Allow me to read to you the verses that the revised common
lectionary left out of today’s gospel reading.
“Just then, in front of him, there was a man who had dropsy. And Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees,
‘Is it lawful to cure people on the Sabbath, or not?’ But they were
silent. So Jesus took him and healed
him, and sent him away. Then he said to them, ‘If one of you has a child or an
ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a
Sabbath day? And they could not reply to
this.’ And to this I add the end of
verse 1, “…they were watching him closely.”
This omitted
text caught my eye as I vividly remember giving care to a woman who had this
condition in our skilled nursing section.
I don’t even remember her name, but I do remember how swollen her body
was. Her hands, her arms, her legs, and
her feet were all puffed up. To look
upon her even with the limited medical knowledge I had, I knew that she did not
have long to live. Every time I put her
to bed, I said to myself, “Be careful when you take off the sleeves on her arms
and the hose on her legs. Be very
careful.” Dropsy is mentioned only in Luke, nowhere else in the gospels. Today
this medical condition is known as edema.
It is often a symptom of congestive heart failure or kidney failure. In
the legs, where it is most commonly found, it is treated with the use of known
as compression hose or Ted hose and/or diuretics. Diuretics are drugs that are meant to take
the extra fluids out. It is a substance or drug that tends to increase the
discharge of urine.
Just as
dropsy is mentioned only in Luke, so also only in Luke does Jesus actually eat
with the Pharisees. Because of these
distinctions, we can safely assume that there is a purpose as to why Luke puts
this story about a man with dropsy just before he tells a parable about seating
arrangements at dinners. Having dropsy means this: a person is waterlogged,
accompanied by an unquenchable craving for drink. It is a metaphor for an insatiable desire,
previously viewed as a moral failing, but today would more likely be seen as a
disease or mental disorder. Notice the
contrast. Jesus is viewed as both
glutton and drunkard by the Pharisees, but Jesus’ view of them is that they
have an insatiable desire to be recognized and honored, always wanting the seat
of honor at dinners. They have enough; in fact, more than enough but still crave
more. The same could be said of those who love money, the greedy, and
predatory, those who live their lives as devouring, blood-sucking, leeching
people.
Notice that
Jesus did not say that we should not honor people for their achievements. That subject is not even addressed. The whole point seems to be that of utter
humility before God and before our neighbors.
We are not to flaunt our present or past accomplishments in hope of
being recognized. The only thing that
really matters is the present. What are
we like to people in the present? Are we
caught in a quandary between ideals and wanting to please others? When I visited my aunt in Bismarck, North
Dakota last month, she said a couple of things that I thought to be
contradictory. She said that when my
uncle (who was also her husband) last read a letter from the other side of our
family, he was sickened. He said he did
not want to read any more; no more letters from his cousin in Washington,
because all the couple ever wrote about anymore was how rich they were. And then, as I was leaving to travel to
Jamestown, North Dakota her parting comment to me was that I should marry
somebody who’s rich! She was simply
wishing me well, or was she?
Coming back
to Washington from North Dakota, my flight was delayed in Denver. We sat on the tarmac for an hour and twenty
minutes, waiting to be cleared for take-off due to lightening. Time stood still. In Seattle, I hurried off the plane, noticing
that the mobile walkways had been turned off.
I bit the bullet, so to speak and put all my energy into getting to the
final leg of my journey. I had to race
from Concourse A to Concourse C, from United to Alaska. The loudspeaker
overhead announced that it was the last call and I was the last person to board
the plane. Someone was in my assigned
seat. Oh yes, I was annoyed but thankful that the flight attendant quickly
picked up my bag and eased it into position in the bin above my head.
I was upset
because I had paid for that seat. It was presumed that I would not make my
flight, so the passenger who sat next to me for the remaining trip to Spokane
assumed she could take my seat. Seating arrangements are still the norm of society,
even in coach class on an airplane. Many of us want the security of knowing our
place in the world, but when is enough sufficient? When do we dare to help out
those who have less? Why is it that many of us remain unsatisfied and dwell on
the regrets or should haves of our lives?
Why do we long for easier lives or what we perceive as easier lives? Why
do the lives of the Pharisees look more appealing than that of Jesus? Why do we crave position and power so
much? Because we don’t like the feeling
of being vulnerable and living a life of uncertainty. We don’t like being nobodies. We even try to
convince ourselves that God is on our side and thinks like we do. Guess what?
God is just the opposite. Jesus
says that the kingdom of God is like a dinner party in which everyone is
invited, even those we don’t like or even despise. God’s choice of who to honor above others may
not be at all who we think it should be. The Pharisees were a leading,
influential religious group who thought they were right with God yet they
ignored the poor, the blind, and the lame, those with dropsy aka edema on the
Sabbath because honoring the law of observing the Sabbath was more important
than being kind to the lesser people.
They were proud as opposed to humble. They were right and made right by
following the law. They were puffed up with pride as opposed to being a servant
and helper to others in the community they considered to be least among
humanity on the Sabbath.
Jesus argued
with them about the difference between the law and observance of the Sabbath
and told them many times that showing mercy to others should always be observed,
even on the Sabbath.
We have a
different situation today. Today,
keeping the Sabbath or attending church is seen as a choice among choices. On my visit to Jamestown, one of mothers at a
house we visited said she could not come to church this Sunday because her
daughter had soccer practice. It is a world that believes in God in a very
individualistic way, if at all. A great
majority of the people who live in this part of the US claim no church
affiliation. What would Jesus say to us today?
How would he criticize the religious leaders of today? How would he criticize his followers? Are we any better than the Pharisees? There
is much to do to bring about the changes needed to make a better society in the
US as well as other countries. Violence continues in our streets and in our
homes.
We now
commemorate the march on Washington DC made fifty years ago. We look back to them and also to Abraham
Lincoln and there is still much work to do to give our children the education
opportunities needed to earn a decent living.
I have a dream that someday, we will not only learn to get along with
each other, but work together to bring justice to all people. Those who exalt
themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
