Sermons
Sermons
“SPIRIT OF THE LAW”
Text: Mark 2: 18-28 Esv
18 Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" 19 And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins--and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins."
23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" 25 And he said to them, "Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?" 27 And he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath." †
Camp Covenant Cedars
Camp Covenant Cedars near Hordville, Nebraska; the place I spent a week of my summer between 7th and 8th grades, gave me a memorable and formative experience. It was a project of the Covenant Church—an offshoot of Swedish state Lutheranism—remained predominantly Swedish. There was a lake, a bunch of cabins, a mess hall—pretty predictable really—but I was impressed by some of my cabin mates. They were tough guys—bad boys—who had long hair, smoked cigarettes, and used words nice, churchy boys like me would never use.
Like most evangelistic church camps, the week’s teachings built up to a big final night. There we were, at the “beach” on the edge of the lake, campfire spitting sparks up to the stars, and everyone seriously immersed in the spiritual sentiment of the evening. As the guitars played, tears started, and all of the bad boys in my cabin surrendered their hearts and lives to the lordship of Jesus. I thought it was really great, and hoped it also meant they would quit trying to pick fights with me now that they were Christians.
Following the campfire, back in the cabin, our counselor gathered us in a circle. He looked like Dennis the Menace’s dad from the comic strip. He guided us: “Now that you boys are following Christ, you’ve got to live a new life: no more cigarettes, no drinking, no disobedience toward your parents, no crossing the line with girls—“ I watched as the faces of my newfound brothers in Christ drew long in exasperation and disappointment. Our counselor had managed to suck the joy out of all of them in record time. The glow was gone in sixty seconds.
What I learned was that God doesn’t convert people in order to destroy their joy or sense of independence; he converts us to love what is good and to take joy in the things that save us.
The Church has made this mistake again and again through its history: it takes the good grace-gift of God and turns it back into Law, and takes new creatures in Christ and turns them right back into ordinary old Pharisees.
2 episodes
Our text presents us with two episodes wherein Jesus is encountered by Pharisees. In each case, Jesus reveals something of himself and something of grace, but the Pharisees can only see some kind of insult to their religious sentimentality.
A pattern we see in Mark is one of mutual self-revelation. As Jesus’ messiahship and lordship are increasingly self-revealed so the Pharisees reaction grows increasingly hostile.
When Jesus started out in Capernaum, he had to “read their minds” to discern their objections. Next, he “overhears” them objecting outside Levi’s house. Now we hear them on progressive terms. First, they will ask him a question directly (and respectfully); and second, they will confront him with what they think is a sabbath violation. This is a key irony in Mark. As Jesus is progressively revealed, we would think the people would progressively recognize him for who he is.But no, the more Jesus shows them the Father, the more hostile and reactionary they become. Go figure.
1. Jesus Reveals New Wine
Our two episodes constitute two apparent violations of Jewish observance and Law. Jesus thwarts their criticism and takes the opportunity to remove the veil of his messianic identity a bit more. We’re going to look at the two events and then consider our own relationship with legalism and liberty.
In the first episode, Pharisees and disciples of John the Baptist ask a simple and reasonable question:
“We all fast, why don’t you? What makes you any different?”
Jesus replies that when the bridegroom is with his guests, the guests cannot fast. But this isn’t about fasting; Jesus has sneaked-in the main point: he is the bridegroom; he is the Lord. Jeremiah 3:14:
“Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion.
Because the groom is now walking the Earth a new wine abounds—one that cannot be contained by old wineskins. The Spirit revealed in Christ is the new wine; the Law makes up the old wineskins.
Old Wineskins
In the case of our first episode, the old wineskins are the practice of fasting. More generally, old wineskins are the religious observances that have no heart or soul left in them. We all know what it means when the form of religion triumphs over its substance. In time, the form becomes the substance and religious duties are carried out for a God with whom people have no real relationship.
If the spirit is good, the form is almost arbitrary. Jesus says that we are to judge a tree by the fruit it bears. Good trees don’t bear bad fruit. If the spirit—the heart and soul—are in the right place, the fruit will be fine. The form is infinitely less important than the the content and spirit.
Jesus comes to reveal the spirit—new wine—new heart and soul. But the people are not yet ready to receive.
2. Lord of the Sabbath
In the second episode, the Pharisees see Jesus’ disciples walking through a field picking grain and eating it on the Sabbath. They approach him and sternly speak to him:
“Look, we all know that this is not okay according to the Law of Moses!”
Jesus reminds them of David’s acquisition of priestly bread, but as the first episode wasn’t really about fasting, so this episode isn’t really about eating. Again, it is a chance for Jesus to self-reveal. The punchline is the last line: The Son of Man is even Lord of the Sabbath.
Who is the Lord of the Sabbath? God alone! In saying that Sabbath was made for humankind and not vice versa, Jesus speaks as one who knows the mind and intentions of God the Father. Jesus speaks with authority that is above the Law, and above the Sabbath.
These two episodes are key self-revelations, and the people should have gasped, held in their breaths and said, “I get it! I get it now! I know who he is! He is the Messiah—the Son of God!” But no, we get the upside-down world. Human anger only increases.
SIN OR NOT A SIN?
With both encounters, the Pharisees have an unspoken question that stands at the center of their challenges to Jesus:
Is it a sin or not a sin?
Is it a sin not to fast when we’re supposed to fast? Is it a sin to pick grain on the Sabbath or not? This question is at the center of a kind of moralism that names the negatives instead of the positives. We spent a year meditating on 7 virtues, remembering that it is too easy to focus on the sin rather than the good fruit we’re called to bear.
This same question is a huge part of American politics—and the force of the question threatens the unity even of the Church. Take any of our hottest current topics: gay rights, immigration rights, abortion rights, economic rights, free speech right—put any one of them under the microscope and we’ll see at the core a basic disagreement: is it a sin or is it not a sin? The question is identical to that of the Pharisees. Jesus answer to both questions is a resounding no.
DO WE KNOW WHO IS RIGHT?
Christians read the same Bible but come to different conclusions. We read differently. We don’t all wear the same prescription glasses and some of our lenses are tinted red or blue, rose or green. We look at the same world, read the same words, but come to conclusions that divide us. We develop different sentiments and passions. In the end, we are like fans on opposite sides of the stadium rooting for different teams. We can even become opponents—our party convictions and loyalties overshadowing our lives as Christians. Even our churches can suffer divisions, tragically, over our flawed eyesight and secondary loyalties.
Is it possible to avoid conflict and find a safe, neutral ground? Possibly, but only as long as we keep away from the microscope which reveals root differences. To pretend there are no real differences risks the jettison of essential cargo—the selling-out of conscience for a superficial peace. This is the path of the tax-collectors we discussed last week, who scuttled their Judaism for big, Roman paychecks. Selling out may lay down a kind of peace, but peace without integrity constitutes the subversion of our witness. Our loss outweighs our gain.
Presbyterians have spoken some wisdom into such dilemma for hundreds of years with our Book of Order coinage of the phrase “mutual forbearance.” Where people differ in good conscience, we are called to practice mutual forbearance. To do so recognizes a fundamental truth; namely, that we are all flawed, no matter how correct we feel. We see in a mirror dimly at best, and though we may think our own sight pure, we humbly acknowledge that only God is good, true and righteous. Therefore we practice a generosity of spirit toward those with whom we disagree. We don’t claim that the truth we see and represent is the absolute-and-perfectly-unvarnished Truth. Rather, as we practice humility before God we show generosity toward our brothers and sisters who feel differently led. As to all the hot topics, there is not “a” Christian position, but Christians doing their best to serve God in the midst of their imperfect opinions.
Beyond the Law
Through their extensive commentaries and rigorous disciplines, the Pharisees sought the unity of Judaism. They pursued the enforcement of Jewish unity through a one-dimensional reading of the Law. Even so, we know they were divided into several schools—Hillel, Shammai, Essene, Sadducees—each with their own tinted lenses.
Jesus’ responses are never one-sided; they don’t favor one school over the others. Rather, all schools find themselves beneath his higher authority and superior judgment. When questioned about what appears to be a sin of omission—not fasting—Jesus makes clear that he is above the Law. When he and his disciples pick and eat grain on the Sabbath, all schools of Judaism would have agreed that this is sin, but Jesus reveals himself as one above the Law—even Lord of the Sabbath. Again, wherever Jesus is—whenever he is present and acting—the Law is being fulfilled, for he himself is author and Lord of the Law.
It is this acknowledgement-that Jesus and Jesus alone is beyond the Law that provides the ground for the law’s true authority.
OUR INDEPENDENCE DAY
The USA—a unique and exceptional experiment in world history—was founded upon a vision greater than the law—particularly, greater than English law and royal rule. In the words of “Give me liberty or give me death” patriot Patrick Henry:
“It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Those who believed in mutual forbearance nonetheless read out of scripture God’s calling that human beings should be free, with basic human rights—life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Unlike the rest of the world, Americans maintained that these right were granted neither by kings, nor tyrants, nor courts, nor revolutionary mobs, but rather were “endowed by our Creator.”
The idea that our rights have no human source remains unique. Americans uniquely have constituted that rights are given by God. This means that our courts, no matter how supreme, cannot overrule these rights. Presidents, no matter how powerful, can not give them or take them away. Neither public opinion nor popular consensus can claim to supply these rights, nor can they remove them short of dissolving the Constitution altogether.
God-given rights is a pillar—a necessary foundation—that can only come from faith. In particular, the faith expressed in the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible. You will not find a similar foundation for human rights elsewhere. Not in the Koran, not in the Baghavad Gita, not in the sayings of Buddha, and certainly not in the humanism of Voltaire and his successors. Not even the Torah by itself. No, out of the ground of Christendom alone grew the value of the individual, and the expectation that life should flourish beyond legalism and literalism.
Our text demonstrates how the Law, left to itself, becomes a point of irreconcilable differences, even an idol. We require one—just One—who is above the Law to give it its authority. There must be one whose spirit is greater than the letter of the law and by which the traps of legalism and literalism may be transcended.
We celebrate, brothers and sisters, because the American experiment still flourishes. We celebrate because the idea that human right come from God has/is/and will continue to raise the moral bar for the entire world. We still have our problems, glitches and false starts, but among fallen humankind of every culture, God has led us to something unprecedented and wonderful. Listen to John Quincy Adams, who said on July 4th of 1837:
Why is it that, next to the birth-day of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day? Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity?”
As we come to the table today, let us remember that America exists as it does because of the firm resolve of Christians who refused to compromise conscience. Instead, they left their beloved homelands and came to a land where they could be free to break bread and drink the cup as scripture and conscience demanded. A land wherein one’s God-given rights to live and worship without interference was guaranteed.
†
Sunday, July 3, 2016
Spirit of the Law