Luke 13:10-17

Grace be with us and peace from God, the Eternal.

Dear Congregation,

I. It seemed like everything was as usual that morning, but then everything changed. Everyone was so enthusiastic and exuberant. There was loud laughter that was contagious. It grew even louder and more euphoric. There were tears of joy. And over and over, people talked about what had happened. The woman who had been bent over for eighteen years was now practicing walking upright. And she started with all this noise, though "noise" is actually the wrong word. The loud laughter and enthusiastic storytelling sounded more like very loud music of joy. When Jesus healed her, freed her from her bent posture, she immediately began to thank God and speak of Him in the highest tones. And we, who had seen it, who had experienced it, joined in.

II. The sides in the story are clear. On one side, there is Jesus, the woman, and the people who are rejoicing at the end. Jesus sees the woman, has compassion, and turns to her with full mercy, freeing her. What could be wrong with that? On the other side, there is the synagogue leader and Jesus’ opponents, who end up feeling ashamed and, as the text says, remain in that shame. How can one be so? How can one escape the charm of Jesus’ merciful and compassionate behavior, His liberating actions? What could be wrong with that? How can one think and act like the synagogue leader? So narrow-minded, so hypocritical, so unmerciful and joyless. He and his followers truly understood nothing.

III. But is it really that simple? Why is it often so difficult for us to think freely and to act as the freed ones, like Jesus, like the woman? Why does the upright walk seem so difficult? Why do I often think so narrowly and behave so close-mindedly, as if fear is my fundamental feeling in life? And suddenly, I feel very close to the synagogue leader – too close.

I do not want to remain in this thinking and acting. No one can voluntarily want that. No one wants to walk through life hunched and bent if they could walk upright. No one wants to be shamed or lose face.

I long to think freely and to act as the freed. I want to learn the upright walk. How does that work?

IV. Let us imagine a loving couple. "I love you!" we hear him say to her, and she feels so much happiness that it hurts. Life can be so beautiful. She believes these words, and she says them back: "I love you too!" Yes, I love him, she thinks. And I trust him. She opens herself to this love. She trusts him and believes in their shared love.

The woman who feels so much happiness from love that it hurts; the man who loves and is loved, so I claim, can think freely and act as the freed. It is a paradox. Freedom has a lot to do with allowing something to happen to oneself, being dependent, being related to someone.

V. Even as a twelve-year-old, Jesus knew of His Father in Heaven, of God, to whom He felt connected (cf. Luke 2:49). At His baptism, Jesus hears His Father’s voice: "You are my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. It makes me happy when I see you." Jesus’ entire life, His actions, His devotion is rooted in the relationship with His Father in Heaven, with God. Because of this love, this dependence, Jesus can think freely and act as the freed.

Jesus was not deterred on that Sabbath morning. He took the freedom to interrupt His teaching, to notice the woman, to address her, to touch her, and to heal her. He freed her. And in response to the petty, shameful reaction of the synagogue leader, He answered boldly and clearly, and the liberation was celebrated. Not only the woman, I am sure, practices the upright walk. The people who thank God with her and speak well of God, who give loud and exuberant expression to their joy, walk more upright than before. Jesus, the ultimate liberator, has passed on this free thinking so that they could act as the freed.

VI. To think freely and to act as the freed, yes, that is what we wish for. And sometimes we succeed. Sometimes we can ignore when others say disparaging things about us. But we can also listen and accept criticism and try to do better. That happens. And we can rejoice. We can celebrate when others succeed, when others feel happiness. Yes, and that liberates, that makes us breathe easier. One can stretch and walk upright. But we also know the feeling of being taken aback by other ideas when we had imagined it a certain way, just as we always did and it always worked. And when someone wants to do it differently, we react from a personal offense.VII Sometimes I, like the woman, am called and touched by God, moved and freed. Then I can think freely and act as the freed. Sometimes, however, as mentioned, I cannot. The synagogue leader, who provides such a caricatured example that he seems so incredibly foreign at first glance, is closer than I would like.

VIII. What can we do? Denying facts is not the way to freedom and liberation. I have moments of free thinking and freed acting. And they are good moments. And I long for more. I long for this to become more and more reality, that we can practice the upright walk. I believe that is a good longing, a good hope. And I see that this happens again and again.

IX. Last Wednesday, I heard on the radio about Stella Angel Lanman. At 10 years old, she was abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, was forcibly married to a 38-year-old militia man, and gave birth to a child at 13. When she was freed after nine years of captivity, she founded an organization that supports women and children who have experienced similar things.

X. There is this liberation. There is the upright walk. And I want more of that. Such stories give me courage and strengthen my longing. I wish you and me the upright walk. I wish for us that we have to think and act less like the synagogue leader: envious, petty, and full of fear of losing significance.

XI. As we have already prayed together in the Creed:

I believe in Jesus

(...) who was crucified

delivered to the destruction of death

but on the third day rose again

to continue working for our liberation

until God will be all in all.

XII. I believe in the continued work for our liberation. And I long for the realization when God will one day be all in all.

Then, I am convinced, it will be even louder, even happier, because then all the synagogue leaders will also be there. The last word and the loudest song will belong to freedom.

Amen.