Living in the Spirit

August 21, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Luke 13:10-17

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 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. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, ‘Woman, you are set free from your ailment.’ When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 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.’ 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? 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?’ 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.

When we get caught up in following rules as our primary purpose in life, we have lost the reason for the rule. Rules are established to smooth the way to an outcome. They should never be the outcome itself.  We are called to love one another and be of service to each other. I love the example Jesus sets for us of initiating contact with the woman bent over and unable to stand up straight without her having to ask for help. Making such an approach required tact and a genuine interest in the person needing help. It also means we do not push our values on another. When I supervised direct social work years ago, I received a call from an irate woman who had been among the members of a Sunday school class that had provided Christmas gifts for a needy family. The woman had driven by that family’s house and had seen the little girl who received a dress as her gift. She was playing in the dirt wearing the dress “just ruining it.”  The woman said she would never donate like that again. I told her we appreciated her gift and were sorry she felt that way. I did wonder if any of her children had ever had a dress they loved so much they never wanted to take it off.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for setting the example of giving of ourselves without expecting anything in return and perhaps like the bent-over woman changing a person’s life for the good by one simple act of love.  Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.