Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, August 21, 2016
Luke 13:10-17
Outdoor Worship, Hope International Mission
By Young Kim
Grace and peace to you from Jesus Christ who brings peace and freedom in our lives. Amen.
The song that we just sang, ‘Making Melody’ is a fun song and it’s a good way to show how happy we are for God. But it was not all that easy to sing with our knees bent, head bent, and tongue out, right? The purpose of this song is not to make you look silly, but it is to show how difficult it is when we cannot move our bodies as we want to. Imagine that you are tied up to a rope and you have to live like that forever. It’s terrible, right? Today’s Gospel reading shows us two different ways that we can be chained, tied up, or oppressed. And the two ways are being oppressed physically and spiritually.
So let’s take a look at today’s lesson.
Jesus taught and preached at a synagogue on Sabbath day and there was a woman who has been crippled by an evil spirit for eighteen years. Eighteen years! Wow. We don’t know how old she was but it is more than all the school years from preschool to senior in high school. She has been oppressed by a spirit for a long time, and as a result; she was bent over and couldn’t straighten herself up completely. But she attended the worship to observe the Sabbath even with her disabled condition. In the middle of his teaching, Jesus paid attention to her in the crowds. Maybe Jesus would have recognized her effort and mind and Jesus knew that she was being oppressed physically for a long time.
Then he called her to come forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your disability.” And he put his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she praise and glorified God. Jesus gave her freedom from her physical bondage.
Then how about being oppressed spiritually? We have a good example right after this. While so many people were surprised and praised what Jesus has just done, the leader of the synagogue, who is like a pastor in today’s understanding, got angry and furious because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. And he said to people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” In Jewish law, there are 39 things that you shouldn’t do on the Sabbath day. If you look at the list of 39 things, it is all related to working in the farm and in the field and in the household for living. For them, the Sabbath day is the day of not working for their living. But they seemed that they have forgotten the fundamental meaning of observing Sabbath, which is the freedom that God gave them to take a breath from their hard work and to help His people fully focus on God and the Word of God. It is the day that we found the freedom in God. Therefore it is right that we also go out and set free the oppressed, the captives, and the poor and help those who are struggling in their difficulties in the Sabbath. It is not for showing our righteousness by observing the law and tradition perfectly.
But the leader of the synagogue was telling people not to come to church to be healed on the Sabbath. “If you are sick on Sabbath day, wait until Monday.” How could he say like that?
Then, Jesus answered, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it to water. Then should not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, be released from her bondage on the Sabbath day?" What does that mean? That means that healing the woman was not against the law but a lawful act. The law allowed people to untie their animals to drink water since it was the act of saving the animals’ lives and it was their property and possession. Rather than attempting to argue with the synagogue leader, Jesus showed his light to their closed mind and stubbornness by using one of their practices of the law as an example.
When Jesus said this, all those opposed to Him were ashamed; and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the glorious things He was doing. They felt ashamed because they realized their lack of understanding on the Sabbath. They didn’t think deep enough on the true meaning of the Sabbath.
That moment, Jesus had set many people from their oppression. The Jewish leaders were set free from the bondage of their own rules and Jewish customs. The crippled woman was physically set free from disability and spiritually released from the evil spirit. Also, Jesus set all the people in the synagogue free by letting them observe all the glorious things that Jesus was doing that day. And we, too, are counted as the listeners of this Good News who shares the same grace of freedom.
Today, we came out from our church building and are worshipping God in the middle of God’s creation on this Sabbath day. This is not just for our fellowship and social activity. We are here to worship God with all the creation and to praise God and the beauty and perfection of God’s work. Just like God took a rest and enjoyed after finishing His creation work, God wants us to take a breath and enjoy the freedom that God gave us through Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Now, I would like to ask each one of you to examine your heart to see what oppresses you and what hinders you from fully enjoying the God given freedom. And then, ask God to set you free from the bondage in which you are still struggling with. God is bigger than any chain that bounds you and God is strong enough to break them all and give you true peace and freedom.
May God be with you and many blessings from God be upon you and surround you as you go out and enjoy the joy of salvation. Amen.
Luke 13:10-17
Outdoor Worship, Hope International Mission
By Young Kim
Grace and peace to you from Jesus Christ who brings peace and freedom in our lives. Amen.
The song that we just sang, ‘Making Melody’ is a fun song and it’s a good way to show how happy we are for God. But it was not all that easy to sing with our knees bent, head bent, and tongue out, right? The purpose of this song is not to make you look silly, but it is to show how difficult it is when we cannot move our bodies as we want to. Imagine that you are tied up to a rope and you have to live like that forever. It’s terrible, right? Today’s Gospel reading shows us two different ways that we can be chained, tied up, or oppressed. And the two ways are being oppressed physically and spiritually.
So let’s take a look at today’s lesson.
Jesus taught and preached at a synagogue on Sabbath day and there was a woman who has been crippled by an evil spirit for eighteen years. Eighteen years! Wow. We don’t know how old she was but it is more than all the school years from preschool to senior in high school. She has been oppressed by a spirit for a long time, and as a result; she was bent over and couldn’t straighten herself up completely. But she attended the worship to observe the Sabbath even with her disabled condition. In the middle of his teaching, Jesus paid attention to her in the crowds. Maybe Jesus would have recognized her effort and mind and Jesus knew that she was being oppressed physically for a long time.
Then he called her to come forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your disability.” And he put his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she praise and glorified God. Jesus gave her freedom from her physical bondage.
Then how about being oppressed spiritually? We have a good example right after this. While so many people were surprised and praised what Jesus has just done, the leader of the synagogue, who is like a pastor in today’s understanding, got angry and furious because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. And he said to people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” In Jewish law, there are 39 things that you shouldn’t do on the Sabbath day. If you look at the list of 39 things, it is all related to working in the farm and in the field and in the household for living. For them, the Sabbath day is the day of not working for their living. But they seemed that they have forgotten the fundamental meaning of observing Sabbath, which is the freedom that God gave them to take a breath from their hard work and to help His people fully focus on God and the Word of God. It is the day that we found the freedom in God. Therefore it is right that we also go out and set free the oppressed, the captives, and the poor and help those who are struggling in their difficulties in the Sabbath. It is not for showing our righteousness by observing the law and tradition perfectly.
But the leader of the synagogue was telling people not to come to church to be healed on the Sabbath. “If you are sick on Sabbath day, wait until Monday.” How could he say like that?
Then, Jesus answered, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it to water. Then should not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, be released from her bondage on the Sabbath day?" What does that mean? That means that healing the woman was not against the law but a lawful act. The law allowed people to untie their animals to drink water since it was the act of saving the animals’ lives and it was their property and possession. Rather than attempting to argue with the synagogue leader, Jesus showed his light to their closed mind and stubbornness by using one of their practices of the law as an example.
When Jesus said this, all those opposed to Him were ashamed; and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the glorious things He was doing. They felt ashamed because they realized their lack of understanding on the Sabbath. They didn’t think deep enough on the true meaning of the Sabbath.
That moment, Jesus had set many people from their oppression. The Jewish leaders were set free from the bondage of their own rules and Jewish customs. The crippled woman was physically set free from disability and spiritually released from the evil spirit. Also, Jesus set all the people in the synagogue free by letting them observe all the glorious things that Jesus was doing that day. And we, too, are counted as the listeners of this Good News who shares the same grace of freedom.
Today, we came out from our church building and are worshipping God in the middle of God’s creation on this Sabbath day. This is not just for our fellowship and social activity. We are here to worship God with all the creation and to praise God and the beauty and perfection of God’s work. Just like God took a rest and enjoyed after finishing His creation work, God wants us to take a breath and enjoy the freedom that God gave us through Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Now, I would like to ask each one of you to examine your heart to see what oppresses you and what hinders you from fully enjoying the God given freedom. And then, ask God to set you free from the bondage in which you are still struggling with. God is bigger than any chain that bounds you and God is strong enough to break them all and give you true peace and freedom.
May God be with you and many blessings from God be upon you and surround you as you go out and enjoy the joy of salvation. Amen.