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. 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. (Mark 3:4, 5 ESV) There are not many times in scripture that Jesus demonstrated anger, and this is one of those times. His anger was focused on the attitude of men who would rather have someone remain a cripple than to have their precious rules shaken. They had completely lost the meaning of Gods directive to keep the Sabbath holy, they had turned what was meant as a day to glorify God and to bring honor to his name, and turned it into a day of legalistic control that was policed by those who would rather plan to kill someone than to allow Gods power and glory to be manifested. What a shame when people miss the point of why we gather and they turn it into an opportunity to wield their authority or control the actions of others. I think this is the same spirit that establishes many of the rules churches find themselves trying to follow. Dont clap, dont raise your hands, dont sway to the music, dont dress that way, dont come to our church; I think these flow from the same spirit, they are controlling actions of the few who desire to keep others within their own personal guidelines of what church should be. Jesus made it quite clear by his response that loving and caring for people is the law of the kingdom, and that law supersedes all other laws. Church can be an amazing place where people feel welcome, or it can be a cold intimidating place where people feel isolated and intimidating; what makes the difference is the control. Is Jesus in control of our lives and our worship? Or have we pushed him out the door as we organize and control our gatherings?
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 14:53:41 +0000
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