Old Testament Lesson: Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18

1O Lord, you have searched me and known me. 2You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. 3You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 4Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. 5You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it. 

13For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. 15My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. 17How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18I try to count them—they are more than the sand; I come to the end—I am still with you. 

Gospel Lesson: Mark 2:23 – 3:6 

Pronouncement about the Sabbath 

23One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” 25And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? 26He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” 27Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; 28so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.” 

The Man with a Withered Hand 

3 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” 4Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. 

When I was 18 years old, I was involved in a youth ministry that went on a weekend skiing retreat to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.  It was a great trip filled with some amazing experiences.  It was also at a time in my life when I was beginning to question some things about religion and my life.  I was an achiever.  Especially when it came to church.  I wanted to make sure that “I did things right” and I received a lot of approval, especially in the church.  I was president of our FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes)/Good News Club, on our church’s youth council, active in organizing regional events and outings, had started a Campus Life club at my high school, and had even been “licensed” to preach by my baptist church.

Yet, I did not feel connected to God, nor to myself.  I took a chance, got vulnerable with my youth ministry adult leaders one night and told them about how I was doing all of this Christian stuff, yet, felt alone and did not know who I was…I remember them saying that God loves me and that’s not dependent on my doing anything…that I just needed to live and be.  That weekend turned out to be a lot of fun…there was skiing, there was some fun skits and games, a good speaker, and, more than anything else, a sense that I could let go of some things.

It’s been a lifetime for me of letting go of things and roles and expectations in order to live into my humanity as God intends.  A lifetime of risking being vulnerable and curious.  

This God knows me as the Psalm passage so beautifully states.  I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  And the Divine is with me in the depths and heights of life.  The Divine that is with me in this life, was with me before this life, and is with me after this life.  It is Me at my deepest, truest Self.  God, me, together.  Made in God’s image, God’s likeness.  

And, yet, I listened to the world around me that said that I am somehow separated from God, from the Divine, from the very spark that give and sustains life.  If you have ever been to a funeral service that I have officiated, you know that I use Romans 8:38-39.  “Nothing can separate us from the love of God.”.  But, the world, the systems that we’ve created, wants to divide us with religion, politics, orientations, origins, and even through the very scriptures that have been given to us to remind us of our journeys, our pilgrimages, in becoming human, or remembering our humanity.

Growing up, I knew that I did not want to live in the systems of the world.  Intrinsically, I knew somewhere inside of me, that we are all connected and loved.  But, I also needed to survive in the world that was given to me, so, often unintentionally, I developed an image that seemingly thrived in the world in which I lived.  I succeeded, I was “winning” if you will.

Yet, I was not at peace.

Years later, in my early twenties, I was given the gift of going to the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky.  A weekend of silence and rest.  At first, I could not stop, and then I let go.  I found some salvation in slowing down and intentionally listening to my body and soul.  I found “sabbath”, a time of intentionally letting go and leaning into who I am.  Being reminded of my humanity that is separate from any religious dogma, success, or what I do or what role I play.  Being reminded that I am fearfully and wonderfully made and in constant union with God whether I recognize it or not.  I have been going back to the Abbey ever since, for 30+ years.

This is the point of our gospel lesson.  Jesus is reminding us throughout his life that our image is not based on following religious rules for sake of following rules, especially when those rules get in the way of being human.  

The sabbath is made for humanity, not humanity for the sabbath.  The sabbath is for slowing down and reflecting on who we are as humans and to go deeper into our humanity.  

And then there’s this interesting phrase, “the son of man is lord of the sabbath even”.  God, the divine, the Son, representing all of humanity, is over the sabbath.  It does not matter if you pick grain to eat when you are hungry or from the temple.  Humans who are struggling need healing all of the time, even on the sabbath.  

Thomas Aquinas says:   “The word ‘Lord’ means the maker of all creation as in Judith 16:

‘All your creation serves you.’”

Matthew Fox explains this in this way:  MANY PEOPLE USE THE WORD LORD in their prayers and also in their projections. Here Aquinas teaches us that the primary meaning of Lord is “the maker of all creation.” God the Creator is what the word Lord refers to. To love that Lord we must love creation, study it, listen to those who do the same. Otherwise we are trapped in projection alone. Instead of worshipping God, we are worshipping our own ego, the birthplace of our projections. To worship one’s projections is plain and simple idolatry. Individuals and also religious institutions and traditions need to be on guard against idolatry. Jesus warned: “Not all who say ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.”

We have created images of ourselves, and in our culture, that have dehumanized us.  Yet, all of creation, the Divine that lives inside and all around us, is urging us to let go of our egos and make them subservient to our true selves, to our humanity as God intended.  The “lord” is not an earthly ruler, it is the maker of creation, it is in whose image we have been given life.  And we are being loved, lured, reminded, to simply be who we were created to be…the persons, the humans, we’ve always wanted to be before the systems of this world began to tell us a different story filled with alternative realities other than the one reality of God’s union with us and love for and of and in us.