Sermon -- 2nd Sunday after Pentecost (June 2, 2024)

MARK 2:23 – 3:6

GOD’S WORD IS ALWAYS FOR YOUR GOOD.

In the name + of Jesus.

     Why did God give us his Law?  What is the point of the Ten Commandments?  The answer will depend upon who is giving it.

     For unbelievers, God’s Law is a list of unfair rules which restricts us from having fun and doing what we want.  Unbelievers reject God’s commands, resent his standards, and despise the threat of punishment that comes with it.  Some even go so far as to say that a God who would make such demands and threats is the most cruel being to exist.  That is why some argue that God does not exist.  Unbelievers want to do what they want and to be accountable to no one.

     Christians view God’s Commandments differently.  We believe that God is good.  God showed his goodness in loving his creation, in entering his creation as a man, and in redeeming us from our sins by his sacrificial death on the cross.  If God loves us that way, then we are right to believe that every word from God is good.  The Ten Commandments show us what a godly life is to look like.  They are given to guide us in a good life, not to rob us of fun or entertainment.  Is God’s Law restrictive?  Sure, like a guardrail on a mountain road is restrictive.  It keeps you from driving off the mountain and plunging to your death.  That is a good thing.  So, when God’s Law restricts us, it is restricting us from evil.  When God’s Law guides us, it is directing us to what is good.  God’s word is always for your good.

     Jesus and the Pharisees clashed over these different views of God’s Law.  To be fair to the Pharisees, their original intent was for God’s Old Testament people to keep faithful to God’s covenant.  Unfortunately, they developed a bunch of new rules and traditions which piled on top of God’s Commandments.  Those traditions were supposed to be a safeguard.  If you followed the traditions in little things, you would not overstep God’s Law in big things.  It was like Eve’s comment about the fruit in the Garden.  When the devil asked her why she was not allowed to eat from any tree in the Garden, Eve replied, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die’” (Genesis 3:2-3).  Touching the fruit was not the problem.  Adam and Eve could have juggled the fruit and kept God’s command.  But you can’t eat the fruit if you don’t touch it.  “Neither shall you touch it” was an addition to God’s word.  These are the kinds of rules the Pharisees added to God’s Law. 

     Consider God’s Commandment regarding the Sabbath: “Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.  On it you shall not do any work” (Deuteronomy 5:12-14).  The Pharisees heard this commandment and debated, “What constitutes ‘work’ on the Sabbath?”  This resulted in all kinds of tedious rules that no one could keep track of or keep.  This brings us to the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees. 

     Jesus went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom.  Why did Jesus go to the synagogue?  To hear the word of the Lord.  He delighted in that word.  He was eager to hear the promises, knowing that he had been sent by his Father to fulfill them.  Jesus was not in the synagogue to obey strict rules, but to be refreshed by his Father’s blessings.  God’s word is always good, even for Jesus.

     There was another man in the synagogue that day.  We heard that he had a withered hand.  Maybe it was a birth defect, maybe a broken arm that had not healed well.  In any case, he had a limb that was pretty much useless.  Do you know why he was in the synagogue that day?  To hear the word of the Lord.  It is the same reason you go to church.  You get to hear God’s promises which reveal God’s love and mercy.  You get to hear how the Lord has been gracious to sinners, how the Lord remained faithful to his covenant even when many had turned from it, and how God worked salvation for people who were dead in sin and burdened by their guilt, their flaws, and their failures.  You delight in all of this because you have a God who delights in you, who forgives your sins, and who assures you of eternal life.  God’s word is always for your good.

     In that same synagogue were the Pharisees.  You would expect them to be there.  Since they were so engrossed in upholding God’s Commandments, you would think they would care about nothing else but hearing the word of the Lord.  But listen to what held their attention when they went to God’s house.  “They watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him” (Mark 3:2).  Do you believe that?  They were not there to hear God’s word.  They were there to keep watch on Jesus.  Like spies, they carefully observed what Jesus might do.  If Jesus healed this man, that would be work on the Sabbath—so they said.  That would be reason to bring charges against Jesus as a lawbreaker.  You almost wonder if they were hoping Jesus would heal this man so they could accuse and condemn him.

     It does not take much for us to look for faults in other people and cast judgment against them.  It even happens in church.  You hear a child get loud and you can only think of the parenting advice you want to give to someone else.  You hear someone sing off key and have thoughts about it.  Your stomach growls and you check your cell phone, wondering how much longer this service is going to run because you are ready for lunch.  The devil distracts us from hearing God’s word and refocuses us on other things.  But we usually get out of church what we are looking for.  If you come to church looking for things to criticize, that’s what you will get.  If you come to church eager to hear God’s word and delight in his mercy, that is what you will get regardless of the distractions. 

     The Pharisees were not focused on God’s word, but on Jesus’ behavior.  According to Mark’s Gospel, Jesus forced the issue.  “He said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Come here’” (Mark 3:3).  Suddenly, this man was the center of attention, and I am sure it was awkward.  That certainly is not why he went to church that day.  “(Jesus) said to (the Pharisees), ‘Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?’” (Mark 3:4).  Jesus’ choice of words is significant.  “Is it lawful?”  That’s all that mattered to the Pharisees.  Not “Is it beneficial?”  Not “Does it demonstrate love and compassion?”  Not, “Does it serve my neighbor according to his needs?”  Rather, “Is it lawful?”  To the Pharisees, that’s why God gave the Sabbath.  It was to be an act of obedience that man was to do for God, not a blessing that God had intended for man.  I wonder if the Pharisees considered it lawful to leave church and to plot someone’s destruction.  St. Mark wrote, “The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him” (Mark 3:6).  Perhaps that passed their definition of “work,” and therefore their scheming for revenge and retribution was “lawful.”

     God’s word is always for your good.  It is not given to make life miserable, but to guide us into godly living.  Jesus had given the example of King David and the soldiers under his charge when they were hungry.  The only food available to them was the Bread of the Presence.  Every week, twelve large fresh loaves were presented before the Lord.  The old bread was to be eaten by the priests.  That is what God’s Law stated.  But when David and his soldiers arrived hungry, love for his fellow man directed the priest to feed the hungry.  In the same way, Jesus’ love for the man with the withered hand directed him to heal him.  Could Jesus have told him to come back the next day for healing?  Sure, but why put off loving one’s fellow man or addressing his needs?

     All week long, you serve your neighbor in his need.  That is done in your various vocations—as a parent, a spouse, a friend, a student, or a worker.  Opportunities for good works are presented to you in your daily routines.  You don’t have to go out and invent good works.  They are in front of you every day. 

     Sometimes opportunities spring up on you.  Say you encounter someone who needs your help.  You could ignore him and say, “That’s not my job”—as if showing mercy is something you don’t have to do because you are off the clock.  God’s word is always good, and it is always in effect.  The Commandments guide you into giving up your time, your schedule, and perhaps your money to help.  You don’t do good works to make God happy.  Rather, you do it because you are children of a gracious God, and he leads you to be gracious like he is.  You follow God’s word because it is good, because it is beneficial, because it demonstrates love and compassion, and because your neighbor is in need. 

     God’s word is always for your good.  God’s directions regarding the Sabbath day were always for the people’s good.  Yes, it was a day off, allowing the body to rest.  That was beneficial for all.  But the Sabbath was especially a day when God’s people rested so that the Lord would serve them.  God’s people would meet to hear God’s promises, receive God’s blessing, and share in God’s mercy.

     Our Lord invites us to partake in the Sabbath rest, which is always for our good, too.  This is what our Divine Service is.  This is your Sabbath rest.  Jesus provides rest for our souls.  Do you know what you have to do to make God happy with you, to gain his favor, and to enter the heavenly kingdom?  Nothing.  Jesus did all the work—the holy, obedient life and the sacrificial death for you.  You simply receive the benefits of Jesus’ work.  Thanks to Jesus, God is happy with you.  God’s favor does rest upon you.  You are children of God and, therefore, heirs of the heavenly kingdom.

     This is why God gave his word, and this is why you gather in God’s house.  Here, you rest, and God serves you.  He speaks tenderly.  He pardons all your offenses.  He encourages you to remain faithful in a wicked world.  He feeds you the heavenly meal to sustain you on your way heavenward.  God does the work; you receive the gifts.  This is always for your good.  And therefore, God’s people rejoice in it.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.