The Uniqueness of a Sunday

   There was a woman in the reading for today,  from Luke 13, a woman who had a problem but continued to come to the place of meeting on the Sabbath. Luke records the incident:

   "^10-13He was teaching in one of the meeting places on the Sabbath. There was a woman present, so twisted and bent over with arthritis that she couldn't even look up. She had been afflicted with this for eighteen years. When Jesus saw her, he called her over. "Woman, you're free!" He laid hands on her and suddenly she was standing straight and tall, giving glory to God". (The Message)

   Was this woman coming to be healed? Did she even know that Jesus would be there that day? Was it just her custom to come on the Sabbath, regardless?

   Of course we cannot look into her mind, but I suspect that she expected this particular Sabbath to be like the ones before, the ones she had been coming to for the past 18 years since the arthritis had left her somewhat deformed and probably in pain. Would this day be any different?

   The story seems to emphasize the healing of the woman and the religious leaders reaction to it, but my thought was the uniqueness of that particular Sabbath, for everyone concerned.

   Then I thought of my attitude as I go to church on each Sunday morning. Do I go in expectation of something unique, or do I suspect it will be the same each and every time. I have jobs to perform, the  order of the service is somewhat predictable, the people are familiar for the most part, we sit in the same place in the sanctuary, and we will be through around 12:15. Do I give God a chance to break into my routine and bless me, or even challenge me?

   The woman in the story was faithful to be there in the meeting place on the appointed day. She was in that spot where God could step into her life in a big way, and she would never be the same again. From then on, that meeting place would become a miracle spot for her. I know it is hard to put to many things in the mind of that woman, one that I do not know anything about, but she encountered Jesus in a mighty way.

   Perhaps I should take a closer look at Sunday mornings and my attitudes on those days.