Coloring Outside the Lines
First Congregational Church of Evanston
August 26, 2007 (Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost)
Luke 13:10-17
Rev. Dr James E. Roghair, Interim Minister
Coloring in the Lines
Imagine a group of small children each being given a line drawing to color – perhaps it is a turkey at Thanksgiving time or a Christmas tree. The kids take up the crayons and go about coloring their picture – some with great skill and precision – keeping the crayon marks just inside the lines, and using the colors to perfectly match the reality the teacher had in mind. The teacher praises them.
Other kids try hard to do the same thing, but they can’t quite make it work. Their hands are not as skilled at holding the crayons. Their hand-eye coordination is not as sure as their neighbors. The teacher is likely to encourage them, too.
But in the class there may be one or two who ignore the lines altogether. One little one has a such a wondrous perspective on the turkey or the tree and such a sense of color, that to her the line drawing is only a vague guideline. Her artistic imagination runs wild. I am afraid that this little one may be discouraged by her teachers. She isn’t following the directions – not coloring within the lines!
But there might be one in the class, perhaps a little boy who doesn’t really want to do the teacher’s picture at all. He ignores the lines altogether – turns his paper over and unencumbered by the lines, he draws what he wants on his paper – perhaps an airplane, or a great sailing ship. The teacher may find him to be a real problem child – unwilling to submit to the discipline the class.
The children whose skills and coordination are well developed, and whose papers look most like what the teacher had in mind are praised and encouraged. The ones who try hard, but fail to produce such fine work are encouraged to do better the next time, though they are on a lower tier. But those too creative for the discipline of the lines are likely not encouraged at all. And those who refuse to follow the directions are asked to stay after class to do it right.
Coloring within the lines is a great metaphor for the expectations that our community and our neighbors put on us throughout our lives. Some people find it easy to meet expectations, but the makeup and personality of others force them to challenge what they find. Several years ago, when I was too busy to read it, my Dad sent me a book called Coloring Outside the Lines: Discipleship for the “Undisciplined (John F. Westfall).” I never read the book, but it’s still there on my pile of things I ought to read when I get to it.
But when I read this story of Jesus healing the bent-over woman, and the account of the synagogue official’s reaction to what Jesus did, the title of this book popped into my head. Jesus really was one who colored outside the lines. He refused the molds that the religious establishment tried to maintain for him and for everyone in his community.
The Bent-Over Woman
Jesus was teaching in the temple on the Sabbath day. The woman who had been bent over for 18 years was there. She was probably used to being ignored. People don’t like to see someone so deformed. Perhaps this woman wanted to hear Jesus teach that day. But maybe she was just there because it was the Sabbath day. She may have found it difficult to lift her eyes high enough to see Jesus.
The other teachers of the Synagogue probably ignored her. What could they do? The synagogue leaders probably wished she would stay home. After all how could someone be so disabled, unless she had sinned grievously! But Jesus called her over and offered her relief from her suffering.
The Amazing Reaction
What amazes me, as I read this story, is not the miracle itself. Granted, I do not understand how Jesus would have cured a disease like that with just a few words and the laying on of hands. We think of such diseases as arthritis or osteoporosis to be complex chemical and neurological phenomenon – maybe even psychological – perhaps even involving infections of bacteria or virus. But we do not think of them as caused by evil spirits. But the Gospel of Luke says she was “a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years.”
No, it is not the miracle that amazes me, although I don’t presume to understand it. Rather it is the reaction of the leader of the synagogue that amazes me. But I understand it. There were lines he expected Jesus to stay within. The leader was indignant because Jesus didn’t stay inside his lines. The Synagogue leader “kept saying to the crowd, ‘There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day’.”
He found no joy in the miracle he had witnessed – no wonder at the power of God displayed – he could only see that the Sabbath rules had not been kept. The Sabbath rules . . .
The Gift of Sabbath
What do we know about Sabbath? Sabbath (or shabbat) is one of the ideas that has been “most characteristic of Judaism.” It is notable that as the Jewish idea is expressed in other languages, there is no word to translate this idea except to bring over the Hebrew word. So, the Old Testament translated into Greek uses the words Sabbaton, the Latin uses Sabbatum, in English we say Sabbath, and in contemporary Spanish Saturday is still called Sabado (“And You Shall Call the Sabbath a Delight,” Shlomo Balter, in The Living Pulpit, April-June 1998).
Sabbath is a gift of God to the people of God. One of the Old Testament versions of the Ten Commandments – the one in Deuteronomy 5– explains that the gift of Sabbath rest is a reminder of God’s gift of freedom from slavery. Slaves didn’t get a day off. But God gives rest. And in the Exodus 20 version of the Ten Commandments, God has personally demonstrated God’s own adherence to that commandments – God rested on the seventh day of creation. So should we.
Sabbath is the gift of God to the people of God to remind them that they are not in charge of everything – to remind them that they are dependant on God’s gift of grace and not entirely on their own wits and skills. Sabbath teaches us to refresh ourselves but at the same time to rely totally on the gifts God gives.
In later Old Testament Judaism, Sabbath, which had been primarily an observation in the homes had become a time to gather for Synagogue worship. It is into that milieu that Jesus comes. He and people of his time were confronted by weighty rules made by the Rabbis – rules of what one could and couldn’t do on the Sabbath. We have several examples in the Scriptures of Jesus pushing the limits of Sabbath – coloring outside the lines.
The Gift of Sabbath to One in Need
When Jesus looked out he saw a woman who had been suffering 18 years. Jesus saw one for whom the gift of Sabbath was granted by God – that gift of rest for a daughter of Abraham. And Jesus, without reservation, granted her that gift of Sabbath rest. But the leader of the Synagogue did not see God’s gift of Sabbath rest to a daughter of Abraham. When he looked out, he saw people clambering to Jesus and he saw Jesus violating the Sabbath rules against work. What a different view!
Sabbath Today
So is it really a question of observing Sabbath or not? Was Jesus throwing out Sabbath as something antiquated and unnecessary? I don’t think so. Jesus was, rather looking deeply into the meaning of the Sabbath to offer a glimpse of what it was really about.
The early church continued to observe the seventh day Sabbath – since most of the earliest church were Jews. But Christians came to recognize the First Day of the week, the day of Jesus’ Resurrection appearance, as a special day for disciples of Christ. And slowly in Christianity, Sunday observances took the place of Saturday observances of Sabbath.
Those of us who are older are well aware of the changes in Sabbath observances that have happened even in our lifetimes. You will remember the things that you could or could not do on Sundays – the state laws or city ordinances which regulated Sunday activity, or church or community mores, or even your own family’s rules. Some of it was superficial like the rabbis’ rules in Jesus’ day. But there was a reality of reverence and God-given rest behind the Sabbath customs, too.
But most of that is now gone. The Church which preserved for the culture Sunday as God’s gift of Sabbath, finds it hard to hang onto the gift, ourselves. People find it difficult to worship on Sunday. It is hard for Sunday Schools and Youth Groups to compete with soccer and little league. People’s work schedules require many to work on Sundays.
What is to become of us? How will the church find the strength to reassert the good news that God offers Sabbath to us?
People are working longer hours and have more demands upon their time than ever. They are struggling either to make a living – or struggling to get onto the top of the heap. And whether it is out of necessity or out of greed, we now know very little about keeping Sabbath.
And so, if Jesus were here today, perhaps he would look out upon us, or he would search out some of our members who are not here today, and Jesus would offer the healing time of Sabbath rest. Jesus would tell us not to work so hard that we miss the Kingdom of God. He would tell us that no matter how hard we try, we can not be totally independent – we must always rely on the gifts and grace of God. We never make it on our own. All of life is a gift of God. How can we embrace that gift of God and offer God’s thanks for it?
Conclusion
What can we learn from Jesus about coloring outside the lines of our culture?
How can we reach out to the needy and bent-over people we encounter? Or will we be more inclined to send them away like the Synagogue leader?
Can we accept the Sabbath rest that is God’s gift?
Perhaps Jesus, himself, is the gift of Sabbath. Jesus is quoted in the Gospel of Matthew:
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“Come unto me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).”
Amen.
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 6, 2008