Dear Friends,
We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk. We give thanks to Rev. Pam Reed, Registrar and Student Support Tutor, for writing this devotional.
You are welcome to share this and include it in your church newsletters if you wish; we just ask that you please give credit to NTC and the author. Thank you!
Mark 2:23-3:6 (NRSV)
23 One Sabbath he was going through the grain fields, and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said 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 and his companions were hungry and in need of food, 26 how he entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions?” 27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for humankind and not humankind for the Sabbath, 28 so the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
1Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 They were watching him to see whether he would cure him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” 4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 He looked around at them with anger; he was 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 conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
Devotional
Legalism versus Love; Tradition versus a Tender Heart
We were part of a small church in Adelaide. For 15 years members had faithfully prayed that the people of their lower socio-economic area might come to know Christ. Gradually change was happening. One Sunday a new family arrived at worship – husband and wife with 3 young children. They looked a bit scruffy, but they were there. Yet some of the church people couldn’t get past the fact that their feet were bare and dirty.
Jesus cared about his disciples and others who were hungry. He cared about the man whose withered hand needed healing. And although in both cases he knew it was the Sabbath, and the prohibitions regarding work on the Sabbath, he chose love over legalism, and caring over coldness.
It’s so easy as Christians to get trapped into legalism. It’s so much easier to define Christianity in terms of what we do or don’t do. Jesus didn’t throw out the laws or wantonly trample on the traditions of his Jewish faith. Rather, he looked at individual situations, and the intent of the law, instead of rigidly enforcing the religious code. His approach is encapsulated in Mark 2:27-28: “The Sabbath was made for humankind and not humankind for the Sabbath, so the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” The Psalm reading for this week (139) also expresses God’s knowledge of, and care for, each person as an individual.
Do we do good or harm in our attitudes towards and interactions with others? Are we so zealous about our own traditions (written or unwritten) that we fail to love the one who needs the rules to be broken or bent? Do we look so much at outward appearances and actions that we fail to see the beauty of the person inside – the person created in God’s image?
That young family didn’t come to church a second time. I had some involvement with them later through a community organization, and I saw that they were a couple devoted to caring for their children, despite difficult backgrounds and circumstances. But the stares and grumbling of a few Christians meant that they were wary of church people.
Prayer
God of all, help us to view people and traditions through your lens of love. Forgive us for the times when we have been so zealous to uphold you and your teachings that we have failed to act with love and compassion towards those we meet. Soften our hearts to love as you love. Amen.
Blessings,
Pam Reed (Registrar and Student Support Tutor)