William Yagel
Grace Radford
August 21, 2022
Proper 16, Year C
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. (Romans 8: 1-2)
Amen
There is a very real danger in accusing someone of being a hypocrite. I would dare say that Jesus is the only one who has the real higher ground to cast that title onto someone as he does this morning. In truth, though, it is one of our favorite accusations. Particularly in our political discourse we love to find that stone to throw. These days one doesn’t have to look hard to hard to find examples of one political party or the other talking about files and emails and laptops and pointing out the hypocrisy of the other. It feels as though we are trying to trap the opposition in their great hypocrisy, and that somehow, if we do, we will somehow “win”. Clearly however, we have not yet found the supersized hypocrisy that will end all the debate and make us to be of one opinion…
Reflection on this I was reminded of an old co-worker and friend, Tom. Tom was full of advice best delivered as one-liners. This was a guy who recounted to me that in his early days of construction his first job was literally digging a ditch for a storm pipe in Norfolk. He pulled himself out of the ditch for lunch and sat there in the dirt and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the heat of the summer. He looked up, and there was the construction office trailer and he could see the superintendent with his feet up, soaking up the A/C, talking on the phone, not a care in the world. Tom looks and says, “One day, I’m gonna be that guy.” Fast forward twenty years and Tom is in the office trailer with the plumber, the HVAC, and the Framing sub. Everyone is yelling, no one even cares what is being said, it is miserable. About that time he looks out the window at these two young guys who are sitting on a pile of lumber, jabbing each other in the ribs laughing and enjoying their lunch without a care in the world. Tom looks and says, “One day, I’m gonna be that guy.” From that day on, any time we were together Tom might nod his head at someone enjoying life and say, “One day…”
Another of my favorite sayings of Tom’s happened after I received a new project assignment from the company for which I worked for at Langley Air Force Base. I was going to remodel the NCO Club, which was a high-profile job, and I felt pretty good for being trusted to take it on. When I announced it to Tom he replied:
“Well, you got what you wanted, now it is time to go want what you got.”
This one has stuck with me; is what I am asking for really going to satisfy me? Is this thing I want the hunger of ambition that will never be satiated, always wanting a bit more. About fifteen years later I was working in a job where I was not happy. A couple of friends encouraged me to go ask for a raise, but Tom’s advice stuck with me. You see, it wasn’t the money. I mean, sure, more money might have made my life easier, but it would not have solved my problem. My problem was a constant call to a new vocation that I had been ignoring. Then, in a series of whispers, stutters, and what felt like ridiculous risks, I found myself talking to the bishop about a call to the priesthood. And here I am, wanting what I got.
Tom’s advice provides a bit of caution for this notion of hypocrisy as the slam dunk in any argument. Is correcting a particular hypocrisy going to change any of your political party affiliations? I would assume not. Winning an argument may allow us a moment of victory, but it will not solve the struggle. If the Pharisee had simply said, your right, I’ll figure something else out so I never have to unbind my donkey again, that would not have solved the problem either. The problem was far larger than that one behavior, but that one behavior acts as a great example of how this Pharisee is missing the point. It isn’t that this man does this one thing to care for his livestock, it is that this one thing illuminates how profoundly he missed what is going on right in front of him.
Abraham Joshua Heschel writes on the beauty of the Jewish faith in his work entitled “The Sabbath”. In it he offers that sabbath is not merely a moment to stop working, it is not only a day of “rest”. The sabbath is instead a way to find independence from the civilization to which we have become accustomed. It is a day in the week which is set apart for freedom. He says that we will certainly have or want the tools and comforts of our society, but the sabbath allows us the freedom to live without them. It unshackles us from those things which would bind us by setting aside a day dedicated to God. Now, I promise you that this is not exactly how I use my sabbath, but it is an important reflection for us this morning and a beautiful reminder of the relationship God seeks with us.
When we remember that the sabbath is about freedom from what binds us, we see the greater prophetic work of Jesus this morning. Remember a few weeks, and chapters, back Luke told us that Jesus set his face on Jerusalem. We are hearing weekly the stories of Jesus journeying to Jerusalem, and of course, his journeying to the cross. It is important to keep this in mind in our reading this morning because it helps to illuminate the layers of meaning at work in Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisee. This Pharisee is willing to unbind his ox every day, but can’t see the importance of Jesus unbinding this woman from what has racked her body for years. He can’t see that this freedom is exactly what God has set aside the sabbath to celebrate!
What is more, Jesus notes that this woman is a child of Abraham who was bound by Satan. I particularly want you to hear that this is NOT her doing. This affliction is not some punishment for a life of sin, but something beyond her. This eighteen-year ailment has been her burden to carry. She has become accustomed to it as we notice that she does not ask to be healed, that healing is given to her freely. In healing this woman, we are reminded of God’s promise to Abraham. We hear the echo of the covenant in the wilderness that God will be with God’s people. This healing is symbolic of the freeing of the people of Israel that God promised. But this is also happening as Jesus is making his way to Jerusalem where his sacrifice will free us all from the sin that binds us.
The layers of freedom that God seeks for us is the great hypocrisy that the Pharisee is missing, and the Good News embedded in our reading today.
Jesus came to free us from what binds us, not to obligate us to a life of rigididity. God is in the business of freedom because God has shown time and again that God does not want forced or hollow worship. God seeks free and sincere relationship with us, and that can’t happen if we are bound. Instead, of holding us captive, God has released us, and called us back in Love. To let our obligation be genuine and free.
The great hypocrisy is not the way the Pharisee unbinds his ox, it is that he can’t see Jesus unbinding us. This is Jesus illustrating the whole point of the sabbath is way to freedom. It is Jesus showing us that he himself is our sabbath. It is in this that we indeed know that his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. May we now go out and want what we have received.
Amen