Divine Spaciousness in Tight Places

Healing stories are bittersweet. Of course, we’re grateful for all kinds of healing; what’s more, dramatic instances of healing can be transformative. There was a man in my home congregation, for instance, who survived a serious car accident in midlife. And although he had a permanent limp, he also had a changed temperament. He was forever more joyful and generous of spirit than he’d been before. I imagine it was the power of gratitude, as in the case of the Samaritan cured of leprosy who falls at Jesus’ feet in today’s Gospel from Luke.

But, stories of extraordinary healing inevitably lead to questions about the ailments that have no cure. How many faithful people over the ages have cried out to God for mercy, but have not had their afflictions removed? If Jesus is nothing more than a medical miracle worker, then he misses the mark every time a faith healing does not take place. It must be that healing stories in the Gospels are about more than just physical restoration.

And on this point, a biblical language lesson is in order. Jesus’ final remark in today’s Gospel, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well,” centers on the Greek verb sōzō, “to save.” So, some translations render that phrase, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has saved you.”

We’ve tended to spiritualize the notion of salvation to the extent that it no longer applies to earthly life. If someone asks, “Are you saved?” they’re likely referring to your eternal security. But salvation in the biblical sense is inextricable from lived experience; it incorporates the physical, social, emotional, and spiritual aspects of life. In the case of the Samaritan healed of his leprosy, salvation means physical health, yes, and reintegration into the community, right orientation toward God, and newfound joy and gratitude. “Get up and go on your way,” Jesus tells him, “your faith has saved you.”

More than a supernatural cure, in other words, biblical healing signifies holistic wellness and peace. So, you don’t need to be cleansed of leprosy to understand the Samaritan’s response to Jesus. Regardless of your affliction, healing is any occurrence of spontaneous and unmitigated grace that breaks into your life to enable you to “get up and go on your way,” that is, to begin again and again. Healing an experience of salvation.

Barbara Brown Taylor recalls giving a lecture at an event where the host provided her with the prompt: “Tell us what is saving your life now.” In her book Leaving Church, Taylor writes:

It was such a good question that I have made it a practice of asking others to answer it as I continue to answer it myself. Salvation is so much more than many of its proponents would have us believe. In the Bible, human beings experience God’s salvation when peace ends war, when food follows famine, when health supplants sickness and freedom trumps oppression. Salvation is a word for the divine spaciousness that comes to human beings in all the tight places where their lives are at risk, regardless of how they got there or whether they know God’s name.[1]

“Salvation is a word for the divine spaciousness that comes to human beings in all the tight places where their lives are at risk….”

So, what is saving your life right now?

I asked that question to a few colleagues this past week and received the following responses, shared with their permission. One said, “The Mariners,” and he meant it. In a time of deepening mistrust and cynicism in the wider culture, the camaraderie and exhilaration of baseball fandom is saving his life in a real way. We can pray that it lasts.

Another colleague mentioned that her congregation has begun the process of becoming a Reconciling in Christ, or open and affirming, congregation. One of her members was anxious to bring that news to family members who have been staunchly opposed to LGBTQ affirmation in the past. But surprisingly, upon hearing of the church’s efforts those same people expressed full support. Witnessing such a significant change of heart after such a long time is saving my colleague’s life.

Finally, another colleague reported having a genuine spiritual experience while attending the musical Suffs at 5^th Avenue Theatre last month in Seattle. She was moved by a deep sense of connection with historical figures in the struggle for women’s suffrage; she felt surrounded by a “cloud of witnesses” in the ongoing movement for justice. And in that way, the theatre is saving her life.

Salvation is great and small, simple and complex, immediate and enduring; it happens wherever grace touches pain, wherever God enters human life to accompany us and deliver us to the next place, the next moment, the next reality. Salvation is where the devastation of the cross gives way to the hope of the empty tomb.

Friends, you know what’s ailing you; you’re keenly aware of the tight places where your life is at risk. But, where is divine spaciousness making room for you to breathe and to move? What reasons do you have to get up and go on your way, and give thanks and praise to God?

What is saving your life right now?

[1] 226.