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Luke 13:10–17
While Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, there appeared "a woman with
a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years." She was "bent
over," "quite unable to stand up straight."
The physical consequences of her ailment were severe. The simplest
activities would be very difficult in this posture, and making eye contact with
another adult nearly impossible. How much she must have been missing in the
world around her!
We’re also told that it was a spirit that had crippled her. The
text suggests that she was possessed by a demon, but the story’s resonance
deepens when we ponder how our own spirits can cripple us. What things make us
bent-over women?
Those of us who are parents of children in their teens and early twenties
may feel bent over by the tremendous responsibility of being good parents in
these times. The forces of our culture are very strong, and they carry our
children down difficult paths. We may be bent over with the effort to stay
connected to our children, even as we know that their developmental task is to
separate from us, to try their wings and test their own ideas. We may feel bent
over by the knowledge that we are not the parents we want to be. We make
resolutions to be better communicators with our children, but it’s so easy to
fail.
When Jesus laid his hands on the woman and told her that she was "set
free," she immediately stood up straight and began praising God. Our
healing may not happen so suddenly, but what finally sets us free is the
knowledge that we — and our children — belong to God. Even with our failures
and our anxieties and our muddled attempts to communicate, we are recipients of
the love and grace that God has shown us through Jesus. We are called to act on
that knowledge and to share God’s love and grace with others who are bent
over with their own burdens. Then together we can stand up straight and
rejoice, like those in the synagogue on that Sabbath, "at all the
wonderful things" that God is doing.
Prayer
Gracious God, help us to remember that we belong to you, and that your love has
set us free. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen
Author Barbara Hofmaier served as managing editor of Lutheran Woman Today
magazine. Prior to that, she was senior editor at the Women’s Opportunity Fund and
Opportunity International, organizations that make small business loans to poor
entrepreneurs in developing countries.
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Bible,
copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education
of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, and are used
by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright
© 2002 Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. All rights
reserved.
May be reproduced for use in congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America provided the copyright information above appears on
every copy with these words: Used with permission.
For all other purposes
contact Women of the ELCA.
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