Luke 13:10-17 (NRSV)
Read Luke 13:10-17 on biblegateway.com
Verse 10Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. Verse 11And 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. Verse 12When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." Verse 13When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. Verse 14But 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." Verse 15But 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? Verse 16And 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?" Verse 17When 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.
Devotion
Are you religious? While a growing number of North Americans claim no religious affiliation, we are left to wonder what actually constitutes being identified as "religious." While many associate religious life with the strict adherence of particular rules and regulations, to be religious is actually more about restoring relationships than promoting and policing specific spiritual customs. And so, as Jesus critiqued the regulation-centered religious authorities of his day and age, we are called to follow Jesus by embodying a relationship-centered way of religious life that brings people together rather than divides them apart.
The word "religion" comes from the Latin word "religio" which has a meaning influenced by the verb "religare," which means to bind or connect. And so, while Jesus was labeled as sacrilegious by the religious authorities of his day, he actually modeled religion in its purest form by connecting others with God and one another as a participant in God's mission. As a result, as we continue to discern the future of religion in North America and beyond, we also are called to remove that which divides and destroys, and thus be religious in ways that are life-giving, life-affirming, and life-freeing.
Prayer
Gracious God, stir us up and shake us out, and remind us that religion is about relationships rather than regulations, and restoration rather than rupture. Amen.