other thing that jumps out of the story at me this time is the interruption. Jesus is busy doing something (teaching) when he sees this woman across the room. He stops what he is doing and goes to her. And at that point the interruption becomes more important than what is being interrupted.

Any parent knows the feeling. You try to get something done and a child comes in with a question, or a book to be read, or a crisis to be solved. Sometimes (often) our first reaction is to get irritated and wish for just a couple hours of time to get our own plans accomplished. But what is more important?

Many people find that the same thing happens in their professional lives. There is that letter to write or article to read but then someone stops by to chat....

Many of us have learned that sometimes the most profitable ministry we do is done in the unplanned interruption. The child who gets the hug that makes her day, the co-worker who needs emotional support because his world is crumbling, the woman who has been bent over for 18 years get freed.

I believe that when Jesus saw her enter the room he knew in his heart what was most important. Freedom. Wholeness. Health. Practical and visible signs that God is at work in the midst of the gathering. Yes it was an interruption. But it was a holy interruption.

Where are the holy interruptions in your lives? When have we missed them because our own agenda got in the way?
--Gord

ADDENDUM:
Reflecting on the events of the last couple of weeks another thought occurs to me.  When God acts to release people from chains, to allow them to stand up straight, why  does the rest of the world so often try to put the chains back on, to add weight to each other's shoulders?