Counterpoint

The grade school playground was a dangerous place. Every day, I would venture into the unknown; there was no telling what kind of trouble I was going to get into or witness. The playground was  a stage where children performed their best shows of strength, popularity, and quests for acceptance. But everyday, we recited the rules. Do not hit. Do not throw anything.. Do not, do not, do not....

One day, for some reason, I became a threat to a bigger kid's popularity; I stood in his way on his quest for ultimate popularity in the class. How? I do not know, but nonetheless, here I was, swinging on a tire, as he walloped over to me. He wanted that tire swing, and nothing would stop him. But I had waited my turn, patiently, and earned my chance at this most precious tire swing. I was not going to move, either. It was a stand off. He's yelling. I'm spinning. He starts to run towards me on the tire, threatening to flip it over, so I do the only thing I could do: I spun and turned on that thing and kicked him right in the mouth. And then the megaphone sounds: "Jack, get over here!" I was in trouble, now. As I sob and embarrassingly mope over to my teacher, I began to formulate my plight. And the best thing I could come up with, was "I didn't throw anything..."

Obviously, I got the rule wrong. My teacher informed me of this, offering a new lesson to me. She knew the spirit of the rule was to not hurt anyone else.

One of the most significant aspects of Jesus' ministry was that he was not afraid to "break the rules," push the boundaries, and give things "new life."  Mark 2:23-3:6 illustrates this. In back to back episodes, Jesus reinterprets the Sabbath in front of the religious leaders, the Pharisees. He gives a counterpoint to the tradition of Sabbath keeping. This practice was a very important one; it is no shock to learn that Pharisees would make sure that Jesus kept the Sabbath holy, and conspire against him if he did not.

So, there he is, in a field with the disciples as they gather grain, on the Sabbath day. The Pharisees question him and point out how wrong he is! Jesus answers this with a counterpoint: even King David did such a thing! And again, the Pharisees find Jesus in a synagogue, healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. They question him again and point out how wrong he was.  He offers a an even stronger counterpoint: "Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?"  I love the next part...but they were silent. Jesus had silenced his critics. They may have realized, then, how this new interpretation of keeping the Sabbath holy gave life and liberation from their rules and regulations. It is summed up by a phrase which Jesus uttered between these 2 counterpoint episodes "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath."


There a several great takeaways from these passages:

Jesus is not about rules, but the spirit that lies behind traditions and practices

The laws of God does not prohibit self-care or care for others

Jesus reinterprets and offer counterpoints for the sake of liberation, new life, and to usher in the Kingdom of God.


We all have traditions, rituals, habits, routines...rules, laws. What Jesus offers us here in his counterpoint to the Sabbath is an invitation to consider these things. Do they bring you life? Do they help you love God and neighbor? Jesus isn't just changing things here for the sake of it, but offering us new life, which may need to include a sort of liberation from living into the love of God (not just the "laws" and "rules")

Prayer:

Lord, we thank you for the rich traditions we have because of our faith,
Help us to remember the reason that we practice is because we love you,
   and seek your presence with us.
Where habits and rituals keep us from seeing your fresh presence,
   offer us new life.
Liberate us where we try and build a box around you
Offer us new signs of your love and grace,
That we may honor and glorify you.
Through Christ, our Lord, Amen.



Jack