Luke 12:10-17
What is the
heart of Christianity? This is a fundamentally important question, which
Christians must always go back to. The heart of Christianity is Jesus Christ,
and the great gift of eternal life and ultimate healing he brings us. Jesus
Christ, eternal, and truly God, came into this world as a human being to save
humanity from its sin. Jesus came into our world on the biggest rescue mission
ever. This was utterly and entirely at the initiative of God. Jesus found and
saved us. We did not save ourselves. We did not find Jesus. Jesus found us. God
deserves the glory for our salvation.
We do not. God’s decision was outside humanity’s control. If you read
the gospel accounts, a basic fact of Jesus becomes perfectly clear: Jesus cannot be controlled.
Throughout
the gospel accounts Jesus resists efforts to intimidate, manipulate, bribe, or
in any way dissuade him from his life-giving mission. The effort to pull him
off course began in the wilderness with the voice of Satan, and finished upon
the cross at Golgotha. Both efforts failed to suppress or contain the life
giving word of God.
In today’s Gospel lesson we read about one of the many
confrontations Jesus had with the religious authorities. Today we read
about the indignant leader of the
synagogue, angry at Jesus for healing a woman on the Sabbath. This man surely
knew his Torah well, and had a clear, concrete, idea of right and wrong. He was a religious expert who knew what
the law clearly said—or so he thought. He was so confident that he had no
problem using faith as a weapon. Jesus not only exposes the man’s hypocrisy,
but ,through our Lord’s healing actions, also reveals the true nature of the
Sabbath. He proclaims this same truth with words in Mark 2:27-28: “ The Sabbath
was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is
lord even of the Sabbath.” The Sabbath is a gift from God to humanity. It is a
gift which comes from where all true gifts come—from the heart of God. Jesus is
the Lord of the Sabbath because he himself is the greatest gift God has given
to the world. But the religious authorities lost sight of the true purpose of
the Sabbath and did not recognize its Lord when he was standing face to face
with them. As we read today’s
lesson it is very easy to shake our heads over such blindness.
It may be
easy to shake our heads, but how
often in the history of the
Church, have Christians lost sight of the true purpose of the Sabbath, and the
mission of its Lord? How often has church life been defined by stringent rules
and regulations which have nothing to do with God’s Law, but are the inventions
of human beings?
I once new
a man who grew up in a very strict church environment, where Sabbath was
meticulously observed. This not
only included time spent at church, but the time afterward. No playing or
entertainment was allowed. On a scorching hot day, he and his siblings were
allowed to go swimming to cool off, but only with the understanding that they
were not to have any fun. Fun was
forbidden! Unfortunately, the
impression that Christianity is fundamentally about rules and regulations has
not gone away easily. Many non-Christians, and Christians, in fact, believe
that the adherence to a strict moral code is the heart of Christianity.
Christianity, to many, is a dreary, heavy, depressing, no-fun religion. But
this is not true. Jesus Christ, and the Grace and healing he gives, is the
heart of the Christian Faith. Living by Grace means living in the liberation
given by and through Jesus Christ.
Sadly, many
have turned from the Gospel, the
good news of Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath. We live in a place and time
where honouring the Sabbath is rare. The Sabbath has, to use the words of
Isaiah, been “trampled” on in modern society, as people use God’s Holy day to
pursue their own interests.
“ Hold on a
second”, some might exclaim, “ didn’t Jesus say that the Sabbath was made for
humankind?” “Doesn’t that mean we can do what we like?”
Clearly, we
need to be very careful about how we interpret these words of our Lord. That
the Sabbath was made for humankind, does not mean that humans should do what
they like with it. Rather the Sabbath is the special space in which God’s
glorious and gracious gift to humanity is to be received. We need look no further than the woman
in today’s gospel lesson for a
role model of proper Sabbath observance. This woman , who had had struggled
with a serious disability for eighteen years, was called over by Jesus. She
answered the call and went to him. When she went, Jesus healed her, set her
free, from her ailment. To be set free means to live in the light of eternal
life, which shines perpetually. Being set free does not necessarily mean
physical healing, but it means spiritual liberation from the bondage of sin from
which we cannot free ourselves—a bondage which causes us to be turned in on
ourselves, and be less than who we were created to be. Jesus gives that
liberation, and it is a totally free gift! To
celebrate the Sabbath is to celebrate that gift. That gift comes to us
especially through hearing the Word proclaimed, and through receiving the
sacraments. But we must also know that God’s gracious gifts extend beyond the
walls of the church. God’s Sabbath gifts reach us everywhere. Sabbath keeping
is truly marked by an attitude of
gratitude.
The Sabbath
is a gift from the Lord who has given the greatest gift of all. All Christians are called to proclaim this
good news. How are you going to do? How are your going to get the message
across in your time and place? Perhaps one good place to start is by
refuting the popular stereotype of Sabbath keeping, and the popular and
convenient stereotypes of contemporary culture. Lutherans are known for the
politeness. But there is nothing rude
about gently challenging popular and inaccurate perceptions. The best way
to do that is by sharing your own faith story, and about what Sabbath has
meant, and continues to mean, to you. All Christians are called to share the
good news of Jesus Christ, so that others will also be transformed by it! So let us go forth today proclaiming the Good News of Jesus
Christ! Now may the peace which
surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
