Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
In our reading from the Gospel today, we see Jesus do the sort of thing we often see Him do. He goes against something we wouldn't have thought he would have.
Because it seems like Jesus might be in support of what the leader or the Synagogue says. That the Sabbath should be a day of rest. After all, the Sabbath is mentioned in the commandments: "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy" is one of the Ten Commandments.
We normally think of the Sabbath as a day that's supposed to be a day of rest.
Where, as the leader of the Synagogue says, we are supposed to refrain from work. But that's not what the words of the Commandment say. That is not what they are pointing too. Remember. Keep Holy. And what those words actually mean is what Jesus is trying to point us to. And we see that in His response to the Synagogue leader.
Jesus says, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?"
Jesus is pointing to the fact that even those who impose all sorts of rules on others about what to do on the Sabbath themselves perform some work. And the work they perform is one out of self-interest, something the reading from Isaiah today frowns upon. Loosing their own animals so that they may receive nourishment. How much more, then, should we be quick, even on the Sabbath, to help others who need help too?
Now keeping the Sabbath holy, for the ancient Israelites, meant putting aside their work for a day. But this rule wasn't put in place because God demands His people follows whatever He commands them to do. It's not there because God demands or even needs our attention. The command to keep the Sabbath holy is there because it means we have some time set aside to be with God. The Sabbath is there not only to refresh us from our work, but to allow us to have a relationship with God.
And guess what? God expects us to do the same thing. Mainly, to be in relationship with each other. And part of being in a relationship with one another is treating each other the right way.
For this reason, the reading from Isaiah today has such a focus on doing the right things. And if you listen closely, you will find that rules we are supposed to follow from this reading all have to do with how we treat one another.
We are called to treat each other fairly. We are called to help others when they need it. We are called to be neighborly and hospitable.
And this reading from Isaiah tells us that if we follow these statues, then the Lord will guide us on His paths. But this isn't a simple command/reward simple. God isn't ask us to blindly follow Him or for us to go against our own needs. He is asking us to treat others well because it is in our best interests. Because this is how He made us. He made us to be in relationships with others.
And He also made us so that we could be in a relationship with Him. So that we could have the day of the Sabbath where, as the reading from Isaiah tells us, we can put aside our own interests and look to what God wants from us as well. Just as we would in our relationships with other people. Those relationships where we do often have to put aside our own wants to help the other.
And the same is true with God. We need that time with Him. That Sabbath. So that we can put aside our own worries and concerns. Our own wants and needs. And listen. Just as God listens to us.
The Sabbath is our chance to just Be. To be with God. And for us to stop and allow God to be with us. To take the time to be in relationship with God.
It is often easy for us to be so focused on the rules that we forget why they are there. To focus so much on the letter that we forget the meaning behind the law. But that's not what God wants from us. To be blind followers of everything he says. Drones. Mindless slaves.
God instead wants us to become closer to Him. That is why we celebrate the Eucharist on this day. To become closer to our Lord. To continue to be in relationship with Him.
Because God wants to be closer to us. That is why He came down and dwelled with us. And then died for us and for our sins. He did all this so that He could be in relationship with us, and so that we could rise to new life in Him.
And that same love, that same desire to be in relationship with us, that is what God wants us to have with each other. That is why He healed the woman on the Sabbath. Because the point of the Sabbath is not so that we can have another rule to follow. It's so that we can be closer to Jesus. It is so that we can allow our Lord to make us whole again.
And so, for the wonderful gift we have in Jesus Christ. The wonderful gift we have in this day where God reminds us of and shows us the deep abiding love He has for us. That love with which He gathers us all together to be with Him. To be in relationship with Him. For that, we can truly say, Thanks Be to God!