SERMON FOR ST MARK’S - TRINITY 10 BY FR KEITH BRISTOW
21.08.2022
Some people, especially those of us of a ‘certain age’, ask the question – ‘What has happened to Sunday’? Many more activities take place these days on what used to be a day of rest. Shops are open, sporting events are scheduled, and a lot of employers expect workers to regard Sunday as just another working day. No doubt, many of those who do not follow the Christian faith, aren’t particularly bothered by this, and, one could argue, why should they be? Sunday is only special for Christians, after all. People of other faiths have other days of the week that they keep as their ‘holy days’ – for Muslims Friday, and for Jews, Saturday. So, as numbers of Christians decline in this country, is it fair to want things to revert to how they once were a couple of generations ago? What does God make of all of this we might wonder?
Our two readings this morning, from Isaiah and Luke, are both concerned with the issue of keeping the Sabbath holy. We have to remember, of course, that what is being talked about here is not Sunday, but Saturday! That being said, however, quite clearly the idea of a ‘holy day of rest’ is relevant to Christians as much as it is for our Jewish sisters and brothers both back then and now. Certainly, keeping one day of the week special is seen by Isaiah, and by the leader of the synagogue in the Jesus story, as a measure of obedience to the will of God who decreed it long ago. To Isaiah, breaking the Sabbath, is another symptom of how much the people he is addressing, are pursuing their own selfish interests in many areas of their lives. But God will reward the obedient: ‘I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth’ the Lord says.
In Jesus’ day, when the Romans were occupying the country, the Jewish faith itself was seen to be under threat. So, keeping the Law of Moses was a particularly ‘hot’ issue. Like many Jewish officials, the leader of the synagogue would have been concerned that if parts of the Jewish Law began to be ignored, then the whole faith might disappear. The Law was a complete package, not something you were free to treat as a kind of ‘pick and mix’, just choosing to keep the bits which suited you.
It is very relevant to ask, then, why the Son of God, is breaking the very commandment that He Himself has given? What Jesus does and says therefore, in reply to the leader of the synagogue, is crucial to our understanding of the nature of God Himself – and how we are called to live out our faith today.
Throughout His earthly ministry Jesus always puts love and compassion for others above all else. He spends His time supporting and giving hope to those who others have given up on – like the woman in today’s story. For Jesus it’s always the needs of others that command His attention. So, when faced by someone in dire need of help, Jesus immediately sets about bringing them relief from what is troubling them, the fact that the day happens to be the Sabbath,
is not relevant to Jesus here. There is an urgent need, and He meets it. It’s as straightforward as that. Why should the woman who has suffered for 18 years already, be expected to wait any longer for the cure that He can give her? Elsewhere, in Mark 2 v 27, Jesus sets out His position clearly ‘the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; so the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath’. In other words, we shouldn’t allow legal principles to get in the way of ‘loving our neighbour’ when that neighbour is in need.
Now of course, Jesus wasn’t advocating complete lawlessness. But here, and in other similar situations in the Gospels, we find Him criticising those for whom ‘legalism’ is more important than the people the laws were meant to help.
As flawed human beings we sadly sometimes get our priorities wrong. No doubt the leader of the synagogue was being sincere in his efforts to keep people on the right side of God’s Law. But, in Jesus, we see God in action in concrete situations here on earth. So, correct though the legal principles might be, sometimes, the greatest principle of all – Love, is more important. How do we discern when that is the case? Well, through prayer and listening to the guiding voice of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.
I remember reading that just after the Russian Revolution, the authorities in the Soviet Union decided to abolish Sunday, because religion had no place in the new state. Very quickly though, worker’s productivity began to decline, so a new ‘rest day’ had to be introduced. It seems that God’s system of six days labour and a day of rest on the seventh, does make sense. Physically we can’t just keep going without taking a break! It also does us good to spend time with families and friends and be able to relax together – something which the erosion of Sunday being a shared special day makes more difficult. However, if we, as Christians lament the loss of ‘proper’ Sundays, we shouldn’t be seen to be doing it just for ‘legalistic’ reasons.
To many people, Christianity is already seen as something negative – critical of anything enjoyable. In reaching out to others it’s important that we show people that Love, Compassion and Forgiveness are more important than telling people they are sinners for going shopping on our holy day, for example! Talking positively about how spending quality time with God and those who are important to us on Sundays, is much more likely to make others want to find out more about Jesus, than bare criticism is ever likely to do.
So, lets learn to be more like Jesus in trying to meet peoples needs when they arise, not just when it suits us, and never making ‘legalism’ and excuse for inaction. By looking to Him and listening to the Spirit we will be helping God’s Kingdom come and ensuring that His will, rather than ours, is done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
