Good morning!
We're so glad you chose to join us today!
When we meet together on Sunday mornings, we take time to share any joys or concerns we have. If you have a prayer request, please add it to the comments on this post. When you are ready, use the Catholic prayer for healing below (source) to get started.
Lord Jesus, heal me. Heal in me whatever you see needs healing. Heal me of whatever might separate me from you. Heal my memory, heal my heart, heal my emotions, heal my spirits, heal my soul. Lay your hands upon me and Heal me through your love for me. Amen
Today's lesson is on Luke 14:1-6.
Loving God by Loving the Least
Our book opens with this story. As attendees at the memorial service for Dorthy Day (1897-1980) listened to the sermon they were reminded of the following quote from her writing: “You love God just as much as the one you love least.” This quote was her way of paraphrasing Jesus' commands in Luke 10:25-37 to love God and show love and mercy to others. The minister giving the sermon went on to describe how this quote anchored Dorothy's like and work. Demonstrations of mercy, love and justice have been the tenets of the Catholic Workers Movement, established by Dorothy and others in the 1930's. The movement consist of over 200 communities (houses) in 14 countries. Each house works to show hospitality and mercy to the most vulnerable members of their city. This work is done through their feeding of the hungry, tending to the sick, and providing stable housing for the unhoused. God desires that his people love him and love their neighbors. People can demonstrate such love toward others through acts of mercy. In doing so, God's people follow Jesus' command to “be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). This lesson's Scriptures reveals how Jesus responded to a group of people who wanted to add boundaries and limitations to acts of mercy. This lesson depicts the third occasion in Luke's Gospel that Jesus shared a meal with a Pharisee. All three interactions share a common pattern of events. First, a Pharisee invited Jesus to join the meal. Second, a tense moment between Jesus and the host led to a conversation regarding issues of religious observances. Third, Jesus used the opportunity to instruct those in attendance on issues regarding how to follow God. In doing so, Jesus taught his fellow diners to act mercifully in their dealings with other people. The issue of doing work on the Sabbath is the primary concern in this lesson. The Jewish Sabbath was established based on the day that God rested after six days of creation. As a result, people were commanded to ceased work on the Sabbath. Such requirements regarding that day were a sign of holiness between God and his people. As the ancient Israelites left Egypt, they were commanded to take certain steps to prepare for Sabbath observance. Later, as the people entered the promised land, the Law of Moses provided further descriptions regarding proper observance of the Sabbath. Defiance of these commands brought harsh consequences to the people. The Israelites understood the Sabbath was a delight and day for worship. Even psalms were to be sung on that day. By the first century AD, certain expectations regarding proper adherence of the Sabbath had been established by the Jewish religious leaders. In the time between the testaments, an oral tradition later known as Mishna, (rabbinic law) attempted to define the rules regarding proper Sabbath observance. These included nuance definitions of work, as well as complex regulations regarding what was allowed and disallowed on the Sabbath. Such intricacies made it challenging for most first century Jews to accurately interpret how they should observe the Sabbath. Jesus never disputed the importance of the Sabbath. His high regard for it can be seen in his habit of teaching in the synagogues on the Sabbath. Further, he was willing to use the day to show mercy toward suffering people. As “Lord.. of the Sabbath”, Jesus demonstrated the true intent of the Sabbath: to remind God's people of his mercy. The day was not to be a religious burden or an excuse to limit work of love and mercy.
Luke 14: 1-6
Because Jesus was considered a rabbi by at least one member of the Pharisees, Nicodemus, the group likely deemed him to be an appropriate guest for a meal. They could discuss the law and its associated tradition and commentary. As a Pharisee, the host likely enjoyed some degree of wealth and probably held in high regard as a teacher of the law. The Pharisees who assembled for this meal treated Jesus with suspicion. They watched Jesus in order to find fault with him. In front of Jesus was a man who suffered abnormal swelling. This might have been caused by an underlying issue regarding the heart, kidney or liver. Today we would have treated this with diuretics, but no such treatment was available then. The man would have continued to suffer and would have depended on the charity of others to meet his basic needs. Jesus asked, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?' This question concerned the heart of the Law of Moses. The law was never intended to burden the people. And Jesus never abolished the Law of Moses. Instead, he wanted his audience to consider the principles of goodness and righteousness belonging to the Law of Moses. To heal on the Sabbath violated the Pharisees' strict reading of the law regarding what was acceptable on that day. God does not desire for humans to limit works of mercy, either regarding the timing or the recipient of those works. When the Pharisees remained silent, Jesus healed the man. Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” The Law of Moses required that people help lost or injured livestock of neighbors and enemies alike. An attitude of mercy, even to livestock, was at the heart of these commands. Without assistance, the stranded animal was at risk of suffering injury or facing harm from predators. Jesus expected that all of the guests at the meal would agree that showing mercy to an animal even on the Sabbath made sense. In that case, how much more legitimate was showing mercy to people on the Sabbath? Possible endangerment of a child would also be an appropriate and necessary reason for a person to act on the Sabbath. If a person showed effort to save livestock on the Sabbath, then that person would surely show more effort to save a child. Jesus could have waited until the next day to heal the man. However, the opportunity for Jesus to show mercy presented itself on the Sabbath. The Sabbath served human well-being, not the other way around. For the second time during the meal, the Pharisees were left speechless. The silence of the Pharisees did not end the meal. Instead, Jesus used their silence as an opportunity to question them and teach them. (Luke 14: 7-24, Parable of the banquet)
Conclusion
The emphasis of this story is not on the ailing man. Instead, this story at its heart is a caution against focusing on religious practices at the expense of mercy. Jesus was not trying to nullify the Pharisees' practice of observing Sabbath. Not only did the Sabbath require a pause on work, but it also provided time for people to consider how they could show mercy to others. Further, the question of whether or not the person could heal on the Sabbath was an obscure point. Most people are unable to heal another person on any day of the week. Only the one is the Lord of the Sabbath has the ability to heal on the Sabbath. Sometimes we unintentionally limit our expectations of what God ought to do. What are some traditions we hold to that perpetuated this? God's work is not limited by human expectations. We are to trust God and his timing of his work. When we exercise faith by trusting him in this way, we commit to live of mercy, following the ways of our heavenly Father. Twentieth-century Jewish scholar Abraham Joshua Herschel (1907 – 1972) describes the Sabbath as being an expression of holiness based in time. Although Christians today are not required to observe the Jewish Sabbath, we can still apply similar principles. The idea of observing specific time in order to show mercy in sustained and tangible ways. Although we may sometimes ge t tunnel vision and focus on other parts of our busy lives, we must remember to keep mercy at the forefront of our minds, regardless of the situation.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, you have shown us great mercy, just as you have shown mercy to your people throughout history. We want to be people marked by lives of mercy. Heal us from spiritual ailments that causes us to act in unloving ways. Grant us deeper awareness of the needs of our neighbors so that we might show love and mercy. Help us be merciful, just as you are merciful. In the name of your Son, Jesus. Amen.
Questions for discussion
Benediction
This week's benediction is from the New International Version.
Next week's lesson will be on John 7:14-24.
0 Comments
Good morning!
We're so glad you chose to join us today!
When we meet in person, we share our joys and concerns with each other. If you have prayer requests to share, you can add them to the comments on this post. When you are ready, use this prayer to get started.
Heavenly Father, help us to be authentic Christians. Help us to set ourselves aside for a moment. In our lives, our thoughts and our prayers, help us to care deeply about what those around us are going through today, to think about the trauma, the pain and the grief others are experiencing and how we might lift their burden a bit through our words or actions. Help to us to think about times when our own words or actions might have added to others’ burdens or set a bad example. Forgive us, Lord, and help us to do better. Help us to live as Christians from the inside out. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.
Today's lesson is on Luke 11:37-44.
Introduction
After the creation of modern money, an inevitable invention followed: counterfeit money. For example, ancient counterfeiters minted coins made from metals that were less valuable than the authentic coins. The counterfeit coins were dipped in silver to mimic the real coins. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, fraudsters clipped the edges of authentic coins in order to extract bits of the precious metals. From those clippings, they would create a counterfeit coin. Contemporary money has undergone developments to limit counterfeiters. Many modern coins have grooved or milled edges to show that none of the valuable precious metals have been removed. These efforts, while preventing some counterfeiters, have not done away with the practice altogether. Profits await the successful counterfeiter. People sometimes “counterfeit” themselves by pretending to be someone they are not. Scandals arise when people say they believe or value one thing but act in a way that opposes that value. Jesus had no tolerance for hypocritical behavior, especially from the religious leaders of his day.
Lesson context
The Gospel of Luke, along with the book of Acts, makes up a two-volume work that describes Jesus’s life and teaching and how it continued in the early church after Jesus’s resurrection and ascension. Today’s scripture is part of a section in which Jesus teaches and heals while on his way to Jerusalem. In today’s lesson, Jesus shares a meal with a Pharisee. The Pharisees were the most pious among the Jewish religious leaders. They attempted to follow the Law of Moses faithfully. To help them do that, they established a set of traditions and rules for all aspects of life that would make it even more difficult to violate the Law. This was like a “fence” around the Law. However, their zeal for keeping these traditions sometimes kept them from seeing the purpose of the Law itself.
Two people (verses 37-41)
Jesus had been teaching the crowds along the way about wickedness and judgment. At this moment, a Pharisee comes up to him and invites him to eat with him. In Jesus’s time, it was a common practice to invite a teacher to a meal. It allowed the teacher to demonstrate his insight and wisdom in a more intimate setting. But sharing a meal together in Jesus’s time was also a sign of acceptance of the person with whom you ate. For this reason, when the teacher accepted the invitation, it brought a measure of honor to the host. That is also why people avoided extending dinner invitations to social outcasts. Hand-washing was one of the important rituals the Pharisees adhered to in a variety of situations, but especially before meals. In our passage for today, therefore, the Pharisee is surprised when Jesus does not wash his hands before the meal. It is clear from other passages that Jesus did not have any problems with washing itself. It seems, instead, that he did this intentionally, just to provoke a response that led to a teaching moment. When Jesus notices the Pharisee’s surprise, he talks about how the Pharisees make sure the outside of their cup and dish are clean, but they neglect the inside. It becomes clear that Jesus is not talking about literal tableware but about people, when he adds that “inside you are full of greed and wickedness.” In other words, he was saying, the Pharisees were concerned about external practices and appearances, but their attention should be on the inside — on their hearts and their minds. Jesus calls such Pharisees and people who think as they did foolish. He notes that God created human beings — both the external physical parts and our internal mental parts where character and affections are formed. We should not be concerned only about the outward part. We should be concerned about being the people God wants us to be on the inside. When that is our focus, acts of compassion and generosity will naturally flow from us.
Three woes (verses 42-44)
Next Jesus pronounces a series of “woes” upon the Pharisees and those who follow their example. The Hebrew prophets often used the term “woe” in the Old Testament to pronounce approaching pain and doom upon certain people. (See, for example, Amos 6.) The reason for the first woe is that the Pharisees paid diligent attention to relatively unimportant aspects of their faith while ignoring the most important aspects. Because the Law called for Jews to give a tithe of their goods, the Pharisees went as far as to give a tenth of herbs such as mint and rue, which often grew wild and would be difficult to estimate. However, when it came to seeking justice and loving God, they showed little concern. Such requirements should have been their greatest concern. The heart of the Law, as Jesus states elsewhere, is the command to love God (Deuteronomy 6:5 and Matthew 22:36-38) and to love others (Leviticus 19:18 and Matthew 22:39). God’s people observe the command to love God by loving others. Instead, Jesus says, the Pharisees were attempting to show their love for God with meticulous precision while completely ignoring the command to love others. What’s more, they took pride in their strict observances instead of living lives marked by mercy and justice. (Micah 6:8) That brings Jesus to the reason for his second “woe.” The Pharisees, he says, love public displays of importance. They love being seated in the most important seats of the synagogue and being greeted with respect in the marketplace. The problem, it seems, is that a major underlying reason for the Pharisees’s faith was to draw attention to themselves and not to show love for God or for others. The final “woe” is because of the example the Pharisees set for others. Because they were seen as leaders in the faith and as examples for others to follow, their misguided faith caused others to distort the faith as well. Jesus uses the analogy of people walking over an unmarked grave. Jewish people were deemed defiled and ritually unclean if they came in contact with a dead body. The Pharisees, Jesus is saying, were like unmarked graves which people walk over and thus become defiled without even knowing it. By example, they were promoting an idea that being a faithful Jew was only about adhering to ceremonial laws and not about caring for others. Those who saw them and followed their example might think they were giving pure and faithful lives. In fact, without realizing it, they were defiled by their lack of attention to the most important commandments, just as the Pharisees were.
Hypocritical behavior
Born into slavery in Edenton, North Carolina, Harriet Jacobs understood firsthand the horror of being controlled by other people. She suffered inhumane conditions as a slave. Her slave master sexually harassed her and, when she did not submit, he threatened to sell her children. Instead, she hid in a tiny crawl space under the roof of her grandmother’s house. For seven years she hid in the space so small that she could not stand up, until she managed to escape to the North, where she was united with her children and her brother. She detailed her experiences in her autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, which she wrote under the pseudonym Linda Brent. In the book, she questioned how the religious leaders of her day could ignore slavery or even use Scripture to justify it. She wondered whether they were blind or hypocrites. The Pharisees of Jesus’s day acted hypocritically. Although their public displays of observance to the Law portrayed them as devoted and faithful Jews, their actions toward others revealed hearts that cared only about themselves. They had failed to show mercy and justice. They had become prideful. They were a deadly influence on others. Hypocrisy is still an issue today. Where do hypocritical impulses arise in your heart?
Conclusion
In many ways, faults similar to those Jesus pointed out in the Pharisees can be found in people today. The Pharisees prioritized outward displays of holiness, while failing to do the important work of love, mercy, and justice. Pursuing counterfeit displays of holiness, while potentially easier than going after what God requires, leaves people as hypocrites. God wants his people to experience holiness in all aspects of their lives. Followers of Jesus must remember to honor the commands to love God, show justice, and demonstrate merciful love, above any other traditions. Only then will believers exercise a “pure” religion before God (James 1:27). A failure to do so indicates that one’s heart has not been transformed. Consider the following questions: Does your behavior lead you to love God more deeply? Does your behavior lead you to act justly or advocate for justice for others? If you can answer positively to both questions, then you are on the right track to loving God and your neighbor.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we desire to be holy people. Take away our need to impress others, and impress on us the image of your Son, Jesus Christ. Show us how we might be generous with the gifts you have given us so that we might love you and our neighbors. In the name of your Son, Jesus. Amen.
Questions for discussion
Benediction
This week's benediction is from the American Standard Version.
Next week's lesson is on Luke 14:1-6.
|
AuthorWe are a small, rural Presbyterian church in southwestern Pennsylvania. Archives
May 2024
Categories
All
|