Jul 18 2019 Mark 2:23 -3:6

"Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?"

The apostles are harvesting grain on the Sabbath. Jesus is healing on the Sabbath. The Pharisees are angered, because he is not following their Sabbath law. After observing Jesus healing the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath, the Pharisees immediately went out and conspired with the political leaders about “how to destroy him”.

This is a convicting story for me. I fear I could be like the Pharisees. Rules are rules, and I’m exceedingly good – probably to a fault- at keeping them. To me, rules aren’t meant to be relative, or sometime. I have much to learn from those who know when, in fact, a rule should be bent.

Rule bending aside, this story makes me think about rules of Sabbath. My grandparents lived in a town with a high number of Orthodox Jews, who without bending, kept the Sabbath holy. Lightbulbs were unscrewed the night before, all work ceased, and a quiet pervaded the town. It did seem excessive, as a kid.

But as an adult, living in a busy city, I think about the quiet that an unbending Holy Sabbath creates. I feel like I could or should be creating more Sabbath quiet, without compromise. Maybe Sundays become a phone-free zone. Or weekends are a no-social-media zone. Or I find a day that’s a no-work zone. Or maybe it’s just an afternoon.

This morning, I’m thinking about my need for more Sabbath rest, and about my tendency to be dogmatic like the Pharisees. I’m thinking about my deep desire to serve and heal, even through a time of Sabbath. Can I find a holy time for regular rest, without modeling the Pharisaic hardness of heart?

Today, I want to think about ways to find time for Sabbath rest, for resting in God’s presence. And to strip away meaningless distractions during that time, while still allowing space for doing God’s work of healing and serving and feeding. Maybe it’s about removing the distractions, so when I’m called to serve or feed or heal, it’s infused and rooted in God’s presence and love. Maybe that’s the way to keep the Sabbath holy, without my propensity for unbending rules.