When You Get Bent Out of Shape

Whatever is broken in your life, Jesus can fix it. Whether genuine suffering or simply being to rigid / many things can make us “bent” / let Jesus get you unbent on some things / bent on the joy of God’s kingdom

I recently read a funny story that illustrates how most of us are never satisfied / Frank and Mabel had been married for 40 years / Frank turned 60 a few months earlier and they were now celebrating Mabel’s 60th birthday / During the birthday party, Frank walked into another room and was surprised to see a fairy godmother appear before him / She said, “Frank, this is your lucky day. I’m here to grant you one wish–what would you like?” / He thought for a moment / Really contemplated the weight of this one decision / Finally spoke up and said, “Well, I would really like to have a wife who was thirty years younger than me.” / The fairy godmother said, “No problem.” She waved her wand, and “poof” suddenly Frank was 90 years old.

I imagine old Frank was a little bent out of shape by the way that turned out!

Today we are going to look at two people who were bent out of shape / one is physically bent out of shape / other is spiritually bent out of shape / Jesus was able to help one of them / but the other one stayed bent out of shape

Luke 13:10–21 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”

The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”

Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

I love to study what Jesus did / what He said / because He is still doing the same things today / His words are still fresh and powerful for us / Maybe you are “bent out of shape” today for whatever reason / If you will pay attention to Words of Jesus / He can set you free /First, let’s consider a woman:

I. BENT OUT OF SHAPE BY SUFFERING

A. At this time / Jesus was still trying to reach the Jews / so we find Him teaching in this synagogue

1. The Jewish Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday / most synagogues still have services Friday evenings, so this is probably on a Friday night

a. The opposition against Jesus is growing / This is the last time in Luke we find Jesus in synagogue

2. Jesus sees a poor woman who was so bent out of shape she couldn’t stand up straight

a. This was more than just a case of osteoporosis / she had been this way for 18 years

b. I can just picture her bent over so she couldn’t look up and see the sky

c. She had spent the last 18 years looking down / dirt / her feet / everyone else’s feet (tell all the ladies who wore their shoes the best)

d. No doubt / eating / drinking were difficult / as well as other things

i. Keep in mind / Luke is a physician / Dr. Luke uses interesting words to diagnose her condition

ii. He doesn’t use the word that would mean “illness, disease, or injury.” (Greek words malkia or nosos).

iii. In verse 11 he uses the phrase “crippled by a spirit.”

iv. Then in verse 12 Jesus uses the word “infirmity.”

1. It’s the word asthenia / which doesn’t mean “sickness caused by disease” / it means “weakness.”

3. Its very probable her weakness was caused by demonic influence / because Jesus says in verse 16 she had been “bound by Satan” for 18 years

a. Demonic spirits CAN provoke physical problems / but not every illness or disease is caused by demons.

i. There are 26 recorded miracles / where Jesus heals someone of a physical problem / only seven of those are caused by demonic influence

B. Demonic spirits can influence a person in a variety of ways

1. The term “demon possession” doesn’t appear in NT / it’s simply the word “demonized”

a. Jesus cast demons out of many people but this encounter is different

i. First, elsewhere when Jesus cast a demon out of a person / he never touched the person

1. He simply commanded the demon spirit to depart

ii. In this passage Jesus touches the poor woman

b. A second difference is when demons are cast out / it is always a dramatic / almost scary experience

i. Remember the demons that entered the pigs and they did the “swine dive”

1. But in this case / the woman simply stands up straight

2. A lying spirit had convinced this poor woman that she couldn’t stand up

a. From the language Dr. Luke uses / it seems she had no physiological cause for her affliction

i. Physicians today can testify of the amazing connection between the mind and the body

ii. Some people are literally sick because they think they are sick / there is no organic or physical reason to explain their illness

1. But they are just as sick as someone who has an infection / but the illness started in their mind

3. For years, people told the woman, “Stand up!’ And she would say, “I can’t!”

a. “Look up!” / “I can’t!” / “Lift up your eyes!” / “I can’t!” / When asked why not / her response / “I just can’t!”

i. Maybe you have a good case of the “cant’s” too

1. Stop drinking! “I can’t!” / Stop looking at pornography! “I can’t!” / Stop abusing drugs! “I can’t!” / Stop being bitter! “I can’t!” Forgive that person who hurt you! “I can’t!” / Stop speaking that way “I can’t”

b. You need for Jesus to deliver you from your “cant’s” today

Have you ever seen a circus elephant tied to a small wooden stake outside a circus tent? / That grown elephant could easily rip the wooden stake out of the ground / But when elephant handlers are training baby elephants / they use a strong iron anchor bar and drive it deep into the ground. When the baby elephant tugs and tries to get away / he can’t / and they experiences the pain of the shackle on his leg / Finally, he gives up and stops pulling / Gradually as the elephant grows up / they replace the iron anchor bar with a wooden stake /

That’s why the grown elephant doesn’t pull away / he doesn’t think he can / so he can’t

It’s not the stake in the ground keeping him in place; it’s the thought in his mind that keeps him there.

c. One the devil’s greatest tools is to try to erect a stronghold in your mind / make you think you can’t do something God has told you to do

i. Ephesians 4:27 “Do not give the devil a foothold.”

a. If you give the devil an inch / he’ll not only take a mile / he will take your smile / rob you of your joy

C. Meanwhile back at the synagogue / notice the steps Jesus follows to deliver this woman

When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

1. First He looks at her / Then He calls her

a. I wonder if Jesus bent down / looked into her eyes? / I imagine Him as He looks into those fearful eyes / Smiling / Saying “Ma’am, you are set free from your infirmity.”

i. She is still bent over... So Jesus reaches out and touches her / I love verse 13 / “Immediately she straightened up and praised God.”

b. I don’t know what she said or sang / it just says she started praising God

D. Now, that leads us to LIFE LESSON: WHEN JESUS TOUCHES YOU YOU’LL STRAIGHTEN UP AND PRAISE GOD!

1. Maybe you feel the weight of the world has doubled you over / You feel bent out of shape because of the burdens you have to carry

a. Worry / anxiety can bend you over / Heartache, pain, frustration, suffering can bend you over /

b. Some of you have lost your income / you’ve been hurt / abused / rejected / it seems as if you can’t look up

c. You may be trapped in some sin, or carrying around some deep, dark secret and you feel bent out of shape

i. People say, “Just look up!” / Your reply is “I can’t!” / They say, “Just shake it off!” You say, “I can’t!”

2. Jesus wants to do the same for you that He did for this woman

a. First, He sees you / He knows your pain

i. You can hide your pain from others behind a smile / but Jesus sees / knows / can sympathize

b. Next, He calls you to Himself

i. “Come to me all you who labor and are weary (bent over with concerns), and I’ll give you rest.”

c. Next / He speaks to you / to let you know that you can set free from your weakness

d. But best of all He touches you / Every time you encounter Jesus He touches your life!

E. Here’s His word for you:

1. “Straighten up.” If your marriage is a mess and you feel bent over from the burden, let Jesus touch you, then straighten up and praise Him

2. If addicted to something, Satan has you bound, let Jesus touch you, then, straighten up and Praise Him

a. You can’t be touched by Jesus and stay the same / Let Him touch you and deliver you today.

Now, this poor woman was not the only crippled person there that day. We also see a man who was:

II. BENT OUT OF SHAPE BY RELIGIOUS RULES

14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” 15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

Here is a lady / friends / all rejoicing / shouting, “Hallelujah, Praise the Lord!”

A. But the leader of the synagogue couldn’t stand it

1. This was out of the ordinary / he didn’t like it one bit / He became indignant–bent all out of shape (not way it’s been done in my time)

a. In the midst of all the rejoicing / he jumped to his feet / orders everyone to be quiet / stop rejoicing

i. Things are NOT going to get out of hand in HIS synagogue!

ii. He even quoted Exodus 20:9 to justify his action

iii. There wasn’t going to be any healing in HIS synagogue on the Sabbath / No siree!

a. It’s one thing to quote scripture / it’s another thing to correctly apply it!

b. Apparently, the synagogue ruler had a few others who agreed with his action because Jesus addressed His words to a group.

I like the way The Message reads

“You frauds! Each Sabbath every one of you unties your cow or donkey from its stall, leads it out for water and thinks nothing of it. So why isn’t it all right for me to untie this daughter of Abraham and lead her from the stall where Satan has had her tied these eighteen years?

The Jews had made so many loopholes in the Sabbath laws, they had figured out a way to untie their livestock and lead them to water, even if the water was more than a Sabbath’s walk away. Jesus accused them of treating their animals better than they treated people!

B. Sadly, the descendants of this self-appointed religious experts are still with us today

1. These up-tight folks are relying more on a set of strict religious rules / some on their own rules they made up / a rigid way of doing things / than on a liberating, joyous relationship with God

a. These people are often called legalists

b. You can usually spot them when other folks get happy in the Lord / start praising God...

i. Like the man in our text / they are quick to complain / when things aren’t being done their way / why?

You could have amazing service / lives touched / all the remember is the kid who made too much noise / music was too loud

ii. Not usually the case bit Maybe they think religion ought to make you miserable / if you are enjoying yourself / you can’t be very spiritual

iii. Most of them have perfected what I call the “Baptist Holy Look” / an expression that looks like a cross between acid indigestion and a migraine headache

2. Nothing new / It was happening 3,000 years ago

a. II Samuel 6 / interesting story about King David / The Ark of God had been out of Jerusalem for a long time / David arranged to have it brought back to the city of Jerusalem / As the priests were carrying the ark into the city / David got so excited that the Bible says he, “danced before the Lord with all his might!”

b. David was so full of joy he just got happy feet

c. One of his wives, Michal / saw him and despised his behavior / she got all bent out of shape / She mocked him and in words dripping with sarcasm accused him of being “undignified.”

d. I love David’s reply. He didn’t let her rob his joy, he just said,

II Sam 6:22 “I will celebrate before the Lord and become even MORE undignified... because my dignity isn’t as important as celebrating the goodness of God.”

Sam Jones / Evangelist who preached late 1800s / He was known to be extremely plain spoken / Once he was preaching about how some people refuse to get enthusiastic about God because they were afraid they might lose their “dignity.” He said: “Dignity is the starch of the shroud. The more dignity a fellow has the nearer dead he is. I expect to be as dignified as some of you when they put me in my coffin.”

C. Every church has what I am going to call “the cold water committee.”

1. Whenever the fire of God starts burning in the hearts of some folks / they rise up / want to pour cold water on it

a. Whenever there’s a new and creative way to do church / they pour cold water on that idea

b. Powerful outreach / people being saved / all they can see is overcooked hotdogs / they used your classroom chairs & TABLES!

2. The cold water committee is not an elected committee / each member is self-appointed

a. They think it is their job to make sure things don’t get out of hand in their church

b. Please make sure you never become a part of that committee / older believers / remember / you shocked the religious of your day / because you didn’t do church like ANYONE else either!

D. The Jews weren’t the only ones with religious traditions

W. A. Criswell wrote about a vivid memory he had as a boy in church / A respected banker in his little town was an active member of his church when he was a child / The banker was accused in church of dancing / After a long, bitter / acrimonious called business meeting / the banker was voted out of the church / I am not condoning dancing / not going to start line dancing after church / but common…

1. There are some traditions that are completely benign / When you allow traditions to overshadow the Word of God / that’s when they become dangerous /

Mark 7:8, 13, “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men...thus, you nullify the Word of God by your tradition which you have handed down.”

a. God is always at work in the NOW / It’s traditions that bind us to the past

Came across this...Someone has written a clever definition of a religious tradition: Religious tradition: “A clock that tells you what time it was.” / It’s sad to say that many churches / many Christians still want things to be the way they “used to be.”

b. When they sing about “the old time religion” / They aren’t talking about 2,000 years ago in the book of Acts / they are talking about church in the 1960s / 1970s!

2. Here’s the LIFE LESSON: GOD’S LAWS AREN’T TO TIE YOU DOWN, BUT TO SET YOU FREE!

a. You may not be bent out of shape like the crippled woman / but are you bent out of shape like the man crippled by legalism / rules?

1. Jesus wants to set both free today

III. BENT ON THE JOY OF GOD’S KINGDOM!

Here’s the good news… “Bent” can be used as an adverb meaning “to have a strong inclination or disposition.” We see some people:

The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

A. Jesus’ statement about setting animals free on the Sabbath was a powerful repartee that shamed the religious legalists

1. In light of verse 17 ask yourself: Am I delighted about all the wonderful things God is doing in our church?

a. Or are you a little skeptical? The common people heard Jesus gladly / but the religious people stayed irritated / It happens

B. These two simple parables of the Kingdom explain why we should be full of joy

1. KOG is not a bunch of rules / it’s having a personal relationship with the King

a. One of the best definitions of the Kingdom of God is found here

Romans 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking (religious rules), but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

b. You are enjoying the Kingdom when the Holy Ghost of God is filling your life / and you have right standing before the Father

C. In addition you have inner peace / AND a joy that can’t be contained / Notice two life lessons from the parables:

1. His Kingdom starts small but grows large

Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”

A mustard seed is tiny / but it has something in it that a grain of sand doesn’t: LIFE! / The mustard plant in Galilee has brilliant yellow flowers and can grow to be over 9 feet tall / Tiny birds can build nests in its branches / Like that seed, the Kingdom is alive and although it starts small, it grows.

a. True of the Body of Christ / the church / Jesus started with only 12 men (and one of them was a fake)

1. He told them to change the world–that’s a pretty small seed / On the Day of Pentecost, there were only 120 people in the upper room / today (According to google) there are over 2.38 billion Christians / Started small / has certainly grown

i. It’s true of individual churches / This church started with less than 5 people 40 years ago / that’s a pretty small seed

ii. Today, we have not only Farmington / but Las Vegas / Church in Utah / Kris Harts disciple out of Las Vegas in S. America !

3. But this is also true personally

1. When you first enter KOG / you don’t fully understand the impact it has on you / It’s a small part of your life / like a mustard seed (once a week)

i. But if you are truly growing as a Christian / the older you get / the influence / impact of God in your life grows / until knowing / serving God becomes the single most important goal in your life

a. Is God’s influence growing larger and larger in your life?

2. His Kingdom changes every part of your life

Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

a. If you are going to bake good bread / you can take a pinch of yeast and put it in the bread dough / Yeast is “alive.”

Fleischmann’s Yeast web site. It says, “’In yeast, there are thousands of living, plant-like micro-organisms. When activated by warm liquid, and fed by sugar or starch, the yeast releases tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide gas. This gas is what makes the dough rise and achieve its light texture after baking.”

1. Yeast acts as a catalyst to change the nature of the bread dough

2. Just a tiny bit of yeast can affect an entire lump of dough / That’s the point Jesus is making

i. KOG is a living catalyst / it changes every part of your life / You cannot have a true encounter with God/ stay the same

ii. Yeast also works invisibly on the inside of the dough

a. Religion attempts to change people from the outside in / it’s very interested in appearances

b. KOG works invisibly on the inside of your life / like yeast / God changes you from the inside out

1. The Kingdom of God is NOT simply an outward appearance or behavior… it is righteousness / peace / joy in HS

2. Are you allowing the Kingdom of God to change your life?

D. CONCLUSION

Whatever is broken in your life / Jesus can fix it / If you are bent out of shape by suffering, Jesus sees you / calling you

He came to set you free from Satan’s bondage / He wants to touch your life / you will never be the same again!

You may be bent out of shape by religious rules, a miserable legalist / Jesus came to set you free from the chains / weights of the law / Will you let Him?

b. He wants you to be delighted in what He is doing right now

i. That can only happen when you allow His Kingdom to be real in your life

If you feel like your joy has been zapped / this is for you / Devil has robbed you of your rejoicing / this is for you / You should be praising God !

hell has been having its way / Jesus still calling you / to look up

this lady was in church… but crippled from worshipping as she should