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The Gospel of Mark Bible Studies
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007 Ordination of Louise Christensen
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
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Time after
Pentecost – 21 (c) A few months ago, I was experiencing some difficulties with my computer. It was doing everything very slowly. When I called our I.T. person, she gently reminded me to turn off my computer and start it again…she told me to reboot (this is always the first thing to try). Now, I’m obviously no computer expert, and I don’t know exactly what happens when I shut off my computer and turn it back on…but I like the idea of it. I like the idea that when the computer gets bogged down and over run with too many things clouding perspective, when it feels too much strain from being asked too many things or there are too many things demanding attention. I like the idea of a reboot. I think what happens is that the computer is forced to go back to the basics. Instead of focusing on a whole bunch of random tasks that the world has asked it to do, to reboot a computer is to remind the computer of who it is. “Your taking on too much computer, you weren’t meant to be bogged down like this. Here, (push) reboot. There, now remember….remember who you are…back to the basics.” Let your programming be free so that you can have a fresh start.” This is kind of an image or an analogy for how we can understand the Sabbath day as well. In our Gospel reading today, we hear about a conflict surrounding the Sabbath day…Jesus healing on a Sabbath day…what’s this all about? Well, for starters, the Sabbath is about freedom—It is the day when the Israelites were supposed to remember the central story of the Jewish scripture—the Exodus. Listen to the 3rd Commandment as it is written in the 5th Chapter of Deuteronomy. Observe the Sabbath day and 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; you shall not do any work – you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female (servant), or you ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm… (12-15) It’s about freedom: God says remember where you were and to where I have brought you. Speaking to the Israelites, God says “You were all slaves in Egypt and I brought you out into freedom. So, don’t fall back into slavery and don’t become a slave masters yourselves. The Third Commandment is God’s way of saying, “Remember, I have made you free and so you shall be free indeed. Don’t forget—keep the Sabbath day as a day of rest, so you don’t forget where you came from. It’s about freedom with God.” To understand this is to understand the central story of the Jewish people. It is this common story that originally bound these tribal people together and that still binds them today, giving them a common background, a common heritage with God, a common identity. So, what better way to remember the freedom that God gave, than to perform an act of release/deliverance today. That is precisely what Jesus does, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” You are set free and now you stand in the state—the newly arranged condition—of freedom. In effect, Jesus comes to remind a people that they are not just remembering, as if to say we have a god who freed us. Rather, they are remembering the God who freed us and frees us still. Along the same lines, in our own Christian heritage, we do something very important. Every time we come to worship we remember who God is and what he continues to do for us. We use an order of Confession to announce the continuing forgiveness of God on account of Jesus Christ. We have communion to encounter the grace of a living God, revealed to us through an ancient story. It’s like rebooting our computer—when life gets bogged down and filled with distractions: with our own sinfulness-we are invited to return again and again to the embrace of a God who loves us and wants us to know freedom with Christ. I don’t know about you, but I need to remember about every seven days—to be reminded that in the midst of all the details—the successes, the failures, the becoming of life—the bottom line is that God loves you, and forgives you. You are freed and now you stand in a state of freedom. The question is: what will you do with it today? -------------------- Joshua W. Magyar, Pella Lutheran Church 418 W. Main Street Sidney, MT 59270
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