Devotions
Rev Gav
Imagine
Mark 2.23–end
One sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He 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.’ Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’
Reflect
One the themes that will be emerging this week is the idea that Jesus preached God ‘afresh’ to his generation. He took the ancient Mosaic and Levitical laws and reinterpreted them. His teaching was progressive, and one of his most famous phrases was, “You have heard it said, but I say to you…”
Jesus’ teaching hung off the Golden Rule (to love God, others, and the world around us), and in today’s Bible passage we encounter Jesus reinterpreting the Sabbath, based on this love. The pharisees considered plucking grain ‘work’ and as such it was forbidden, but Jesus presented the case that it would be unloving to deny someone food who was hungry. As always with Jesus, mercy trumped judgment.
The thing I would like you to think about today (and this week) is how we too are called to be witnesses to God’s love — proclaiming it afresh in our generation. We are called to take God’s love into new territory and apply it in new contexts — contexts that did not exist in the first century — such as global communication, climate change, the internet, medical advances, multiculturalism, and our understanding of gender and sexuality.
When Anglican ministers get ordained, they are called to, “proclaim afresh the faith in each generation,” however, since we are all ministers of Jesus Christ, this is something we are all called to do. Like Jesus, based on the Golden Rule, we are to reinterpret God’s law in our own cultural context.
What does it mean to be a Christian in the places you live, work, and play? What does it mean to bring God’s loving presence to bear in the society and community to which you belong? The Bible cannot give you a direct answer as to how you respond to, for example, climate change, but you can model how Jesus acted with love and respond accordingly.
You are a pioneer. You are called to bring God’s love into contexts that have never previously existed. There is no manual for how you navigate this, but you do have an example, and his name is Jesus.
Pray
Holy God
I live in a fast paced world,
that is in constant change.
Help me to boldy proclaim
Jesus Christ as Lord
and be a witness to your love
in the new contexts
in which I find myself.
Today, help me apply the Golden Rule
of loving you and others
in the places I live, work, and play.
And may I be Jesus to all I meet.
This day and forever.
and then