Galatians 4:22-27;
Luke 13:10-17
A few months ago I pulled a muscle in my back
that hurt for six weeks. It happened
when I bent over just a bit to pour water in our cat’s dish. That was just a nuisance in the larger scheme
of things, but it complicated everything from standing up to sitting down or
even walking around. Even small ailments
can be very frustrating when they keep us from doing what we want to do. More severe injuries can separate us profoundly
from our usual activities and relationships, and even from our selves.
When people’s lives are defined by their own pain and disability, their very
sense of self is challenged. That can quickly
become a miserable way to live.
When Jesus Christ was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath, he saw a woman
who was bent over and could not stand up straight. She had been that way
for eighteen years. Just think of how she felt, how limiting and
frustrating that illness had to be. The Lord said to her, “Woman, you are
loosed from your infirmity.” Then He laid hands on her and she was healed. When she was able to stand up straight again, she
glorified God.
But there were those standing around just waiting to criticize the Lord, for He
healed her on the Sabbath day, when no work was to be done. Christ
answered these critics by pointing out that everyone takes care of his donkey
and ox on the Sabbath. “So ought not this woman, being a daughter of
Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on
the Sabbath?” The truth of His teaching was so clear that those
adversaries were put to shame and the people rejoiced.
In these weeks of the Nativity Fast, of Advent, we prepare to celebrate the
wonderful news of the Incarnation of the Son of God, of our Lord’s birth at
Christmas. And we see in this gospel text a beautiful image of what Jesus
Christ has done for us by becoming a human being. For every one of us is
like that poor woman bound with an infirmity for eighteen years, unable to
straighten herself up.
For we live in a world of corruption, of illness, pain, and death.
We do not like to think about it, but there are harsh, impersonal realities
from which we simply cannot isolate ourselves. The horrors of war, crime, and
hatred between groups of people; the ecological effects of pollution; cycles of
violence, abuse, and brokenness in families and in society; and the
inevitability of the grave: We do not have to look far to find ways in which we
are all held captive.
As
well, we have diseases of soul, of personality, of behavior, and of
relationships that cripple us, that keep us from acting, thinking, and speaking
as the children of God. For we have all fallen short of God’s purposes
for us, as has every generation since Adam and Eve. We are all bent over
and crippled in profound ways in relation to the Lord, our neighbors, and even
ourselves.
Joachim and Anna knew all about long-term struggles and disabilities, for like
Abraham and Sarah they were childless into their old age. But God heard
their prayer and gave them Mary, who would in turn give birth to the Savior Who
came to liberate us all from sin and death. Today is the feast of St.
Anna’s conception of the Theotokos, which we celebrate as a foreshadowing of
the coming of the Lord to loose us from the infirmities that hold us captive
and hinder our participation even now in the life of the Kingdom.
The story of the Old Testament unfolded through the family of Abraham, who was
told by God that he would be the father of a large, blessed family.
Many Jews continue to think of life after death as being accomplished through
ongoing generations of children and grandchildren, not by victory over death
itself. But if God’s blessings extend no further than the grave, then we
will never be loosed from bondage to the wages of sin, which is death.
The history of the Hebrews was preparatory for the coming of the Christ, the
Messiah in Whom God’s promises are fulfilled and extended to all who have faith
in the Savior, regardless of their family heritage. Christ did not come
to privilege one nation over another or to set up an earthly kingdom, but to
fulfill our original calling as those created in the image and likeness of
God. That means ultimately to share in
the eternal life of the Holy Trinity as distinct, unique persons who become
radiant with the divine glory. God breaks the laws of nature in order to save
us, enabling elderly women like Sarah and Anna to conceive and bear children
and a young virgin named Mary to become the mother of His Son, Who Himself
rises from the dead after three days in the tomb. This is a story of
liberation, of breaking bonds, and of transcending the brokenness and
limitations of life in this world of death.
Fortunately, the Lord did not treat the woman in today’s reading according to
her physical condition as simply a bundle of disease, even as St. Anna’s fate
was not defined by barrenness. Instead, He gave her back her true
identity as a beloved person, a daughter of Abraham, by enabling her to stand
up straight for the first time in years. On that particular Sabbath day,
Jesus Christ treated her as a unique, cherished child of God who was not
created for a corrupt, impersonal existence of pain, disease, and despair, but
for blessing, health, and joy. She glorified God for this deliverance, as
did those who saw the miracle.
The good news of Christmas is that the Lord is born to do the same for us and
for the whole world, to set us free from the slavery to decay, corruption, and weakness
that distort us all. He comes to deliver us from being defined by our
infirmities so that we can leave behind our bondage and enter into the joyous
freedom of the children of God. He comes to restore us as living icons
who manifest His glory and salvation in unique, personal ways. Have you
noticed that icons portray people as distinctive persons? For example, the unique character of the
Theotokos, St. John the Baptist, and St. Luke shines through the beautiful
icons on the iconostasis.
The same should be true of us. We become not less ourselves, but more
truly ourselves, when we open our lives to Christ’s holiness and healing.
In contrast, sin and corruption are pretty boring. No matter how creative
we try to be, there are only so many ways to hate, lie, cheat, and steal.
You can only say so much about murder and adultery. Holiness, on the
other hand, is infinitely beautiful and fascinating. For the more we
share in the life of the Holy Trinity, the more we see that the process of our
fulfillment in God is eternal, that there is no end to it or to Him. And
since our fundamental calling as human persons is to grow in the likeness of
God, we become more truly ourselves—as distinct, unique people– whenever we
turn away from slavery to sin and passion in order to embrace more fully the
new life that Christ has brought to the world.
Unfortunately, people in our culture usually do not view Advent and Christmas
as opportunities to be loosed from our bondage to sin and death. Too
often, we turn them into occasions for strengthening our addiction to money and
possessions, to excessive food and drink, and unhealthy relationships with
others. Of course, that is really a way of saying that self-centered
indulgence is nothing but bondage to ourselves, which ends up leaving us
hollow, miserable, and stooped over. That
is not surprising because we were not created to find eternal fulfillment and
peace in the things of the world, even in one another. That is why we
must resist the cultural temptation to become so busy with shopping and
planning and partying this time of year that we ignore the glory and gravity of
our Lord’s Incarnation. For He comes to fulfill us all as His sons and
daughters, to extend to us all the blessing and joy of the heavenly kingdom, and
to loose us from our slavery to sin and death.
We must not remain stooped over, bound, and barren this Advent.
Instead, let us use the remaining weeks of this holy
season to prepare to receive the Christ Who heals us, Who sets us free, and Who
restores us as the unique children of God He created us to be in the first
place. For we, too, have become the
daughters and sons of Abraham in Christ Jesus.
Let us embrace the great blessedness of those who have been set free by
the Savior born at Christmas.
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