Proper 4 (Sunday June 2, 2024)

Season after Pentecost—Top Down Faith  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  21:56
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Mark 2:23–3:6 NIV84
23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” 27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” 1 Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” 4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. 5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
A TOP-DOWN FAITH
REST IS A GIFT, NOT SOMETHING TO BE EARNED
After a long day of work, you have earned the right to sit down in your favorite chair, put your feet up, and watch your favorite program. After a hard week on the job, you have earned the opportunity to relax a bit that weekend. After doing your job well for many months, you have earned those two, three, or four weeks of vacation at the beach.
This is how everyone thinks: rest is something you earn through hard work. We even teach that to our kids: no gaming until homework is done, no playing with friends until chores are complete.
Since that concept of rest being earned is so deeply ingrained in us, to properly understand spiritual rest requires a Top-Down Faith. God needs to send us the Spirit so that we can grasp this truth. True spiritual rest cannot be earned. In fact, the harder you try, the more restless and the less peaceful you become. Spiritual rest is a gift that God gives. The rest we need most—from guilt, from worry, from shame, from hopelessness—is graciously given to us by the Lord of the Sabbath.
DO WE KEEP THE SABBATH OR DOES THE SABBATH KEEP US?

We enslave Ourselves to the Sabbath

...when we regard the letter of the Law as sacrosanct at the expense of God’s intention.
The Pharisees tried to hold Jesus' disciples to an interpretation of the Law that went beyond God’s intent (Mark 2:24
Mark 2:24 NKJV
24 And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
Sometimes we concern ourselves more with “right” doctrine or “right' liturgy than with true worship (Hos.6:6
Hosea 6:6 NKJV
6 For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
We can misuse the Sabbath on weekdays, too.
When we are more concerned with our own congregation than with the community or the hurting in our world. When this occurs we deny Christ.
When we insist on our rights but neglect our responsibilities. When this occurs we deny Christ.
When we are more interested in being loved than in loving. When this occurs we deny Christ.

God’s Intent for the Sabbath

…Is to keep us.
Jesus reaffirmed that “the Sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27
Mark 2:27 NKJV
27 And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
Jesus served His disciples by defending them.
He used David (vv. 25-26) to demonstrate two points:
The Sabbath is made to serve people.
Certain work is more important than regulations.
The Sabbath is intended for our physical and spiritual blessing.
Our bodies need a period of daily and weekly rest (Gen. 2:2-3
Genesis 2:2–3 NKJV
2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
Weary souls need rest, too (Matt. 11:28
Matthew 11:28 NKJV
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
We remember the Sabbath day when we do necessary work on the Sabbath (such as police, fire, or medical work) in a manner that glorifies God (Matt.12:11
Matthew 12:11 NASB95
11 And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?
We also remember the Sabbath when we do works motivated by love, even on the Sabbath itself (Matt.12:12
Matthew 12:12 NKJV
12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
The Sabbath serves us when we celebrate sins forgiven. We “rest” in the forgiveness that is ours for the sake of the Son of Man, who served us.
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