Morning Message Text: Mark 2:23 – 3:6
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 Jesus 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.
Morning Message:
What does it mean to be frail? The definition given is this: not physically strong, delicate; easily broken, fragile. Frailty is the quality or state of being frail. A fault resulting from moral weakness. This last definition piqued my interest. I know what it means for someone to be frail, and I have always attributed frailty to physical weakness, but I never thought of frailty in terms of moral weakness. The fourth commandment is known as the frailty rule. I hope that by the time I am done today we will have a better understanding of why it is known as that. By the time of Jesus’ ministry on earth, Jewish leaders had compiled a list of 1,521 things a person could not do on the Sabbath. This was their way of expanding on God’s fourth commandment. In this, they turned the Sabbath into a burden instead of a blessing. Sometimes I believe that we chase people away from the church, especially young people, by making blessings into burdens.
The word sabbath means “rest.” The Jews were to work hard for six days and rest on the seventh. Shortly after Jesus’ ascension to heaven, the followers of Christ moved the meeting day of the church to the first day of the week—the day after the Sabbath, which was the seventh day. In our terms, the Sabbath was on Saturday (and still is for observant Jews), and the Lord’s Day—the day of the resurrection of Christ, was on the day we now know as Sunday. So the day of rest and worship for Christians has traditionally been Sunday, to honor the resurrection, rather than Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. The fourth commandment does not bind believers to treat Sunday as a “Christian Sabbath,” but the principal of taking one day out of seven to rest was established “in the beginning” and still has relevance today. Unfortunately, Christians have been widely influenced by the non-Christian approach to Sunday, which is to treat it like any other day of the week. There are no rules about what a person can and cannot do on Sunday. It is a day to enjoy as a gift from God—rest,refreshment, service, worship—a day unlike any other in the week. Why did God establish a day of rest and relaxation? Because we are frail.
Depending on your age and physical condition you might object to being called frail. We mistakenly think of ourselves as being stronger and more physically, mentally, and spiritually capable than we are. We think that we know ourselves better than God knows us. We just push ourselves to the brink of exhaustion, and even then, when we feel like we can’t do another thing, we try to find that extra gear, that will power to keep going, sometimes by injecting enough caffeine into our systems.
Sometimes we break! You don’t really understand how you are made, only God does. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb, I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” I want us to think about this statement for a moment. Think about this, perhaps in a different way. When we push ourselves beyond what we are truly capable of and we don’t take the time for Sabbath rest, are we not saying to God; I know better than you. I don’t really believe that your works are wonderful, and I am not praising you for the way I was made because you made me to need rest and I refuse.
Jesus is trying to correct a long-standing misconception about the Sabbath, and at the same time reaffirm God’s original plan for the health and wellbeing of mankind. Even today we see groups of people and individuals who either take the principal of
Sabbath-rest to extremes or pay no attention to it at all. Believe it or not, there are still people who celebrate Sabbath-rest in a way that allows them to do nothing at all. This is a very small minority that thinks this way, but they are still around. God never intended Sabbath-rest to be burdensome. He never intended for people to stop doing the things necessary to sustain life or to help one another. Jesus states this clearly when he says, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Sabbath- rest is a gift from God for your own good.
Most people, even most Christians, don’t practice Sabbath-rest. We wonder why we are tired; we wonder why our minds never want to stop dwelling on our problems long enough to allow us to sleep. One of the most serious illnesses we have in this country is sleep deprivation, caused, in part, by our unwillingness to slow down. Sometimes we feel so spiritually drained. Why is that? Because we fail to follow God’s remedy of rest that serves to renew our spirits. The Frailty Rule is a prescription for physical, mental, and spiritual health.
This is important for all of us to grasp and learn today, but I have a special reason for this message today. God puts things on my heart that start off as personal, but then take on greater meaning. I went into my preparation for this message knowing we would celebrate Lani’s graduation today. I recently attended her Baccalaureate service and the thought of her and all her classmates moving to the next phase of their lives has been lingering in my mind. What can I say that might help as they move forward in life. Here is the thought that God gave me for her and for all of us today. Don’t forget to rest. “Be still and know that I am God.” I know that you will work so hard. I know that you will put all your heart and soul into being successful and there is no doubt in my mind that you will achieve your goals, but don’t forget your faith, don’t forget who made you, and don’t forget to rest in the Lord.
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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