Sabbath 8/27/16 Seventh Day Baptist Church Pastor Wray sermon “Burdens” Luke 13:10-17
When I see people with good posture, standing or sitting straight, I admire them. I used to have good posture as well when playing basketball as a kid. I got fairly good at basketball at school and in the neighborhood. I spent hours shooting baskets and I was the best basketball player in middle school. When I started playing with the high school teams, I wasn’t the only good player anymore. I got bullied because I was younger and I got anxious and lost my confidence. I began to slump my shoulders because I was anxious and I haven’t had as good posture since.
One day Jesus was teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath and a woman came in that was bent over and she couldn’t stand straight. Was she at church every Sabbath or had she just come to see Jesus? Had she heard that Jesus cared and had a special concern for the lost, sick and hungry folk? What doctors and medications had she already tried? Had she read self-help books or spent money at seminars to get healed? I think this woman’s problem was more mental, more spiritual than physical. The scripture says she has a “spirit” of infirmity. What had made her back to bend? Had she been bullied as a kid? Did she get this way suddenly or did it happen over time?
Some people today are working in cubicles, sitting on city buses and are burdened with many years of suffering. A divorce, loss of a loved one and financial worries can cause someone’s back to bend. Spiritual anxiety and being alone can cause someone’s back to bend. We never know what people are going through. People are in church because they hurt. The woman in our text went to church to hear God’s Word. She was surprised when Jesus saw her. Jesus sees beyond the façade, the pleasantries and He sees the real deal. He saw the woman’s hurts, struggles and her pains. Jesus saw her who had been bound by Satan in her pain for 18 years. Jesus saw and loved her with Agape love.
This Agape love is the same love Jesus has when He looks at you. Jesus loves people who are in need. He calls us to himself and if we come, we straighten up. We stop doing crime, smoking dope and stealing. We straighten up and do right. This only happens when Jesus calls us and we run into His arms. Then we can and will stand straight. We will become a completely different person. Our outlook will change and we will have confidence. Jesus will give us this confidence. The only way to live is to stand in the embrace of the one who love me no matter who I am. Jesus!!
There is a lot of hate in this world and how people make it without Jesus, I don’t know. There was a severely beaten 4 year old child that was asked by her social worker, what was her name. The child had a swollen black eye. The 4 year old child said her name was “idiot” because she was called idiot for so long by her mother and the mother’s boyfriend. We need to pray for the child and pray for her mother and the boyfriend too. Hurt people will hurt other people. Not being able to stand up straight is a learned behavior. Basking in the love of Jesus is a learned behavior. The Bible says if the Son of God sets your free, you will be free indeed. I’ve found that to be true, have you? May the experience of having the Son set us free, so we will be free indeed, be unto all the people.
AMEN
When I see people with good posture, standing or sitting straight, I admire them. I used to have good posture as well when playing basketball as a kid. I got fairly good at basketball at school and in the neighborhood. I spent hours shooting baskets and I was the best basketball player in middle school. When I started playing with the high school teams, I wasn’t the only good player anymore. I got bullied because I was younger and I got anxious and lost my confidence. I began to slump my shoulders because I was anxious and I haven’t had as good posture since.
One day Jesus was teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath and a woman came in that was bent over and she couldn’t stand straight. Was she at church every Sabbath or had she just come to see Jesus? Had she heard that Jesus cared and had a special concern for the lost, sick and hungry folk? What doctors and medications had she already tried? Had she read self-help books or spent money at seminars to get healed? I think this woman’s problem was more mental, more spiritual than physical. The scripture says she has a “spirit” of infirmity. What had made her back to bend? Had she been bullied as a kid? Did she get this way suddenly or did it happen over time?
Some people today are working in cubicles, sitting on city buses and are burdened with many years of suffering. A divorce, loss of a loved one and financial worries can cause someone’s back to bend. Spiritual anxiety and being alone can cause someone’s back to bend. We never know what people are going through. People are in church because they hurt. The woman in our text went to church to hear God’s Word. She was surprised when Jesus saw her. Jesus sees beyond the façade, the pleasantries and He sees the real deal. He saw the woman’s hurts, struggles and her pains. Jesus saw her who had been bound by Satan in her pain for 18 years. Jesus saw and loved her with Agape love.
This Agape love is the same love Jesus has when He looks at you. Jesus loves people who are in need. He calls us to himself and if we come, we straighten up. We stop doing crime, smoking dope and stealing. We straighten up and do right. This only happens when Jesus calls us and we run into His arms. Then we can and will stand straight. We will become a completely different person. Our outlook will change and we will have confidence. Jesus will give us this confidence. The only way to live is to stand in the embrace of the one who love me no matter who I am. Jesus!!
There is a lot of hate in this world and how people make it without Jesus, I don’t know. There was a severely beaten 4 year old child that was asked by her social worker, what was her name. The child had a swollen black eye. The 4 year old child said her name was “idiot” because she was called idiot for so long by her mother and the mother’s boyfriend. We need to pray for the child and pray for her mother and the boyfriend too. Hurt people will hurt other people. Not being able to stand up straight is a learned behavior. Basking in the love of Jesus is a learned behavior. The Bible says if the Son of God sets your free, you will be free indeed. I’ve found that to be true, have you? May the experience of having the Son set us free, so we will be free indeed, be unto all the people.
AMEN