"Return to Wholeness" - Luke 13:10-17 - August 26, 2001

In New England senior citizens are taking bus trips to Canada to purchase prescription drugs. There they can buy their medicine at a considerably lower price. This is just one of the ways our society is coping with the rising cost of healthcare. For some the practice of going to Canada is an absolute necessity since their monthly prescription drug bills are as high as $1,000.

Unfortunately not everyone can afford healthcare. Many are simply unable to fill their prescriptions or cutting the dosage in order to moderate the expense. Others are being affected by doctors who are dropping HMO’s. In Dayton recently, a group of 100 doctors decided to drop Anthem, a major supplier for area group health insurance.

Our health is important to us. We will do whatever it takes to get well. In the church prayer requests for health problems and visits to those hospitalized are always at the top of a pastor’s priority list. We want to be well, healed of our diseases and afflictions. We want a pain-free existence, security form catastrophic illness and the ability to do the things we want to do and we want God to heal us when we hurt.

Our story in Luke is about a woman who had a major health problem. "She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself." Jesus laid hands on her and she was healed. Seems simple enough and I’m sure you can find a preacher somewhere who will promise you he/she can do the same. Will you be healed? Perhaps. Will it cost you? Most likely.

I must confess that when it comes to the laying on of hands I am a bit of a cynic. This story took place over 2000 years ago and we have no way of knowing the nature of her ailment. Just what is a "spirit of infirmity?" I’m not sure. Perhaps her problem was psychological or emotional. That Jesus laid hands on her is not the point. Besides, this was Jesus laying hands on her, you know, the Son of God, not exactly in the same league with modern day preachers.

There is also another significant difference. Faith healers invite their candidates to come up front, usually on a stage. It is a performance, a show, a demonstration of their so called power of healing. Jesus’ act of healing was not theatrical. In fact, it was more of classroom situation. He was teaching and while he was teaching he noticed the woman who was bent over.

This past week I attending a diner at Edison College for all of the adjunct professors. The key note speaker, a teacher at the college, talked about a time he knew he had made a difference in the life of a young student. She was from the coal mining area of West Virginia. It was rare for anyone to attend college let alone a woman. This particular woman had lost her husband due to a serious illness. She was left with two children, no education and no career. The teacher, like Jesus, noticed her. He encouraged her and motivated her to pursue her education. She went on to ahead and acquired a master’s degree and a successful career.

The point of the story is not just the fact that the woman could stand up straight. By the way, nowhere in this story do we hear the words, "Your faith has made you well." We know nothing about the woman after her encounter with Jesus, except she "praised God." Hey, why not. If I could suddenly get rid of these glasses I have worn for over 50 years and restore the hearing in my left ear, I would praise God too. Someone would deserve the credit.

What the woman received from Jesus what not necessarily perfect health. What she received from Jesus was "freedom." This is a story about an individual, in this case a woman, who was set free. Before she could not be touched. Now she can. She is no longer a prisoner of society. She is free to roam the streets like all other citizens. She was healed in spite of the law. No one else cared for her but Jesus did. She is now free to be herself, free to move about and free from those who formerly oppressed her. Just as the teacher’s student was free to be someone, so was the woman who Jesus healed.

I believe this story is really about the power of God over impossible situations. Nothing can imprison us. Righteous people, like the Pharisees, who appear to follow all the rules do not have any power over us. You don’t need anyone’s approval or permission to be free. You don’t need the acceptance of others to be your authentic selves. Jesus freed the woman from the oppressive attitudes of the people around her. He gave her her life back. Before she was no one. Now she is someone.

By the way, the Pharisees were great pretenders. They did not practice what they preached. They took advantage of the poor. They basically looked out for themselves. They gave the appearance of having faith in God but denied who Jesus was and what he was about. Rather than celebrate the new found freedom of an individual they took issue with his act of healing on the Sabbath.

On the other hand, its easy to point our fingers at the Pharisees and see them as the villains in the story. But, perhaps we are pretending too. How often does someone you know tell you they are fine when they really have serious health problems? How many of us really follow our doctors orders? The word hypocrite is a strong one. The only way to truly hear the good news in this story is to accept the fact that we ourselves may be hypocrites as well. When we constantly complain about the rising cost of healthcare but still abuse our bodies by overeating, drinking excessively and failing to exercise we too are pretending. Or when we neglect to "see" someone who needs a little encouragement in life we are only pretending to be people of faith.

I believe God wants us to be free. To have the freedom to believe that yes, sometimes God does intervene and miracles occur. To be free of all those things that imprison us or enslave us; guilt, shame, feelings of inferiority, or believing that there is no power greater than myself that can enable us to overcome impossible situations.

Freedom from the notion that our personal health is controlled by Physicians, hospitals and insurance companies. Freedom from the mindset that we are totally dependent on people in positions of authority to tell us how to live our lives. Freedom from the self righteous attitudes of people who lord it over us.

Jesus stood firmly behind the woman who was a prisoner of society. Her situation was totally hopeless and he turned it around. The power of God is greater than any power we have. Regardless of the circumstance we find ourselves in there is a power that transcends, a power that can set us free.

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