Proper 16 C + Defiant Thanks + 8.24.25
Defiant Thanks
Proper 16C (Pentecost 11), Luke 13, Hebrews 12
All Santos, Oxnard,
and St Paul’s Emmanuel, Santa Paula
The Revs Melissa and Alene Campbell-Langdell
Do you sometimes feel all twisted
up inside? Is there too much going on in the world, and it’s got you afraid? I
can imagine the woman in the Gospel today feeling something like that. Luke describes her as being “bent over and
unable to stand up straight” (Luke 13:11).
Trauma and shame can cause someone to curl up inwardly and outwardly
just as much or more than any physical ailment.
And perhaps that is the first miracle in this story. For when anxiety binds us and seems like it
won’t let us go, it can keep us away from the very people and places where we
might find support. We can find
ourselves tempted to stay at home or questioning what seems like everyday
surroundings, scared that we are not safe. Not only does this woman survive all
that has happened to her, but she also shows up at the synagogue. I suspect she was probably somewhere off to
the side, crouched low and peeking around the people in front of her. It is Jesus who notices her, not the other
way around. In her memoir of her life
during and after being incarcerated, Lara Love Hardin describes the prison of
constantly trying to hide who you are, of continually pretending to be someone
else, for fear that if you are discovered, you will be shamed, humiliated, or
cast out of the community. However, when
she finally decides to share openly who she is, she discovers she is not
alone. Shame and fear haunt all of
us. And that includes the original
recipients of the letter to the Hebrews. You see, this community has been Christian
for a while. And they have gotten over the honeymoon effect, and have realized
that believing in Jesus just might get them killed. So they are scared. They’re
tempted to pull back and hide a bit.
Now, being scared is nothing new for those of Jewish descent. Fear and awe of
God are intertwined in the Hebrew scriptures, and there is an acknowledgment of
the awesomeness and greatness of God that is healthy. But the author of Hebrews
here wants to acknowledge that sometimes fear holds us back. We can work so
hard to stay safe that we can reject God and what God wants to do for us. The
author of Hebrews reminds his/her readers that focusing on fear can cause us to
miss God’s voice and refuse to hear what God is saying. Like the leader of the synagogue, we can get
so focused on keeping the rules to stay safe that we end up paralyzed. We end
up refusing the blessing that God wants to give us.
So the challenge in today’s
readings is, how will you receive your blessing?
I find the words of Sweet Honey in
the Rock, a woman-led gospel group, to be balm in these frightening times.
Their songs come from slave spirituals, the gospel songs that helped a people
survive slavery. But they also speak to persecuted peoples across history, from
the early Christians who tried to worship in an unfamiliar and hostile
environment, to many of our Latino immigrant siblings today who are living in
fear, and the local community organizers, the most active of whom are queer,
brown, disabled, and/or femme, who are at risk of burnout just trying to help
so many in need. Others of us may relate who are news hounds and feel
overwhelmed by the state of the world. These fears are real, as we experienced
just this Thursday when a woman was taken from a bus stop only one block from
the church.
So let’s listen to some of the balm
that music brings. Sweet Honey in the Rock’s song, “I Remember, I Believe,” has
some verses that go like this:
“I
don't know how the rivers overflow their banks
I don't know how the snow falls and covers the ground.
I don't know how the hurricane sweeps through the land.
every now and then
Standing in a rainstorm, I believe.”[1]
Maybe you feel like you are
standing in a rainstorm right now. Or maybe a dumpster fire. I bet the woman in
today’s gospel felt like she was, too. Every day she woke up and had to deal
with a million things many of us don’t have to even think about. All those
concerns were like rain falling on her, getting in the way of moving forward
with ease. Getting her feet out of bed, getting clothed, and eating. It was a
testament of will that she even made it to the synagogue! And Jesus saw her.
How weary she was. And he released her. Not because physical infirmities are
all bad. But because he knew the liberation she needed. As much to be welcomed
into the community, acknowledged as a daughter of Abraham, as someone who
belongs, as anything else. She deserved to belong.
Standing in a rainstorm, she
believed!
And how did she respond? In praise.
The concept of giving thanks expressed in the letter to the Hebrews has the
idea of grace within it. For ancient
cultures, grace wasn’t a one-way street.
Grace was something that one received from a patron in the form of a favor
or needs being met. And grace was
returned to the patron through thanks and honor. Grace was seen as a kind of dance that made
the world more just. At the end of this
gospel, the woman and those around are rejoicing. They all seem freer. And that
is the point of the kingdom. That is the point of the gospel. Not fixing
someone. Freeing all of us.
In the Hebrews passage today, much
formal language is used- assembly language that indicated a political or
governmental gathering, and language of citizenship. But the author knows that,
whether we are citizens of this country or not, none of that matters to God. We
are citizens of heaven. And we must hold onto that! That said, we must acknowledge a reality.
Some of us citizens of this earthly country have it easier right now. We must
do what we can so that all of us citizens of the heavenly country can be
treated with dignity. At its best, that is the beauty of the church. Here, we
acknowledge that no outward trappings, whether buildings or houses, marriage or
citizenship papers, ultimately matter to God. We all belong and are all valued
children of God. There are no outcasts here, and none is too queer nor too
brown nor too disabled, nor too old or too young, to be of value. All are
loved, treasured, and celebrated!
For that, let us give thanks.
Because that is the choice that the
writer of Hebrews offers us: we will either bow down in fear and shame, or we
will bow down in awe and thanksgiving and rise in praise.
In today’s alternative psalm, Psalm
103, we hear the standard translation, “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” But I
heard another translation this week. Another translation is “I will Bow down in
worship, so that all of me praises God.” This healed woman does this in her
way. Despite everything holding her back, she hears Jesus’ call and draws
near. And isn’t that what we are doing
here? We come to sing and pray and praise God, not despite what is happening in
the world, but because we know that there is something unshakeable in Jesus,
even in the rainstorm of this world. Something the powers that be cannot take
away from us. That’s what we claim, and that’s why we believe.
Sweet Honey in the Rock’s song
concludes with words that could be in the mouth of this woman so recently
healed:
“The power of the universe knows my name.
Gave me a song to sing and sent me on my way
I raise my voice for justice, I believe.”[2]
What is your song today? Will you
bow in fear or raise your voice in defiant thanks to the One who has promised
us healing, joy, and an unshakable inheritance?
Will you join the dance of justice and grace?
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