Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, August 24, 2025: Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 71:1-6; Hebrews 12:18-29; Luke 13:10-17
Jeremiah is afraid. “I am only a boy“: how can I be a prophet to the nations? And the Lord, who has already told him that he was appointed for this task in the womb, tells him, “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you“.
The author of the Letter to the Hebrews reminds their readers that the life to come is not “a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and tempest“. Instead, you have come to “the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering“. For this, they add, “let us give thanks“.
These readings are a great opening for today’s Gospel, when we read the story of the woman who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over, “unable to stand up straight“. She does not approach Jesus, instead he calls her to him. He does not heal her, but he tells her she is “set free” from her illness. After he laid hands on her, she stood up straight and began to praise God. And as Jesus defends his setting her free to the leader of the synagogue, the crowd is with him, rejoicing.
The psalmist too experiences fear. “Deliver me from the hands of the wicked”, he asks. “Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe; you are my crag and my stronghold.‘
Many of us live with fear. Some of that fear is real: bad things happen. We fear losing jobs, or the death of loved ones. Those living with violence and war rightly fear their own fate and those of loved ones. Right now, many immigrants are living in fear, again reasonable fear when there are random roundups on the street. Yet the message of today’s readings is about letting go of fear and turning to hope. Not only that, we don’t have to take the initiative: that is the Lord’s.
The Lord promises to be with Jeremiah, and the early followers of Jesus are promised an end in the heavenly city. And the woman, who was interested enough in Jesus to become part of the crowd around him, was set free. This is an unusual healing story, because the woman makes no request. She is just present. We do not know what she is thinking, but being “bent over” for eighteen years means that she could not work. None of the tasks women usually did could be done if you were crippled and bent over. So it is not surprising that she praises God.
We all confront fears of many kinds in our lives. But we can always turn to the Lord, and the Lord may be there before we ask. We just need to remember. And then give thanks. For the flip side of fear is not confidence, but hope. Just as we fear things that we do not know, hope also looks towards things we do not know. Just as Jesus saw the need of the woman and called to free her, so God sees our needs. We live in hope that God’s presence carries us through the challenges of our lives.
For you are my hope, O Lord God, my confidence since I was young.
I have been sustained by you ever since I was born; from my mother’s womb you have been my strength; my praise shall be always of you.
Amen
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