Set Free

Kate Thoresen August 22, 2010

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Mark 10.46-52

Gospel Lesson

¹⁰Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 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. ¹²When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." ¹³When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.

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." 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? 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?" 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.

This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to You, O Christ.

Corrie Ten Boom tells a compelling story about the way that she was bent low like this woman in Luke's Gospel. In her book The Hiding Place she relates how Christ set her free. She describes what it was like to live in the horrific conditions of a concentration camp during World War II. Her father, her sister, Betsy, and she were arrested in their hometown in Holland because they saw the Jewish people as their brothers and sisters honored by God. Because they had helped Jewish friends, Corrie, Betsy and their father paid the high price of their Christian faith and compassion.

Both Betsy and Corrie were thrown into the same dormitory at the camp. The living conditions were inhumane. They were abused, forced to work long hours, and fed little. Yet Betsy remained grounded in her faith that God is good. She quietly organized times of prayers and even reading some scriptures smuggled with them. She urged her sister, Corrie, and all the roommates to refuse to be bent low, even though their circumstances were dire. They could still stand tall and praise God in all things. A time of testing came when their dorm became infested with fleas. The women grumbled, "How can we thank God for these pesky creatures?" "Praise God anyway; God works for good for all those who love the Lord. Keep your sights on God and the power of the Holy spirit to see you through this," was Betsy's response. "But why praise God for fleas?" Yet they did and soon discovered that because of the fleas, the prison guards never came into their dormitory. They were free to read scripture, pray and bolster one another in their Christian faith. Afflicted in many ways, Christ gave them the strength to spiritually stand tall even when their circumstances were physically unbearable.

Some of the women could have been bent low with fear and discouragement, and tempted to give up. Some were bent low because of their physical pain and deprivation. Yet The Hiding Place stands witness to the enduring strong hope and faith that Christ sees where we are and reaches out with such eyes of compassion and healing. Corrie Ten Boom could later praise God for the ways that they experienced the power of the Holy Spirit working in their lives. Their souls were set free in spite of imprisonment.

Betsy died there. Yet later Corrie was set free from that prison camp and she began to share her story on the ways she experienced God as her Hiding Place, her very refuge and strength. Pretty soon people from all around Europe flocked to hear her powerful story. They, too, wanted to know the Living Christ who could set them free from whatever bent them low, from whatever kept them downcast. Praising God in all circumstances is the key to lifting one's sights and being open to the strength that comes at our moments of weakness.

But one day, Corrie Ten Boon realized that there was a strong spirit of anger and unforgiveness that kept her own spirit low. She had just finished a speaking engagement. Among the many that came up to her and wanted to shake her hand was a familiar face. Corrie cringed when she realized that it was one of the prison guards who had mistreated them. He told her how her message changed his life. He had sought God's forgiveness and felt set free to now live a meaningful life based on following the ways of Jesus Christ. He said he came to ask her forgiveness.

Corrie confides that she did not have it in her to forgive him. She could feel her own spirit still afflicted by the wrongs they had all suffered at his hands and the officers like him. She prayed, "I don't have it within me, but I know you are one of forgiveness and compassion. Let it be your forgiveness and your love that reaches out through my hand to this man. Through your Spirit I know this can happen." And sure enough, she could stand tall and by the power of the Holy Spirit extend her hand to his outstretched hand. The man's eyes teared up as he thanked her. You have released my own guilt and fear. Both Corrie and the man could then stand a bit taller and move on with their lives and all that God had planned for them.

The woman that Jesus healed was afflicted with a physical ailment. But you and I know that there can be many spiritual ailments that can also weigh a person down: despair, guilt, regret, fear, discouragement, and loss. Corrie Ten Boom also gave this advice. When we confess our sins to Jesus, he will take them and throw them into a lake. And there he will post a "No fishing" sign. Let that past mistake go. Look up. Look to the future. See the light of Christ bidding you to go forward with hope, faith and the love that never lets you go. When circumstances, physical ailments or spiritual troubles weigh us down, we, too, can practice what Betsy and Corrie did in their prison camp. We can lift our spirits to God. Pray and Praise. Remember what God has done for you and others in the past. Gather with others of faith. Lift up your heart to the Lord. Keep grounded in scripture and let that Word be "the lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path" (Ps. 119) When we are low, we can look up to Christ. We can look to the promises offered in the Bible, God's Living Word.

Let us close with this timeless affirmation of God's care as found in Isaiah 43. I invite you to insert your own name when you hear the word "you." Listen to the ways these words can lift your spirits as you deal with whatever circumstance that weighs heavily upon you or that you carry for another:

¹ Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers,
they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
³ For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
⁴ because you are precious in my sight,and honored, and I love you.

Thanks be to God in whom we live and move and have our being.

Amen.

©Kate Thoresen 2010