This past week, Trump met with Zelenskyy to talk about the war in Ukraine. It could have been a lopsided meeting. Trump holds a lot of power and authority. According to him, he holds all the cards. He could have taken up a lot of space and controlled the outcome, bending it to his will. But Zelenskyy didn’t come alone. Leaders from across the European Union joined him to level the playing field. These leaders have a vested interest in the outcome and so used their power and authority accordingly. This changed the dynamic of the meeting. With friends by his side, Zelenskyy could take up more space, he could hold more power and authority, together they could command a more equitable solution to the war at hand.
To what extent do we consider how much space we take up? I don’t simply mean in the physical sense. How much space does our being encompass in different moments and contexts? How much power and authority can we wield? Are their places and spaces where we have significant influence on the conversation and what happens? Are there spaces and places where we feel like we are made smaller, diminished by those around us who continually seek to wield their power?
But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day."
Can we picture this story? Can we imagine the one who is the leader of the synagogue. He held considerable power and authority – after all, he was the leader, the one who would determine what would happen, when, and how. He was the one who should have been doing the most talking. He was the one all eyes should have been fixed upon for the majority of worship.
And then there was this woman “…with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.”
She would not have been allowed to take up much space. Those around her would have insisted she make herself as small as possible. She was inconsequential, a woman inflicted presumably because of her own sinfulness. She had offended God. She was being punished. She didn’t matter.
Enter Jesus. He carries considerable power and influence because of his notoriety. Many may have already seen and heard him. Others would know from stories conveyed. He sees the small, bent over, inconsequential woman. With an invitation and a word, he changes her life.
Jesus gives the woman the freedom to stand tall, to take up more space, to be a blessed child of God. It is a moment that challenges the leader of the synagogue and all who are privileged to take up considerable space. Is it any wonder that he would protest? It wasn’t about defying the Law per se. It was an objection to how space was shared on that fateful Sabbath day.
To what extent do we consider how much space we take up? To what extent do we think about who takes up space around us? How important is it to us to keep those around us small, to insist that some must be seen and not heard, to minimise the value of some in order to protect our own presence? How important is it for us to claim the space we inhabit? How open are we to helping others claim their space?
Like the leaders of the European Union did for Zelenskyy, Jesus was a friend to the woman bent over. In fact, the Gospels tell us that Jesus was a friend to so many others who were viewed as outcasts and sinners, required to make themselves small in a multitude of contexts as though they didn’t matter. Jesus challenged this perspective. He shared his power and authority with them enabling them greater freedom to claim their space in the world, to matter.
In doing so, Jesus challenges all who would follow, to do the same, to be open to sharing the spaces we inhabit trusting that all have God-given gifts that are meaningful, believing that all are children of God, knowing that everyone matters. To what extent do we consider how much space we take up? What more can we do to share our space with others? May we continually respect the dignity of every human being by sharing space in generous and meaningful ways. This we pray as we sing: Fearfully, Wonderfully Made