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Stories About Rule Keeping vs. Rule Bending

8/24/2025

By Dan Carew, Lay Preacher

Today’s Gospel selection from Luke might be filed under “Stories About Rule Keeping vs. Rule Bending.”

This encounter between Jesus, the religious leader and the woman with a crippling, and likely excruciatingly painful, physical ailment takes place in “one of the synagogues on the Sabbath”. This concept of the Sabbath is central to this story.

What do we need to know about the Sabbath to make sense of this interaction between Jesus and the religious leader?

First, observing the Sabbath is a long held Jewish custom dating back to Moses, Mt. Sinai and the ten commandments from Exodus chapter 20 (and again in Deuteronomy Chapter 5). In the list of commandments, “keeping the Sabbath” is the fourth commandment, and has its roots in the creation story from the book of Genesis. On this day, the 7th day, God commanded the Israelites not to do any work; no one in their family and none of their livestock, as well as “the resident alien” in their towns. During the Sabbath there are a number of forbidden labors - such as kindling a fire(Ex. 35:3), carrying a load (Jer. 17:21-22), making bread and acts of construction.

The purpose of the Sabbath is to emulate God, who after “working” six days, rested on the seventh day. It is a time for remembrance, reflection and consideration of God’s Covenant; a time to be with family and community; and a time to gather in the synagogue. All noble things and if you are a faithful follower, you would want to adhere to the guidelines set forth to preserve the sanctity of the occasion, or because you feared imminent demise, or a combination of both. And so our first point of tension in this encounter - What is allowed on the Sabbath?

So, here on this Sabbath day, Jesus is teaching in one of the synagogues. This is nothing out of the ordinary for Jesus or for the Gospel of Luke. Where we are in the timeline of Luke’s writing, we are in a new account of Jesus’ ministry, as prior to this encounter, Jesus had been speaking to crowds, and was chipping away at superstition, sin, and ill-fated circumstances; in this account in the synagogue, he is definitely chipping away, or rather tearing down something, but we’ll get that in just a bit.

During this time of teaching, a woman appears and is described as having a “spirit” that had “crippled” her. She was “bent over”, “unable to stand up straight”, and had been suffering this ailment for 18 years. In our modern day medical definitions she might be diagnosed with an inflammatory bone disease, something that poses great mobility challenges. According to the account, it seems she did not come seeking Jesus or taking any action to get his attention, nothing out loud and publicly that we know of. However, imagine how her gait and posture would’ve looked as she moved about along the fringes outside of the synagogue, at the edge of those gathered - she might catch one’s attention. This may be the cause for Jesus’ response, as he pauses his teaching to take action and call her over; our second point of tension in the encounter - a rabbi calling a woman to him … in the synagogue … a woman with a crippling disease … oh, and on the Sabbath.
At this point, the tension is palpable. There she is, right in front of Jesus. He speaks to her, “woman, you are set free from your ailment”, lays his hands on her, and then she immediately stands up straight and praises God. There is beauty in this interaction. He makes no commentary about her salvation or the cause of her ailment, only that she has been set free from it.

This beautiful moment is quickly soured by the leader of the synagogue. Who has become “indignant” - you know being angry or annoyed at unfair treatment! Then things start to get ugly. The leader turns to the crowd - not to Jesus and not to the woman, but the crowd, a classic marker for people who are passive aggressive. He complains to the crowd about Jesus’ infraction against the Sabbath and the woman’s intentions to be cured. Did you see what Jesus did? He cured that woman! On the Sabbath! That’s not right! It’s unfair! That’s not what we do! We cure on the other six days, not on the day of rest!

Let me be clear, the way power-hungry people respond to any sort of threat to their status, power or privilege manifests in nearly the same way. Regardless of whether we are talking about a human interaction 2000 years ago, or in recent history, there’s always some sort of gnashing of teeth, inciting of a mob, scapegoating, avoiding responsibility, or spinning the narrative so they are the victim. It is no different as we see with this religious leader. He rebukes Jesus for “working” on the Sabbath, and the woman for not coming on the “other six days” to be cured. Hearing this religious leader’s response makes me indignant! And maybe like me, you want to grab him by the scruff of his robe and give him a piece of your mind. But we can take a breath because Jesus comes with the verbal smackdown.

“You Hypocrites!”

We heard this phrase last week in the Gospel selection, and I think while it is to be taken as a rebuke to the actions of the religious leaders, I would also like to think that it is Jesus’ way of saying to the passive aggressive leader, “How ‘bout you say that to my face?”. It also should be pointed out that Jesus is responding in the plural - it is no longer one individual. Perhaps there are other religious leaders present, or he is including the crowd in this rebuke as they’ve become complicit with the leader.

“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?”

This part of Jesus’ response is the first part of a rabbinic tool known as Qal Va-Ḥomer, which is used for interpreting scripture logically, and means “light and heavy”. Here Jesus is pointing out a minor case where there is an exception to a rule in order to justify a major, or “heavier” case.

In this instance, is it ok for you to provide for the needs of your livestock on the Sabbath? Is it ok for you to do something in your own interest? Something that benefits you? Jesus might’ve had in mind the passage we heard read this morning from the book of Isaiah,

“If you refrain from trampling the Sabbath,
from pursuing your own interests on my holy day;
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the LORD honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs;
then you shall take delight in the LORD …”

Continuing with the verbal smack down …

“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?”

Here Jesus closes out the Qal Va-Ḥomer logic with the “major” response. If you can give your livestock some water on the Sabbath, surely this woman, a “daughter of Abraham”, you know one of us, who has been suffering for 18 long years, doesn’t need to wait another day. She can be cured today, right now. Her value is greater than that of your livestock.

I would also like to note that I do not believe the woman is “demon-possessed” but rather suffering a physical ailment. In his commentary on this Gospel passage, Ira Brent Driggers states, “Luke goes so far as to call her condition a form of Satanic bondage (verse 16), which is an ancient apocalyptic way of saying her condition violates God’s will for her life (and is not her own fault!). To be clear, she is not demon-possessed.” 1

This response from Jesus is very much in sync with a couple of other instances where he challenged the conventions of the Sabbath. Earlier in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus encounters a man with a crippled hand. During that encounter he questions the religious leaders whether it is “lawful to do good or to do harm” on the Sabbath. In a similar account in the 12th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus proclaims “how much more valuable is a human being than a sheep!”(v.12) and, “the Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the sabbath…”(v.27).

And in another encounter with the religious leaders, documented in the Gospel of Matthew and Mark, where Jesus and His disciples pick and eat grain from a grainfield on the Sabbath, Jesus responds to their rebukes with “something greater than the temple is here” (Mt.12:6).

Where do we go from here?

In a revamped version of Sunday Bloody Sunday, (in the documentary Stories of Surrender), Bono sings, “Is religion now the enemy of the Holy Spirit guide?” I think that is what Jesus is trying to point out in the encounter in Luke as well as others in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. In that time in history, the religious leaders (and followers) allowed the following of regulations, laws, cultural norms, and mores to supersede the value of human life and dignity. This still happens today. In the harassment and exclusion faced by our LGBTQIA+ siblings. In the targeting of our siblings from other countries residing here legally and illegally. It is happening to nearly every person on the margins, and outside of power, prestige and privilege.

We should be seeking a greater good by continually reflecting upon ourselves and the institutions we ascribe to, asking is it good for someone else and others? Or just me and my beliefs? Me and my community? Sometimes the “rules” we follow for ourselves are not the “rules” everyone else should follow. In his commentary on this passage of Luke, Emerson Powery states, “We must be diligent to recognize what theological ideas we hold dear that disallow full participation from others…And, do religious traditions help us to become that kind of community or do they hinder our desires?” 2

We should operate from an abundance mindset versus a scarcity mindset by emulating the God described in Psalm 103. We should be “full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and of great kindness.”

I haven’t always been Episcopalian. When I was in high school, I was attending a church of a different denomination and was relatively new to the Christian faith. I had decided that I wanted to be baptised, which was the full immersion type. However at that time, I was the only one in my family attending church - I was quite serious and intent on it. I did not have my driver’s license, and my mom was unable to give me a ride. I also think I was somewhat embarrassed to ask someone else for a ride… to my baptism. So, I did something I had done a number of times before - I asked if I could take the car to the church for the baptism. My mom said yes with one stipulation, if I got caught she would claim that I had stolen the car. So, I drove myself to the church, got baptised and drove back home, incident free, feeling more committed and closer to God.

I willingly broke a “law of the land” to pursue something that I felt spiritually was the next step in my journey towards closeness with God. And while what I did was ultimately between me and the Maker, we as God’s people are called to love, care, and support others. So, are there actions we should be taking that are Christlike and very much in line with God’s vision for humanity revealed through Jesus, actions that go against some regulation of the church or the state or some government entity?

To quote the prophet Micah, it's always a good time to “Do Justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God” (6:8).

Amen.

1 Driggers, Ira Brent, Commentary on Luke 13:10-17;
https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-21-3/commentary-on -luke-1310-17-4

2 Powery, Emerson, Commentary on Luke 13:10-17.
https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-21-3/commentary-on -luke-1310-17-3

Prepare for the Master’s Return

8/10/2025

By Steve Houghton, Lay Preacher

Good Morning. I would like to begin with a paraphrase of New York Times columnist David Brooks as I heard him on NPR’s 1A on July 7, 2025.

Mr. Brooks said; Over the last twenty years, we've seen a rise in mental health problems, a sharp rise in suicide. Thirty six percent of Americans say they feel lonely much of the time Forty five percent of high school students say they're persistently hopeless and despondent. The number of Americans who say they have no close friends is up by fourfold since February. And so we've become sadder as a country, and more distrustful. Social trust and interpersonal trust have been collapsing over the last two generations. And so when you feel sadder, you feel meaner because your loneliness is a form of insult to your dignity, and so you wanna lash out. And so I think our politics sort of flow directly out of, the decline we've seen in people's social, relational, and spiritual lives. End of paraphrase. Let me repeat that last line of David Brooks, “and so I think our politics sort of flow directly out of the decline we’ve seen in people’s social, relational, and spiritual lives.”

We are here this morning to reverse that decline in our spiritual lives. We are here to re-assess how we are relating to the world and if we are, in fact, following the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. We are here to reacquaint ourselves with the love and togetherness that Jesus always spoke of.

In Hebrews, Paul is teaching us that the obedience of Abraham, Jacob and Issac was rewarded with God’s blessing and an abundance of descendants. Paul goes on to explain that even though they died before seeing the complete fulfillment of God’s promise they had faith that God would do what was promised. They recognized that they were strangers on earth and that “they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one.”(Hebrews 11:16). Do we have faith in that promise and do we desire a better, heavenly country?

Jesus uses bridesmaids and servants in many of his teachings as examples of the importance of being prepared. His kind of being prepared is not a passive thing but is very active.

“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit.” I really enjoy the gospel when Jesus calls for action. There’s no personal salvation here. As Paul said this is a call to action in forming a new country, a heavenly one, a coming of the kingdom. So the question comes to us, what does it mean to be ready and to be dressed for action and have our lamps lit? That is really what I want to focus on in the readings this morning “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit.”

Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis puts it this way.

“I can see a bold new path led by a vision of the sacred goodness of humankind and the abundance of the planet’s resources…. You and I are the ones we’ve been waiting for to create better lives for ourselves and our communities and to build a better world—together. All we need is the courage to imagine, and the will to make it be so.”( Fierce Love: A Bold Path to Ferocious Courage and Rule-Breaking Kindness That Can Heal the World (Harmony Books, 2021), 14, 15.)

Rev. Dr. Lewis’ words roll easily off the tongue but can be a bit less easy to execute. Early on in my involvement with Emmaus Companions and early in the prayer corner at Second Helpings I was sitting at our prayer corner when a guest I will call Bob came to me just before folks were called to get their food. I need you to understand that this was back when we would call individual tables to the service line and we expected folks to come when their table was called to keep the line moving efficiently. I started getting nervous since there didn’t seem to be enough time to get a prayer in before they started serving the food.

Bob went on for several minutes describing how and why he wanted prayers for his daughter who was ill and living in another state. I started to cut
Bob short and explained that food was being served. He looked me in the eye and told me that if he wanted food right away he would have waited in his seat but he came to me to pray for his daughter. To say I was embarrassed and caught up short would be an understatement. I quickly recovered and was able to lead Bob in a prayer for his daughter.
Driving home I realized that I had put my need to keep things moving, to maintain the protocol of the meal, ahead of what our ministry was about; sharing Christ’s love. I had tried to approach serving others through a perspective of maintaining the established system. Fortunately, Bob, like many we serve, was not shy and quick to redirect my focus.

And doesn’t that happen with most of us? We set out to help build a new country with an attitude focused on maintaining the status quo. One of the guidelines of Emmaus Companions is to shut up and listen. We need to hear what our companion is asking for or looking for. Focused on not stepping out of our comfort zone will cause us to misread or completely miss the other person’s need.

How often have we joined the express lane in the supermarket only to see someone in front of us with a full cart? Stage whispered observations of “which checkout is this” and how “some people don’t know how to count to fifteen”, don’t really demonstrate having our lamps lit. It is possible that the customer with the oversized load is trying to get home as fast as possible to take care of a sick child. Perhaps being prepared will help us to smile and take the edge off that mom or dad as they red faced leave the supermarket.
I was in the Energy Park with a number of folk including one gentleman I will call Mike. Mike had been homeless for over thirty years in several cities and towns in Massachusetts. He was looked up to by the people on the margins and saw himself as a mentor and guide to those newly homeless. We were talking about homeless experiences when he suddenly turned to me and demanded what right I had to be with this group of people. In the four or five seconds it took me to respond my mind went in a million directions. This is where the Holy Spirit usually steps in and saves my butt and this was no exception. I looked Mike in the eye and said something to the effect of “There was this teacher in ancient Israel who said all people were my brothers and sisters and I believe him.” Mike looked at me for what seemed like an hour but was really only about fifteen seconds then declared that he guessed that I did have a right to be there if that was the case.

People have a right to challenge us when we are trying to do good works and it is important for us to have an understanding of what motivates our actions. If I had been caught up in trying to justify myself I am sure I would have failed in Mike’s eyes.

I know that standing in front of a 6’ 4” man with a thousand foot stare that burns like a laser into the back of your head trying to make friends and offer a helping hand isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but for Alicia, Charlie, Dennis and I it is and if any of you think it might be for you also just talk to one of us.

The reality is that none of us has to do huge, great, splashy things to help bring about a new country. One of our reflection group members shared that simple things have a big impact on us. She shared that a person let her proceed first at an intersection and that gave her hope that there were still good people in the world. Now that says two things; one, our culture is so screwed up that a simple gesture of kindness has a great impact and more importantly two how easy it is to make a change toward the better.

I think Brian McClaren sums it up well when he writes:
“Our choice is clear from the start: If we want to be his disciples, we won’t be able to simply coast along and conform to the norms of our society. We must choose a different definition of well being, a different model of success, a new identity with a new set of values….  ” (Brian D. McLaren, We Make the Road by Walking: A Year Long Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation, and Activation (Jericho Books, 2014), 128–129)
So the task before us is pretty simple in action and very profound in impact. Whether it is curtesy at intersections or praying with a friend in Page 15
need, we need to seek Jesus’ love as we build a new country, a heavenly one.

If we are to be salt and light, I wonder, how will we dress for action and light our lamps in this coming week?
Amen

Stories About Rule Keeping vs. Rule Bending

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