What is the Kingdom of God like?

"...it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches."

The Rev. Kathi Johnson

Lectionary 21, Year C – 21 August 2016

Text: Luke 13:10-17

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

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Imagine the scene: you’re sitting in a First Century synagogue on the Sabbath, listening to Jesus teach. A woman comes in, and she’s so hunched over that all she can really see is the ground, other people’s feet, her own legs and feet. She’s so hunched over that she can’t make eye contact with anyone. She can’t even see the sky.

“She has a demon,” whispers the person next to you. “She has a demon, and the demon makes her hunch over like that. She’s been that way for eighteen years!”

As you ponder what you’ve heard, you hear Jesus call the women over to himself. Then he says in a firm voice, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment,” and then he lays his hands upon her shoulders. As soon as he touches her – I mean, the very instant – she begins to straighten up. Her spine uncurves, her shoulders go back, and she holds her head up straight. She is healed.

Immediately she begins to praise God – praising God for this healing, praising God for this miracle, praising God for this Word-made-flesh person, Jesus, who has touched her and healed her.

The synagogue leader steps up and starts to complain that Jesus has healed on the Sabbath. He tries to get the crowd all riled up about it, but then Jesus makes a good point that we all do at least a little bit of work on the Sabbath, right? We all make sure our animals have water to drink, if we do nothing else.

Then Jesus clinches his argument: “Shouldn’t this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years – shouldn’t she be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”

And we all get very quiet, but just for a moment – because after a moment we realize that the woman before us has been healed of her ailment, and surely this is the work of God. And we rejoice with this woman; we rejoice because we see God working through Jesus.

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It’s a dramatic story, this particular healing story. The woman is healed quickly, and so it doesn’t take long for the antagonist to start complaining. Some people will complain about anything. (Steve likes to say that with some people, you can give them a bag of gold bars – and they’ll complain that the bag is too heavy!)

So, our antagonist begins to complain: Jesus has broken the rules, he says. Healing someone is forbidden on the Sabbath, according to some of the Jews. The Sabbath was given for rest, and healing someone takes work – therefore, healing someone breaks the Sabbath rules.

But Jesus chooses to view the Sabbath a bit differently. Teachings about the Sabbath can be found throughout the Torah – the first five books of our Old Testament – and in Deuteronomy’s teaching, Sabbath rest is related back to the time when the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt.

So, rather than seeing Sabbath as simply a time to rest, and nothing else, Jesus looks at Sabbath from a perspective of freedom from bondage. To Jesus, this woman has been bound up for long enough, and she needs to be set free, and so he sets her free. Once she is set free, she immediately begins to glorify God – she knows that it is the love and grace of God that has set her free.

There’s more to this story than what is printed in the bulletin. Reading the rest, beginning with Luke 13:18:

Jesus said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what should I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

And again [Jesus] said, “To what should I compare the kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

“What is the kingdom of God like?” Jesus asks.

The healing of the hunched-over woman was a real-life, in-the-flesh demonstration of the kingdom of God. For us who read the stories of Jesus, we see the kingdom of God in his works of healing – and in every kind of healing, whether it is physical, emotional, or spiritual.

For, just like the hunched-over woman, we are also set free by Jesus. We are healed by the power of God shown to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and we are buried with Christ and raised to new life in Christ when we are baptized. We are set free!

And once we realize our freedom, we see that the kingdom of God – just as Jesus says - is like a huge tree that spreads out - offering shelter, offering grace. Once we realize our freedom, we see that the kingdom of God – just as Jesus says - is like yeast – yeast that someone mixes in with all the flour – just as the grace of God mixes in throughout all of our lives.

And so, in our freedom through Christ, we find the kingdom of God when we walk in the trees, and we realize that all those trees provide shelter to the works of God’s hand. We find the kingdom of God when we realize that we have God’s grace in abundance – and then – like yeast into flour - we work that grace into every last corner of our lives. We find the kingdom of God when we provide works or words that heal, instead of hurt.

Dutch theologian Henri Nouwen asked these questions: “Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone's face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come.”

Some of you are returning to school this week. Some of you are sending kids or grandkids off to school, some of you will watch kids in your neighborhood walk to school or get on school busses. Whatever the case, wherever you find yourself, trust that the little bit of love that you show now will bear fruit. And remember this: God loves you. So, go and love, in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

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