Woman and world, you are free

Thursday August 26th, Luke 13: 10-13 He was teaching in one of the meeting places on the Sabbath. There was a woman present, so twisted and bent over with arthritis that she couldn't even look up. She had been afflicted with this for eighteen years. When Jesus saw her, he called her over. "Woman, you're free!" He laid hands on her and suddenly she was standing straight and tall, giving glory to God. The Sabbath was made for humanity, not humanity for the Sabbath. Jesus was one to break Sabbath rules, but it was to do good rather than personal pleasure. You would think that after 18 years, Jesus could have waited until sundown when the Sabbath was over to do the healing, and he could have. Jesus prefers however to buck the religious expectation with this healing to emphasize the point that compassion is more important than compliance with a set of rules, norms or expectations. What Jesus was healing that day was not only the woman who had been bent over for so long, but the naive expectation that as long as we worship in the correct way we are cool with God and we need not worry about justice or compassion. Worship helps to set us free also. When we are free for the day, when we can focus clearly on our need for rest and refreshment, when we can connect freely to our loving creator God, then we have received the Sabbath gift to humanity. The response that helps keep the process going is to stand straight and tall and give glory to God for this compassionate gift of grace and Holy Time.