What will you build from the rubble?

an invitation to come alive and participate in God’s healing work in the world

I recently preached from Luke 13 about the woman Jesus sets free. In this story, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue when a woman appears who “was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.” She’d been this way for 18 long years. Scripture says when Jesus saw her he called her over, I imagine him maybe even bending down so they could make eye contact. And he says to her Woman, you are set free from your ailment. She immediately stands up straight and praises God. Later, when Jesus is questioned he says, ought not this woman … bet set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?

I love that when Jesus heals the woman he doesn’t say you’re healed or you’re fixed or give her any instructions on what to do next. Jesus simply says you are set free. He releases her from her bondage, and she is free! While preparing for this sermon, I kept wondering what is it I’m in bondage to?

I recently had the opportunity to hear Dr. Yolanda Pierce¹, Dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School speak. During a time of Q&A after her talk she offered something I haven’t stopped thinking about, she asked: What will you build from the rubble?

It reminds me of something I read in Dancing Standing Still² by Richard Rohr, in it he writes: We can only build on life and what we are for, not what we are against…. Mere critique and analysis are not salvation; they are not liberation, nor are they spacious. More simply he says: the best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better.

I’m beginning to see a shift in myself. I’ve spent many years in a cycle of critique and analysis, which are not bad — in fact I think they are good and useful. But I am beginning to sense that they are not the end of the story. If we stall out in our naming of what we are against – then we remain in bondage to those things.

In the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, in Luke 4 he quotes Isaiah and proclaims:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed. 

Jesus speaks out against the injustices around him! He critiques the current state of things. But then, we watch as he lays hands on those seen as unclean and heals them. He proclaims the good news of another way. He shares meals with sinners and those on the margins of society. He befriends women and takes them seriously. He calms storms and teaches us to forgive, to love our enemies, and not to judge one other. 

People begin to walk again, to see again —they began to live again. And then he sees, across the room, a woman who likely was bent over so far she could see Jesus, only hear his voice. He goes to her and says woman you are set free and with all eyes on him, he touches her and she stands up straight and praises God. 

I gave this sermon at the end of August. In some ways it seems like I’m living in a different world than I was just a few weeks ago. I’m not sure if its because of the recent events here in the United States or if its because I’m reading Octavia Butler³ for the first time, but it feels as if I’ve been climbing a mountain of understanding for a long time and I reached the top only to see endless mountains ahead of me.

This story is about so much more than a miraculous healing. This story holds an invitation to come alive and participate in God’s healing work in the world. And I think it begins within you. Within me. It beings with the naming of what we are in bondage to. With our critique on how things are, with us saying out loud the things we are against.

And then we must move on from there. We move from the bondage, from being bent over with shame and exhaustion and fear. We begin to believe we are set free. We begin to live into our freedom. We build our lives on better practices. On what we are for. We create a spaciousness for life and liberation and salvation. 

We name loudly the injustices around us. The ways that the life and story of Jesus has been manipulated for power. We criticize the harm done in Jesus’ name. We reject the narrative that words like inclusivity and justice and empathy are in contrast to the message of the gospel – but we cannot get stuck there.

What will you build from the rubble?

You might feel in bondage to the grief and shame of ways you have contributed to injustices, or racism, things you said in high school about someone’s sexuality or culture. You might be in bondage to the heartache and critique of how we have treated our planet and what we are leaving behind to future generations. You might be against the ways our government treats the poor, or immigrants, or our queer siblings. 

In Romans, Paul writes that the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together – know that you are not alone. I think many of us feel stuck, in bondage, unable to stand up straight – because the weight of it all is just too heavy.

This story is more than a cure from her ailment, it is a healing. It’s the freedom we are all offered. It’s a movement from being stuck in all the things we are against, the things we hate, the injustices that we have experienced and participated in – it is an invitation to move through those and begin to build our lives on what we are for. 

What will you build from the rubble?

I think most of us want to participate in those things Jesus talked about. We want to bring freedom to the oppressed, and good news to the poor, we want to release the captives, and help those who cannot see the invitation of the gospel, to see.

So my hope for you today, is that you’ll begin by finding one small way to participate in the healing work of God. That you figure out what you’re in bondage to and name it – do not shy away from it – but let it become a place of freedom so that you might you begin to build something from the rubble, to live into the freedom, and participate in God’s healing work in the world.

alongside you,

Holly

Spiritual Direction News & Updates

• It’s not too late to sign-up for my friend Elizabeth Peterson’s pre-recorded Online Retreat: Create a Clearing. You can sign-up through Tomorrow, September 20th and she’ll send you everything you need (you’ll have until the end of October to complete the retreat). Elizabeth plans to donate all proceeds from this retreat to Mom’s Demand Action. A final note: I really cannot say enough good things about the work Elizabeth is doing, I’ve participated in this retreat the last several years and have been thankful for this spacious pause during a busy season.

1. A blurb for her most recent book: The Wounds Are the Witness is where Teilhard de Chardin meets Beyoncé as Pierce takes the world to church with sacred speech that transforms trauma, heals hurts, rejoices in justice, and celebrates spirit. (have there ever been more convincing words in a blurb?!) I’m currently reading: In My Grandmother’s House.

2. Dancing Standing Still by Richard Rohr

3. I’ve been wanting to read Octavia Butler for sometime, but for (who knows what reason) and just getting into it. Currently reading: The Parable of the Sower, up next: Kindred. (quick reminder that Bookshop.org links are always affiliate!)