Proper 4, Year B 2018

Grace Episcopal Church, Galveston
Gospel:  Mark 2:23 - 3:6
3 June 2018

One of the Seraphim with face
uncovered from the Hagia Sophia
(Holy Wisdom) Basilica, Istanbul

The most awe inspiring building I have ever entered is the Hagia Sophia in the historic Old Quarter of Istanbul.  Translated Holy Wisdom, this great basilica church was built in the Byzantine capital of Constantinople in the 6th Century during the reign of Justinian.  After the city was captured by the Ottoman Turks in the 15th Century, the building was re-purposed as a mosque and all signs of Christianity, including works of art, were removed or covered-over.  Islam was rather high on the iconoclast spectrum, so religious art in the mosque was limited to geometric patterns and calligraphic writing. The building was eventually secularized and opened as a museum in 1931.  Today, some of the art from its Christian past has been uncovered and restored including one of the faces of the seraphim which had adorned each of four main arches.  I would be remiss in failing to mention that Christianity has had iconoclastic periods too.  The original Hagia Sophia was built during a time when representational art was considered suspect by the Church.  After all, one of the 10 Commandments prohibited the making of such images.  But, the thinking of the Church changed and the building was eventually adorned with images of Christ and with creatures from heaven and earth.

Representational art became suspect again in the 16th Century Protestant Reformation.  The Bible, literally translated, forbids the making of images of living things in heaven or earth.  But, for many Christians, including Anglicans, the Council of Nicaea in 787 had settled the issue in favor of religious art.  If God became incarnate in Jesus, a real human figure, then representations of human beings in worship spaces were from that time onwards surely acceptable to God.

The main theme in our appointed readings is another of the 10 Commandments, the direction to “Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy.”  Like the prohibition regarding images, this commandment seems to be largely bypassed by modern Christians.  But, let us remember that authority in our church rests on Scripture, Tradition, and Reason...the so-called “three-legged stool” of Anglican theology.  If something is stated in Scripture, which we hold to be divinely inspired, we must not simply bypass what we disagree with or find inconvenient, but should look at it through the lens of tradition (i.e., ask how have those who have come before us wrestled with this?) and through the lens of reason (i.e., ask what makes sense as I try to apply this scripture to my everyday life?).

Taken literally, the ancient Sabbath Commandment means a restriction from work on Saturday, the day when God rested from the work of Creation. Some Christians, as do Orthodox Jews, do their best to follow this restriction literally.  The very conscientious, just to give 2 examples, do not start cars or switch-on lights during the Sabbath.  In the Gospel reading for today, Jesus encountered some Pharisees who objected to healing on the Sabbath because that was considered work.  In case you’ve wondered if Jesus ever became angry, now you know.  He was quite off-put by the Pharisees’ choice of rules over compassion.  I am reminded of a story told by Holly, an Episcopalian friend, about a date she had in her college days.  She and her date went to see a movie.  This was not a problem for her date, whose tradition strictly adhered to the Sabbath, because they opted for a Friday matinee.  On the way home, they were delayed by traffic, and as luck would have it, the car suffered a flat tire.  She managed to pull over.  Holly looked at him and there was silence.  Then, he said to Holly that the sun had gone down...he would not be able to help with changing the tire.  She managed to get the lug nuts loosened and the jack placed.  She wrestled the spare tire out of the trunk covering her blouse in grime.  She was fit to be tied.  They did not go out again after that.  

Most Episcopalians do not observe the Sabbath in a strict literal sense.  But, since we take the Bible seriously, we must still wrestle with how to apply this commandment in our lives. Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for human beings.  It is something that is supposed to be life-giving and helpful.  The idea that our spiritual ancestors were directed to take one day of the week to refrain from all work reminds me of the importance of life-balance.  A fully-lived life is more than our work, it is more than how productive we can be, it is more than how much money we can make.  A fully-lived life is about wholeness.  

If we take seriously both the Sabbath and Jesus’ willingness to break that law in service to others, then we must use reason to figure out how to apply Sabbath.  In order to be a disciple, there is no getting around having to think about what we’re doing.  If we mindlessly devote every moment of our lives to some form of survival, then we will squeeze-out all down time, all fun, all reflection, all worship, all thanksgiving, all compassion.  In short, we become something less than whole.

In this long Season After Pentecost, the themes will be about the Christian Life.  We are reminded today that Jesus intends for us to take some time for worship, for prayer, and for being still before God...something that you can’t do when you’re on the clock, checking Facebook, or otherwise engaged in non-stop busy-ness.  We are also reminded today that Jesus intends for us to devote time to self-care.  The idea of Sabbath was something that was given to help with our wholeness.  Think about the things we might do for self-care: drinking enough water, watching what we eat, getting enough exercise, staying mindful, having enough rest, being creative and playful, keeping a list for that which we are thankful ...I could go on, but you get the idea.  Such is the stuff that brings us Sabbath wholeness.

The emergency instructions given on every air flight remind people of the drill when cabin pressure is lost and the oxygen masks deploy.  If you are travelling with children, put on your own mask first!  If you don’t do that you run the risk of not being able to help those you love.  This is a good analogy for figuring out how to have Sabbath in your life.  The Jesus of the Gospels modeled self-care.  He attended worship in synagogues, he encouraged his disciples to take some time just for themselves to talk and pray, he showed that there would be times when rules conflicted with compassion...and in such times, he showed them to choose compassion.  Sabbath is about showing compassion for yourself in order to enjoy life, to find wholeness, and in so doing, to become equipped to be compassionate toward others.  So, today’s take home question is…. “What’s in your Sabbath?” AMEN.