As I warned last Sunday the present series of lessons allow little latitude for softening the message.
Today's lessons illustrate the essential contrast between the Old Covenant and the New. Both expect that the Faithful will feed the hungry and give aid to the poor but the Old Covenant expresses it in terms "if" and "then", the New expects no less but anticipates these actions in response to God's Grace. The writer of the first lesson has a hard on for Sabbath Observance. Obviously in a world that operates on a 24/7 timetable many people don't have that luxury however the need to keep a day of rest still exists.
Psa 103:8 The LORD is merciful and loving, slow to become angry and full of constant love.
Today's is a Psalm of Thanksgiving for a God who is loving and just. If we read on however the stick is still there waiting to condemn those who fail to honor the Lord.
The Epistle Lesson compares worship in Jerusalem and the experience at Mt Sinai in the desert with a Heavenly Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God. The wording would not be out of place in the Old Testament.
Heb 12:28 Let us be thankful, then, because we receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Let us be grateful and worship God in a way that will please him, with reverence and awe;
Heb 12:29 because our God is indeed a destroying fire.
Exo 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exo 20:10 but the seventh day is a sabbath unto the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exo 20:11 for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it
So the question remains, is it right to do good on the Sabbath. The unifying theme today seems to be our duty to keep God's Commandments and a day of rest in particular. Those Commandments codify a system for just society. To emphasize the point it is made clear that even the omnipotent God took a day off from his labours. It is made clear that even the slaves in our midst deserve a day of rest along with our animals.
Mar 2:27 And Jesus concluded, "The Sabbath was made for the good of human beings; they were not made for the Sabbath.
When Jesus is upbraided for healing on the Sabbath he challenges his detractors and temporarily shuts them up.
Today's lessons illustrate the essential contrast between the Old Covenant and the New. Both expect that the Faithful will feed the hungry and give aid to the poor but the Old Covenant expresses it in terms "if" and "then", the New expects no less but anticipates these actions in response to God's Grace. The writer of the first lesson has a hard on for Sabbath Observance. Obviously in a world that operates on a 24/7 timetable many people don't have that luxury however the need to keep a day of rest still exists.
Psa 103:8 The LORD is merciful and loving, slow to become angry and full of constant love.
Today's is a Psalm of Thanksgiving for a God who is loving and just. If we read on however the stick is still there waiting to condemn those who fail to honor the Lord.
The Epistle Lesson compares worship in Jerusalem and the experience at Mt Sinai in the desert with a Heavenly Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God. The wording would not be out of place in the Old Testament.
Heb 12:28 Let us be thankful, then, because we receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Let us be grateful and worship God in a way that will please him, with reverence and awe;
Heb 12:29 because our God is indeed a destroying fire.
Exo 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exo 20:10 but the seventh day is a sabbath unto the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exo 20:11 for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it
So the question remains, is it right to do good on the Sabbath. The unifying theme today seems to be our duty to keep God's Commandments and a day of rest in particular. Those Commandments codify a system for just society. To emphasize the point it is made clear that even the omnipotent God took a day off from his labours. It is made clear that even the slaves in our midst deserve a day of rest along with our animals.
Mar 2:27 And Jesus concluded, "The Sabbath was made for the good of human beings; they were not made for the Sabbath.
When Jesus is upbraided for healing on the Sabbath he challenges his detractors and temporarily shuts them up.
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