Sermon For the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Lectionary 21C  Proper 16C
Texts:  Isaiah 58:9b-14; Psalm 103:1-8; Hebrews 12:18-29; Luke 13:10-17
August 22, 2010

Rules! Rules! Rules!
Rules are typically put in place
With the good of people in mind.

Examples include rules or laws
To ensure people’s safety
To ensure good order
To ensure people’s health. 

With rules we always face dilemmas
About whether there should be any exceptions.

Most of us would, without a doubt,
Support zero tolerance violence rules at school.

We have experienced so many incidents
Of school related mass murders
That most of us enthusiastically support rules
Which ban all weapons, even toy weapons at school.

Last February, Patrick Timoney,
Who is a fourth grader at PS 52 in Staten Island NY,
Found out what zero tolerance means.

During the winter, Patrick and his friends
Face indoor lunch times
With no opportunity to run around.

To amuse themselves,
They often bring Legos to school,
To play with at lunchtime.

If you have children,
Or visit with children,
You know what Legos are like.
The tiny little building blocks and figures
Which can be used in all kinds of imaginative ways.

Legos are small enough that they are often caught in the vacuum cleaner,
And the tiny figures often seem to work their way into the crevices of furniture.
I have sat on more than my fair share
Of misplaced Legos and Lego people!

On this particular cold February morning,
When Patrick packed for school,
He took the Legos he liked best,
Including his favorite policeman figure.

After all, Patrick’s Dad is retired policeman.

At lunchtime, Patrick and his friends gathered
To construct buildings,
And play with their Lego figures.

When Patrick’s teacher wandered over to see how they were doing,
She immediately sent Patrick to the principal’s office.

Patrick’s parents were summoned, and he was sent home.

It seems that Patrick’s favorite Lego policeman
Was packing a Lego sized gun,
Which violated the school’s zero tolerance on weapons’ policy.

Patrick and his Lego policeman were suspended for the remainder of the day.

Now, how do you react to that incident??

Do you think an exception should have been made for a Lego sized gun,
Or was Patrick’s teacher right in teaching the children to leave all toy weapons at home??

At some point, all laws and rules require judgment calls.
The judgment often involves a decision between
Enforcing the rule for consistency’s sake
And taking into account the particular situation of the people involved.

Parents face these dilemmas all the time when dealing with teens,
Particularly with curfews.

Is a curfew violation different on prom night than a school night?
Is it different if your teen is visiting a friend who is dealing with a tragedy?

Pastors often face these dilemmas when people explain why they weren’t in church.
We understand that families are under a lot of stress,
So how does a pastor react
When someone talks about all the things that compete with church??

On one hand you don’t want to put additional stress on the family,
But on the other, you want to encourage families
To give themselves and their children the time
To develop a relationship with God.

It was a lot easier,
In the days when the culture supported church attendance;
There were few competing activities,
And everybody you knew
Was in some church at roughly the same time.

Bosses face these dilemmas when employees attempt to justify why they were absent
Or why a key project wasn’t completed on time.  

People from different cultures view rules and laws in different ways.
In Italy, driving rules seem to be merely suggestions, which no one takes seriously,
And stores open and close when the owner feels like it,
Regardless of the posted times.

In contrast in Germany, you can be ticketed
If you fail to stop with a pedestrian even close to a crosswalk,
And store opening and closing times are regulated by law.

In some countries violating a law will get you a slap on the hand,
In others, a violation will cost you a flogging or worse. 

In the Gospel text today,
Jesus takes on the dilemma
Of strict observation of Sabbath Laws
Versus providing care for a suffering woman.

In the Jewish culture of the first century,
Into which Jesus was born,
The Law was understood to be God’s gift
To God’s people.

The Ten Commandments and associated laws
Detailed in Torah,
Or the first five books of Scripture,
Were given to Moses
As a way of distinguishing God’s people from their neighbors
As well as a way of providing for an orderly life. 

As a young man,
Who had been raised and educated in Jewish tradition,
Jesus undoubtedly knew the Law.
Likewise in his teaching
There are many examples
Of his referring to the Law in a positive way.

In Matthew’s Gospel
Jesus speaks of how he did not come to abolish the Law.

Later in Luke’s Gospel
He refers the rich young man to the Law,
And he also speaks of how it will be easier
For heaven and earth to pass away
Than for one of stroke of a letter in the Law
To be dropped.

Since Jesus knew the Law
And in so many other ways showed his support for the Law,
Why did he consistently push at the Laws about Sabbath observance??

In the story we heard this morning from Luke’s Gospel,
Jesus deliberately chose to do a healing on the Sabbath.

This woman’s life was not in imminent danger,
As she had suffered for 18 years.
Jesus could have very well have waited until evening
At the close of the Sabbath to heal her.

This is not the first time in Luke’s Gospel, nor is the last,
When Jesus will flagrantly violate Sabbath rules in a very public fashion.

Like most things that Jesus does,
These Sabbath violations
Are subject to multiple interpretations.

In many of these Sabbath incidents,
Jesus seems to putting an emphasis
On his Law of Love.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart
And your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus seems to be saying
If there is a conflict between Sabbath keeping
And helping someone,
Err on the side of helping someone. 

In this particular Sabbath violation, Jesus also seems to be drawing
On the tradition of Sabbath observation detailed in Deuteronomy 5.
In this version of the Ten Commandments
God reminds the people, through Moses,
That they are to keep the Sabbath
As a reminder that they were once slaves in Egypt
And God freed them with a mighty hand.

Using the Sabbath for rest and worship
Is a reminder that as slaves
They were not able to rest
And worship was not always possible.

Just as God freed the Israelites from bondage to the Egyptians,
Jesus frees this woman from what he labels bondage to Satan. 

Jesus not only frees her from physical suffering,
But calls her daughter
And includes her in the fold,
By acknowledging her as a child of Abraham.

In Jesus’ observance of the Law,
Freeing someone seems to be a perfectly good use of Sabbath time. 

This still begs the question of why Jesus didn’t just wait a couple of hours.

To understand this,
You have to go back to one of the major themes of Luke’s Gospel:
“The kingdom of God is at hand.”

Last week, in Mary’s song
We heard how the lowly are being lifted up
And the hungry are being fed with good things.

In this healing,
Jesus is showing the people around him,
As well as his disciples today,
What God’s kingdom looks like.

In God’s kingdom, Sabbath observance begins with taking care of God’s people.

I think Jesus deliberately healed this woman on the Sabbath
To demonstrate the change that was at hand,
And the necessity for lifting up the lowly and feeding the hungry. 

Jesus’ challenges his followers to view their actions
Using the joint lenses of the Law of Love
And the glimpses we are given of the God’s Kingdom. 

In this way, Jesus’ teaching is absolutely consistent,
With some of the later Jewish prophets such as Amos.

Amos spoke for God,
Telling the people
“I hate, I despise your festivals.
I take no delight in your solemn assemblies…
But let justice roll down like waters
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

What do Jesus’ words, as well as Amos’ words
Mean for us as we struggle to live faithfully in the 21st century??

We often face decisions,
Where either path we choose will have some good and some bad aspects.

I think we are called to look at how our decisions affect people,
The ways in which we show love,
And the ways in which we promote a justice
That lifts up the lowly and feeds the hungry. 

Yet the struggle we face is that many times it seems like
Being clear in setting and following rules is the easier, fairer path.

In a trivial example, somehow relevant on a picnic Sunday,
It is easier to say that you have to bring a dish to the potluck lunch,
Because it’s only fair that everyone contributes.
After all, why should I do so, if someone else doesn’t???

In contrast, the hospitable, kingdom of God statement
Is to invite everyone to attend,
And assume that at our banquet table,
There will be abundance and plenty to feed everyone.

And have you ever seen a Lutheran potluck
Where we didn’t have enough food, regardless of who attended?????

Yes, Jesus pushed at the edges of laws and rules,
Not because Jesus didn’t understand or value the Law.

Jesus did not come to abolish the Law,
But rather, with the ambiguity of his actions,
He shows us glimpses of the kingdom,
A world in which everyone is valued,
And love for God and neighbor is the tie breaker in all law enforcement.  Amen