Vs. Psalm 103:1 “Praise the Lord,
O my soul; all my inmost being,
praise His holy name.”

I am just as guilty.  Last Sunday night when I arrived at Adam and Ashley’s home in Laurinburg, NC. Adam asked me how the drive was and I immediately complained that I spent an hour and half in traffic, that the trip took eleven and a half hours instead of the anticipated ten hours.

We complain about the closing of a traffic lane for construction, yet if they didn’t repair the road, we would complain about the potholes saying, “They need to fix these roads.”

Ask someone how the weather was while they were away and they will first tell you about the day it rained or the extreme temperature.

I remember having a conversation with friends about the fact we were all approaching fifty.  One of the guys was complaining about how gray his hair was getting.  A friend who is bald piped up, “At least you have hair.”

Have you seen company cars and trucks with stickers that read, how is my driving and then there is a phone number for you to call?   What percentage of the phone calls received are people calling to pay the driver a compliment?

This morning’s gospel story from Luke is a perfect example of what I am talking about.  Jesus heals a woman who for eighteen years has been possessed by satan.  This possession has not allowed her to stand up straight for eighteen years.  Jesus seeing her in the crowd calls forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Jesus put His hands upon her and immediately she stood up straight.  The ruler of the synagogue was indignant, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things Jesus was doing.

“Praise the Lord,
O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name.”

There is a mystery about this story that I find intriguing.  A woman was unable to stand up straight for eighteen years because an evil spirit possessed her.  This is foreign to today’s culture.  When we think of disabilities today we think in terms of diseases, in terms of birth defects, and in terms accidents.  When we think of demon possession we think of movies like, The Exorcist.  Is it possible that today someone’s physical illness could be the direct result of demonic possession?

Let’s look at the woman.  Was she there that day because she heard that Jesus was going to be there? Had she been coming to the synagogue every Sabbath?  How did Jesus know that she had been “kept bound for eighteen years?”  Why was the ruler of the synagogue so indignant?

Why was it wrong to heal someone?

The synagogue ruler was all about protecting the rules.  Healing was part of a doctor’s profession and the rules were clear that one was not able to practice his profession on the Sabbath.  The synagogue ruler could not see beyond the law to see the compassions of Jesus.

Was this the only reason or was he jealous that Jesus was able to heal this woman and he couldn’t?  In spite of the wide spread testimony and evidence about Jesus...  was the ruler of the synagogue just being stubborn like most unbelievers?  Was he hiding behind the law to avoid love’s obligations?  Was he using the law to rationalize away his obligation to care for others?

Are we any different than the ruler of the synagogue? Do we not at times rationalize away our obligation to care for others, to serve God, to forgive?  Do we not at times hold on to grudges, on to past events that make us unable to see beyond our complaints to see God’s blessings?

I fear negative situations or circumstance cause us to be bent over causing us to focus on them rather than on God’s glorious deeds.

David’s list in Psalm 103 gives us plenty of reasons for praising God.  God forgives our sins, heals our diseases, redeems from death crowns us with love and compassion, satisfies our desires, and gives righteousness and justice.

The Psalm and the gospel story calls for a response, a response of praise not complaint, and a response of compassion not legalism.

Amen