From the Pastor’s Desk: THE BENT OVER LADY
On a trip to the Wisconsin Burger & Custard joint Culver’s, my boys and I played the game “Your Car My Car.” As we sat by the window next to the drive-through, the first car that pulled through the driveway became my first son’s car, while the next child received the next automobile that passed by. There was excitement when a new 4 x 4 passed through, and disappointment when another “took ownership” of an old beater.
What if we played a game like that with the Bible calling it, “Your person, my person”? Considering all the people that Jesus helped and healed, which one might you get?
• Zacchaeus who cheated others in his role as a tax collector until Jesus one day wanted to come to his
house.
• Nicodemus who was confused about who Jesus was but then is found in Jesus’ tomb bringing spices to
wrap him in.
• Joseph of Arimathea who asked Pilate for the body of Jesus, even though he was a member of the
Jewish Sanhedrin.
• The Rich Young Ruler who went away sad because he wanted to keep his earthly riches.
But what happens if you got, the bent over old lady?
Would you be disappointed if that’s who you got in the game of “Your Person My Person”?
What was that lady’s life like?
Looking at Luke 13 we find that:
• Jesus met her when he was teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath day.• She had been bent over FOR 18 YEARS and could not raise herself up.
• The bible described it as a “spirit of infirmity.” I would say! Imagine what life was like for her.
• If she laid down in bed did her feet stick up in the air?
• How fast did she walk?
• Was the only view she ever had the view of her shoes?
Certainly, she saw life at a different angle! But truth-be-told that woman might just be more like us than we care to realize (spiritually speaking, that is). Luther had a Latin name for this spiritual condition. He called it, “Incurvatus in se.” It is the problem of sin that curves us in on ourselves. By nature, we are self focused, and me-occupied.
All people can get a case of what this lady had. We forget the joy of the Lord and the good life we have in Him. Instead look inward. “Have we done enough to gain God’s favor?” we ask ourselves, “Are we good enough for God?” (The answer will never satisfy as it always is no.) We go through life with the shuffle, and, like the woman, no amount of effort can raise ourselves up. No physical therapy, muscle relaxers, or surgery, can fix the condition of an inward focus.
We need to see what Christ has done and done for us, but the problem is we are bent over. Yet this woman, on that day in the synagogue, was freed by Jesus. “Woman,” He said, “you are loosed from your infirmity.” Jesus laid His hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and glorified God. Imagine the new angle that she saw on life. She saw Jesus, the one who came to the bent over old lady and healed her. He Himself would shuffle to the cross for her, bent over, carrying her sins. He Himself became bent and broken on the cross so she could stand straight and tall.
Our Lord has Lenten gifts for a bent over people. By His death and resurrection, we can stand tall. We see more than our feet and our life, but are turned outward to see Him, what He has done for us, and what He has done for the world.
A blessed Lent to you.
Sincerely in our Lord,
Pastor Seifferlein
