The Sabbath Again

Scripture: Luke 6:1-5

1 One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples broke off heads of grain, rubbed off the husks in their hands, and ate the grain. 2 But some Pharisees said, “Why are you breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?” 3 Jesus replied, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He went into the house of God and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests can eat. He also gave some to his companions.” 5 And Jesus added, “The Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath.” (Luke 6:1-5 NLT)

Reading through Luke this year I’m reminded at every turn how much trouble the Pharisees had with Jesus and his behavior with regard to the Sabbath and to the ceremonial laws that the Jewish religion had accumulated over the centuries. When religion dominated the culture, then religious rules proliferated and formed cultural behavior. Then when religion becomes less dominant or society more diverse, it takes some effort, insight, and clear thinking to sort out whether a thing is a moral issue, divine rule, a cultural “custom”, a fashionable trend, or a personal preference. This was true then and it’s true now.

I remember a church in the 1970’s that had an absolute rule that women and girls must not wear blue jeans! In fact, they couldn’t wear any trousers that zipped up the front. If, on rare occasions, they wore slacks, they had to button or zip on the sides or in the back. This was law, not only for church attendance, but for all occasions! This rule was based on Deuteronomy 22:5 which says, “A woman must not put on men’s clothing, and a man must not wear women’s clothing. Anyone who does this is detestable in the sight of the LORD your God.”  “Detestable” is not a good choice for a Christian!

I think we’ve mostly moved on from this sort of church law. And I hope we’re learning to think things through and be flexible enough to allow room for growth and change. But we’re not entirely “out of the woods” yet, are we? We still find ourselves on disagreeing over style of worship music, how our churches are governed, roles of women in ministry, the church’s relationship to government, and a lot more stuff.

We have some work to do! What are some of the issues you’ve faced in the “Why are you breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?” arena?

Prayer:

Father, Jesus said, “I am Lord of the Sabbath” and he faced all sorts of opposition from those who couldn’t distinguish religious rules from God’s laws. We aren’t exempt from facing and dealing with these issues either. Please give us grace and wisdom! Amen.