According To Luke: The Lives of the Invigorated and Irritated!

According To Luke: The Lives of the Invigorated and Irritated!

Opening Illustration:

Have you ever seen the movie “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”? In the beginning, we meet Quasimodo, the hunchback of Notre Dame. It is the Festival of Fools in Paris. The crowds elected him the “Pope of Fools” because he was the ugliest person in Paris. They heaved him on a throne and paraded him through the city streets as the crowds mocked him. Then the archdeacon appeared and stopped the parade, and sent Quasimodo back to Notre Dame because someone so hideous should stay out of the crowd's site. What a complete lack of compassion and empathy!

We can relate because we've experienced judgment based on our clothes, zip codes, our color, or weight, and our past. We've had people talk about us, mock our history, or dismiss us because we didn't comply with their ideals.

When you feel shoved aside, remember that you’re in great company. Jesus wasn’t good enough either. The officials marched him down the streets, not of Paris, but Jerusalem, and the crowd called him a blasphemer. Someone else can relate to Quasimodo, and Jesus: The woman in today’s Gospel reading. We will come to her in a moment. However, before we read that story, let’s draw together a thesis of what today’s message is all about. Fill in these blanks with me this morning. 

Jesus Is The Embodiment of God’s Empathy!

1. God’s Heart: People Are More Important Than Procedures!

Luke 10:41-42 ESV

[41] But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, [42] but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."

2. God’s Heart: Healing Is More Helpful Than Legalistic Habits!

Matthew 23:27-28 NLT

[27] "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs-beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of impurity. [28] Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

3. God’s Heart: Availability To The Ailing Is More Important Than The Sanctity of a Sanctuary!

I John 3:17 ESV

But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?

Background:

Today we are reading a story about an encounter with Jesus. This encounter was experienced by an unnamed woman who had a mystery condition that left her badly crippled and disfigured. For 18 years this woman lived in misery and there was no cure for her pain. She could not walk which meant that in order for her to get to where she was going, she would have to crawl through the dirt. Scripture tells us that it was an evil spirit that kept her bound. Because of her gender, her spiritual state, and her disease, she was dismissed and even reviled by the religious people. To make matters worse, she was not born this way. Her condition happened upon her later in life. So, this means that she can remember days that were filed with health and wellness. 

Some said demons deformed her, some said she sinned, others said God judged her because of her ancestor’s sins. Jesus was different. He knew she deserved dignity and love no matter what disease she suffered.

In so many ways, Jesus was ahead of his time. The American Association for Psychological Science did a study of compassion. It actually changes our brain function. Research showed that empathy activates the pleasure center in the brain. Ultimately, they determined that we are happier when we give to the needy than when we receive. That sounds like a Jesus quote.

Compassion doesn’t just change others, it shapes us too. There is invariably someone in need of mercy.

So, let’s read from Scripture today about how Jesus ministers to this woman and how He brings her from darkness and despair to life and light. 

Scripture:

Luke 13:10-17 NLT

[10] One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, [11] he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. [12] When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!" [13] Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God! [14] But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. "There are six days of the week for working," he said to the crowd. "Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath." [15] But the Lord replied, "You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don't you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? [16] This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn't it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?" [17] This shamed his enemies, but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did.

Follow Jesus’ Example of Compassion!

I. Be Prepared vs. 14

Luke 13:14 ESV

[14] But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. "There are six days of the week for working," he said to the crowd. "Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath."

Point:

This synagogue leader had invited Jesus to come and speak to the congregation. Jesus was a controversial but well known communicator at the time. As Jesus was speaking, He notices a woman who was eaten up with evil and disease. She was hunched over, dirty, and laying in the dirt. Perhaps she was laying outside the doors of the synagogue. People had grown accustomed to her and she had become a person to ignore. Jesus did not ignore her. He looked at her. He spoke to her. He touched her. Jesus recognized her as a woman made in the image of God and thus possesses intrinsic value and worth. Immediately she is healed and she stands. Her life is radically transformed. Jesus literally performs a miracle in church. 

Point:

The religious people there at church site the law instead of seeing the physical liberation. Instead of seeing the greatness of what Jesus had done, they grip over Jesus breaking the rules. You are not supposed to work on the Sabbath and Jesus fundamentally broke that rule. At least thats what they felt. Friends, there are always going to be some people more concerned with the letter of the law than the liberation of the sinner. Why? It’s all about control. The Pharisees wanted control and withhold their compassion put them in a place of power. 

Point:

Everyone has a battle, and everybody needs the love of God. But there is always someone afraid because compassion gives control and the results to God. 

Compassion takes power away from them, and like the ruler of the synagogue, they revert to self-righteousness. Be careful, we all have our sins.

The lesson also teaches me that Compassion Changes Conditions.

Jesus reinforced that point when he responded, “This is a daughter of Abraham.” That phrase, “daughter of Abraham,” is unique to Jesus. It does not appear anywhere else in Jewish literature. In the 1st century, salvation came to women through their husbands. But Jesus saw it differently. To him, she was equal, and in covenant with God, like the men.

Point:

When you show compassion, be prepared for opposition. There are those who will want personal power more than God’s presence. 

“We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Psalm 51:1 ESV

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

Follow Jesus’ Example of Compassion!

I. Be Prepared vs. 14

II. Discover The Impaired vs. 10-11

Luke 13:10-11 ESV

[10] One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, [11] he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. 

Point:

Jesus saw this broken woman when no one else noticed. Jesus healed this woman when no one else would. It was so obvious that this woman was broken. It was so apparent that she was hurting. Why did it take 18 years for her to find some peace and rest? Why did no one else step in to give her a helping hand?

Well there were religious reasons. People in this day believe that if you were suffering that either you had sinned against God or that your parents had sinned against God. People felt that you were getting your proper punishment. 

There were physical reasons. People did not understand how the body worked back in these day. People that were suffering like this woman would be considered ritually unclean. They were not going to sacrifice their outward holiness to minster to someone so dirty. 

There were social reasons. After all, this was a woman. Women did not have rights. The only education that they were to receive was from their husbands. They were forbidden to enter the synagogues. They had hardly any legal recourse. 

As far as healing is concerned, this is pretty low hanging fruit. Jesus did not have to wonder if she was suffering or having a hard day. He could just look at her and know that she was in trouble. 

Point:

So, who is your broken person? Who is the woman laying in the dirt outside your door? Who is the woman that has been suffering for the past 18 years on your watch? Sadly, today it is much hard to see these folks. For the most part, our hurting people don’t crawl on the ground and lay outside our church. No, you have look deeper. Our hurt, many times, is more emotional, mental and spiritual rather than physical pain. 

The broken person that God has put in your life just might be you co-worker, your child, your partner, or even the person sitting on the pew. Sure, they may wear a smith but on the inside they can identify with this woman beaten down by disease. 

Point:

In order to discover the hurting and the broken, we must look deeper these days. There are literally millions of people who look physically fine on the outside but are broken on the inside. Spiritually, mentally, emotionally, we have pew sitters here right now who find themselves on the brink of brokenness. There are millions of impaired people all around us who need what Jesus gave to this woman. What did He give to her?

Jesus Gave This Broken Woman His…

A. Welcome

B. Words

C. Works (Touch, Support) -Do Not Add Parenthetical Reference

Point:

Remember, it is the broken things of the world that God blesses. 

God uses broken things. It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume... it is Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever.

Psalm 147:3 ESV

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Follow Jesus’ Example of Compassion!

I. Be Prepared vs. 14

II. Discover The Impaired vs. 10-11

III. Rejoice In The Repaired vs. 17

Luke 13:17 ESV

[17] This shamed his enemies, but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did.

Point:

We live in a society that celebrates the fallen. We love to see our heroes fall. Yet, in the economy of God, we should love seeing broken things coming back together. We should rejoice when the lost arrive home once more. It reminds me of Luke 15:4-6.

Luke 15:4-6

4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’

Point:

This woman who was broken, receives renewal, and Jesus celebrates. The crowd witness what Jesus does and they marvel at Him. The ones more concerned with the law, the rules, and the regulations begin to plot against Him. Remember, Scripture even tells us the only thing that stops angels in their tracks is when a lost person comes to know Christ. They celebrate. All of heaven rejoices. 

Imagine the joy that Jesus took in restoring this broken woman. We should all take that sort of joy. Friends, if you get angry when someone enters this church, then discovers Christ, you have a real problem on your hands. You are not operating with the heart of God but rather you have a heart of stone. 

Brothers and sisters, thats why we are here. The church is a hospital for sinners not a country club for the saints. 

• Church should be a place where it’s OK to struggle with depression.

• Church should be a place that’s home to the recovering and relapsing liar.

• Church should be a place that welcomes the alcoholic.

• Church should be a place where leaders can have faults.

• Church should be a place where we’re not afraid of pain.

Point:

Remember friends, we are all broken, busted and bruised. There was a point in all of our lives where we needed to be touched by God. Today, you are the hands and feet of Christ. Use your gifts to help raise the broken from their sin. 

Psalm 34:18 ESV

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

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