Pentecost IX (Proper 11 B) [Mark 6:30-34, 53-36] (22-Jul-2018)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 8.15am, and Grace Lutheran Church, Childers, 10.30am.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

And Jesus said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.”

Prayer: May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Our reading today comes from Mark chapter 6, which we’ve been reading over the last few weeks. At the beginning of the chapter, Jesus is rejected in his hometown of Nazareth; then he sends the twelve apostles out on a mission trip; and then we read about the imprisonment and beheading of John the Baptist.

John the Baptist is six months older the Jesus, and he is often called the “Forerunner”. John the Baptist’s death also points forward to Jesus’ death. John throughout his whole ministry was pointing to Jesus and saying, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And when he is beheaded, his death also points forward to Jesus’ coming crucifixion.

But in Mark chapter 6, in between the rejection of Jesus at Nazareth and the recount of the history of John the Baptist’s execution, we read about the mission trip of the twelve apostles. We read about how the apostles went out and preached repentance, they cast out demons and they healed the sick. All their provisions were to come from the generosity of the people who welcomed them. And Jesus gave them specific instructions if people rejected them, to wipe the dust off their feet at the door. So this was a very intensive time for them, and the disciples’ activities became very well-known and famous. We read: King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. King Herod even thought that maybe John the Baptist had come back from the dead—he recognised that Jesus and his apostles were all preaching the same message as John. King Herod had a bad conscience about killing John. We read: Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. And so when Herod’s step-daughter asked for John the Baptist’s head on a platter, we read: The king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. So we read about this event with Herod and John the Baptist because we read that King Herod had heard about the twelve apostles, and what they were doing.

So now, we come to our Gospel reading for today. It must have been a tremendously fruitful mission trip for the apostles. They would have been received with great joy, and at the same time, they also would have been received with tension and opposition.

So we read: The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. This is a really wonderful verse. Just think what the apostles must have wanted to tell Jesus! I often think of them here all piling over each other to talk to Jesus, all excitedly, and all at once, and Jesus tells them to settle down, and talk one at a time, just like a bunch of children! And this gives a tremendous example for us too: that at the end of a time of busyness, or at the end of a day, or at the end of a week, what should we do? We should return to Jesus and tell him all about it. Sometimes, we need to tell Jesus some things where we sinned, and he can then speak his forgiveness. Sometimes, we need to tell Jesus which things were difficult and hard, and that we didn’t feel as though we did them properly. And we commend ourselves to him to learn from him how to do something next time. Sometimes, we are happy and encouraged about something, and we go to Jesus and thank him for it.

Now, this mission trip of the apostles and the beheading of John the Baptist must have happened at a similar time. In Matthew’s Gospel, we read about how John the Baptist’s disciples also came to Jesus at this time and told him about the John’s beheading. And so there must have been a real coming together of both the twelve apostles, and John’s disciples to tell Jesus about the events. There must have been incredibly exciting news from the twelve apostles, but then incredibly sad news from John the Baptist’s disciples. And John’s execution would have been very worrying for the disciples as they realised that King Herod didn’t have their back, and wasn’t batting for their team.

So what does Jesus do here? He doesn’t send them out again yet. He doesn’t just send them back into the lion’s den, or to retaliate. He says to them: Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while. Jesus has had a debrief with his disciples, and listened to everything that has happened, and now it is time for them to rest. He takes them on a retreat. The apostles need to be refreshed and recuperate, they need to recharge their batteries. It’s a bit like surfing—the disciples realise that the times are hard and their necks are on the line. It’s like being caught in a rip, but instead of fighting against it, and trying to swim in against the rip, Jesus lets them float far out to sea, so that they can then carefully swim back in for the next stage of their ministry.

And this also gives us a wonderful example, and there is incredible wisdom in it. When we work hard, we also need to take time to rest and to prepare for the next part of our work, especially when it comes to spiritual work.

A few weeks ago, we read about the event where Jesus calmed the storm, and where he simply woke up and with a short, sharp word, he stilled the wind and the sea. And also, he put at rest the disciples’ hearts, since they feared desperately for their lives. So here in the reading he takes the disciples, and he says to them, “You’ve been doing some hard work, and now it’s time for you to refresh and to rest.”

We read: For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognised them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.

Now, what must the disciples have thought when this happened? Here Jesus has taken them across the lake so that they can all have some time of refreshment and relaxation. We read that the disciples didn’t even have enough time to eat. Maybe Peter or some of the other disciples were thinking of going on a nice sea-side trip, just like going to Tin Can Bay or Woodgate, or somewhere. Maybe they imagined themselves having a nice siesta on the beach in the sunshine with a cool drink in hand! And then they get across the other side of the lake, what’s there? The crowd! They followed them there. So much for their rest, so much for their refreshment, so much for their sea-side holiday!

In fact, we read that there were five thousand men there, and that’s not including the women and the children! There were five thousand families there! And then Jesus made the disciples to go around with the loaves and fishes and feed them all. So much for the rest! Is Jesus really a harsh-taskmaster? Is he a slave-driver to his disciples? Is there really no rest for them?

This is where the real heart and centre of the reading comes in. We read: When [Jesus] went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

Here is the compassion that the crowd needs, and here is the rest and the refreshment that the disciples need: And [Jesus] began to teach them many things. There it is. A rest for the disciples did not mean putting their feet up and doing nothing. The rest and refreshment that Jesus had prepared for his disciples came through his living and life-giving words, and only through his word.

Now, this brings us back to the Third Commandment, which says: Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. The word, “Sabbath”, or in Hebrew, “Shabbat”, means “rest”. And it connects back to the creation of the world, where we read: Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Now, when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, this day of rest became a special day of worship for the Jewish people, that on the seventh day of the week, on Saturday, they were not allowed to work.  Christians don’t observe Saturday as a matter of law anymore, because after Jesus died and rose, the ceremonies of Jewish worship no longer apply. But out of freedom, we come together on Sundays to commemorate the day that Jesus rose from the dead, just as we read about in the book of Acts, where the disciples gathered together on the first day of the week.

Now, sometimes people have misunderstood this law, as if it is simply prohibiting work on one day of the week. Amongst Jewish people even today, for example, in Israel, elevators in high-rise buildings don’t operate on Saturdays because it is considered to be work. In the old days, some Christians were very strict about Sundays too, as if people were required to sit around in a straight jacket all afternoon.

However, the reason why this commandment is here is not simply to stop people from working, but to stop work in order to come and listen to God’s word. Luther says in his hymn on the 10 commandments: Cease from all the work you do, so that God may work on you. That’s what happens when Jesus teaches the crowd and his apostles many things: he is working on them, and that is the real rest and refreshment.

Now we Australians love our relaxation time. People like to go for walks, go fishing, have a beer, go on holidays, put up our feet at the end of the day… From the face of it, it looks like Australians are the most faithful nation in the world when it comes to not doing anything on Sundays. But this isn’t what Jesus is talking about. In our country, leisure and relaxation is one of the greatest idols – it’s OK to have rest and go on a holiday and chill out, but it becomes a problem when it’s what we live for. Ultimately, it makes us a selfish people, who only care about ourselves. St Paul says: [Christ] died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. So if leisure and relaxing is what you live for, you should repent, and live for Jesus, and for other people. Jesus also gives us a rest, but he gives us a rest by teaching us his word, and forgiving us our sins. He says: Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Also, there is another kind of rest that people often look for, that has the appearance of being spiritual, which comes from the “contemplative prayer” movement. Now many people today—including Christians—are finding that life is so fast-paced, and there is a great desire to seek rest and stillness in the middle of it all. The Eastern religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, often practised meditation techniques, where they would recite “mantras”, repeated phrases like the word “om”, and would actively slow down their breathing. At different times in history, there were also various Christian mystics who did similar things and would practice meditation techniques. In recent times, some Christians have found a similarity between Hindu and Buddhist techniques, and the kinds of things that some Christian mystics practised. So people would train themselves to slow down their breathing, and recite a Christian version of a “mantra”, like the word “Jesus”, or some other word from the bible. People call this kind of thing, “Christian meditation” or “contemplative prayer”.

However, there is a problem with this kind of thing. The reality is that Jesus never taught these kinds of techniques to his disciples. When the Beatles were at the height of their career, they employed a Hindu guru, by the name of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, to be their spiritual adviser, to teach them meditation, yoga, and other things like that. The Beatles recognised that they needed rest and refreshment and peace amid all the hype in their lives.

However, when Jesus took his disciples away for a rest to a quiet place in our reading today, he didn’t then start teaching them yoga and meditation. In fact, when it comes to mantras, and reciting things over and over again, Jesus teaches his disciples about prayer: When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. This expression “empty phrases” can also be translated as “vain repetitions”, or just speaking things over and over. Hinduism is the most advanced form of paganism and Gentile religion that we know about because they have so many written texts. Even though India was a long way away from where Jesus lived, it seems as though this kind of repetitive prayer was prevalent in Gentile, or pagan, religions from a long time ago. Jesus actually teaches his disciples to pray by giving them the Lord’s Prayer, for example, and doesn’t teach techniques. And if he warns against heaping up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, why do many Christians then try to imitate other religions and heap up empty phrases?

In our reading today, we read: Jesus began to teach them many things. The peace that passes all understanding doesn’t come from our achievements or our meditations or whatever, it comes from Jesus and his word. There is such a wonderful picture in our reading of our whole lives, like a see-saw, between the apostles going to Jesus and telling him everything they did and taught, and Jesus teaching them many things.

In St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he calls the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit. This is a very interesting picture of the word of God as a sword. When Jesus teaches his disciples and the crowd many things, he is speaking to them with his own sword, cutting to their hearts and revealing their sin, and also protecting them from the devil and the world and their own flesh. Once when I was a teenager, I went on a school trip to Japan. When we were leaving the airport, a few boys got held up in customs and we almost missed our flight, because they had bought samurai swords. They had no intention of using them, they just wanted them as a souvenir. But when the Scripture calls the word, the sword of the Spirit, it means you take the thing out of its sheath and use it. It’s not a sword for the mantlepiece.

I wonder if sometimes we Christians just like to have the word of God like a souvenir for the mantlepiece. We just want to sit back and look at how nice it is, but we don’t want to learn how to use it. And so we scrimp and scrape and try to achieve an inner peace which we can’t earn and we can’t achieve by our own efforts.

At the heart of our reading, we do not have a spiritual master like a guru teaching us meditation, or techniques on how to relax and calm our mind or empty our mind. No, we have the living Son of God himself, who is both true man and true God in one person. We see him in the last part of our reading today healing all kinds of sick people, people who were made well simply by touching his clothes. This fact makes all the difference. He is a true man, and we worship Jesus as our God, who died on the cross to a make the one true, perfect sacrifice for every single sin of the whole entire world, and he rose again from the dead and defeated death. Whoever believes in him will also have eternal life. This is the message that Jesus sent his apostles out to preach after he rose. He said: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [Every single last scrap of authority and power belongs to Jesus]. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Even today, we’re going to baptise a child [here] at Childers, and as we hear God’s word today, Jesus teaches us many things. And he says: I am with you always to the end of the age. He is here with us as our living God, risen from the dead, who will baptise this child himself, and also, will feed us himself in the Lord’s Supper with his body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins, and also, in his word, he is here to be with us, working on us, teaching us many things, just as he did to his disciples so many years ago, and strengthening us in the peace of God which passes all understanding.

And so, rest for a while. Peace be with you! May the living peace of our living Jesus be with you. Amen.

Dear Jesus, you give us work to you, and you also give us rest. Strengthen us in your word and Holy Spirit, and lead us finally into that rest that will never end. Amen.

Pentecost II (Proper 4 B) [Mark 2:23-3:6] (3-Jun-2018)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 8.15am, and Grace Lutheran Church, Childers, 10.30am.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.

Prayer: May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Today in our reading, we have a very important passage, which speaks of two events where the Pharisees accuse Jesus of breaking the Sabbath. The first part of the reading is where Jesus and the disciples were plucking grain and the second is where Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath.

Now this reading actually has many very important things in it, and many things that are very relevant for today.

The first thing that we’re going to talk about is what we call law and gospel. In our reading today, Jesus and his disciples are accused of breaking the law. The Pharisees say: Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? The whole of the Scripture can be divided up into two basic doctrines or teaching: the law, and the Gospel. Both the Law of God and the Gospel are God’s eternal perfect word. The law teaches us what we should do, and what we shouldn’t do. The law threatens punishment for those who break the law, and the law promises rewards for those who keep the law. But we human beings are sinners, and we are unable to keep the law perfectly. And so the law also shows us God’s wrath and judgment against sin. Jesus says: You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. He says: Truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever relaxes one the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. James writes: Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. The law doesn’t make sinners, but it finds sinners and exposes them, and shows us who we really are.

Now, on the other hand, there is also in the bible another teaching or doctrine, which is called the Gospel. The Gospel teaches us not what we should do or what we shouldn’t do, but points us to Jesus and what he has done for us. Jesus entered into the world, he suffered, and died, and he took the weight of every single one of our sins and failures and weaknesses upon himself, upon his own shoulders, and he made a complete and perfect payment, and sacrifice, and atonement for every single one of our sins, and for our entire sinful condition. And he defeated the power of death by rising from the dead on Easter Sunday. And this word of the Gospel is spoken on earth in the church to us right in the midst of this life, in holy baptism, in the Lord’s Supper, in the words of absolution or the forgiveness of sins spoken by the pastor, in the pulpit when pastors preach the gospel, and in all of our Christian conversations where we encourage each other and speak the message of Christ to one another wherever God places us. This Gospel is received by us completely without any works, without any contributions on our part whatsoever, and is given to us completely and totally freely. The Gospel doesn’t find saints, but it makes people saints through the word of the forgiveness of sins. When God looks at us, he sees all of our sins covered over by the righteousness of his Son.

Now, when we talk about Law and Gospel, we’re not talking about the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament has both Law and Gospel in it, and the New Testament has both Law and Gospel in it. But also, Law and Gospel is not “nasty talk” versus “nice talk”. When we say that we should love another, that’s nice, but it’s law—it’s not Gospel. The fact that Jesus has shown his love to us by dying and rising for us to give us eternal life—that’s Gospel, not law. But the death of Jesus is nasty stuff, it’s not very nice, but it saves us.

Now, I’d like to come back to the law. There are three things that the law does. Firstly, God gives his law for the well-being of human society. The law stops the world from being completely crazy and falling apart. People know that they shouldn’t steal, shouldn’t lie. They sip their hot drinks, or they will burn their tongues. They drive on the appointed side of the road or they will have a car crash. This is just the rules, it’s the way the world works.

But also, God’s law shows us our sin and it accuses us. The law is like a mirror, and we look into it and we see where we have failed. The law shows us our need for forgiveness.

And also, God’s law is a guide for our Christian lives. It shows us how we should live as Christians, and what the Holy Spirit’s will is for our lives.

So we have these three ways in which the law works. Sometimes we call them the three uses of the law: for the well-being of society, to show us our sin, and to guide us in our Christian life.

Now, in the Old Testament, we read about Moses going up to meet God on the top of Mt Sinai and God gives him the Ten Commandments. Now, if you’ve read the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, you’ll find there a lot of laws that we no longer keep today, for example, laws about sacrifices, about what to eat, and all kinds of laws about worship, and so on. And we might think: “I thought, Jesus said that not one dot will pass from the law. Why don’t we do those things anymore?” The reason is this: when Jesus came, and when he died, and rose, and sent the Holy Spirit, there were many things that were no longer applicable or needed. For example, we don’t sacrifice lambs and bulls and goats anymore in a temple, because Jesus sacrificed himself as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

It’s a bit like someone who keeps all their food in a small esky. If they are keeping food in an esky, there are certain laws they have to keep in order for the food to be fresh. For example, they will have to go and buy some more ice regularly and replace it every day, otherwise everything will get warm and wet. But then the person buys a fridge, and so they just don’t need to buy some ice every day to keep their food cold. He has something better than an esky now, he has a fridge! In a similar way, when we say that those old Jewish laws are no longer needed, it’s not that we don’t care about the law, it’s just that Jesus has fulfilled the law, and he has given us something better.

And so in the Old Testament, there are two types of laws: there are laws about ceremonies, or ceremonial law, and there are laws about how we should live, or moral law. So all the things about eating, and worship, and sacrificing, are called “ceremonial laws”, and we Christians don’t follow these laws anymore, because they are not needed. But then there are also moral laws, like honouring parents, not murdering, not committing adultery, not stealing, not lying – these things are about what right and what’s wrong. And as Christians, we should seek to do things that are right.

An example of this for today is homosexuality. People often say that Christians are hypocrites because on one hand the Old Testament says that a man may not lie with a man as with a woman, but it also says that people shouldn’t wear clothes with both wool and linen in them. The first law is moral—it has to do with right and wrong—and the second law is ceremonial—it has to do with the distinctiveness of the Jewish people. And so the New Testament also forbids homosexual acts, but the apostles don’t forbid clothes with mixed cloth!

So, we’ve talked about law and Gospel—how God shows us our sin through the law, and also shows us our Saviour Jesus in the Gospel. We’ve talked about the three ways in which the law works: the law gives order to society, it shows us our sin, and gives us a guide for our Christian life. And also, we’ve talked about the difference in the Old Testament between “moral” and “ceremonial” laws, between the laws which have to do with right and wrong, and the laws which have to do with Jewish worship.

All this is very important when we’re looking at our reading today, because Jesus is accused of breaking the laws of worship, the laws concerning the Sabbath.

Now, in the 10 Commandments, we have a commandment there about the Sabbath. This is the third commandment, which says: Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. In Exodus it says: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Now in the Old Testament, the Sabbath day is Saturday. Saturday is the seventh day of the week. And today, most Christians don’t worship on Saturdays, but they worship on Sundays instead. And we might look at this commandment, and ask, “Why don’t we keep it anymore?” Well, the answer is, that the commandment does apply still, in that it is part of God’s law that we should come together and worship God and hear the word of God. But the command that we are still required to hold to the particular day is part of the Jewish ceremonial law. We don’t worship on Sundays because God said we have to worship on Sundays—we do it out of freedom, as a commemoration of the day when Jesus rose from the dead. So we see in Act 20, that the disciples gathered on the first day of the week to break bread. The first day of the week in Sunday. And also when there was a dispute about these things in the early times, Paul wrote to the Colossians: Let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

So Luther writes in the Small Catechism and explanation of this commandment about the Sabbath, where it says: We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and his word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it. The reason why the Jewish people had to keep the Sabbath and not work, was so that they could worship and hear God’s word and the preaching of God’s word. And so, now that there is no need to keep the Saturday, it is still required of us as Christians to come together, hear the preaching and the word, and learn it. So in Hebrews it says: Do not neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Today, the Seventh Day Adventists insist that Christians still have to worship on Saturdays. But then also they feel a need to keep other old ceremonial laws, like not eating pork, and shellfish, just like the Jews, and then there is no end to keeping all these various laws. We believe that the Jewish food regulations, the observance of Saturday, the sacrifices, circumcision, all belong to the ceremonies of the Jewish people before the Holy Spirit came. But now that Jesus had risen from the dead and poured out the Holy Spirit on the church, there is no need for the old ceremonial laws.

In our reading, the Pharisees accuse the disciples and Jesus of doing work on the Sabbath, because it says that on the Sabbath they should do no work, like they do on the other six days of the week. But then the Pharisees—and many Jews even today—get very fussy about what is defined as “work”. So, for example, in Israel, the regular elevators don’t work in building on Saturdays, because it involves the use of electricity. Some Jews won’t turn on a light switch on Saturday. And in our reading, the disciples were hungry and decided to pick some grain, and rub it between their hands, because they were hungry. But the Pharisees all of sudden see red, as if they have a little alarm goes off, that says: Work! Work! Work! Even in the reading, Jesus was about to heal a person. And the Pharisees’ alarm goes off, which says: Work! Work! Work!

But Jesus points out to them that when it comes to needing to eat and drink, there is still a certain amount of work that we need to do. Every day, we still need to cook food, and wash the dishes. Jesus says: Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how they entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him? The Sabbath laws don’t mean that we should starve, and not eat. Also, when it comes to helping people, like when Jesus healed the man in the synagogue, you don’t need to wait until the Sabbath is over. In old times, many Christians often went visiting on Sundays, which is a good thing. It requires some work to go down the street or get in your car, but they are doing something nice for people. Jesus says that if they had a animal in a well on the Sabbath, they would have to fetch it out and rescue it. That requires work, but the job needs to be done, otherwise the animal would die. We pastors do our biggest work on Sundays, as did the Rabbis and priests on Saturdays in the Jewish times. Some people think we pastors only work on Sundays, and have six days off!

In one of my previous parishes, there was a dairy farmer who lived near a highway. A couple of times, his cows ended up on the road on Sunday, and he had to go and get them all. But he was very apologetic about not being at church. But as we see in this passage, sometimes even on Sunday, when it’s time for church, there are some emergency things that just need to be done.

The other thing we need to realise about the Pharisees is that they were trying to be very diligent in keeping the law. And that is a good thing. But then they started to be so particular, that they then thought that helping someone or even eating some grain was breaking the Sabbath. The reason for not working on the Sabbath, was so that they could hear the word of God. It wasn’t so that people would turn to statues on one day of the week. Sometimes Christians have fallen into this kind of legalistic thinking too. At one time, there was a dancing craze that started up, and back in those days, dancing was just about the only occasion when a man or woman would physically touch someone else’s husband or wife. And sometimes, there were some affairs, and scandals, that came about because of it. But then some Christians began to forbid all dancing, including some Lutherans. They went over the top. In some times and places, there have big problems with alcoholism and drinking. But then some Christians have forbidden all drinking of alcohol, as if drinking alcohol is a sin. But it’s not. Jesus himself even turned water into wine at a wedding.

Now in our reading, Jesus says: The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath. Here we see that there is a wonderful gift in keeping the Sabbath day. Going to the synagogue or the church to hear the word of God is not a burden, but it’s a wonderful blessing. It’s a joy—it’s a privilege. The word of God saves us, and feeds us, and strengthens us. This is what it means when Jesus says: The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

But then Jesus also says: The Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath. All throughout Jesus’ life, Jesus kept the normal laws of the Jewish people, like everyone else, even though he didn’t need to. He did this not to cause offense, and to fulfil the law. But Jesus is actually the Lord of heaven and earth. He created the world together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and he was the one who rested on the seventh day at the end of the creation of the world. So Jesus is Lord also of the Sabbath. He is in charge of the Sabbath, in fact, when we come to church, we come to hear him speaking his word to us. And it makes no difference to our faith, whether we hear that word on a Saturday, or Sunday, or Monday, or whenever.

In fact, there is a tendency among people who want to keep Saturday as the Sabbath and all the Jewish laws to also deny that Jesus is truly God. That’s because you can’t be justified by grace through faith on the one hand, and also be justified by Saturdays on the other hand. It’s easy to forget that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, and the make the Sabbath more important than even him. These people end up trying to copy Jesus’ life as a Jew, rather than living in the wonderful freedom of the Gospel that Jesus won for us when he died to fulfil that law. Yes, Christians should do good works, and out of gratitude to Jesus, seek to live a Christian life, and try to live according to the Ten Commandments. But even our good works need the forgiveness of sins.

And so, let’s remember the wonderful fact that Jesus is lord even of the Sabbath. Let’s praise him for coming to meet with us here in this place, on this day, to speak his word to us, and to feed us with his body and blood. In worship, we don’t do the work, we just sit there, but he works constantly. He is working to heal and bless and forgive and encourage, just as he did for the man in our reading with the withered hand. Amen.

Dear Jesus, we thank you that you are the Lord of the Sabbath. Fill us with the Holy Spirit, and teach us to fear and love God, so that we may not despise preaching and his word, but gladly hear and learn it. Amen.