At times Sunday worship shine as it reflects God's Holy Spirit. Today the church slips into observing "Ordinary Time" as far as it is labeled in our liturgical year. This service, however, was not ordinary.
Matt chose songs the congregation energetically and enthusiastically sung. Nate played guitar. Craig and I joined with Matt to lead the singing.
Pastor Emillie preached the day's Gospel stories. She gave us a healthy perspective regarding Pharisees that most of us wouldn't normally consider. It completely relates to, and was informed by, what was planned for in today's first Creator Cottage meeting that followed worship. Our discussion became much richer as a result.
Pastor Emillie preached, "Look at who the Pharisees were. Who would the Pharisees be today? They would be us. We are community leaders like they were. We try to follow the religious tenets of the times like they did. We are, for example, people who try to observe the Sabbath and want to encourage others to do the same." It is easy for us to criticize Pharisees when we are not thinking about the complexity of their choice. We should realize we are today's Pharisees, or are among those most tempted to be.
This dramatizes a tension made clear in today's readings. The First Reading of Deuteronomy quoted the commandment God gave to Moses to "Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy." In the Gospel. of Mark Jesus challenges the prevailing interpretations of Sabbath observance. Jesus emphasizes the principles of mercy, necessity, and the intent of the
law. He valued compassion and the well-being of
individuals over rigid adherence to ritualistic interpretations of the
law. How should Sabbath be observed?
Christianity challenges us. Creator confessed a Creed during last Sunday service from the Ioan Worship Book at our services. An appropriate phrase to quote here may be, "He (Jesus) burned brightly and offended many."
That Jesus offended many is often unacknowledged in worship.
Jesus and
his disciples broke Sabbath rules. The Pharisees were offended as a result.
These are the first Pharisee encounters with Jesus recorded in Mark. The first of those encounters
starts in a grain field rather than the synagogue. Jesus answers the
authorities questions regarding the Sabbath with scriptural teaching about a life experience. He
draws this teaching from an incident between David and the high priest
in the temple found in 1 Samuel 21:6 about eating holy bread, concluding, "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath."
The good news of
Jesus' life, healing and miracles records remarkable particulars
that emphasize what may be hidden impacts and lessons upon careful
readings. In these two stories Jesus and his disciples run roughshod over the Pharisees beliefs physically and theologically over Sabbath observance. The "Law" creates boundaries the Pharisees use to make choices about what God requires. When Jesus declares the Son of
Man comes wielding authority on earth, and lordship even over the
Sabbath, the Pharisees lifelong assumptions about the law are challenged.
Christianity becomes complex. Jesus challenges our lifelong assumptions about the law. The
good news of God amazes "nobodies" of our society into glorifying God. It
is scary to have a preacher so
mysterious and infuriating. He suggests anyone, even people we don't consider deserving, can make a meaningful contributions to the reign of God.
So what happens with people who don't share our values, or live by what we have learned, or even those who may not be Christian? What if they make the wrong choices in life as a result? What might these nobodies (to us) do if they simply act out of what they feel is good without being told what is good from the lens of our experience? This brings us to the man with the withered hand.
The good news of Jesus' life, healing and miracles records remarkable particulars that emphasize what can be hidden. They provide lessons that may impact us upon careful reading. And what are the particulars here? There is a man with a withered hand. He is in a synagogue. Jesus and the Pharisees are there as well. Jesus is angry. He grieves at the Pharisee's hardness of heart. With the exception of Jesus' anger at the money changers this is a unique time where the New Testament records his anger. Why?
Jesus expressed this anger in response to hypocrisy,
exploitation, and hard-heartedness. This was anger directed against
injustices and the mistreatment, unfortunately in the name of what was holy or compassionate.
I imagine the man may be a Jew, coming into the synagogue to learn about what is good. He desires to be good. The Pharisees teach him rules to follow in the synagogue. They teach him the law without the spirit of the law. His hand is withered as a result. Their teaching diminishes his power to do good. When the church teaches doctrine or acts without the spirit of the law its power is diminished as well.
Jesus acts from the spirit of the law. He says to the man with the withered hand, “Come forward.” Jesus asks the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?" They are silent, unable to answer. They cannot make the decision. What they have taught about the law will not hold the same power it did before this confrontation.
Jesus says to the man, “Stretch out
your hand (and do good)”. The parenthetical statement is mine. The man can now stretch his hand out. When he can act out of good his hand is restored for future kindness and benevolence. He can act. The Pharisees can't recognize that goodness and conspire to destroy Jesus.
Jesus burned brightly and offended many. Eventually we must ask ourselves an important question. This is a question wondered about at our Cottage meeting. We talked about who we are, are hopes and dreams for Creator and how we would like to be remembered as a church. The question:
Would we, as Pharisees, be offended by this infuriating and mysterious preacher if he appeared today?
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