02 Jun SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2024
God expended extra effort on our behalf using his mighty hand and outstretched arm precisely so people might have a day of rest, precisely to free them from slavery, from the situation they were in that would not allow them to practice what God had commanded: to observe the sabbath.
Observing a sabbath day once a week is a commandment from God. It is not a helpful wellness tip, a healthy recommendation or strongly suggested piece of advice. It’s an official order which will prove to be helpful, healthy and excellent advice.
God said, “I eased your shoulder from the burden; by me your hands were set free. You called on me in trouble, and I delivered you. Listen. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. [Trust me to provide what you need.] Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.”
Paul reminds us and the people of Corinth that there are always opposing forces working in and around us: the forces of darkness vs. light, ignorance vs. knowledge, what is hidden vs. what is visible, what gives life vs. what leads to death.
It’s a fact that we are or will be afflicted in every way during our lifetimes. But by the grace of God in the face of Jesus Christ, we will not be crushed. We are or will be perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are or will be persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.
Jesus clearly explains what motivates God more than anything: human need. Jesus attempts to teach experts of the law, the Pharisees, how much God cares more for people than for perfect scorekeeping, and how the purpose of the commandments is for our good. It is more important for people to get what they need when they need it, than to wait until it’s convenient, adheres to written policy, makes sense to the watchdogs or whoever else is in charge.
When David and his companions were hungry and in need of food, David entered the house of God and ate bread that was only lawful for a priest to eat. David didn’t or couldn’t ask permission of the priest to take and eat the bread because the priest couldn’t or wouldn’t have been able to give permission. I do wonder if David may have asked God for permission.
All we really know is that he took the bread, ate and gave some to his companions. Sort of sounds like what happens during communion, doesn’t it?
So let’s look at whose words and actions in the gospel story point to the heart of God? It’s worth noting that Jesus is the one who leads his disciples through the grainfields in the first place. I mean, he knew it was the sabbath and that his disciples were hungry. He knew that on the sabbath no one was permitted to pluck a few heads of grain. So if he knew this, it seems a rather cruel route for Jesus to take…or was it actually a route of provision and spiritual enlightenment?
The story of David didn’t just happen to pop up in Jesus’ mind as an answer to the Pharisee’s question. It was already on his mind. Perhaps he was thinking, “My disciples are hungry. Look how God has provided these grainfields for us to travel through. And, “According to Deut 23:25 in the case of hunger, it was permissible to eat heads of grain from any field one might pass by.” But, strictly speaking, doing “work” however minimal was forbidden by Pharisaic law.
Jesus reminds us that the sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath. I wonder how much the mentality of the sabbath being kept for God’s sake has crept into our society. Do those who consider Sunday a day like any other put not keeping the sabbath in the same category as feeling no obligation to attend church? If the sabbath is for God’s sake and people don’t feel like honoring God then Sunday on the calendar is like the free space square on a bingo card, right?
On the other hand, sometimes I wonder if those of us who attend church feel as though by doing so, we’ve earned the right to do as we please with the rest of the day. After all, we fulfilled our obligation to God. Come the second half of a Sunday, we work or run errands as we would any other day or moreso. We all know that shopping at Costco on Sunday is the worst!
That being said, I wonder if we’re living out God’s intention for the sabbath without realizing it? After all, if it’s a day meant for us, a day we need to catch up on chores, do laundry and prepare for the week ahead. Could that be what Jesus meant?
Let’s look at the second example found in the gospel. The scene described notes that Jesus enters a synagogue and notices a man with a withered hand. What we’re really talking about in today’s gospel readings is controversy: conflicting opinions or points of view. What does Jesus do, that is, how does Jesus handle conflicting opinions or differing points of view with regard to God and religious practice?
Well, Jesus takes a stand and acts definitively. He makes clear what God intends: for goodness to prevail, for people to get what they need once their need is identified, for the hearts of people to remain soft and open, for people to think about what’s most important then to speak up and act accordingly in the moment.
He doesn’t tell the man with the withered hand to go elsewhere and apply for health benefits, to seek medical assistance or pursue a course of physical therapy. Jesus doesn’t tell the man with the withered hand to come back during non-sabbath business hours or to schedule an appointment weeks or months from then.
Jesus says, “Come forward.” Like Martin Ellingham on Doc Martin. Jesus says, “Come through.” Like Dr. Ellingham, he says, “You’re next. Step inside my examination room where I will check you over, use everything at my disposal to improve your condition, run tests, write you a prescription, perform a treatment and hopefully send you on your way cured.”
You see, we do not as a society practice even minimum levels of compassionate care with regard to people who live with physical or mental illness or who can’t procure for themselves even basic social or human requirements necessary for life. What Jesus is willing to do on the sabbath, our government, our citizens, and the corporations we make wealthy are not willing to do on any given day.
What is most important to God is doing good and not harm, saving lives, and not doing what will kill a person and that includes either killing them right away or further down the road due to negligence. The man with a withered hand represents every person who cannot undo the thing that causes them to not be on par with everyone else.
Like many multi-generational maladies, there’s no real fault to lay at his feet. The situation can’t be helped. The person has already adapted as best they can.
For those people, there is no less compensation suggested by Jesus than a complete cure. Immediate remedy is required and offered without delay, without excuse, without legitimate reason or law that precludes complete cure. What Jesus suggests is no less than revolutionary. It’s exactly why the Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against Jesus to destroy him.
I don’t mean to suggest that healthcare should be free, but healthcare should at least be affordable. Lack of housing, healthcare and social support are three dire areas of need poorly addressed by our society. If your family earns a moderate income, one that places you neither in the category of being wealthy nor eligible for government subsidies, then a large percentage of your income goes toward expenses in those three major areas.
According to American psychologist Abraham Maslow every person has the same basic biological requirements for survival. Individuals don’t only desire clean air, healthy food and drink, adequate shelter, clothing, and amounts of sleep, we NEED them. Because only when these needs are met can a person make progress toward higher goals pertaining to safety and security, where persons may experience order, predictability and control over their lives.
Those are the issues that Jesus addresses clearly and directly in today’s gospel reading. Jesus sees the watch dogs guarding the fence between what is lawful on the Sabbath vs prohibited and still gives his permission for his disciples to exercise freedom, to pursue and meet their most basic biological needs while following him, traveling from here to there, going about their day.
They are allowed to exercise agency and procure nourishment as they walk through a grain field while in this country we put an elderly man in prison for 18 months for helping himself to a hotdog off one of those rotisserie grills at a food counter and a middle aged woman in jail for biting a donut from a $5 box of six for sale by a grocery chain.
Jesus identifies the man with the withered hand as anyone whose freedom and agency are compromised for reasons beyond their control He is immediately noticed, called to come forward, to receive healing and immediate restoration. How well I’ve developed blinders for such people in my neighborhood and come to analyze their condition as one of choice.
What did Paul say? “We do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as slaves for Jesus’ sake. For God said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness.’ God shone in our hearts to give the light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” When we turn a blind eye or offer judgment, a person in need cannot and does not experience the glory of God as Jesus intends.
This light is a treasure in clay jars so it may be clear that extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. Clay is a barely breathable type of soil, it’s moldable when moist, breakable when dry and hard. Light can only penetrate areas that are extremely thin or cut open by design.
I wonder if the ways we are afflicted: crushed, driven to despair, persecuted, struck down and always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, are the ways that Jesus is made visible through us. Could it be that we are rolled thin so light can shine through, cut open along our edges or cut out from within so the life of Jesus is made visible in our mortal flesh.
How do you or will you or this church reveal the glory of God to people in need so that death which is at work in them will lead to life in Christ? Let us pray.
Lord, open our eyes and hearts to see what you see, to understand human need, to put law and reasoning in proper perspective. Help us observe the sabbath as you intend, to do good, to heal and care for ourselves and others, too. May what we think, feel, say and do reflect your glory and reveal the face of Christ. In your holy name we pray, Amen.