Proper
16C, 2013, scripture can be found here (note, we are using Track 1)
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This
icon before you (see example below) depicts the Gospel we heard today. It is an image of the bent
over woman receiving the healing grace of Jesus. From Russia, it was a gift from members of
this congregation, one of whom told me how this image in particular resonated
with him because of his own back problems and his own abiding trust in God’s
grace in his life.
This
icon offers us an invitation to connect with the divine in our own lives. It’s
intended to center us, draw us in, and move us beyond the here and now and into
a glimpse of the divine that transcends.
Icons don’t exist for themselves, and they are more than an image,
because they serve as a means by which we are invited to see beyond ourselves
and glimpse God.
Icons
are intended as a pathway by which we can remember who God is and who we are
called to be.
In this
image conscious culture, where images are a commodity, there are still
opportunities in which an image can move us beyond ourselves and into an awareness
of God’s call to us.
The
image that has drawn people in this week is that of a very clearly traumatized
child in the city of Aleppo. Already described as “iconic”, this image compels because
it demands that we see this child as a child of God. This image compels us to
see the need of a child not unlike the needs of our own children. This image
cuts across cultures, traditions, religions and political ideologies. This
image shakes us and what I hope and pray remains beyond the shaking is our
recognition that this is a child who is known by God, just as we are known. That
this is a child who, while only a boy, is a boy who will transform the world if
we allow our care for him to transcend those walls that would divide us.
The
details of the conflict become meaningless when the real time, real world,
consequences of that conflict are laid out so starkly and the world becomes
centered on a single life, a single child in the midst of it all.
Does
this sound familiar, that a single child would draw our attention?
It
should…because in this year of focus on the Gospel of Luke, we have seen
repeatedly situations in which our attention is diverted away from our own
needs and desires and centered instead on our calling to care for the weak and
the vulnerable. When the disciples argue about who is the greatest amongst
them, Jesus calls a child to him and tells them that the least of these is the
greatest. When Herod sends forth soldiers to destroy the first born sons, God
sends a baby boy into the world. And, in
today’s Gospel, when the religious authority’s adherence to the law keeps them
from responding with compassion, they are confronted with a truth that they cannot
deny… “you hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or
donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this
woman…be set free from bondage on this Sabbath day?”
Jesus’
action reminds them that the law was written for liberation.
When I
served as a chaplain at Rainbow Babies’ and Children hospital, I served
alongside many members of the large Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox Jewish
Community. One observant resident, who I
had come to know well, shared with me that yes, it was true that Sabbath
observant Jewish residents were required to take call during the Sabbath—just like
all of the other residents. But, that he reconciled this because the laws of
compassion supercede the laws of the Sabbath. Life saving activities, and the
alleviation of suffering always took priority.
And, that Jewish law, as it has developed over the centuries is adamant
“we violate Shabbat to save any human life; that's the Halacha, that's the
practice, that's what we do.”
The law
is written for liberation.
And,
when the laws we create and the faith we proclaim bind rather than liberate,
that is when we ourselves are confronted by the accusation of hypocrisy.
The
Gospel is clear, adherence to the law without adherence to love is counter to
God’s call to us.
And,
that is the power of this Gospel and the power of the image set before us. It
re-centers us on what really matters, and begs the question of our own call to
the ministry of liberation and challenges our own adherence to policies and
procedures that limit our ability to do in the world what God would have us do.
At this time, I invite you to sit for a time with the icon at it appears before
you
The
prayer with which I wish to close today’s sermon offering is drawn from the
Book of Common Prayer, an excerpt from the prayer for the human family, “O God,
you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with
compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect
our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love;
and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on
earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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