Bent

She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. (Luke 13)

So Jesus heals her . . . and of course, I know Luke is talking about a physical healing here. But that’s not where my mind went when Brother Mike read this scripture in the service last Sunday. Because the sentence before this one describes her as a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years.

And oh, friend – do I know women (and men) who are crippled by spirits.

By spirits of INFERIORITY: “She’s so much better at this than I am . . . he should have this job instead of me . . . everyone knows I don’t belong here . . .”

By spirits of INCOMPETENCE: “I keep messing up . . . I will never get this right . . . I have no idea what I’m doing . . . I am never good enough.”

By spirits of INADEQUACY: “I’m not enough of a businessman to run this department . . .I’m not enough of a disciplinarian to raise my kids right . . . I’m not enough of a woman to make him happy . . . I am never enough.”

Spirits that cripple us -- to the point of being completely unable to stand up straight. And so we live our days bent over, like the woman in the synagogue, never questioning whether our view of the world from that angle might be warped and inaccurate.

And yes, I’m also aware that this particular passage is referring to a particular spirit: Jesus himself says that this woman is one whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years. So, we’re not talking about your general, run-of-the-mill self-esteem issues here; we’re talking about demonic forces.

Except that, as Pastor Garrett pointed out, “Satan” means “The Accuser” -- which sheds some light on where these self-accusations that lead to our general, run-of-the-mill self-esteem issues might be coming from.

In C.S. Lewis’ space trilogy (which I am finally reading), the closest word that Ransom can come up with to communicate the idea of “sin” to the Malacandrians is “bent.”

BENT. Like the woman in the synagogue.

Self-condemnation is not repentance, and it is not redemptive. It is a warped view -- it is not how Jesus sees us – it is BENT. And friends, we cannot allow ourselves to remain bent.

Then Jesus put his hands on her, Luke tells us, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

Has Jesus put his hands on you, friend? Then it’s time for you to straighten up.