Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 6 verses 9 through 11:
9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
How in the name of keeping holy can we become so unholy? How in the name of God can we become so unlike God?
Jesus healed on the sabbath and there was conflict over keeping the sabbath holy; yet those who took offense went out back and plotted to get rid of him. We do the same today. On a small scale someone brings a coffee cup into the sanctuary; and a member of the worship commission seethes with anger over the disrespect. But which has profaned the sanctuary more, the coffee or the anger? Or in a more global context, a murderous war of jihad is waged in order to protect the name of God against some satirical cartoonists. But the murders do more to desecrate the name of God than did the cartoonists.
It makes me wonder if maybe what gets offended in us isn't really our sense of holiness, but rather our desire for control and for domination. That seems to be what Jesus unmasked when after he did something good and life-affirming on the sabbath the sabbath keepers went out and plotted to do something dastardly and deathly.
Keep the sabbath holy. Do not take the name of the LORD in vain. Don't bring coffee into the sanctuary. Sure. But also, watch your holy indignation for it may not be as holy as you think.
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