mySundaySermons

Luke 13:10-17   10  Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.  11  And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.  12  When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.”  13  When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.  14  But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, 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.”  15  But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water?  16  And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”  17  When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing. -NRSV

What were you doing eighteen years ago?  Back to school, Sunday, August 23, 1992.

• Ten years out of high school.
• Three years out of seminary,
• Only two stamps in my passport.
• I had just returned from a new church development conference in Pittsburgh, PA learning how to start new United Methodist Congregations.
• Susanna was almost one and a half.
• I drove a Ford Taurus..
• Redskins over Bills 37–24 SprBwl
• Founding the European Union.
• Winter Olympics Albertville, France
• Silence of the Lambs, Best Picture.
• Bosnian declaration of independence from Yugoslavia, besiege the city of Sarajevo.
• Windows 3.1 released
• Euro Disneyland opens.
• Jury acquits four LAPD police officers in Rodney King case,
• Los Angeles riots and leading to 53 deaths and $1 billion in damage.
• Shuttle Endeavour maiden voyage.
• Amy Fisher shoots Mary Jo Buttafuoco, wife of Joey Buttafuoco.
• Johnny Carson retires, 30yrs
• U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle  spelling of the word potato.
• Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq refuses a U.N. inspection team access to the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture. UNSCOM claims that it has reliable information that the site contains archives related to illegal weapons activities. U.N. Inspectors stage a 17-day “sit-in” outside of the building, but leave when their safety is threatened by Iraqi soldiers.
• Summer Olympics Barcelona, Spain.
• Mall of America opens.
• Shootings at Ruby Ridge, Idaho,
• Hurricane Andrew Cat 5; 23 killed.
• Charles and Diana separation.
• Births – Selena Gomez – Demi Lovato  – Nick Jonas  – Miley Cyrus,
• Deaths – Natalie Sleeth – Isaac Asimov – Lawrence Welk
• Brett Favre makes his first start for the Green Bay Packers
• Pope John Paul II apology, Inquisition against Galileo Galilei.
• Election, Bill Clinton,  George H. W. Bush and H. Ross Perot.
• Church of England votes to allow women to become priests.
• U.S. military forces land in Somalia.

It was a busy year, and filled with it’s own celebrations and tragedies. Think about the millions of things that have happened in the past 18 years.

New countries, currencies and crises

New advances in technology, exploration and medicine.

But what if we had not only a year of illness and suffering,

One score, two decades..

18 years..

It would be hard to remember what happened eighteen years ago, much less all the events during that time… but a woman with osteoarthritis, chronic bone loss, terrible back aches, for 18 years.

At issue is about what is appropriate for worship.

I heard the report of a missionary who had returned from Haiti about two months ago and the report was that people were happy to work together to rebuild housing, feed the hungry, give medical attention to the sick, and find new relationships people from around the world.. but he reported one conflict in every church:  What would they sing, hymns or praise songs.

Here is person who comes to Jesus and it happens to be the day of worship, in the place of worship.  Should she just wait until the next day, she has already waiting 18 years, what is one more day?

Do you hear the struggle between the urgency of Jesus work?

Yes, she could wait, she had been waiting the majority of her life time.

But in Jesus presence, she didn’t have to wait another minute.

To be with Jesus is to be present in God’s Kingdom.

Our mission is to share the Kingdom of God with everyone.

Why wait until tomorrow, when we can do it today!

I will wait until I’m older, have more time, have more experience…

But why?

So here is the invitation: if you can make a difference in someone’s life, do it now.