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| Kenneth Dowdy |
4th Epiphany
Luke 13: 10-17
Once
he was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman
who had a spirit weakening her for eighteen years: she was bent over and could
not stand upright [lift her head all the way up]. When Jesus saw her, he called
her to him and said to her, “Woman, you are released from your illness!”
He laid his hands upon her, and at once she was
able to straighten up. And she praised the power of God. Then the leader of the
synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the
people, “There are six days for doing work; on those days you can come and let
yourselves be healed—but not on the Sabbath.”
But
the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Does not every one of you untie his ox or
his ass from the manger on the Sabbath and lead it away to the water trough?
But this daughter of Abraham, who was held bound by the dark might of Satan for
eighteen years, wasn’t supposed to be released from her bondage on the day of
the Sabbath?”
All his opponents were put to shame by these words,
and the people rejoiced over all the signs of spiritual power that happened
through him.
4th Epiphany
January 29, 2012
Luke 13:10-17
When a plant doesn’t get enough water, it wilts. Give it
water and shortly it is upright again.
Sometimes we too are parched. We don’t have enough life
force to counter the forces of droop. It may be that we are tired, or ill. But
if enough life force is restored, we can upright ourselves again.
Some of the restoration we can do ourselves—through food and
water, through sleep, through medicine. It is our responsibility to do what we
can. But the true source of the Water of Life is Christ. Even today.
That is why we come to communion—to restore the level of
life force in the world. We can do so not only for ourselves, but also for
others. For it is possible to forward to others the strength and blessings of
communion with Christ. It is possible to form the intention to send His healing
and the peace of His touch into the world.
As Wendell Berry says:
As timely as a river
God's timeless life passes
Into this world. It passes
Through bodies, giving life,
….
The secret fish leaps up
Into the light and is
Again darkened. The sun
Comes from the dark, it lights
The always passing river,
Shines on the great-branched tree,
And goes. Longing and dark,
We are completely filled
With breath of love, in us
Forever incomplete.[1]
