June 3, 2018
Mark 2:23 – 3:6
Many of us may know the 3rd Commandment, but are we following it? Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. Rolf Jacobson, professor at Luther Seminary, thought this seemed a little too polite and rewrote the commandment for us living in the present:
What is wrong with you people? 168 hours in a week is not enough for you? I ask you to set aside just one day so that you can rest up long enough to be renewed for the coming week, and what do you do? Double overtime, 80-hour work weeks, and super centers open 24/7! How are you ever going to slow down long enough so that you can gather together in Christian worship and sit still long enough to hear the Word that I have to share with you? Stop! Listen!”[i]
I know, probably a little too in-your-face, yet it attracts our attention. Jesus reminds us that “the sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath” (v. 2:27). The sabbath is created for us. For those that are overworked and underpaid. For those that are so stressed out they get ulcers and high blood pressure. For those that don’t know where to turn. The sabbath is created for humankind. It is a time to rest and be renewed so that we can reset and go back out and be God’s hands and feet in the world, proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ through our words and actions.
Do you remember when the people of Israel received the Ten Commandments? After Moses led them out of the land of Egypt. A land where they had been enslaved and did not know what rest looked like. In the commandment to rest on the sabbath day, the Israelites were not only instructed to rest, but also their servants and animals as well. It was meant to be a day of renewal for all of God’s creation.
While this may have been the intention of the sabbath, this is not necessarily the way that the people of Israel viewed it in the 1st century. Jesus was not afraid to call them out on this fact either. He did not step out of his way to make sure he did not cause any waves. He did what he was called to do. He came with love and compassion that encompassed his entire ministry. When writing of the sabbath, N.T. Wright says that,
“It had become a weapon. It had become a sign of his fellow Jew’s commitment to a fierce and exclusive nationalism. Along with other badges and flags, it spoke now not of Israel as the light of the world but of Israel as the children of light and rest of the world as remaining in darkness. And this attitude, as so easily happens when religion and nationalism are wedded tightly together, spilled over into popular attitudes even towards fellow-Jews. For many groups, it wasn’t enough to be a loyal Jew; one had to be a better loyal Jew than the other lot. And in this no-win situation the whole point of the commandment – celebrating God’s creation and redemption, past, present and future – had been lost sight of. The rule mattered more than the reality.[ii]
This is where the Pharisees are when they keep watchful tabs on Jesus, hoping that he makes one wrong move, in their eyes, so that they can set the train into motion that will ultimately lead to the cross. The Pharisees believe that they have the only answer when it pertains to God and Jesus is stepping out of their preconceived notions. This is not only a challenge to their understanding of God, but it could impact the entire world!
We are now two thousand years removed from 1st century Israel, yet as humanity, we are not too far removed from the same sins. We continue to lift up our own righteousness over others and believe that we know everything. In the past couple of years, we have heard from the so-called evangelicals and their belief system that has drastically changed from the likes of Billy Graham. We have the word evangelical in our name, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. To be evangelical, we share the promise of the good news of Jesus Christ. To be evangelical, means that we should be excited around worship and the sharing of not only our faith, but the ministries we are doing. To be evangelical means welcoming all people in no matter where they are.
The evangelical that you hear of today, has nationalism so tied up within it that it speaks to the understanding of today’s gospel lesson that N.T. Wright comments. Our struggles and challenges that we face as part of the body of Christ, are not much different than the struggles and challenges that Jesus and the first disciples experienced two thousand years ago.
Jesus knew that whatever he chose to do on the sabbath would be criticized. He knew that the leaders of the synagogue and the Roman authorities would be keeping close tabs on him. He knew that they would be looking for ways to catch him in violation of anything they came up with. So, you might as well be bold in what you do.
First, he stands up for his disciples that are gleaning on the sabbath. To glean, means that they are picking from the harvest that was left behind. This was also a Jewish law. Those harvesting were to leave ten percent of their crops for those that are not as unfortunate. Almost like a 1st century food pantry. Jesus’ disciples were not doing anything wrong. They were not working. They were gathering what was needed to feed themselves. Again, as Jesus enters the synagogue, he challenges those that are watching by healing the man with the withered hand. What he does is not against the intention of the sabbath, yet the authorities have made their own rules and are looking for anything to squash this movement of Jesus.
The actions of Jesus’ disciples and the healing by Jesus that takes place in these passages are ones that are meant to highlight the sabbath. The disciples are being renewed and replenished in their well-being through the gleaning of the grains of wheat from the field. Creation is being fed and renewed! Again, in Jesus healing the man with the withered hand, he is restoring creation. He is bringing a sign of life to a man that has been seen as less by those that pass him by. Jesus’ love and compassion that shows through this gospel lesson is one that we can learn from today.
It is hard to find Jesus in the midst of our disagreements and bickering with one another. When we take up sides, we leave little room for Jesus and the Holy Spirt to work in our midst. We have become a society that is overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the options that are available to us and in our reaction to draw back, we go to extremes and strip everything away. In this stripping away, we manage to strip away Jesus as well.
We leave little room for Christ in our gathering because we think we know what it is right, and we do not need him to show us any different. And it is in this that we disregard the sabbath and become overwhelmed.
The sabbath was created for us too! The sabbath is meant for us to be renewed in the saving grace of God. The sabbath is meant for us to be reminded of the waters that we find in the baptismal font that wash over us and make us new. The sabbath is meant for us to be fed by the body and blood of Jesus Christ so that we may go out into the world and continue to be the hands and feet of Christ in a world that so much needs to hear of the saving grace of our lord and savior.
Let us pray. God of the sabbath, you have created a time of rest and renewal for us to find strength in you. May we take time, when we need it, to sit in the silence and welcome you into the craziness of our hectic lives. May our sabbath, whenever it may be, renew and refresh us to continue in the calling you have placed in our lives. Amen.
[i] Rolf Jacobson, Crazy Talk, pg. 150
[ii] Tom Wright, Mark for Everyone pg. 30
a mysterious way 