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JESUS CORRECTS THE
PURPOSE OF THE SABBATH
~Mark 2:23-28 & 3:1-6~
In-person service at
Second Baptist Church
2412 Griffith Ave.
Los Angeles
William S. Epps, Senior Pastor
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23And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the Sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. 24And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the Sabbath day that which is not lawful? 25And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? 26How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shew bread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? 27And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: 28Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath. Mark 2:23-28
And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. 2And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. 3And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. 4And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. 5And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. 6And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. Mark 3:1-6
Introduction
Fascinating how life starts out all good and turns out all bad. That’s the story of our lives whether it be the beginning of a relationship, the start of an adventure, the drive
to fulfill a dream of hope about the possibility of something great. There is something about the beginning that inspires one with the motivation to press forward sometimes with every hope endured regardless of the delays, detours, and detractions. The opening pages of scared writ remind us that while life is essentially good, because God is good and sanctioned life as good, we take the good and make it less than desirable and sometimes miserable, and in other instances bad for ourselves and everybody else. We violate restrictions, listen to what destroys the good and follow directions and instincts that are injurious. We make decisions that are destructive. We are the bane of our existence with the way we use our autonomy that the Lord has given us with free will to determine what we will in our selfish defiance. We really know how to make a mess of things and destroy what is for our good.
Our belief about life and ourselves is shaped by our faith which frames who we are,
our identity, our purpose for living, our hopes and dreams that inspire our actions and the values we use to reach what we want to achieve. We are told that our lives are shaped by information, incidents, individuals, inspiration - all of which ignite our imagination about interpreting and integrating what we believe into what leads us to achieve, whether it is ethical or unethical, good or bad, right or wrong, moral or immoral.
Consider what it means that your belief and faith shape your actions,
behavior and character which influences the totality of your life.
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Imagine the origins of the faiths to which we subscribe. It is astonishing to me that the three faiths (Judaism, Islam and Christianity have adherents that comprise half of the people on earth. Judaism (15.7 million) whose key moral principles are justice, healing the world and kindness to others. Muslim faith (1.9 billion adherents) has as its core beliefs harmonious society of order and of justice towards all without violence or conflict. Christianity’s (3.1 billion adherents) core principles are, “love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:36-40). Jesus simply offered what has become known as the golden rule, colloquially stated, “treat others like you want to be treated; do unto others as you would they do unto you.” (Matthew 7:12). Someone added and do it first.
Secular, non-religious, agnostic, atheist comprise 1.1 billion, Hinduism 1.1 billion, Buddhism 506 million, Chinese traditional religions 394 million, African traditional religions 100 million, to name a few. This means that belief and faith shape the attitudes and actions, values and virtues of just about everyone on the face of the earth. As you can see everyone’s life is shaped by some kind of faith. There is no such person as a faithless individual. People of faith comprise the whole of the human race.
At their core all of the major faiths believe in redemption rather than retribution, reconciliation rather than retaliation and restoration rather than revenge. However, it appears that we use our diversity and differences to divide ourselves into groups with special concerns, interests and practices which promote our division from others and most often from division within ourselves a faith. How unfortunate it is that what was meant at its core to bring unity is used to bring disunity.
The sad reality is that we can take what is given for good and use it for bad. As a
matter of fact, we use faith to bifurcate, divide, and diminish the value of others, dehumanize those that are different from us, demean the worth of others as we exalt ourselves. Charles Kimble, in his book, “When Religion Becomes Evil,” reminds us of the characteristics that make faith evil, detrimental and destructive. Kimball lists five warning signs of a religion becoming evil. (These are also his main chapter titles and appear on the back cover of the book.)
- Absolute Truth Claims
- Blind Obedience
- Establishing the "Ideal" Time
- The End Justifies Any Means
- Declaring Holy War
How disconcerting it is to rely on that which is suppose to enhance life being used
to diminish life.
Consider what it means that what is suppose to enhance life in all of its
fullness is used to diminish life with narrow myopic interpretations
that promote the worst rather than the best.
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The passage in the book of Mark at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus, highlights
an instance when faith is being misused in a less than desirable way with a pharisaical faith (faith that is excessively or hypocritically pious) which can be seen practiced by believers of all faiths.
Jesus corrects our erroneous misapplications, misinterpretations and misrepresentations of what it means to be faithful to the Lord and the precepts and principles of our practice of faith.
Jesus makes it unequivocally clear that God is love and love always responds in the most loving and caring ways to those who are objects of the Lord’s love and affection. Faith and denominational faiths at their best, promote charity, compassion, forgiveness, grace, harmony, help, healing, mercy peace and unity. I repeat, the
basic principles are of faiths of all kind is redemption rather than retribution, reconciliation rather than retaliation and restoration rather than revenge. That is the way to measure the authenticity of your practice of faith.
The setting of the passage in Mark has Jesus and His disciples accused of breaking the Sabbath. It happened that Jesus along with His disciples went through the grain fields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” There was an elaborate list of rules and regulations developed by those who want to follow the precepts of their faith. There was a list of “dos” and “dont's.” There was nothing wrong with what they did. The issue was only the day on which they did it. Those who created the list saw this as violating one of the items on their list.
Isn’t that what we do? We make our lists of what we want people subjected to, to meet what is considered acceptable without question. We too, are still in need of the correction Jesus provided in order to be faithful to what the Lord requires.
Jesus says the Sabbath was made for made and not man for the Sabbath.
We need a day to get beyond the mundane that engulfs our lives with getting and spending. We need a day to put the rat race - as it is called at times - behind us to get
a different perspective on life, living and loving. We need a day to be delivered from the captivity of the circumstances, conditions, confusion, conundrums, crises and you name it, that plague our existence; the unexpected that wreaks havoc, promoting doubt and disappointment and disillusionment about life adding to the incidental insecurity that accompanies its companions of Anxiety, Distrust and Fear: the ADF syndrome.
Consider what it means that Jesus corrects our erroneous misapplications, misinterpretations and misrepresentations of what it means to be faithful to the Lord and the precepts and principles of our practice of faith.
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In the first place, God knows we need a day of deliverance. We get caught up with making a living and we neglect to make a life. The Lord knows we need a day to be delivered from the rigors of the everyday grind that has been created for us to live being captive in a circle of mind boggling opportunities that lead down rabbit holes that offer nothing but emptiness. We need a day to abandon anxiety for assurance; a day to circumvent the confusion, chaos, and conflict, with a day that focuses on charity compassion and confidence; a day that helps and heals rather than hurts and maims; a day that dwarfs insensitivity and injustice with inclusiveness rather than exclusion; a day that redirects our devotion in the right direction to source of life and liberty for all of creatures and creation itself; a day that will direct us to delight and devote rather than the become consumed with disappointment, disaster and destruction; a day, where faith eclipses frustration, a day where love preempts hate; a day where joy preempts sorrow; a day about the possibility of life in community and unity working together for the good of all and the earth itself. We do need a day, I tell you. After all, the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths all began with the liberating of the powerful pervasive presence that turned an upside-down, topsy-turvy world right side up.
We need a day to rediscover the beauty of life, the joy of living, the appreciation of company and comradery, the spirit of friendship and community and ethical and purposeful living that blesses the world with our presence as one made in God’s image and likeness. We need a day of relief and release.
Consider what it means that we need a day to refocus our patterns of living and loving from the ordinary that seemingly promotes anxiety rather than assurance, confusion and chaos rather than confidence and courage, hurt and harm rather than help and healing, and perplexity rather than peace.
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Secondly, God knows we need a day of discernment. Have you noticed how we seem to be carried willy-nilly on the currents of circumstances, confusion, and crisis continually with a momentum that escalates our bondage and captivity instead of releasing and relieving us to enjoy freedom or release.
We need a day to be informed with information from a higher source. We need a day with conversation from a purer source. We need a day to integrate our insights with revelation from an authentic source. We need a day with inspiration that inspires involves activity from a compelling source to build the beloved community.
Your identity, your information, your interpretation of life’s experiences and your involvement should all be understood in light of the practice of your faith. Notice from the passage how the Sabbath was being used inappropriately to punish and not to bless, to take rather than to give, to harm rather to help and heal. The Sabbath was being use to subjugate as opposed to save. Look at the practice of the faith among so many that use it to divide rather than unite, to excoriate rather than educate, to put in captivity rather than liberate.
Consider what it means that we need a day of discernment with information
from a higher source, conversation from a purer source. insights with
revelation from an authentic source, and inspiration with activity from a compelling source to build the beloved community.
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In the third place God knows we need a day of development, a day to develop
our disciple, enhance your enlightenment and foster your faith as we mimic the example of our Lord in Christ to “let your light shine so that people might see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
Jesus in his High Great priesthood prayed: “I pray they will all be one, just as you and I are one –as you are in me, Father, and I am in you, and they may be one in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” John 17:21
Consider what it means that we need a day to recalibrate our modus operandi (our normal way and method of doing what we do) so that
we can get more positive desired results.
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Conclusion
We say with the sweet lyricist, “With every fiber in my body, with all of my heart soul and mind, I worship you heavenly Father at this appointed time. I’ll let nothing get in the way of what I’ve come to say, you’re worthy of all the praise that I bring. Uh hum.”
Consider what it means to set aside a time to acknowledge the source
of life with all of the blessings you have received to make
of your life what you can achieve.
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