On another sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. <\/span>The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. <\/span>Even though he knew what they were thinking, he said to the man who had the withered hand, \u201cCome and stand here.\u201d He got up and stood there. <\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>Then Jesus said to them, \u201cI ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?\u201d <\/span>After looking around at all of them, he said to him, \u201cStretch out your hand.\u201d He did so, and his hand was restored. <\/span>But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus. \u00a0\u2014<\/span><\/em>Luke 6:1-11<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n On The Moth Radio<\/a> hour this week, Greg Audel shared his story. He talks about a childhood in a home with no rules. His parents were, as he said, \u201cBusy with their own things,\u201d and didn\u2019t place many expectations on his habits or behavior. He slept when he wanted, ate what he wanted, and went to school when he felt like it. Which wasn\u2019t often. <\/span><\/p>\n But then when he was 12 years old, something shifted. He started going to a private school that was about 30 miles from his house, and there he made good friends with another boy who lived much closer to the school. He started spending time at this friend\u2019s house. Audel says the first time he went home with his friend, they had after school snacks. <\/span>Well, that\u2019s quaint, <\/span><\/i>he thought. <\/span><\/p>\n And the first time he heard the dad ask to see his son\u2019s homework, Audel said to his friend, \u201cAre you going to take that from him??\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n But then, his friend\u2019s mother told them it was time to get ready for bed. And Audel teared up\u2026 Never in life had anyone told him to go to bed. <\/span><\/p>\n He then went into the bathroom\u2026where a toothbrush had been laid out for him. The mom stuck her head in and said, \u201cif you want to throw your clothes in the hamper, I\u2019ll be happy to wash them for you.\u201d So that by the time they got to bed, he was literally sobbing\u2026 Because he had never experienced these particular expressions of love and care before. It was a whole new world as he began to see that \u201crules, routines and structure\u2026had value.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n So, you heard it here first, kids. Bedtime, homework, and curfew\u2026 that is a LOVE LANGUAGE. <\/span><\/p>\n What\u2019s interesting is that the title of this segment has nothing to do with rules, or discipline. Instead, it is called \u201cFinding My Village.\u201d It goes to show how powerfully a few simple rules can shape a sense of belonging\u2026 How sharing expectations and boundaries is a big part of what forges a family connection. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy friend\u2019s parents said that I could stay there anytime I wanted,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I pretty much stayed for the next 5 years.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Some of the rules that we live by, as civilized people, are for our own good. There are traffic laws, laws against stealing, laws against doing bodily harm to another person. And some of the rules that order are lives are more of a covenantal nature\u2026things that bind us as family and community, but are not legally binding. <\/span><\/p>\n In Jesus\u2019 world, sabbath law was both; a law, and a covenant. A central part of community and family life, meant to restore the body, connect the family, and even serve justice\u2013providing a needed break for workers, and even the land itself. <\/span><\/p>\n Which is why the sabbath law was the <\/span>perfect <\/span><\/i>issue for the Pharisees to leverage when they wanted to back Jesus into a corner. It was a great hot-button ideological issue that touched every part of life. That\u2019s why we frequently come upon stories in scripture like this one, otherwise known as the \u201csabbath controversies.\u201d If the authorities can catch Jesus doing something on the Sabbath Day that counts as work, they can easily say, \u201clook, he clearly doesn\u2019t know how we do things.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Jesus healing on the sabbath day, or looking the other way as the disciples grind some grain for their breakfast, creates the perfect opportunity, and the Pharisees are ready. \u201cSee??\u201d they say to the onlookers. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t know the rules. <\/span>He isn\u2019t one of us.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n As always though, Jesus does not submit to their legalistic pop quiz. Instead, he changes the conversation. He shifts the focus from the letter of the law (which, obviously, he knows as well as they do) to the <\/span>spirit <\/span><\/i>of the law. And that, as we know, is when things always get interesting with Jesus. <\/span><\/p>\n Because the spirit of the law is far more complex than its wording. In this case, Jesus says, the spirit of the law is not about what day it is, or what counts as work and what doesn\u2019t\u2013it is about right and wrong; doing good vs.doing what is evil. No matter what the law says, the word on the page is never more important than the person in front of you.<\/em>\u00a0 When someone is hungry, you feed them. When someone is injured, you heal what\u2019s hurting. Laws have their place in our lives, but ultimately, you have to be in the moment, and root your actions in love. You have to ask if keeping the law, in this moment, will give life\u2013or take it away. <\/span><\/p>\n This is a moment of empowerment that Jesus gives to his disciples, to the onlookers, and to all who would come and hear this word later. It is a call to live, not just within the law, but within the deeper covenants that bind us as people of God. It is a call to the hard work of discernment; to not rely on written rules to guide our conscience; but to dig deeper. To find that intersection of our humanity and the Holy Spirit, recognizing that no legitimate law calls us to let another person suffer. And if it does, then that law goes against the deeper covenant of who we are. <\/span><\/p>\n So, for instance\u2013just hypothetically speaking, for example\u2013if you were a National Park Ranger, and a word comes forth that says you can no longer share information with the public about the environment, or climate change\u2026 Well, then that law goes against your deepest values; your beliefs about stewardship of the earth, and the shared ownership of our greatest national treasures. So maybe you have to go rogue<\/a>. Maybe you create an \u201cAlt\u201d Twitter account, so that you can still engage the public, and share actual facts. Maybe you even inspire a growing resistance\u2026 So that within 24 hours there is also an AltNASA<\/a> account, an AltUSForestService<\/a>, and an UngaggedEPA<\/a>; all positioned to voice opposition to the growing threat against the environment. <\/span><\/p>\n Or maybe you are the Mayor of a sanctuary city<\/a>. And maybe your government threatens to come in and do broad deportation sweeps\u2026 That goes against every expectation you\u00a0and your community have established about what it means to be a place of welcome and inclusion. So maybe you stand at a lectern, with cameras flashing, surrounded by your people\u2026and maybe you look into those cameras, and lean into those microphones and you say, \u201cnot in our house. This is not who we are.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n![\"one-against-all-1744091_640\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/333\/2017\/01\/one-against-all-1744091_640.jpg\")
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