Proper 4

CALL TO WORSHIP

The psalmist wrote, saying to God: it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. Let us come to God today with our hearts and minds full of the same confidence and praise. We too are made and called by God.

HYMN

(StF 55) Immortal, invisible, God only wise

GATHERING PRAYER

Open our minds, O God; open our hearts, O Christ; open our souls, O Spirit; that we might hear your call afresh, respond with enthusiasm and commitment, working together to build your kingdom, to your praise and glory. Amen.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

For the times we only listen with half an ear – if that; the times we are the one being called, but we’re just not open enough to hear it. Forgive us, Lord, and open our ears to your wisdom. For the times we doubt something is your word to us, because we’re not tuned in to you; or perhaps because it comes from an unlikely source. Forgive us, Lord, and open our ears to your wisdom. When we don’t give people the benefit of the doubt; when we think they are too young, too old, too different. Forgive us, Lord, and open our ears to your wisdom. For the times we might give wrong advice, not because we want to, but we don’t hear you clearly enough. Forgive us, Lord, and open our ears to your wisdom. Amen.

We imagine the Lord standing before us, arms outstretched, forgiving us. Let us spend a moment silently thanking God for the power in that forgiveness. Thank you, God, for your blessing, and that we can go out as new. Nothing is hidden from you, and if we acknowledge that, and confess our sins, we know you will forgive us and lead us further into you. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name,

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done.

On earth as it is in heaven,

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those that trespass against us,

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory,

Forever and ever Amen.

HYMN

(StF 465) Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,

READING 1

Deuteronomy 5: 12-15

12 “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labour and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave[a] in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

READING 2

Mark 2: 23-3:6

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath

23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of[a] Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And 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.”

A man with a withered hand

3 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And they watched Jesus,[b] to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

HYMN

(StF 66) The steadfast love of the Lord

SERMON

Obeying the rules>>>

Have you ever been in a job or some institute in the past where you’re told “that’s the way we’ve always done it” it’s a tradition it’s the rule.

Although we do need to obey the law, otherwise we would be in chaos, but sometimes there are traditions or rules that don’t make real sense especially when it leads to ignoring or mistreating others.

For example:

Handling Salmon in Suspicious Circumstances is Against UK Law

The aim of the Salmon Act 1986 was to ban the poaching of salmon. When it became law, it made it illegal to handle salmon in suspicious circumstances.

Yet, we are still waiting for The Law Commission to clarify what would be the most suspicious way to handle the salmon.

Eating Mince Pies on Christmas Day is Illicit

It appears this one happened once on Christmas Day in 1644. The date fell on a legally mandated fasting day.

So, it would have been illegal to eat mince pies on Christmas Day on that date.

In fact, Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas in the United Kingdom for a while. The monarchy restored the laws and invalidated the outrageous plan to ban Christmas.

On a more serious note, where do we draw the line? in World War II American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, serving during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people and becomes the first man in American history to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a shot.

Desmond was a Seventh day Adventist obeyed the rules or the law when he was called up for service, but he suffered a lot of abuse from officers and fellow soldiers in training due to his refusal to fire any weapons.

He took on the role of a medic, he became famous for his actions that are remembered in the film “hacksaw ridge” where he saved 75 men by climbing up the ridge over and over again lowering the wounded down to safety.

He was a man of conviction being obedient to the law but stayed within his beliefs to take no lives.

So, the question is to us where do you draw the line, Jesus tells all of us to obey the law? Pay to Caesar what is caesars.

But as we know many things classed as legal or placed as laws in the past Over time are often rightly repealed.

You see the one thing we can be sure of is we serve a God who’s love, and grace never changes. His laws are good but can be misunderstood.

Jesus did not repeal God’s laws that were given to his people, no as he himself says he came to fulfil them.

So, we can be encouraged when we feel something is not right, when we feel uncomfortable, we can turn to what the Bible has to say.

In all these things we must remember that the Pharisees look at the law we heard today from Deuteronomy with blinker on, they had studied and were convinced they had it right. and because Jesus moves beyond the laws as they understood it, it upsets what they saw as the status quo. They where the religious leaders, they were in charge.

In Mark we see we have a God who fights for all of us, and we see Him fighting for us in this encounter with the Pharisees and those who use their position today for their own gratification.

Jesus went to the synagogue that day knowing His enemies were waiting for Him. That took courage. Jesus confronted the Pharisees on behalf of the deformed man. That took courage. Jesus knew that His actions that day would be costly and that also took courage. Jesus was doing this to display who He was and fight for that man with the deformed hand and for everyone like Him, like you and me.

Jesus’ faithfulness

The first thing we see is the faithfulness of Jesus. Verse 1 says, “Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. 2 Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath.” We see the faithfulness of Jesus in two ways.

· First, Jesus was faithful to worship. We are told that “Jesus went into the synagogue again….” It was his habit to attend worship services. In, Luke 4:16 we are told that “as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath”. Jesus sets the example. It is important for us all to be with other believers on a regular basis.

Worshiping with others, listening to God’s Word with others should be our custom, our habit. It was a priority for Jesus, and it should be a priority for us. We should strive to be faithful to Jesus and His church.

· Jesus was also faithful to each person. Verse 1 says, “Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand” (NLT).

Isn’t it great to be noticed by Jesus.

Jesus didn’t just go to church to sing, have a cup of tea, and go home. He went to church to bless others. To serve. He saw the man’s “deformed hand.” Jesus didn’t just see it and walk away. He saw it and was going to do something about it.

Every Sunday we gather together, and we bring our own deformities with us. Emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual deformities.

Some we were born with, some, others have caused, and some of it we did to ourselves. But we are all deformed in some way. Jesus knows this and notices. I think we should notice it as well.

We should come to church every week to see who we can bless, encourage, give hope, strength, and support to. There is a lesson here with Jesus “noticing a man with a deformed hand.”

Jesus was faithful. He was faithful in showing us a habit we should have and faithful to show us that it is important to notice those around you.

Jesus’ courage

Not only do we see Jesus’ faithfulness, but we also see the courage of Jesus.

Mark tells us in verse 2, Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” 4 Then he turned to his critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” But they wouldn’t answer him.

Let’s break this down.

Mark says, “Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely.” The reason they are watching Jesus closely is because their last time they saw Him and His disciples they raised the issue with them breaking the Sabbath laws of working.

On that previous Sabbath Jesus and His disciples broke the religious laws by taking some grain from a field and eating it. The Pharisees considered this work and was unlawful. When confronted Jesus challenged them with the Scripture and won the argument. That made the Pharisees even more angry.

We need to remember, the Sabbath and all the religious laws they had established around it was a big deal to the Pharisees. Their whole religious system revolved around the Sabbath.

So, on this Sabbath day they were ready to trap Jesus. There are some who believe that the man with the deformed hand was placed there by the Pharisees although there is no biblical proof. They wanted to draw Jesus into doing a miracle so that He would break their religious laws as they saw it and they could take, action against Him.

Then Mark tells us in verse 3, Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” Jesus was going to bless this man with a miracle. The man didn’t ask for a miracle or healing, but Jesus decided to do what only God could do.

Instantly he healed this man’s hand. To make sure the Pharisees and all the others who were present could see it, Jesus asked the man to “stand in front of everyone.” Jesus was not going to back down because of the threat and staring hatred gazes of the Pharisees.

I think sometimes God wants our deformities, our brokenness, our weaknesses, and our sins to be seen by others. Once we see them and God heals them, we get a glimpse into His power and grace. Was it embarrassing for this man to stand in front of everyone, probably. However, that embarrassment would soon be forgotten when Jesus healed him.

Verse 4, Then he turned to his critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?”

Even though the Pharisees meant to challenge Jesus, Jesus turned the table on them. He put a question to them – with everyone listening; and because it was a question about religious law, everyone would have been looking at the Pharisees to see how they would answer.

God’s Sabbath law prohibited people from doing their regular work; so, they could rest.

But it was never meant to be a day to allow people to suffer or to be left when they could be helped.

The Pharisees themselves would have left this poor man in need out of a misunderstanding and devotion to their own ideas of the letter of the law.

They would have used the law of God in such a way as to ignore people’s needs, but not the blessings God intended.

Notice their reaction to Jesus, But they wouldn’t answer him. Some translations say they simply kept silent.

They didn’t answer Jesus because they felt ashamed of how they viewed others’ needs.

It was because they knew that Jesus had them over a barrel. If they said, “It is right to do good and save a life” then they would lose their opportunity to accuse Him. If they said, “It’s right to ignore the needs of others” then they would have looked like monsters in front of the people.

So, they said nothing. It wasn’t out of wisdom that they kept their peace. It was out of tradition or their understanding of God’s law.

This is an important lesson for the religious leaders and us today. Following rules is one thing but caring for others is far more important. People especially the lost, the least and the last should be at the centre of our mission. If we want to attract more people to our congregations, our actions and behaviour should mirror that of Jesus.

Jesus’ anger

This takes us to number three, the anger of Jesus. Notice the reaction and emotion of Jesus toward all this. Verse 5 says, He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts.

We see the compassion and grief of Jesus. But we don’t very often read about Jesus expressing anger.

But when He did, it’s over the mistreatment of people, or over the hypocrisy of religious leaders, Here we see that Jesus expressed both “anger” and “sadness” regarding the Pharisees.

Often, we may think it is a sin to be angry, but it’s not true. It is never a sin to be angry over the things we should be angry about.

Anger is not a sin, but anger can lead you into sinful acts. That’s where you should be careful. However, Anger, if used correctly can cause you to stand up for what is right.

Jesus’ compassion

We also see Jesus is full of compassion. In verse 5, It’s like Jesus is saying to the Pharisees, “You care more about your religious rules and religious traditions than you do about people. I care more about people.” Then Jesus turns to the man with the deformed hand and simply says, “Hold out your hand.” Then boom! His hand was “restored!”

And sadly, this concludes with verse 6 saying, At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to plot how to kill Jesus. You would have thought that even the Pharisees would have realised who Jesus was after witnessing a supernatural healing like that.

Like Jesus, we should be angry, as we grieve at the lack of compassion in our society today especially by authorities. People are dying for lack of proper care. Government resources are not properly allocated so that the sick can be attended to.

Worse, some officials pocket the people’s money and red tape delays the flow of assistance to people who need help the most. In these times of desperation this kind of situation is obvious.

On the other hand, there are modern-day Pharisees. They are the stumbling block to building of a compassionate society. Instead of helping, they accuse those who are doing good of having alternative motives.

This reading and its lessons are not just for religious and political leaders. It is for everyone. Jesus is showing us that doing what is right should have no boundaries it’s the same now as I ever was, meaning everyone is called to do good everywhere, all the time.

Even as we try to follow the laws and follow traditions, it should never stop us from giving help to others out of compassion.

So, let’s never allow modern-day Pharisees to discourage nor prevent us from truly following the example of Jesus.

Remember Jesus fights for you. He defends you. He is not going to back down because someone opposes Him. He is not going to give up because someone threatens His life. He is not going to give in because someone puts pressure on Him. Jesus is a fighter, a defender, a protector. He is your champion, advocate and backs up you up when no one else will.

HYMN

(StF 18) Be still and know that I am God.

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION

We pray, Lord God, for the people who have helped us along life’s road: those who have nurtured us and cared for us; those who have taught us and trained us; those who have embraced and emboldened us. For them all: Lord God, I pray. I pray for those who have a troubled road to travel: those who find themselves lonely and friendless; those who find themselves frail and faltering; those who find themselves angry and aggrieved; those who find themselves frightened and fearful; those who find themselves disgruntled and dissatisfied; those who find themselves empty and desolate. For them all: Lord God, I pray. I pray for those who cannot see the treasures they have; treasures that come from those around them, or from you. For them all: Lord God, I pray. Amen.

HYMN

(StF 545) Be Thou, my Vision.

BLESSING

Go in the name of the Lord to your homes, your neighbours, your communities. Go and make a difference. Raise up those who are disheartened. Tell others about the risen Christ. Visit those who are lonely, and may your heart and mind be open to receive all that God gives to you and asks of you. Amen.