"Love Without Limits" - Luke 13:10-17 - March 15, l998

Susan Fey, in "A 4th Course of Chicken Soup for the Soul," tells the story about a young girl who had need of a liver transplant. Under the watchful eye of her grandmother, little Michelle was showing danger signs that made her transplant immediate. It was January 17, l994 and the city of Louisville, Kentucky was paralyzed by a winter blizzard. Most of the Midwest experienced similar feelings of hopelessness this past week when a late winter snowstorm imprisoned them in their homes, cars and shelters as mounds of snow immobilized millions of people.

Michelle was on a donor list and during the blizzard her grandmother received a phone call that a hospital in Omaha had located a perfect match. But, they needed to have Michelle come there within twelve hours. "We’re snowed in," the grandmother told the medical coordinator on the phone, "and the airport is seventeen miles away." She was told not to give up and in desperation she began making phone calls to everyone she knew that might help. Sharon Stevens, a hairdresser, arranged for a Lear Jet to take Michelle from the Airport to Omaha. But, they were stilled challenged with getting to the airport in blizzard conditions. A local radio station began broadcasting messages requesting help and suggestions. One woman suggested that the local church parking lot be used as a helicopter pad. Area neighbors then responded to their plea to help clear the snow.

A four-wheel vehicle was sent by the radio station to transport Michelle to the church. When they arrived about l50 people were standing by leaning on their snow shovels. Fire trucks arrived to make makeshift landing lights for the helicopter. And police went to the home of the jet pilot to escort him to the airport. An entire village rallied around this little girl and managed to see her safely off to Omaha. Her transplant was a success, all because her neighbors found something better to do than watch the blizzard through their windows.

This story has a happy ending. Of course, not all medical emergencies end up the same way. Nevertheless, the story illustrates the determination that exists when it comes to matters of life and death. This was a labor of love. Through imagination, determination, hard work, technology and personal sacrifice the life of a young girl was spared. It happened because there was a power that transcended any single individual and even a single community. Love found its way through blizzard conditions and literally airlifted Michelle from despair to hope.

In Luke’s gospel we have another account of a woman who was critically ill, imprisoned by her "spirit of infirmity." She too is freed because love found a way to break through and restore her to new health. Instead of a village it was Jesus who pronounced her freedom and "laid hands upon her."

The woman whom Jesus healed was buried in a snowdrift too. The icy conditions which paralyzed her were not snowflakes, however. They were the village leader’s zealousness for his law and tradition. He ascribed to the rabbinical principle of not healing on the Sabbath. His religious customs were more important than love.

Jesus challenged that tradition much to the chagrin of the local religious leadership. As far as he was concerned, this snowbound woman would not freeze to death under a sheet of legal ice. And bitter cold hearts would be no match for the warmth of Jesus. Jesus melted down their frost-bitten beliefs by reminding them that even animals are led to water on the Sabbath. Therefore, a human being deserved just as much respect regardless of their rules and traditions.

The story illustrates clearly that the love of God has no limits. Jesus placed love above the law, touching an "untouchable" member of society. His act of love extended to another human being to whom no one else was willing to touch. The story is not just about healing someone who was sick. It is a story that shows how Jesus has power over a helpless situation.

Many of us have experienced situations where someone we love is gravely ill. We pray, we visit, we get the best medical care available, but we have no guarantee that their health will be restored. Faith in God is not just getting what we want nor is it only linked to some medical miracle. Faith is in the awareness that God has ultimate power over hopeless situations, able to rise above the limits of humankind. In other words, there is a power of presence in life that transcends what we know as power. Jesus healed a woman that society could not heal. Jesus did that by ignoring the ways of society, freeing a life that was dominated by a demanding illness.

In our world today we deal with the emotional and financial drain of healthcare. Technology is expensive. Health institutions are impersonal and Health insurance is complex and distant. It isn’t the rule of not healing on the Sabbath that hinders us. It is the abominable snowman of bureaucracy and red tape which keeps us from being free. We find ourselves paralyzed by pain, frustration, distrust and fear.

When we are left to our own resources to improve our health we are trapped. We are like the woman in the story who has been stooped over for eighteen years. We are prisoners who must deal with rules and regulations, helpless and without hope. Make no mistake, modern medicine has its limits. Note that little Michelle would not have received the transplant without the help of a church parking lot and neighbors using snow shovels instead of stethoscopes. What works for one patient may not work for another. Even Jesus used different approaches to healing. Sometimes he said words. Sometimes he used his hands. Other times he called upon the faith of the individual.

I have spent thousands of hours in hospitals, nursing homes and in people’s homes, visiting, praying for and counseling the sick. I have seen our healthcare system work miracles, giving people a second chance on life when I had little hope. And, I have seen the same system fail when I thought it was capable of better results. This I have learned. Every case is unique, unlike any other. But, there is a common thread that appears in them all. That is the desire to be free; free of sickness, free of dependency on medicine or machines, free of past mistakes, even freedom from this life.

It is love that makes people free. It is love that reduces the icebergs of life to harmless drops of water. It is the power of God’s love, always near by, sometimes controversial, but a power that can restore our dignity and set us free.

Jesus did more than straighten a crooked back. He restored the woman’s dignity. His unlimited love for her gave her hope and respect. It is no accident that he called her "daughter of Abraham." He released her from shame and sorrow and gave her new life. And in response she gave God praise.

The love of God has no limits. Just as it can find its way through a blizzard and set a child free it can set us free as well. People say, "If you have your health, you have everything." To some that may be true. But, if you have your freedom and personal respect, you have much, much more. That is true for issues of health and also true for anything that hinders our freedom and denies us our integrity. We don’t live in the ice age but there are many situations which make us snowbound. All may seem hopeless, but God has power over hopeless situations. The unlimited love of God can melt down the icicles of despair, grief, fear, loneliness, even death.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio