12 Pentecost Proper 17 Yr C Aug 28 2022

12 Pentecost Proper 17 Yr C Aug 28 2022

Sirach 10:12-18, Psalm 112, Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16, Luke 14:1, 7-14

 

Luke, the gospel writer of hospitality, tells us a story about Jesus who is going to eat at the house of a leader of the Pharisees, who we learned all about last week as the keepers of the Law. This is the Sabbath, a day that is held in high esteem according to the Law, a day set apart from all other days. In the story that Luke is telling us, Jesus observes how the guests take their places, and tells a story about an invitation to a very special meal, a wedding banquet, and another rather ordinary meal, like a luncheon or dinner. So we have before us, a story within a story, and then, another story.

 

I just presided at the wedding of my nephew and his bride, it was a very fun affair, and a privilege to be the presider. However, a wedding banquet in 1st century Mediterranean culture would have been nothing like that. It would have gone on for days, and the celebration was public, everyone in the whole village would have come to the celebration at one time or another. And in fact, there would have been multiple meals all week long. So after Jesus talks about the wedding, he then goes on to describe meals, and hospitality sort of generally, giving an accounting for who should be invited. There are many things going on here.

 

So how can we understand these stories, these parables. Imagine yourself as an invited guest. What does that mean for you? Where do you sit? With whom do you sit? Is there ever a time you may think to yourself, surely not saying anything out loud, that person should not be here, or that person is not distinguished enough, or that person is not good enough, that person is not like me, that person should not be at this table. But Jesus says, "give this person your place." And we hear in the letter to the Hebrews, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”

 

Now, I want you to imagine yourself as the one who does the inviting. You’re throwing the party. Jesus says, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

 

Remember, Jesus tells this parable when he is at a meal in the house of a leader of the Pharisees. You gotta believe the leader of the Pharisees have an agenda in inviting Jesus over, usually, they want to test him, they want to see what he's made of, they want to find out if he is righteous before the law. And so far, in the eyes of the Pharisees, Jesus has failed miserably. He heals on the Sabbath, he eats with sinners and outcasts, and now, he's telling everyone in hearing distance not to invite the important people over for a meal but invite those who cannot return the invitation. Who do we invite to come eat with us here at this table? “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”

 

And lastly, I want you to imagine the invitation itself. This is an invitation that we cannot pay back. Jesus invites each and every one of us to the table, it's not about whether or not we deserve an invitation. Because, somehow, we are transformed in the eating. Somehow, we cannot leave the table without being changed. It is not our own doing, it is indeed the love that wins, the love that blesses, that changes us, the love that heals us. “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”

 

You see, this story within a story from the gospel writer Luke, who is all about hospitality, gives us a picture of God's kingdom. 

What does the kingdom look like in this story?

 

Again, in Jesus’ culture, the greatest good was one's honor. Of course, you sat at the head of the table, of course you expected those less than you to sit at the lowest place. Of course, you invited the important people, the people who could do something for you, the people who had something you need. You would not have considered any other way. That's the way the world worked. It's really not so much different today. Jesus came among the first century people, as Jesus comes among us and says there is a new way, a way of God's kingdom. And in that kingdom, everyone has honor, everyone has status, and that is based on God's love, that is based on being created in God's image. It is not about who you are, it is not based on how much you have, it is not based on anything you can do. In God's kingdom, we are all related, and what we do matters. In God's kingdom it is love that wins and love that blesses.

 

What do you hear in this story? I hear a story of abundance and of enough. Do not be worried about who comes to the party, there will be enough. In God's kingdom there is enough, share what you have. Jesus is inviting us to stop counting and start giving and blessing. What would it be like to live into the freedom to stop calculating our social prestige and stop worrying about what others think and simply be kind to everyone around us, particularly those who are not often the recipients of kindness? What would it look like at work, at school, and at the places we volunteer or play sports or socialize, to look out for those who seem off on the margin and to invite them into the center by inviting them into our lives, inviting them to the lunch table? Jesus invites us to experience the joy of playing “God’s helper” in handing out the abundant gifts of dignity and worth and value with which we have been blessed. There is joy that comes from blessing others with our regard.

 

We are called to this hospitality, we are called to this invitation, we are called to build this kingdom, where no one is an outcast, where all of us sinners are welcome. We are called to the table to feed and be fed. As we feed and are fed, we are sent into the world to be the heralds of this kingdom. We are sent into our work, and our school, we are sent into our communities, bearing this new reality. We are sent into the world to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so we entertain angels. By doing so we are the agents of God's kingdom. By doing so we bring God's healing and reconciliation to all who are broken, which is each and every one of us.

 

We are followers of Jesus. We are invited to the table where there is no preference of place. We are invited to be builders of the kingdom. We are charged to engage every person with mercy and compassion, for by doing so, we entertain angels. Amen. 

11th Sunday after Pentecost Yr C Proper 16 Aug 21 2022

11^th Sunday after Pentecost Yr C Proper 16 Aug 21 2022

Isaiah 58:9b-14, Psalm 103:1-8, Hebrews 12:18-29, Luke 13:10-17

 

Behold, I make all things new, my favorite verse in the book of Revelation. Behold, I make all things new may very well what the gospel writer Luke is trying to tell us. Luke is concerned with the relationship of the Law, given to God’s people, and the new creation, Jesus, given by God to God’s people. 

 

So what is the purpose of the law?

According to the stories told in the Old Testament, the purpose of the law is to provide us guidance in how to live with each other so that all of us may get more out of this life and world we share. The law, in short, promotes civility, cooperation, and health. It lends a certain order to our lives, order that creates space in which to flourish and grow. For all of these reasons, the law is given to the Israelites by God not to help them become God’s people but as a precious gift because they already are God’s people. But that’s not always how we use the law. Simply because law does, in fact, lend a modicum of order to a chaotic world, we are all too often seduced into thinking that creating and maintaining order is the purpose the law. We forget that the order the law provides is not an end in itself but rather is meant to serve life and health.

 

Which is what happens here in Luke. The original commandment to keep the Sabbath holy and to do no work on the Sabbath was meant to ensure that people who had been slaves for years and never knew rest would finally be guaranteed at least one day of rest a week. It was, in this sense, the first labor protection law, ensuring that employees and servants alike were not overworked. The law of the Sabbath, in other words, was designed to promote life and health.

 

But in this scene we see how one who is charged with keeping the law turns a means into an end, chastising Jesus for bringing life and health to this woman because it disrupts the order we tend to prize above all.

 

Before we are too hard on this zealous religious leader of Jesus’ day, however, let’s keep in mind how often we insist on keeping the letter of the law at the expense of its intent, and let’s be honest about our own craving for order and stability that makes it difficult for us to imagine “exceptions” to the law that promote greater life and health. Jesus challenges the letter of the law, even breaks its ordinance, because Jesus remembers the purpose of all of God’s Law. 

 

The purpose of all of God’s Law is freedom. This woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years and was bent over and quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 

 

Any day that celebrates new life is a good day for healing. Today is the day to stand up straight and praise God. Not only is today the day to stand up straight and praise God, it is the day for walking, leaping, moving forward informed by the past, into a future of hope, a future of creativity, a future of wholeness and healing. You see, that’s what this is all about; this gathering each Sabbath. 

 

We are the same as the woman in our gospel today. This woman whom Jesus set free. This woman who was bound up, or enslaved, for all of her adult life. This woman whom Jesus released. This good news we hear today is true. You and I know it is true because it describes our lives, each one of us is set free, each one of us is released from the bonds that hold us at a distance from each other, we are released from the bonds that keep us believing that ultimately our needs, real or perceived, are the most important needs in the room. You see, unlike what we experience in so many places in our lives, God's relationship with us is not transactional, God's relationship with us is loving, giving, emptying, freeing.

 

We find ourselves here today not because we have to be here, or we are obligated to be here, but because we are free. We are free from the bonds of selfishness, from the bonds of self-absorption, and egotism. We are free from the religion of our culture that preaches our worthiness is in a transaction - you must buy, you must have, you must consume, you must be the most important or good looking person in the room.

 

And Keeping Sabbath matters, your being here matters. Just like this woman, we bring all our brokenness, we bring all our hurt, and we are healed. And in the healing and being made whole again, being put back together, we are freed. We are freed to show compassion. And in reaching out, showing compassion, we participate in bringing God’s healing, freedom, joy and peace to those in need, and that is a rejuvenating path, a creative path, to experiencing those things more fully in our own lives. We are free to be transformed into the persons we are created to be. So what’s really important here? God's dream is healing and reconciliation, God's dream is love and compassion. Keeping the Sabbath is about keeping God’s dream the main thing. And it is about the nearness of the kingdom.

 

The woman in our story today was released from the bondage of her ailment. We too are released from bondage, but you and I both know that we tend to choose to stay in bondage. We tend to believe the religion of our culture that says to us either “you are like God” and deserve to have anything and anyone you want, or “you are worthless” and deserve only what happens to you, both of which are lies. 

 

The truth is so very different from any of that. The truth is that we are God’s beloved creation, and that God loves us whether or not we love God, and that God came to be part of creation, to live, love, suffer and die, so that we may be reconciled, joined together with God and with one another so that we may be free. The truth is that the story is not about any one of us, but the story is about God’s relationship with us, and our relationship with God and our neighbor.

 

That’s the main thing, and what flows from that main thing, what flows from God’s amazing and abundant love for us is the freedom to love others, regardless of approval or disapproval, regardless of whether or not they deserve our love, regardless of whether or not they brought life’s circumstances upon themselves or if they are a victim of circumstances. What flows from God’s amazing and abundant love for us is mercy and compassion.

 

So this week as we reflect on the gospel, it might do us some good to linger where Jesus lingers, to begin in a moment of Sabbath, to start from a quiet place within, and remember the main thing. The main thing, that it isn’t about me today, it isn’t about any one of us, it is about what happens outside the walls of this church. It is about meeting others with God’s compassion, God’s mercy, and reminding ourselves of the dignity, the freedom, the blessing that is God’s desire for each of us as God’s child.

 

Behold, you are made new. You are made in God’s image. Amen

*Much thanks to David Lose with the work on Law.

 

 

11 Pentecost Proper 16 Yr C August 25 2019

Audio  11 Pentecost Proper 16 Yr C August 25 2019

Isaiah 58:9b-14, Psalm 103:1-8, Hebrews 12:18-29, Luke 13:10-17

When I watch television these days I have the mute button on the remote close at hand, for the commercials. They drive me crazy. If I were one to believe anything I see and hear on television, these are the things that I think are important to Americans, in no particular order: we have to buy the right pharmaceuticals to sleep better, to feel better, or to have better sex; we have to buy a sexy car or a big truck; we have to buy the right product to have financial security; we have to drink but do so responsibly; we have to wear the right clothes; we have to buy the right toys, etc. etc. etc. Even the feel good ads want me to buy something. On some level, consumerism, the transactional relationship, has become the dominant world religion, and we freely hand ourselves over to it. And, when we begin to believe in the religion of consumerism, the religion of transaction, it is quite easy to come to believe that each one of us is the most important person in our particular universe, and fulfilling our needs is the most important endeavor we can be about.

So how is it we find ourselves in this place today? Why is it that you get up on Sunday morning and come to church? You've got other places to be, the lake place, or just drinking coffee in your own kitchen, soon and very soon it will be football. Why is it that so many of you put in hours planning our 175^th Anniversary celebration, so many of you attend vestry meetings as leaders in this church, you cut the grass, you clean the yard and the kitchen, you make sure this space is ready for us to gather, you read scripture, you serve at this altar. You spend your overnights in the GIFTS shelter, you make meals, you give rides. Here we are, honoring the Sabbath; here we are, worshipping God. Here we are, listening to stories of faith in Jesus, we are not at home, watching TV drinking our coffee. Here we are, eating and drinking the bread and the wine, being made into the body of Christ, why do we do it? Why do we come here?

I think it is because we are the same as the woman in our gospel today. This woman whom Jesus set free. This woman who was bound up, or enslaved, for all of her adult life. This woman whom Jesus released. This good news we hear today is true. You and I know it is true because it describes our lives, each one of us is set free, each one of us is released from the bonds that hold us at a distance from each other, we are released from the bonds that keep us believing that ultimately our needs, real or perceived, are the most important needs in the room. You see, unlike what we experience in so many places in our lives, God's relationship with us is not transactional, God's relationship with us is loving, giving, emptying.

We find ourselves here today not because we have to be here, or we are obligated to be here, but because we are free. We are free from the bonds of selfishness, from the bonds of self-absorption, and egotism. We are free from the religion of our culture that preaches our worthiness is in a transaction - you must buy, you must have, you must consume, you must be the most important or good looking person in the room.

And Keeping Sabbath matters, your being here matters. We bring all our brokenness, we bring all our hurt, and we are healed. And in the healing and being made whole again, being put back together, we are freed. We are freed to show compassion. And in reaching out, showing compassion, we participate in bringing God’s healing, freedom, joy and peace to those in need, and that is a rejuvenating path to experiencing those things more fully in our own lives. We are free to be transformed into the persons we are created to be. So what’s really important here? God's dream is healing and reconciliation, God's dream is love and compassion. Keeping the Sabbath is about keeping God’s dream the main thing. It is about the nearness of the kingdom.

The woman in our story today was released from the bondage of her ailment. We too are released from bondage, but you and I both know that we tend to choose to stay in bondage. We tend to believe the religion of our culture that says to us either “you are like God” and deserve to have anything and anyone you want, or “you are worthless” and deserve only what happens to you, both of which are lies.

The truth is so very different from any of that. The truth is that we are God’s beloved creation, and that God loves us whether or not we love God, and that God came to be part of creation, to live, love, suffer and die, so that we may be reconciled, or joined together with God, and with one another so that we may be free. The truth is that the story is not about any one of us, but the story is about God’s relationship with us, and our relationship with God and our neighbor.

That’s the main thing, and what flows from that main thing, what flows from God’s amazing and abundant love for us is the freedom to love others, regardless of approval or disapproval, regardless of whether or not they deserve our love, regardless of whether or not they brought life’s circumstances upon themselves or if they are a victim of circumstances. What flows from God’s amazing and abundant love for us is mercy and compassion.

So this week as we reflect on the gospel, it might do us some good to linger where Jesus lingers, to begin in a moment of Sabbath, to start from a quiet place within, and remember the main thing. The main thing, that it isn’t about me today, it isn’t about any one of us, it is about what happens outside the walls of this church. It is about meeting others with God’s compassion, God’s mercy, and reminding ourselves of the dignity, the freedom, the blessing that is God’s desire for each of us as God’s child.

Amen

2 Pentecost Yr B Proper 4 June 3 2018

2 Pentecost Yr B Proper 4 June 3 2018 Audio

This is the sermon for 2 Pentecost Yr B Proper 4 June 3 2018 rewritten for my preaching class at Luther.  Mark 2:23-3:6

Here we are, on a Sunday, on the Sabbath day, and here we have this passage from the gospel of Mark, about the Sabbath. Seems like it may very well be the proverbial preaching to the choir, you’re all here, observing the Sabbath, what more is there to say? There actually is a lot more to say in this Sabbath story. Jesus makes us whole. In this world that pulls us apart, that breaks our hearts, Jesus makes us whole.

Jesus was taking a big risk, a huge chance in this Sabbath story. One Sabbath Jesus and his disciples were walking through the grain fields, and his disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. No big deal you and I think, we do it all the time. At least I do, on a Sunday afternoon, walk around my yard and my garden and pluck the weeds right outa there. But the Pharisees are watching Jesus so carefully. In fact, they seem to be doing an awful lot of hanging around just to catch him in the act.

You see, Sabbath observance was one of the fundamental characteristics of the Jewish people, marking them off from other groups of the day. So a challenge at this point is no small matter. And that’s essentially what Jesus is doing here, intentionally or not; Jesus and his followers are challenging the Pharisees. It seems that the Pharisees care more about their custom than they do about their brother: they are more eager to bring Jesus down than to restore this man’s useless hand.

In Mark’s gospel, argument about the Sabbath played a critical role in the life of Jesus; indeed, it was one of the factors that led to his death. And, Sabbath observation was a burning question at the time the gospel was written, when the Christian movement was still separating from the synagogue.

So these questions about what is lawful on the Sabbath at the time were legitimate questions. Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, to save life? Or, by ignoring the need for healing, to harm life? This drove Jesus to anger. Jesus regards the Pharisees attitude as hardness of heart, they were stubborn, closed minded. They placed religious vigilance above concern for human need. They place the law above the wholeness and healing that Jesus offers.

So what does this Sabbath story have to do with us?

I remember the days, I don’t think they are so very far in the past, when Sundays, were for church and for Sunday dinner. I’m from a mixed marriage. Some of you remember the days when mixed marriage, that was marriage between a Lutheran and a Catholic, meant that the Lutheran signed a promise to raise the children in the Catholic church. Now I come from a large family, I’m five of eight. My mom would pile us all in the station wagon, and we were putting on our shoes and our hats and probably our gloves, as she was yelling at us to get in the car. We’d get to church; we’d empty the car like the Shriners at a parade, file into the church and take up a whole pew, just like all the other families. After church we’d all pile back into the car for the very short ride home. My dad never came with us on those Sabbath Sundays. Years later, when he did decide to be a Catholic, I learned that his agreement to raise us Catholic was to stay home with the very youngest ones so that my mom could get the rest of us to church. The Sabbath Sunday wasn’t necessarily relaxing, but it was part of church and family that was joyful and broken and messy.

And, the culture of the time supported this. There was no shopping on Sabbath Sundays, because there were no stores open, because the law wouldn’t allow it.

This is a rather nostalgic story, but I do think there is something to it. The human body and psyche need regular times of rest for rejuvenation, and for getting put back together. And it’s not just about the law even though Jesus challenges every form of legalism that reduces religion to the keeping of rules. It’s also about all the stuff that fragments us.

Sometimes, family and friends disappoint, maybe even break our hearts. Sometimes, work is impossible, maybe even breaks our spirit. Sometimes, the violence perpetrated in our schools makes us fearful, we may even despair. And even with our broken hears, our broken spirits and our despair, Jesus makes us whole.

The good news is that this passage from Mark isn’t all about making you feel guilty about church attendance; actually, it’s not about guilt at all. It’s about what God does in and through Jesus. It’s about God’s gift of wholeness, of healing, and of love. The good news is that Jesus makes us whole.

Within this story is Jesus’ story about David. The point of Jesus’ story about David is that scripture itself admits of exceptions to the law. The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath. This grounds Sabbath law in the welfare of humankind. It challenges every legalism that makes of the Sabbath a burden to bear rather healing, wholeness, and love.

Jesus is lord even of the Sabbath – this not only affirms the authority of Jesus, the son of man, to reinterpret Sabbath law, but asserts also that the Sabbath remains God’s day. Jesus determines the proper use of the Sabbath. Jesus best knows human needs; as God, Jesus has the authority to say how the Lord’s Day should be used. Jesus shows us that the Sabbath is created for healing, for wholeness, for love.

Risen lord, be known to us in the breaking of the bread. You see, what we do when we gather in this place, and in places around the world, has everything to do with the lord of the Sabbath, the Lord who heals, the Lord who makes us whole, and it’s not so much about law as it is about love. We come, we make room, space is opened in our hearts, sometimes by choice, often because our hearts are broken. The ways of the world have left us broken, pulled apart, isolated, and love seeps in. It seeps in with bread and wine. Love seeps in through song and prayer and hugs and handshakes. We come with broken hearts, we come with streaming tears, and those tears remind us that in the waters of baptism we die and are raised with Jesus. Jesus makes us whole, Jesus actually makes us new on this Sabbath.

You who are broken by the ways and wills of the world, Jesus makes you whole.

You who are broken by the cares and concerns of this community, Jesus makes you whole.

You who are broken by the extremes and excesses of economy, Jesus makes you whole.

Take the Sabbath story out with you. God shows up in this place, and for a time we rest in these pews, and then we are sent out. We bring our new selves, our selves that Jesus has put back together, out into our work, our schools, our neighborhood. We bring our newly constituted selves, put back together in the bread and the wine, the body and the blood, our holy selves, made so by the one who is risen. Thanks be to God.

Following is the original.

Here we are, on a Sunday, on the Sabbath day, and here we have this passage from the gospel of Mark, about the Sabbath. Seems like it may very well be the proverbial preaching to the choir, you’re all here, observing the Sabbath, what more is there to say?

Jesus was taking a big risk, a huge chance in this Sabbath story. One Sabbath Jesus and his disciples were walking through the grain fields, and his disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. No big deal you and I think, we do it all the time. At least I do, on a Sunday afternoon, walk around my yard and my garden and pluck the weeds right outa there. But the Pharisees are watching Jesus so carefully. In fact, they seem to be doing an awful lot of hanging around just to catch him in the act.

You see, Sabbath observance was one of the fundamental characteristics of the Jewish people, marking them off from other groups of the day. So a challenge at this point is no small matter. And that’s essentially what Jesus is doing here, intentionally or not; Jesus and his followers are challenging the Pharisees. It seems that the Pharisees care more about their custom than they do about their brother: they are more eager to bring Jesus down than to restore this man’s useless hand.

In Mark’s gospel, argument about the Sabbath played a critical role in the life of Jesus; indeed, it was one of the factors that led to his death. And, Sabbath observation was a burning question at the time the gospel was written, when the Christian movement was still separating from the synagogue.

So these questions about what is lawful on the Sabbath at the time were legitimate questions. Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, to save life? Or, by ignoring the need for healing, to harm life? This drove Jesus to anger. Jesus regards the Pharisees attitude as hardness of heart, they were stubborn, closed minded. They placed religious scrupulosity above concern for human need.

So what does this Sabbath story have to do with us?

I remember the days, I don’t think they are so very far in the past, when Sundays, were for church and for Sunday dinner. I’m from a mixed marriage. Some of you remember the days when mixed marriage, that meant marriage between a Lutheran and a Catholic, meant that the Lutheran signed a promise to raise the children in the Catholic church. Now I come from a large family, you all know that, I’m five of eight. My mom would pile us all in the station wagon, and we were putting on our shoes and our hats and probably our gloves, as she was yelling at us to get in the car. We’d get to church; we’d empty the car like the Shriners at a parade, file into the church and take up a whole pew, just like all the other families. After church we’d all pile back into the car for the very short ride home. My dad never came with us. Years later, when he did decide to be a Catholic, I learned that his agreement to raise us Catholic was to stay home with the very youngest ones so that my mom could get the rest of us to church. The day wasn’t necessarily relaxing, but it was all part of this messiness that was church and family.

And, the culture of the time supported this. There was no shopping on Sundays, because there were no stores open, because the law wouldn’t allow it.

I don’t think this is all about nostalgia, but I do think there is something to it. The human body and psyche need regular times of rest. It’s not just about the law even though Jesus challenges every form of legalism that reduces religion to the keeping of rules.

We are so busy, and so much calls our attention away from rest and listening. You all know this; in fact, I’ve heard many of you speak of it recently. The 24-hour news cycle that is driving us all crazy. Your phone pings every time a news report comes in. You are updated every time one of your friends posts a picture, or eats at a new restaurant. We have to remember to turn our phones off when we come to church, or go to a concert. And it is increasingly difficult to discern the real from the fake.

Our electronic lives tend to pull us apart, we are pulled apart from one another, and we are fragmented and isolated.

The good news is that this passage isn’t all about making you feel guilty about church attendance; it’s not about guilt at all.

Within this story is Jesus’ story about David. The point of Jesus’ story about David is that scripture itself admits of exceptions to the law. The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath. This grounds Sabbath law in the welfare of humankind. It challenges every legalism that makes of the Sabbath a burden to bear rather than renewal for the road.

Jesus is lord even of the Sabbath – this not only affirms the authority of Jesus, the son of man, to reinterpret Sabbath law, but asserts also that the Sabbath remains God’s day. Jesus determines the proper use of the Sabbath. Jesus best knows human needs; as God, Jesus has the authority to say how the Lord’s Day should be used.

So to rightly observe the Sabbath is not only to rest and worship but also to do good, to save life, to make life whole, both our own and that of our neighbor. The principle suggests to followers of Jesus that Sundays be spent not in self-indulgence nor in self-denial, but in renewal and in service, in healing, as Jesus did on the Sabbath.

Risen lord, be known to us in the breaking of the bread. You see, what we do when we gather in this place, and in places around the world, has everything to do with the lord of the Sabbath, and it’s not so much about law as it is about love. We come, we make room, we open space in our hearts, sometimes by choice, often because we have been broken, and love seeps in. It seeps in bread and in wine. Love seeps in through song and prayer and hugs and handshakes. We come with broken hearts, we come with streaming tears, and we are reminded that it is in the waters of baptism that we are risen with Jesus.

And we are healed, we are actually made new on this Sabbath.

And we take the Sabbath out with us. God shows up in this place, and for a time we rest in these pews, and then we are sent out. We bring bread and wine to those who cannot leave their homes to come here. We bring our new selves, our selves that have been put back together, out in the world in service to others. Our newly constituted selves, put back together in the bread and the wine, the body and the blood, our healed selves, made whole by the broken body of Jesus, our holy selves, made so by the one who is risen, go out into the world to stand with those whose healing is not yet. We stand with those who have been held hostage by the letter of the law, waiting to be freed by the love that wins.

We, are not perfect, sometimes we want the letter of the law, because love is so messy and hard. But we are perfectly loved, perfectly forgiven. Go out, on this Sabbath Sunday, carrying your healed broken heart, your healed brokenness, to love God, love others, and show it. Amen.