Leviticus 19:9-10
9When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God.
Mark 2:23-3:6
23 One sabbath he was going through the cornfields; 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.’
3Again 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.
“The Priority of the Person”
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church
Rev. Jeremy Watson (9/27/15)
(Click Title above to listen to sermon online)
“A study of Mexican Americans shows that frequent church attendees report higher levels of well-being and experience less disability, fewer days in bed, and fewer physical symptoms than less frequent attenders . . . . Johns Hopkins University researchers learn that monthly religious attendance more than halved the risk of death due to heart disease, emphysema, cirrhosis of the liver, suicide, and some cancers.”[i]
“Researchers from Baylor University found that people who pray to a loving and protective God are less likely to experience anxiety-related disorders — worry, fear, self-consciousness, social anxiety and obsessive compulsive behavior — compared to people who pray but don’t really expect to receive any comfort or protection from God.”[ii]
“Another recent study by Columbia University found that participating in regular meditation or other spiritual practice actually thickens parts of the brain’s cortex, and this could be the reason those activities tend to guard against depression — especially in those at risk for the disease.”[iii]
I bet you’re glad that you came to worship today! Let’s all take a few moments to stop, slow down, and thicken our brain’s cortex for a few minutes.
These are some of the claims that you will find if you search for research on the links between faith and health. Some of them are questionable, but many of these studies, and all that I just read, come from reputable universities and hospitals, from trusted doctors and professors. There is a large and active Center for Spirituality, Theology, and Health at Duke University that has taken the lead in studying these connections between faith and health.[iv] In their promo video, they share that people of faith live an average of 8 years longer than those without a religious faith, and that medical professionals are paying attention to this.
We have been exploring this in our current series on “Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds, Healthy Faith.” We are making the claim that there is something to this idea that spiritual health impacts our whole lives, that what we do here impacts our whole selves; body, mind, and spirit. I recognize that it is dangerous to make judgments of direct correlation, to misuse these studies. For example, to claim that if you are a person of faith, you will be free from all sickness, or that if you are not healthy, it is a spiritual flaw in your life. Those type of judgments are detrimental, to us and to our community.
But it is also dangerous to ignore the interconnectedness of our spiritual and emotional and physical selves. We are holistic beings. We are not segmented into sections of life. We are not a physical body with detached emotions and thoughts, and a spiritual soul that are independent of one another. If it is true that following the way of Jesus leads to peace, love, joy, and generosity, then how can it NOT impact our emotional health and our physical well-being? If we are battling pain and sickness, how can it not impact our spiritual health? When we garden, prepare food, go for a jog, or use our hands to create, are those not spiritual exercises? When we follow the way of Jesus or when we don’t, it impacts our whole self.
In our 9 AM “Digging Deeper” class, we’ve been exploring how our food choices have broad implications for our health and for our world. What we purchase, prepare, and put in our mouths shapes our physical health, but it is also a moral and a spiritual act. It impacts our relationship with our community, our relationship with the land that we live on, and with society as a whole. We make an impact on the employment of people, on the profit of corporations, on the environment. We make an impact on all of the complex justice issues surrounding food when we decide what to purchase and where to purchase it, or when we decide to grow it on our own.
And in today’s Scripture passages, we have 2 examples that concern food and faith. In the first, we see the way of Jesus, first expressed as the way of Yahweh in the law of Moses. Vineyard owners are instructed to harvest their grapes in a way that cares for the poor and the alien. Food production is required to care about more than production, yield, and profits. Food production is connected to foreign policy and social welfare, at the foundational level.
And in the second, there is a connected story. Jesus was walking through a grainfield with his disciples. And we can see that the earlier law was being followed. There was apparently no problem with the taking of the grain that they had not planted. The farmer had allowed provisions for people such as Jesus and his disciples to take and eat. And so they did. They harvested with their hands, and they ate, for they were hungry. Some Pharisees just happened to be nearby, they watched what happened and they had a problem with it. They invoked the Fourth Commandment, claiming that Jesus and his disciples had broken it by working on the Sabbath. The harvesting of the grain fell under their interpretation of work.
And the second story is an extension of the first, this one about the work of healing on the Sabbath. And at the end of these two brief episodes, these disagreements about the Sabbath, this group of Pharisees has decided to work toward the destruction of Jesus. They started on the path toward the crucifixion of Jesus because of this conflict about harvesting grain.
So let’s get to the bottom of it, starting with the Sabbath. This is the 4th commandment given to Moses for the Israelite people, as the foundation of the Law.
“Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. 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, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath and consecrated it.” (Exodus 20:8-11).
This is the commandment that God spends the most time on and gives the fullest explanation of. It is grounded in the creation account, so we can see why the Pharisees took it so seriously. And so should we. This Summer Julie and I were lucky enough to be at a conference where we heard Walter Brueggeman speak about the Sabbath. Dr. Brueggeman, or my buddy Walter, as Julie now calls him, is the pre-eminent Old Testament scholar that we have. And he spoke a lot about Sabbath during the conference. It kept coming up as he talked about the “economy of Pharaoh” as opposed to the “economy of Yahweh.”
Our world operates by the economy of Pharaoah, especially here in America, where we are driven by fear and greed, pushing us to accumulate wealth and power and security. (Dr. Brueggeman says the words wealth, power, and security like my kids say “broccoli” or “asparagus” with profound disgust.) Contrary to wealth, power, and security, the economy of Yahweh is driven by love and peace and demonstrated through radical generosity and compassion, and it creates abundance for all. We work for the sake of all rather than self. And in our call to live by the economy of God, Dr. Brueggeman says that keeping Sabbath is the most revolutionary thing that we can do, because it hits at the core of what drives the economy of Pharaoah. Productivity is the highest value. Work, work, work, driven by fear and anxiety to rise above other people in constant competition. Do whatever it takes to accumulate more, more, and more stuff, and it always leads to violence. It was true in Egypt and it is true today. Taking Sabbath says the opposite. Stop, rest, enjoy the creation that God gave us, be thankful, value people more than objects. Keep work in perspective. Sabbath is one of God’s greatest gifts to us.
So why is Jesus breaking the Sabbath commandment?
That’s what the Pharisees asked him, for us. And Jesus gives a pretty good answer, a couple of pretty good answers actually. The first is a reference to King David, who once led his companions into the house of God to eat the bread of Presence, bread that had been offered as a sacrifice and was only to be eaten by the priests. David and his men were hungry, and they chose to break the law, and it was okay. David became King, is highly honored to this day as the best King Israel ever had, and there were no ramifications for that decision. Point 1 for Jesus.
The important thing to notice in this story is that it happened after David had been anointed as the next King, by Samuel, but he had not yet assumed the throne. Likewise, Jesus had been anointed, baptized by John the Baptist, and yet he had not yet assumed the throne. Jesus had not yet been crucified, resurrected, and ascended into heaven. In this comparison, Jesus equates himself with David, as the Lord’s anointed but not yet crowned, with the authority to lead and teach God’s people. This is important. Jesus was not saying, David broke the Law, so the Law is now powerless. Do whatever you want!
Jesus was not abolishing the Sabbath or the Law, by any stretch of the imagination. As he demonstrates with his second answer, Jesus was interpreting the Law as it was intended by God. “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath.” In their effort to enforce religion, these Pharisees had forgotten the intent of the Law. They were not concerned about the Sabbath as a blessing given by God, but were using the Sabbath as a curse to condemn others. They were following the letter of the Law, but were missing the Spirit of the Law. Jesus has the authority to proclaim the Spirit of the Law and to demonstrate for us what it means to follow that Spirit. We are called to follow Jesus’ lead, interpreting the Law with him as our example and guide.
The next thing that Jesus does is show us an example. He heals a man on the Sabbath, while they were watching and waiting for him to do it. Jesus’ intent was to heal the man. The literal meaning of the Greek word used “sozo” is “to make whole.” The last line of the story uses the antonym of the word “to destroy.” Mark wrote it that way on purpose. The Pharisees set out to destroy Jesus at the point. Jesus made whole, while the Pharisees destroyed. In that, Jesus demonstrates for us what it means to follow the way of Yahweh. Jesus, in the same actions, was able to condemn the misuse of God’s law while also affirming the right use of God’s law. Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for Sabbath. Jesus affirms the priority of people.
We have been blessed this week in our country to witness a leader who follows Jesus in demonstrating the priority of people. Pope Francis has been in that position for 2 years now and has accomplished an incredible amount in repairing the image of the Catholic Church. He has approval ratings that are unprecedented, among Catholics, Protestants, other faiths, and the non-religious. And yet Francis has actually done very little in regards to changing church policy or doctrine. What Pope Francis has done is he’s changed the priority of his position, and has worked to change the priority of the church. This is illustrated well by the quote from Francis on your order of worship.
“The proclamation of the saving love of God comes before moral and religious imperatives.” – Pope Francis[v]
Francis has taken his cue from the life of Jesus, like we’ve seen today, and recognized that the priority of religious faith is to love other people, above all. While he hasn’t changed policy on the ordination of women or the inclusion of the LGBTQ community, he has embraced people in profound ways. At every turn, he has taken opportunities to welcome and to show love to all people, and especially the outcast, the most vulnerable in society. This week he refused an invitation for lunch with John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leaders to instead break bread with a group of homeless people at St. Patrick’s Parish.[vi] This is a move that surprises no one at this point, as Francis has made similar decisions since the first day he took office and chose to live in a modest apartment in a Vatican guest house rather than the Apostolic Palace. He is called a Pope of the People, and his impact is expressed well by Washington Post writer Michael Gerson.
“But this does not adequately capture Francis’ deeper insight: the priority of the person. This personalism is among the most radical implications of Christian faith. In every way that matters to God, human beings are completely equal and completely loved. They can’t be reduced to ethical object lessons. Their dignity runs deeper than their failures. They matter more than any cause; they are the cause.”
– Michael Gerson[vii]
When asked to take a side on the issue of LGBTQ, his answer pushed back against reducing people into an issue, saying, “Tell me, when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person? We must always consider the person.”[viii] Francis’ consistent emphasis on the priority of people has brought hope and healing to the Catholic Church, and to the church as a whole. He has gained the respect of many, including the noted Catholic Sunday School teacher (and host of the Tonight Show) Stephen Colbert. In his attempts to convince Francis to come on his show, he was asked what he would ask him, if given the chance.
“’I would ask him how love leads him to joy, or does love lead him to joy?’ Colbert says. And he would ask him about being ‘a fool for Christ’ — a role he sees Francis playing.”[ix]
Love, joy, and being a fool for Christ. This is the reputation that has led Pope Francis to make such a wonderful impact on the church and the world. When you think about it, it’s really so simple. Pope Francis has simply tried to live like Christ, to recognize that the Sabbath is made for humankind, and not the reverse. The Law is made for humankind, the church is made for humankind, it is all about God loving the person. Francis has simply taken the life and words of Jesus seriously. He has attempted to lead in the way that Jesus showed us in the grainfield, working against all forms of legalism and all of the ways that we value the institution more than the person. And he has especially pushed us to see the value and dignity of those who are on the margins. God loves people. God loves you. That is the message at the core of it all. God loves you. God loves me. God loves us.
Knowing that God loves you, really knowing that God loves you, is a tremendous blessing in body, in mind, and in your spirit. Amen.
[i] http://religionandhealth.com/books/god-faith-and-health/
[ii] http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/09/18/new-study-examines-the-effects-of-prayer-on-mental-health/
[iii] ibid
[iv] http://www.spiritualityandhealth.duke.edu/
[v] http://qideas.org/videos/the-pope-francis-moment/
[vi] http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2015/09/24/pope-francis-turns-down-congress-leaders-invitation-to-lunch-to-honor-dc/
[vii] http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130926/discuss/709269981/
[viii] http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130926/discuss/709269981/
[ix] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/stephen-colbert-pope-francis_55f0748ce4b093be51bd21e2
Upside Down World 