Jesus returned to the synagogue. A man with a withered hand was there. Wanting to bring charges against Jesus, they were watching Jesus closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. He said to the man with the withered hand, “Step up where people can see you.” Then he said to them, “Is it legal on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they said nothing. Looking around at them with anger, deeply grieved at their unyielding hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he did, and his hand was made healthy. At that, the Pharisees got together with the supporters of Herod to plan how to destroy Jesus.
Mark 3:1-6 Can’t it wait another day? That was the question the Pharisees were asking. The man, after all, had lived with the deformity for years, perhaps even from birth. They could understand addressing urgent needs, but this was a chronic condition, it was not worth interrupting the sanctity of Sabbath. To do so was, after all, against the Law, order had to be maintained. But Jesus isn’t interested in waiting, he knew laws were only as good as the justice and freedom they provide. He’d come on the scene announcing that now was the year of the Lord’s favor. This was a reference to the year of Jubilee--the ultimate Sabbath when every forty years the prisoners would be set free and all debts would be forgiven. The Sabbath was now a reality that was to permeate the whole of life and it meant renewal and reconciliation for those who had been damaged, those who had been excluded. Jesus had come to heal and there was no need to wait for that. The damage didn’t rest and so the only way Jesus could honor the way of Sabbath would be to destroy the relentless damage done to this human creature of God, to unshackle this man from his pain so that he could join in the peace of Sabbath life. Ours is a tired world, a world filled with anguish that is relentless. We’ve lost more than 100,000 people in this country to the COVID19 virus, and likely many more to the isolation and burdens it has caused. And now we are reminded again of the deep, unexorcised sin of white supremacy and racism that never take a rest. Sabbath is necessary and all creation groans for its arrival. Our call is to honor it and keep it, but in order to do so there are times when we must work so that we can rest, when we must act so that the wholeness and peace of God’s shalom is possible. “Sabbath for some must be sabbath for all” is the message of Jesus’ action in the temple, his many actions of healing that violated the law of his day. We too must learn to live our own lives of Sabbath as means of welcome rather than exclusion, as modes of justice rather than maintenance of the status quo. In order to do that we must know what Sabbath is, how it feels, how to practice it in our world. This makes our Sabbath rest all the more important because it is far from an abdication of responsibility for a day, but rather an empowering of our souls and bodies to respond to the world in need from the energies of God rather than our own limited powers. Our world needs Sabbath, so let us follow the way of Jesus and enter his rest, all the while making sure that our neighbors can enter it with us. Prayer for Today God whose breath came upon the church at Pentecost Let us breathe with your Spirit so that we can become your witnesses in the world. In an age that has no time for justice, no patience for a pause, help us to live in your time calling forth your holy breath so that all may share in its life and fullness. Amen. Practice for Today Jubilee can be practiced now, in new and creative ways. Today create the possibility of rest for someone else in some small way. If you need a suggestion, consider medical debt forgiveness. Buy donating to buy medical debts of someone in Arkansas you can help provide the Sabbath reality of Jubilee for that person. What if you gave up something on your Sabbath and used that money to help provide debt relief for someone in need. For information about medical debt forgiveness go to RIP Medical Debt. Comments are closed.
|
About this series
COVID19 created an unprecedented situation for all of us. These reflections, originally written for the people of Christ Episcopal Church, were meant to help people of faith learn how to navigate this time and find the threads of God's goodness in the midst of the pandemic. The series has ended but the Pandemic has not. I hope they continue to offer help and hope to all that read them. |