Greetings Holy, Healthy and Happy People of God,

As I write this eNote to our faithful and devoted community of radical and contextually conscious followers of Jesus Christ, I want to express thanks for your commitment to this Lenten Season for self-examination, forgiveness, and repentance.  God’s direction for humanity is to be a reflection of God’s beauty and holiness in the world.

Part of the power of reflecting God’s image or imagination in the city, state, country and world is connected to our ability to live a life of Sabbath.  Most people I know don’t experience Sabbath on a regular basis.  Recently, I started coaching a friend and the first question I asked was, “Tell me about your Sabbath time.”  There was hesitation and a very long pause.  Then I responded, “Did you hear me?”  He said, “Oh yes I heard you, but I don’t have a favorable response because I stink at it.”

After reading our Lenten Scripture in Mark, I noticed these words, “The Sabbath was created for humans; humans weren’t created for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27  When Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for humans, He was saying that the Sabbath was made to be a blessing to humanity as were all of the Ten Commandments.  Jesus is also clarifying that humanity was made first and then the Sabbath was made afterwards for humanity’s well-being.  God did not make the Sabbath and then humanity to serve this day.  The Sabbath was made to serve humanity and to be for humanity’s benefit as well as being a sign that we are God’s children, and it is He that sanctifies us when we keep His day holy as He commanded.

So we find in Mark 2:27 that Jesus is not saying that we can decide to keep or not keep a Commandment of God because the Sabbath was made for humanity, but Jesus was declaring that the Sabbath was made for the benefit of all humankind and not a day of legalistic rules that turn the day into a burden as the Pharisees had done.

Jesus was also very significantly pointing out the priorities when it came to Sabbath keeping.  In Matthew 12:11-12 Jesus said to the Pharisees, “What man among you would not pull his sheep out of a hole on the Sabbath?  And how much more important is a man than a sheep?  Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”  Now we see by practicing Sabbath that the priority and importance is the well-being of humankind.

Hear the W.O.W., the Words of Wisdom,
“Sabbath is for our total well-being!”

Remember to pray The Lord’s Prayer every day at 12 Noon!

As always, remember, God’s will for us is good, we must do the rest!
Pastor Stephen