Living the Word: from now through Easter (April 20), we follow Jesus’ ministry in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus shows us a loving God in his teachings, healings, and relationships with people pushed to the margins. His commitment to love leads him to Jerusalem, and ultimately to the cross.
Whenever I heard mention of the Pharisees in the bible growing up, I always thought of them not quite as the villains, but villain-adjacent. They seemed to me to be cranky, pedantic goody-two-shoes who are always trying to trip Jesus up and catch him going against the teachings of his faith. They seemed like self-righteous tattletales. Luke’s Gospel doesn’t do much to challenge that interpretation, I’ll admit. It’s funny, then, (or ironic, perhaps) that out of all the characters in this Sunday’s bible story, the Pharisees are the ones who are the most similar to me, a progressive, mainline Christian pastor. The Pharisees and I both care about preserving our faith tradition, we both care about democratizing the practice of our faith and our worship life, we both want to help our community find ways to engage their faith at home and to weave their spirituality into their daily lives.
So naturally I have to then wonder, what is Jesus trying to teach me about the sabbath? What do I, like the Pharisees, need to hear from the Lord of the Sabbath in order to grow closer to God and to God’s will for my life and the life of my faith community?
I can’t claim to know the exact right answer, but I suspect it has something to do with loving my neighbor, and also with holding onto my own (incredibly well-intentioned, of course!) ideas of the right way to do things a little less tightly.
Join me on Sunday at 11am in the Sanctuary or on YouTube to ponder, worship, and join in sabbath together. It’s always better sabbath-ing with you.
In faith,
Amy
Image credit: Melanie Pyke
