Tuesday, 13 July, 2004

We continue with another section of Walter Wink’s “The Human Being.” This is from the section on the Pre-Easter sayings of Jesus.



Comments again deal with the story about “plucking grain on the Sabbath” (Mark 2:23-28). Here it is to read:

One Sabbath he was going through the grain fields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them , “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat and he gave some to his companions.” Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

The Sabbath was indeed made for everyone, but not everyone knows how to keep the Sabbath. The Human Being knows, because the Human Being in us can know what God wants. Laws structure freedom. If we are serving that which the law serves, then we have freedom of choice, even if it means breaking the law (or, as here, interpreting for oneself what constitutes violation of the law). But if we are not serving that which the law serves, then we are obligated to obey the law. Law deals with the unredeemed aspect of persons, and insofar as we are all unredeemed, to that degree we are and must remain under law. So this freedom is the opposite of lawlessness.



Orange barrels. I use this example quite a bit. If we know why orange barrels are put up on streets and highways and if we are able to honor the purpose of those barrels – to keep people safe and out of harm’s way and make sure that people are given adequate space to go about their work & play – then the barrels do not rule us. In fact, if there is an emergency or an immediate need that is not dealt with directly by the placement of the barrels, it may be appropriate to move outside the designated area of the barrels. But, when we understand and honor the intention of the barrels, we will break the “law of the barrels” in such a way that the intention of the “law” will be upheld. That is, I may by pass or move a barrel to do or allow for something that is vital to life now and does not cause a breakdown of the good intention of the system of barrels.



Connection: Know in your heart the call to love one another so that in the middle of all the legalisms of the day we can still maintain the vision that is primary to all of our actions.



As you grasp our hearts, O God, remind us of your gracious will and the many ways we are left to play within your Reign as we honor one another and your whole Creation. Amen.