Reflection on Exodus 20:14 and Matthew 5:27-32

 

The first wedding that I attended was not a real wedding; so I was told anyway.  Chris and Wendy had been sweethearts since first grade.  And, as fifth graders, they had decided that it was time to tie the knot.  So, they approached the local pastor’s son, and convinced him to perform a wedding for them during recess.   

As silly as all of this sounds, the upcoming wedding of Chris and Wendy was a big deal on the playground.  We all waited with anticipation for the big day, which came the very next day. 

With a bouquet of dandelions picked by friends, Wendy walked down the sidewalk…I mean aisle…in order to meet up with Chris, her future husband.  And so, behind the dumpsters of the Kiester Elementary School (because the playground teacher could not see what we were doing when behind the dumpsters), Chris and Wendy were made husband and wife with all the authority that a pastor’s kids with a stolen wedding liturgy from his dad could provide. To seal the deal, Chris and Wendy drew close to each other and held hands.  That was the first wedding I ever attended.

I told my mother about the wedding, and she assured me that it was not a real wedding.  I was not quite so sure.  They were given the monkey bars the next day to play on by themselves as a honeymoon gift from us students.  They were allowed to be on the same team for kickball, they were married after-all.  And, when after a couple of weeks Chris was seen holding hands with another girl on the playground, the devastation that fell upon Wendy was in no way imaginary.  The tears that were wiped from Wendy’s eyes by her friends were very real.  Even as kids, we understood what devotion to another person should look like.  And, even though we did not have the words to express it, we knew what adultery was all about.

“You shall not commit adultery.”  You shall be and shall remain devoted to the ones whom you have promised to be devoted.  “You shall not commit adultery.”

On another occasion, I handed a tissue so that a man could wipe away the tears of betrayal.  He and his wife had married young.  And, though he could imagine spending the rest of his remaining time on this earth with no one else but his wife, she realized that she had never gotten a chance to experience the world.  So, nearly every night as he returned from work, she walked out the door, dressed up with lavish makeup.  “I going dancing with my friends,” she would say closing the door. 

“It is not just dancing with her friends,” the man said to me.  He was right.  It was much more than just dancing with friends. 

“I have given her everything,” he told me.  I provide for her, she does not need to even work.  I buy her clothes.  I cook for her.  I purchased a great house for us.  I give her back rubs.  And, it is like she does not even see me.  Why is she doing this?  She’s forcing me to give her up.  How can I give her up?”  And, the pain and torment that this man went through as he continually rubbed his hands over his face, through his tears, dragging those tears through his hair reminded me again and again of the anguish-filled words of the Lord in Hosea 11:8 as the Lord cries out concerning Israel broken covenant, “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel?”

In Hosea, the Lord is intentionally portrayed as a spurned spouse, whose stomach turns and twists in knots while waiting for his wife to come home.  “How can I give you up?” the Lord cries as Israel seeks other gods.  “How can I give you up?” the Lord cries as the Lord considers everything that has been done for them.  They were created by the Lord.  They were fed and nourished by the Lord.  They were delivered out of slavery by the Lord.  They were given a tabernacle as a special place to meet one-on-one with the Lord.  What more could the Lord have done?  “How can I give you up?” the Lord cries as the Lord considers the unprecedented possibility of spending some time apart: the exile.

The Israelites took holy places to the Lord and dedicated them to another god of the region: Baal, and it broke God’s heart.  They took Bethel, the very rock where Jacob laid his head and saw visions of angels going up and down out of heaven (a portal between heaven and earth you could say), the place where Jacob spoke with the Lord, and they intentionally ripped that special place out of God’s hands and dedicated it to Baal.  How could God’s people do this?  The book of Hosea clearly depicts Israel’s actions toward God as adultery and prostitution.  The people are holding hands on the playground with another and they have not remained devoted to God to whom they promised to be devoted. 

As you can see, “You shall not commit adultery” has very close ties with the command, “You shall have no other gods.”   God has remained devoted to us, not only throughout history, but also throughout our own lives.  Our lives would be nothing without the Lord. 

God does not commit adultery toward us, but we can certainly commit adultery toward God, putting other things and other commitments first.  We fail, but the Lord does not.  “How precious is your steadfast love, O God!” the Psalmist sings.  The Lord is wholly devoted to us.

And this is the reason that adultery within our own lives is so destructive, not only to our relationships and families, but also to our relationship with God.  If we are people made in the Lord’s image, which we are; and if we are people who are created to carry the name of the Lord…to carry the image of the Lord…in all we do and say, which we are commanded to do; then the devotion we show in our relationships should reflect the devotion that the Lord shows to us.  Does that make sense?

In other words, how are people supposed to know what a holy love that is steadfast and never-ending looks like if we, the people who were made to be the image of God on this earth, fail to display that sort of devotion and love in our relationships?  “You shall not commit adultery.”  You shall be and shall remain devoted to the ones whom you have promised to be devoted.

Jesus takes this even deeper, as he often does.  This sort of devotion is so important to being the people of God, that Jesus thinks we should not only refrain from commit adultery, but we should probably get to the root of why it happens.  “Everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart,” Jesus declares (Matthew 5:28).  And, I think that Jesus would say the same for women in this day and age.  It is the lust for someone else that is at the root of adultery. 

If we hope to be the people of God, which we do, then tear out the eye that causes you to sin Jesus exclaims!  Alright, that seems a little extreme, but you get Jesus’ point, do you not?  Get it under control before it causes more problems.  After-all, adultery always cause more problems. 

It is no coincidence that Jesus talks about divorce in the next few sentences because that is where adultery often leads.  And, Jesus cares a lot about the subject of divorce because if you give up on those whom you promised to be devoted to, then who will care for them?  Who will feed them and keep them safe?  Who will make sure the family stays a family? 

Jesus does not want things to fall apart. Jesus is all about putting things together.  Listen, God pulled us together from scattered grains of dust when we were created.  God pulled God’s people together in a great procession and rescued them from Egypt.  God pulls you close to those you love, but with whom you had a falling out, through forgiveness.  And, Jesus opens his arms wide to draw us all together as Colossians teaches, “[Jesus reconciled] to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:20). 

Jesus loves us.  Jesus is devoted to us.  And Jesus cares that we be devoted to others.

And, just in case adultery has shaped your own world and own your past, and guilt and shame are lurking near, I want to remind you that the Lord is still devoted to you.  Jesus has died on the cross for you.  You are held in love forever, making you free to try again to be that person of devotion that God created you to be.  You do not believe me?  I have a story for you.  It is from the gospel of John.

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, ⁴they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. ⁵Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” ⁶They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. ⁷When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. ⁹When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. ¹⁰Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” ¹¹She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” (John 8:3-11)

Never forget that God is devoted to you.  God loves you with a love that can overcome failure and erase sin.  God forgives you again and again.  God is devoted to you, and that is why God cares so much about your devotion to others.  “Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” 

“You shall not commit adultery.”  You shall be and shall remain devoted to the ones whom you have promised to be devoted.

 

Reflection on Exodus 20:13 and Luke 6:27-36

 

The official was simply doing his job, patrolling his beat as he did every other day, except this day would be different.  A man suddenly ambushes him from behind, and murders him in cold blood, marking his last day on duty…marking his last day on this earth.  The murder of someone on patrol is enough to make your blood boil, and you immediately think, “An eye for an eye,” “a death for a death.”

The brother was envious of his sibling.  The sibling was the favored one.  The sibling was the one who got the attention and the accolades.  The sibling needed to go.  So, while the sibling was engrossed in his work, his brother killed him in cold blood.  The murder seems senseless, and you immediately think, “An eye for an eye,” “a death for a death.”

The government official lusted for what he wanted.  In his capacity…in his high office, he did not need to get blood on his own hands.  He could get what he wanted with just a little manipulation of those below.  He could just stand back and allow it to happen.  And, he did.  The person he wanted gone was gone, and the government official got what he desired.  The manipulation and the murder is frustrating to the final degree because you know that he will get away with it and that people will even support him because he is beloved.  Still you think, “An eye for an eye,” “a death for a death,” even though in this case, it seems unlikely.

“You shall not murder,” God demands.  You shall not intentionally, and maliciously end a life in a premeditative way. 

King David, God’s own chosen ruler, murders one of his most devoted soldiers by putting him in the front lines of war, all so that he can steal the soldier’s wife as his own.  This was the last example, and it was murder.

Cain murders his own brother, wiping away a quarter of all humanity is one swing, all because he is envious that his brother’s offering to God was favored by God over his own.  This was the second example and it was murder.

And, the greatest of all prophets, Moses, decides that he is going to take matters into his own hands and free his people singlehandedly.  He murders the official keeping watch over some Israelite slaves as if he can take down an empire with his own two hands.  Someone’s family did not get to see their father come home.  Someone’s children did not get to hug their father that evening, or ever beyond that day.  This was the first example and it was murder.

And, a friend of mine aches for his own friend who just lost his brother, sister-in-law, and beloved niece to some seemingly random gun violence while in their tent, camping in a state park.  You do not expect something like this in rural Iowa.  It is murder, and the ache in everyone’s heart is beyond comprehension. 

Murder is the opposite of carrying God’s love to your neighbors.  Murder is the total refusal to recognize that the neighbor is a child of the holy one.  Murder is intentionally seeking death rather than life.  Murder is intentionally refusing to acknowledge that God may have given us a gift in the person right in front of us.  It is no wonder that the first time that the word “sin” shows up in the Bible, it is used in a story that has to do with murder.

“Sin” in the Hebrew simply means, “To fail.”  Sin is failing to do what God would have done.  Sin is failing to love those who God loves.  Sin is missing the mark and not reaching the goal.  Sin is failing to carry the image of God to your neighbor, and whenever we fail to carry God’s image to our neighbor, whether in great ways or small, we are aiding in allowing darkness and death to take hold of this world.

I know you thought you had this commandment down.  I know that you thought you would get away clean with this commandment.  I, for one, have not murdered anyone, and I am willing to bet that you have not murdered anyone either.  And, even those of us who have killed (such as in war), most of us have not done with a malicious intent, which is required for murder.  Like me, you thought you were good, that is until I mentioned that failing in great ways or small both aid in allowing darkness and death to take hold.

You see, there is this truth, when coming to the scriptures in an honest and biblical way, that we must contend with.  When we read something like, “You shall not murder,” we are not allowed by the Bible to simply take that at face value.  “No murder, I am good!”  No, you cannot do that.  Instead, when we read the Bible, it is intended by the writers that we also consider all harm that falls below the threshold of murder.  You shall not murder is a statement, by God, that includes all harm underneath. 

You do not believe me?  Then listen to the words of God.  Listen to what Jesus has to say, “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire” (NRSV, Matthew 5:21-22).

So, that time that I called my brother a “no good, rotten jerk face,” we did not swear in my family…that was the worst I could come up with; and when I secretly imagined a sinkhole suddenly swallowing my brother whole, that probably was not viewed by God as my most wholesome and holy moment.  In fact, my anger was inviting death one step closer to my soul. 

Now, I may be wrong here, but I am not certain that death by sink hole was quite an eye for an eye for refusing to play with me.  I am certain that showing anger probably was not the way to go if I wanted my brother to be even remotely interested in playing with me.  But, when steps toward death are taken rather than toward life…when anger wins out over love…nothing good ever comes as a result.  Playtime does not happen.

But, you already know that.  You already know the heartache that comes after a falling out.  You already know the destruction to family and friends that unbridled anger can cause.  You already know.  You have seen sin and death lingering like a beast, ready to pounce at any chance it gets.  It tears at your soul even today.

Like, the day I came home from college and tore into my Dad because he accidentally mixed my white socks in with my red shirts.  That still haunts me.  Was it a murder?  No, but it kind of was.  Our relationship died a little that day.  Things like that tear at your soul.

Here is the good news: God still allowed Moses to be his Prophet, God built Cain a city and protected him from harm, and God allowed David to continue to rule during the golden age of his empire.  It is almost as if you can hear David singing the words of the Psalm: the Lord “forgives all your iniquity,” the Lord “redeems your life from the Pit,” the Lord, “crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,” and the Lord is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”  The Lord does not “keep his anger forever.”

This is the forgiving love that Jesus shows us.  God is not in favor of death.  God is life.  God creates life.  God desires that we be able to carry life to our neighbors in all we do and say.  So, Jesus takes our sins and dies with them so that we can have life.  First Peter 2:24 says it best, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.”

Here is a second truth about the commandments.  Whenever you read a “shall not” you should automatically be thinking of the accompanying “shall.”  For example when you read, “You shall not eat Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, they are bad for you” you should automatically think, “You shall eat something healthy like celery…with peanut butter, dipped in chocolate.”  OK, I am not very good at this obviously, so let us close out with someone who is: Jesus.

27“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.  (Luke 6:27-36)

“You shall not murder.”

Reflection on Exodus 20:12 and John 19:25b-27

 

“Honor your father and your mother.” 

 Following close behind showing honor and devotion to God, honoring your father and your mother is one of the “weightiest” commands given by God.  I mean that literally.  The root of the Hebrew word for “honor” means “weighty,” as in “very serious” and “important.”  Honoring your father and your mother is a very weighty task, because just as there is no end to the gratitude that we can give God for life and every good thing, so too there is no end to the gratitude that we can give God’s co-creators; our parents. 

Take a moment to reflect on all of the things for which you are grateful regarding your parents.

The Bible says that we are created in the image of God, “male and female” we were created in God’s image.  And, so when I reflect on my own Dad, I think the strongest quality that I see resembling God was his absolute care and devotion for the outcast and the underdog. 

As a pastor, my Dad would go to bat for any person who others stomped down.  With a righteous sort of anger, my Dad would confront those who had no problem pushing others to the sidelines and who showed no remorse pushing the lowly down, especially in the churches that he served.  He also had no problem calling these church bullies names.  “The Old Battle-ax,” “The Old Bat,” and “Alligator” were some of my Dad’s chosen names for his foes, along with a couple that I am not brave enough to relate to you in church.

I am not saying that my Dad was Jesus.  Just from the nicknames you can tell that he was one of the most irreverent reverends that ever existed.  No one would have mistaken him for a holy man.  But, where the heart of Jesus shined through in his character was whenever he would do as Jesus did and protect the lowliest ones and protect the fallen sinner from the self-righteous and unforgiving scorn of those who considered themselves “faithful.” 

My Dad was not worried about making everyone happy, and therefore was also not worried about his length of service at any given church.  Like Jesus did to the Pharisees, he would call out the hypocrites, and publicly lift up the undervalued.  He was loved by some, and much less loved by others.  At least, he was never nailed to any of the crosses hanging in his churches.

I think about my Dad’s concern for God’s justice and love of the lowly a lot.  It is honorable.  It is worthy of respect.  It is worthy of emulation, if only I were so brave.  Honor your father and your mother, because they carry God to you.

My Mom is very different in temperament from my Dad.  She too cares for the lowly and has unending empathy for the outcast, but she shows it in a nurturing and self-sacrificial way.  When I called her the other day, she had a house absolutely full of little ones.  It was noisy.  It sounded stressful.  It is not what my Mom expected to be doing in retirement.  But, that is what self-sacrificial people do in order to help others out.  They reflect the love of Jesus for the little ones, and they do anything to help someone in need, even if the rowdy children nail them to a cross while doing it!  It looks a lot like Jesus.  It looks a lot like God.

Such love and self-sacrifice is honorable.  It is worthy of respect.  It is worthy of emulation.  Honor you father and your mother, because they carry God to you.

So, in the perfect world, our parents would look a lot like God and sound a lot like God and would act a lot like God.  And, children would listen to their parents and learn from them and emulate them and it would all create a community of Godly people.  And, when we are all emulating God together, our days will be long in the land that the Lord our God has given us.  All will be good.

Parents will care for their children and teach them.  In turn, adult children will care for parents when it is time.  Children such as Jesus will make certain that their mothers are cared for. 

While hanging on the cross, his last breathes lingering close, Jesus uses his precious time and his precious breathe to ensure that his mother is cared for.  Jesus says to his mother, “Woman, here is your son,” directing her attention to the disciple that he loved.  And, then Jesus said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.”  When parents are honored, and cared for, the days in the land are, indeed, long and prosperous.

I know.  It is hard.  It is hard for children to trust that their parents are right, and it is hard for children to listen, and to follow.  Adam and Eve could not do it, and their only parent was God!  Our parents are not perfect, but Adam and Eve had God!  It is hard.  In fact, the commandment exists because it is hard.

I know.  It is hard.  If is hard to care for your parents in old age.  Parents listen about as well as adolescents, and forget to do the most basic of things just about as often. 

“Mom, where are your car keys?”

“They are in the fridge.”

“Why are they in the fridge?”

“So that I can find them in the morning.”

I know that it is hard.  But, never forget that your parents were formed and molded in the image of God for you.  They are God’s gift to you, so that you would have a chance to live and grow in the ways of the Lord; so that “your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” 

“Honor your father and your mother.”

I know that it is hard.  I also know that a few of you still remain conflicted because it is true that not every parent shows the glory of God in what they do and say.  Again, this commandment is an ideal.  If parents are Godly, showing God’s image in all they do and say, then children should listen and honor them so that they too can be Godly and learn to show God’s image in all they do and say.  Again, that is the ideal, but frankly, there are some parents that fall well short of the ideal.

The Bible talks about them also.  When referring to bad parents, the Bible say, “[God] does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth [generation]” (Exodus 34:7b). 

Now, do not worry here.  The Bible is not saying that you will be punished because you had rotten parents.  Rather, God is trying to impress upon us that each generation will be held accountable if they continue the mess that their rotten parents created.  And, parents can certainly pass on a rotten mess.

You have seen this.  You have seen children follow the same wrong path, and make the same mistakes as their parents.  It happens all the time.  Even in the Bible we see that the mighty King David’s children follow in his adulterous footsteps, ruining women’s lives created havoc in the nation every step of the way.  You have also seen children who have had to continually clean up their parent’s messes.  You have seen young children acting as the grown up because, well frankly, someone has too.

Obviously, the command to “Honor your father and your mother” is not a command to jump off the cliff just because your parents did.  If parents cannot at least bear a passing resemblance of God, then there is no expectation that they be honored in the ways that we normally would. 

For those who struggle with less than good parents, never forget, God’s love is not absent just because your parent’s love may be.  In fact, God’s love and God’s power can inspire children to turn the generational curse around.  God will try again and again, as long as it takes, to turn things around. 

God looks with love on you who have not had the most honorable of parents.  God looks on you with an unending, steadfast love.  The Bible says that God is gracious and compassionate; slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  The Bible promises that to those who honor God and have no choice but to choose God as their parent, God will show steadfast love to the thousandth of generation.

Rather than repeat the mistakes of our parents, we can view those mistake as a gift, as a warning, so that we do not repeat those mistakes and suffer in the same way. 

We can walk in the ways of love.  We can walk in the ways of God.  We can desire to follow Jesus.  After-all, parents desire nothing more than for their children to become honorable people of God also, that their days may also be long and good.

“Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”

Reflection on Exodus 20:8-11 and Luke 6:1-11

 

It is summer now, and I imagine that there are any number of places that you wish you could be vacationing right about now.  One of those places might be a beautiful beach in a beautiful house overlooking the sea.  Now, imagine that you actually get to build a house right on the beach.  You are building it yourself, of course.  You want it to be just right. 

As you plan, you make sure that it faces the right direction, so that the windows get light. 

As you set the footers, you make sure that the house will be high enough to remain dry, even in a surging storm.

You make sure to leave space around the house for plants and palm trees.

You put up walls and install big windows in order to let the sun in during the day and the moon and stars during the night.

Of course, you do all the plumbing and electrical work, as well as the drywall, the painting, and the placement of furniture.  But, such a house would not be complete (it would not be a home) without some pets.  So, you get a dog to run with you on the beach, and some tropical birds in a large cage to complete the scene.

And, after all of that hard work it is time to just focus on you.  You bring in your own personal items, and then you stop.  You lie on the couch and settle in for a nice long rest, staring at the ocean waves through the sliding glass doors.

But, it still does not feel right.  Would it not be great to have some friends stop what they are doing, come over, and enjoy some time together at the beach?  So, on the weekend, to your beach house they come in order to enjoy some good food, conversation, and of course, the beach.

Now, I want you to imagine that this whole story is not about you building a house, but it is about God building a universe.  And, that after all the hard work of creating night and day, and sun, moon, and stars, and plants, and animals, God stops all of God’s work, and invites you to stop your work.  God invites you to come to God’s house, and settle into the comfy furniture across from God so that you can rest deeply in God’s presence.  That is what those who enjoy each other’s company do after-all.

Remember the Sabbath day and keeping it holy.  Taking the Hebrew literally here, we could say, “Remember the ‘stopping’ day so that you can rest in God’s presence.”  The Sabbath is a day of rest for a weary people.  The Sabbath day is a chance to be in God’s presence, trusting in God for everything once again.  The Sabbath day is a gift from our holy creator so that we can rest deeply in God’s presence and learn to trust God completely for it all.

Bible nerd time; if you were to read through the days of creation in Genesis, you would discover a very distinct pattern going on.  After God creates something, if you remember, the text then almost always finishes, “And there was evening and there was morning, the first day,” or “the third day,” or “the fifth day.”  This is likely nothing new to you.  You have heard these words a million times.  But, what you may not have noticed is that this phrase is not spoken on the seventh day.  The seventh day, the day when God stops, the day that is set aside for rest and settling in, does not have an end in the text.

That is strange.  It makes you wonder, “What is going on?”  Well, I will tell you what is going on!  The very next story then is the second creation account, where things are created in a little different order, but the focus of this story is Adam and Eve.  It is about their time in the garden where they are granted the gift of walking around and talking with the Lord.  In other words, the authors were really smart in how they put these stories together here: Adam and Eve are enjoying the seventh day.  They are enjoying this perpetual Sabbath day when they can be with God, tend to the abundant garden, and generally just enjoy the Lord’s abundance and the Lord’s presence. 

Is that not cool?  I warned you that it was a Bible nerd thing, but it means something really big.  It means that the Sabbath is a gift from God that provides two very needed things in our very busy and chaotic world.

First, it offers the gift of rest.  Notice that this gift of rest is for everyone.  Not even “your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns” are asked to engage in any work.  It is a day of rest for everyone.  It is a day in which the CEOs of the world do not get to dictate to you that the company is more important.  It is a gift of rest and quiet in a world of productivity and efficiency.  It is a gift that is hard to accept.  After-all, many of us do work when we should rest.

And, what is the punishment for failing to observe the Sabbath?  Does God send a lightning bolt and strike people dead for refusing to stop working?  No.  The punishment for ignoring the Sabbath is not getting a Sabbath.  Not getting the rest that you need and deserve is quite punishment enough.  How many heart attacks have occurred in this world because some people just are not able to stop?  How many people in this world are run into the dirt because they are not free to stop, but are slaves to the whims of others?  Remember the stopping day, and keep it holy.

The other gift (probably the primary gift) that the Sabbath provides is God’s presence.  It is the opportunity to come to God’s house on the beach, allowing God to provide for your needs as you rest in God’s presence and engage in holy conversation.

In the Jewish parts of Jerusalem today, you see this amazing thing happen the hours just before the Sabbath starts.  People are frantically buying food from the markets, running home and preparing the food for the next 24 hours.  The streets are full and they are busy in a crazy way.  And, as soon as the sun sets and the Jewish Sabbath begins (which begins at sunset Friday night), the streets are suddenly quiet except for the singing of hymns from homes and the smells of a delightful meal blowing out the windows and through the streets. 

For the next 24 hours, the people of God will live as if they were in the garden of Eden.  They will not prepare food, it is already ready, just like the plants and trees were ripe and full in the garden of Eden.  They will sing to God and read from the Hebrew Scriptures, allowing God to be in their presence and shape and mold them.  They will rest and remember once again to put their trust in the Lord, the one who creates and sustains everything. 

That is the gift of the Sabbath.  That is the gift worth holding onto.  That is the gift that can revive the world.  That is the gift which puts life and the world in perspective again.  That is the gift that oozes God’s mercy and love for us, God’s people.

That is the gift of rest and divine presence that Jesus desperately wants everyone to be able to experience. 

While walking through the grain fields, which should remind us of God walking with Adam and Eve in the garden, Jesus’ disciples pluck some grain and are fed from the graces of God’s abundance.  It is an image of Eden.  It also looks like work to some people. There will always be someone around to complain.  But, humans were not created to serve the Sabbath; the Sabbath is a gift which is created for humans.  What could be better than enjoying the day with the Lord?

Again, Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath, allowing him to finally rest from the pain, allowing him to rest from the worry, and allowing him to be in the very presence of the Lord.  Some complain that the healing Jesus does is work, but the Sabbath is about stopping all that destroys life and resting in the presence of the one who creates life.

Whenever we are in the presence of Jesus, we are walking in that unending Sabbath day where we can rest deeply, trusting in the Lord to provide.

And so, may your Sabbath day, today, be a day of deep rest and engagement with the Lord.  May you learn to trust the Lord once again.  May you walk in that garden with God where the sun never sets and the Lord’s goodness is always present.