IT’S
YOUR SEASON
Mount Hope
UMC
Sunday,
August 25, 2019
Luke 13:10-17 New
Living Translation (NLT)
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
10 One Sabbath day as Jesus
was teaching in a synagogue, 11 he saw a woman who had been
crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was
unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he
called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your
sickness!” 13 Then he touched her, and
instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God!
14 But the leader in charge of
the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day.
“There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on
those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.”
15 But the Lord
replied, “You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you
untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for
water? 16 This dear woman, a daughter
of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it
right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?”
17 This shamed his enemies,
but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did.
One Sabbath day, the Scripture says. A day like today. Folks are gathered for worship in the
Sanctuary of the synagogue and Jesus is teaching; giving a message on the
meaning and relevancy of the Law of Moses and the prophets so that the people
could understand; when he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil
spirit. See, Jesus saw the evil spirit
that had the woman possessed and consumed and crippled. She was so crippled, consumed and possessed,
that for 18 years, this evil spirit had her bent at the waist. For 18 years all she saw was legs, feet and
dirt.
Imagine living life bent at the waist, looking down on
life. When she sat her face was in her
lap. When she spoke her words fell to
the ground. When she ate, her food could
not digest properly. To see her family
and friends, she had to crane her neck to look up. Her breathing was stifled because her diaphragm
could not expand and contract fully so that air could come through her lungs,
be filtered and release through her mouth or nose. But on this Sabbath day, this woman was about
the come into her season.
I don’t know if any of you know Bishop Stith. He was a Bishop in the Baltimore Washington
Conference and Bishop Stith is bent over at the waist, but when he sits in his
wheelchair, he sits pretty much erect.
How many of you know that this evil spirit that consumed,
possessed and crippled her manifested itself in her physical form? The doctors may have said it was arthritis,
or herniated discs in her back and there was nothing they could do. But I’m here today to let you know, it wasn’t
arthritis or herniated discs that crippled her, and it was not sin that
crippled her, because I don’t want you to be confused to believe that if you
sin God will strike you with a physical illness or disease. Our God doesn’t know afflict us like that.
Our affliction comes because we are spiritually
bankrupt. What you talking about
preacher woman? I’m talking about us
Christians who come to church on Sunday if we’re not being bedside Baptists or
taking the kids to sports games (Oh! Did
I step on somebody’s toes? Sorry),
listen to the message (but it didn’t sink in or it hit too close to home so you
dismissed it, or thought it was for somebody else), maybe read a verse or two
of the Bible (when you needed to support a discussion or argument), maybe in a
ministry (if we are the chair), maybe go to Bible Study (if we don’t have
anything better to do), maybe go to Sunday School sometime. We are ankle deep Christians, doing the bare
minimum and keeping our eyes constantly on the shoreline, never straying too
far from this world we have become grounded in; never trusting the word of God
that tells us we are more than conquerors in Jesus Christ who loves us, or that
we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us, or that now weapon
formed against us shall prosper and every tongue that rises against us we shall
prove wrong.
No, we are large and in charge. We come to church because we are fulfilling
an obligation and sending a message to our family, friends and neighbors that
we are, indeed, Christians. Like the
woman in Luke’s message today, we are spiritually crippled. And maybe we’re spiritually crippled because
we’re not walking in our season. What
you talking about preacher woman?
Let me explain. We
each have a time and a mission. We were
not just plopped on this earth to soak up the sun and try to acquire all the
good stuff our money can buy. We’re here
to fulfill a mission. Some of us think
our mission is to just chill. That’s not
a mission. That’s being lazy. Some think we don’t have a mission, it’s
somebody else’s job. Well, if somebody
else is walking in their season, they are giving God the glory and reaping the
blessings He gives them for being obedient to his call. I hope I’m not stepping on too many toes this
morning. But I’m trying to tell you as
handsome or beautiful as you may be, you’re not here to be a decoration on this
planet. God put beautiful flowers and
trees here for that purpose and they each produce in their season. What about you?
Your season may be on your job; it may be in your family;
it may be in your church. Whatever your
season, walk in it and don’t let the enemy spiritually cripple you to think
you’re nothing, you’re stupid, they don’t want you. That’s a lie straight from the pit and the
enemy will put all types of barriers that he (or she) knows you are vulnerable
to to prevent you from walking in your season, just like he did for the
crippled woman.
Jesus told he woman, “Dear woman, you are healed of your
sickness!” Then he laid hand on her and
the scripture says instantly she stood straight up and praised God! When she woke up from her spiritual coma, she
praised God. She didn’t wait to see the
manifestation of how standing erect was going to improve her circumstance. Before she took one step out of that
synagogue, she praised God for making her whole again. She was at the beginning of a new season in
her life. One she had not expected and
one she had not planned for. She
immediately walked into her season. She
praised God. She now had a testimony to
take with her and those who witnessed this miracle could confirm her testimony
as true.
And don’t we all do that when we realize our
purpose and our potential? When we know
that we know that we know? Then we start
to walk in our season and BOOM – we get hit with another attack.
Now the enemy wants to have us believe that it was an
anomaly, a blurp in life that got us that promotion – affirmative action. Affirmative action may have gotten us there,
but affirmative action didn’t keep us there or keep us going up the ladder in
corporate America. God provided the
wisdom and discernment for us to keep moving.
Don’t let the enemy, in whatever form he/she presents itself, tell you
the lie that you only got there because of affirmative action or any other
action other than the pure movement of God.
We’re not going back to the past, we’re pressing on to the future, to
the prize which is in Christ Jesus.
Don’t let anyone make you believe that you have to wait
for a certain day or have certain credentials for you to be what God has called
you to be. God will place you right
where he wants you and will fully prepare you to do what he has called you to
do.
As Jesus told the leader in charge of the synagogue who
admonished him for healing on the Sabbath, that it was a day set aside to rest and worship – “Don’t you untie your ox or
donkey on the Sabbath and give it water?”
What he is asking is don’t you feed and water your domestic animals on
the Sabbath? Isn’t a human being of more
value than your animals? Now, back in
Jesus’s time, women were not quite so valued.
They were easily replaced with other women when they could no longer
produce. So, this may have been why the
leader of the synagogue said this to Jesus.
Or, maybe the leader of the synagogue felt that animals had no clue of
one day from another and could not care for themselves whereas humans were
better able to prepare for the Sabbath.
But just like the animals were tied up and couldn’t free
themselves from the yoke they bore, the crippled woman could not free herself
from the spiritual yoke of bondage she bore for 18 long years.
How many of us have been wearing and being tortured by a
heavy burden for years? How many of our
loved ones that we may not have even noticed, are wearing yokes of bondage to
something they have been keeping secret that is eating them up inside? How long have we been blind to their burden,
their suffering? You can tell when an
animal is suffering, but we are blind to our loved ones suffering, their
spiritual burdens.
Luke recites Jesus’s call to public ministry in Chapter
4, verse 18 when Jesus opened the scroll in the synagogue and announced – “The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the good
news to the poor. He has sent me to
announce release (pardon, forgiveness) to the captives, and recovery of sight
to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed (downtrodden, bruised,
crushed by tragedy).” After Jesus spoke
these words, he rolled up the scroll and sat down. With every eye on him he said “You’ve just
heard Scripture make history. It came
true just now in this place.”
Each of you has the Spirit of the Lord upon you. Each of you has a purpose and a mission. Some of you are anointed to preach the good
news to the poor. Some of you have been
sent to set the captives free from hate and injustice. Some of you have been sent with a word of
encouragement to uplift and open the eyes of someone who is being led down the
wrong road, hurting from pain from something someone else did. Some of you have been sent to comfort those
who have been bruised and crushed by tragedy.
Some of you have been sent to be apostles, pastors and teachers,
evangelists; prophets for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the
ministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-12)
It’s your season, saints!
Now more than ever, it’s time to put on the full armor of God and do
what He has created and called you to do.
If you don’t know what your calling is, get on your knees and seek God’s
face. He will answer. Don’t let him have to place you in the belly
of the beast before you cry out to Him to save you before you drown.
Donald Lawrence wrote a song called “Seasons” and my
daughter danced to it Easter morning.
But the lyrics say:
“I feel seasons everywhere and I feel blessings in the
air. Those seeds that you’ve sown,
you’re going to come into your own seasons walk into your seasons. It goes on to say “I believe we’re in a time
when God is going to bless the saints
those who have stayed and those who have prayed, He’s going to fulfill
the promise he made…. I know you’ve
invested a lot but the return has been slow, you throw your hands and say I
give up I just can’t take it anymore, but I hear the spirit say that it’s your
time, the wait is over, walk into your season.
You’ve survived the worst of time God was always on your side. Stake your claim and write your name; walk
into this wealthy pace. I hear the
Spirit say, it’s your time, walk into your season.”
God has given you the authority. Don’t be afraid. I declare and decree right now in Jesus name
- that job – its yours. That house –
it’s yours. That degree – it’s
yours. That spouse – he or she is yours
(let God lead you on this). Stop being
crippled by doubt and excuses – there’s not enough time, we don’t have enough
people, who’s going to coordinate, plan and organize! God has put everything you need to succeed at
your disposal. It’s your season to Stand
up and claim the promises of God on your life!
He said by your mouth you are convicted and by your mouth
you are condemned. So, stop speaking death
over situations and start speaking life.
God will provide, if you just walk in your season!
It’s
your season.
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