After the Pharisees criticized Jesus for allowing his disciples to pick some grain on the Sabbath day, Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27).
I understand this to mean that the sabbath is no longer the master over us and our lives- but rather we are now the master over the sabbath. We need no longer conform our lives to the sabbath, but rather conform the sabbath to our lives.
And again Jesus dealt with this...
On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath."
The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?"
When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing. (Luke 13:10-17)
The same story, it seems to me. The religious leaders of the day were scandalized that Jesus would "do something" on the sabbath. Yet Jesus says there are things which take priority over the sabbath. Perhaps more importantly, this all comes down to Jesus purpose for becoming incarnate and dwelling among us.
The religious leaders of the day were self-assured in their list of do's and don'ts, their keeping of the sabbath, their avoidance of contact with "sinners" and their observance of the law. If Jesus had come and affirmed that this was what it takes to enter the Kingdom of Heaven- it would have been a difficult burden- a heavy yoke. People ALREADY were under this burden... bearing this yoke and to be perfectly honest, had Jesus reaffirmed this message it would have been received as "The Bad News" of the gospel.
But it wasn't bad news. It was GOOD NEWS! It was VERY, VERY good news!!
Everywhere Jesus went people were astounded by the scandalous, outrageous, breathtaking magnitude of the Good News: We couldn't earn our way into heaven. Those who looked least likely to enter the Kingdom were invited to dine with Jesus, to talk, to confess their sins and to explore this new spiritual world where everything was upside down- the last were to become first, the first were to become last, the employee who had worked only an hour received the same wage as the employee who had worked 10 hours, the prodigal son received a banquet while the older brother received a reprimand, those who were dead in their trespasses were suddenly made alive. It was a topsy-turvy gospel that was indeed Good News!
To those who took pride in their observance of the law it was Bad News. But to the rest of us- those of us who KNEW we couldn't ever keep every letter of the law- those of us who KNEW we weren't deserving of entering the Kingdom of Heaven; to US it was Good News beyond our wildest hopes!
Even the sabbath was turned upside down. Clearly Jesus WAS in the temple on the Sabbath so He wasn't telling us never to go there, but he was very clear about not allowing the sabbath to take control of our lives. I see that as Good News indeed. ALL of it!
We are no longer to be slaves to a dead list of do's and don'ts. Instead we are made alive- free in the Spirit to have life and to have it abundantly. We no longer have to attend sabbath services because they're required. Rather- we now have the privilege of entering into the Rest, bought by Jesus on Calvary anytime- anywhere- every day. And while I attend church most Sundays, I would never allow myself to become a slave to that schedule when there is a wide, wonderful world full of people Jesus loves and died for out there- waiting to hear the Good News of the gospel.
If we believe that team sports are a good thing for our children to develop relationships, socialization, learn teamwork, develop physical fitness, etc. then I would find a middle ground. I would NOT sign up for a program where every game is played on Sunday mornings!! But neither would I reject a program where there were Sunday games from time to time. The fellowship and encouragement to non-Christians on the team may be the very reason the Lord placed you on that team for a season. At least that's how Boompa sees it.
1 comment:
I love your thoughts on this. I see some of my family members and friends so obsessed with the "legalism" aspects and competely bypass the love eachother part. Sometimes I wonder if the Lord will gather us all around one day and said "you missed My point."
Post a Comment