Sunday, June 3, 2018

Second Sunday after Pentecost
Deuteronomy 5:12-15
Psalm 81:1-10
2 Corinthians 4:5-12
Mark 2:23-28 (3:1-6)

But we have this treasure in clay vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves.

In 1946, Bedouin shepherd Muhammed edh-Dhib, his cousin Jum’a Muhammed, and Khalil Musa stumbled across some caves in the Qumran region of the West Bank near the Dead Sea. Muhammed edh-Dhib was concerned about his livestock who were getting too close to the caves. He dropped a stone and heard an unusual cracking noise. He knew he had found pottery and expected to find treasure. Most of the pots were empty and the scrolls were a disappointment. They even thought of burning the parchments for fuel. They tried to sell the scrolls to a dealer who claimed they had no value. Several of the scrolls were eventually sold for about $300 (today’s value.)

An archeologist heard about the scrolls and began the process of searching for more. The searchers discovered many manuscripts in other caves over the years. Scholars have identified remains of more than 800 different scrolls. Most of the tens of thousands of pieces are little more than fragments, but come from both religious and secular texts. There are theories about the origin of the scrolls, but the discovery was the greatest manuscript discovery in modern times.

We know today the great value of those manuscripts, even the fragments, because they are the oldest manuscripts of the original biblical texts and provide us confidence that the scriptures we have today have not changed over the millennia. The scrolls, which include at least fragments of every Old Testament book of the Bible except Esther, are nearly identical to what we have today, showing that the scripts who have copied those words over the years were remarkably accurate and that God was able to protect His Word.

The discovery began with a simple clay pot. What is truly amazing is that pottery is often the first thing found at most archeological sites. They are usually bits and pieces, not enough to hold water, but even a small piece can help the researchers identify the time and people who lived in that place. The type of clay, other materials used and the symbols painted or carved on the piece help. It might seem like those tiny pieces have no value, but they can truly be the key to unlocking the mystery of the dig site. I’m sure the archeologists have used the clay pots found in those caves to help with identifying the people who placed the scrolls in the caves. While the real treasures were the scrolls that were found, the clay pots have incredible value, too, because they helped to protect the scrolls for nearly two thousand years. They held the Word of God.

Clay is a type of soil. Clay is fine-grained earthy material, which is pliable when wet. When the clay dries, it becomes hard and can be used for a multitude of purposes. When the clay is fired in a kiln, it becomes even stronger. A coating of glaze is added to give the object more strength, as well as to cover the pores to make it retain liquid. Clay has been used for thousands of years for many practical things - tiles for floors or roofs, bowls, coins and pots. We don’t often pay attention to the clay pot, particularly when it is filled with a beautiful flower. We even ignore the cracks and holes in the pots because we value that which is held within.

The Bible refers to God as a potter and we as the vessels, which He has molded to carry His Word. We were created to glorify God the Father. We do that by being the vessel that shares the truth of His life with the world. We will get chipped and cracked in the process, but we will not be destroyed. Those moments when the world thinks it’s getting the better of us, are the moments when God is doing His greatest works. I’ve often referred to myself as a cracked pot. It is my prayer that this cracked pot will always shine the light of truth and life to the world.

We have entered into the season of the church year called Pentecost. This is also called Ordinary time and is a time when we focus on our ordinary lives of faith. Advent, Epiphany, Lent and Easter focus on the story of God. Pentecost focuses on our call as Christians. Who are we? What are we to do? How can these cracked pots possibly glorify God? The Gospel stories, Epistle messages and Old Testament lessons speak to God’s call to His people to live and love and serve in faith. It is a life that is not always an easy journey.

I once heard a speaker who was among the troops stationed on Bataan. By the time the Japanese took Bataan, the men stationed there had nothing left; they had no food, no medicine and no ammunition. They were starving, dying. They surrendered, only to face more difficult times under the Japanese. The Death March was sixty-five miles in tropical heat. They had little rest, no water or food. Any people who tried to help them were executed. They endured horror after horror during and after the march. Those who survived the march suffered even greater humiliations as prisoner of war slaves. By the time they were freed in the summer of 1945, only a third of the original captives were alive. If it weren’t for the Russians who liberated the camp, this dear man would have had to dig a mass grave with the other prisoners, he would have been executed and his body burned so that no evidence would remain.

I am sure he could have talked for hours and it was not easy to share those experiences, but he feels it is important that people, especially young people, hear about the horrors of war and remember those who sacrificed even their lives for the sake of others. One story he told touched me deeply, both emotionally and in spirit. The marchers were not given any water to drink in that searing tropical heat. At mid-day they would stop at a field, so that the Japanese soldiers could rest. They would sit in the shade and drink their fill of the cool, clean water that flowed freely out of artesian wells that were near the road. The prisoners were not allowed to drink. If they tried, they were killed. Can you imagine what it must have been like to be so near to fresh water and yet unable to drink without dying for it? For some Christians, that’s exactly what living their faith could mean. They want to drink the living water, which is Christ, but doing so could lead to death. It is only faith that gets them through the persecution.

The man said that there were three things that got him through it: his faith in God, the prayers of his family and the determination to survive.

Paul writes, “We are pressed on every side, yet not crushed; perplexed, yet not to despair; pursued, yet not forsaken; struck down, yet not destroyed; always carrying in the body the putting to death of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” Most American Christians have no idea what it is like to face such persecution, even those soldiers at war in the Pacific during World War II had no expectation that they would suffer such great horrors during that war. The man survived because of his faith, he looked to God to help him through his captivity and the many attacks to his life and his emotional well-being. We do not know what tomorrow holds, but for a Christian persecution is always a possibility. We can only trust that if someone refuses to allow us to drink of the living water, God is with us through it all. He will not allow us to be crushed, to despair, to be abandoned or destroyed. Our bodies might die, but in Christ we will live forever. May we all face tomorrow with the faith that God’s power is greater than any power in this world.

It is particularly appropriate that we should begin this season with the Old Testament lesson on the Sabbath. We begin with the reminder that we are to take time to rest. It is so easy for us to get caught up in “doing,” especially when there is so much to do in this world. It doesn’t help that we will be hearing the Gospel stories through Mark whose Gospel is filled with such urgency. We feel the same urgency today. When something happens, we cry, “We have to do something!” We don’t know, or can’t agree, what that “something” is, yet we rush out, demand change and fight with one another, never really accomplishing anything. We forget to take the time to stop, to pray, to ask God for His help. We are reminded that we are simply the pots, the vessels, and imperfect ones at that, through which God can make incredible things happen.

This God on whom we rely, took time to rest after creating the whole of creation. Do we really think we are any more of the strength and abilities to accomplish the work? Do we really think we can keep going like the Energizer bunny? God stopped to rest, shouldn’t we?

We need to be careful, however, how we define this Sabbath rest. God intended the day to be a time to stop, to pray, to rest, but the people of God decided that we needed specific rules to govern that time. They then determined what obedience to those laws looks like in the world. The rule to never start a fire on the Sabbath has been extended to anything in the modern age that causes a spark, like driving or turning on the lights. These rules are meant to give God’s people and those who surround them (both animals and foreigners) rest from their labors.

These rules, however, often became a burden. In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us there’s a place for grace on the Sabbath. He and the disciples happened to be walking in a grain field on the Sabbath. They were hungry, so they were grasping the grain and pulling it off by the handful, tossing kernels into their mouths. In essence, they were reaping on the Sabbath, specifically disobeying the intent of the Sabbath rest as defined in Exodus 34:21. The Pharisees were constantly looking for reasons to expose Jesus and His ministry. How could a man of God go against God’s own word?

Jesus answered by reminding the Pharisees that even David was disobedient when he was hungry. And besides, Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” The Sabbath was never meant to be a burden. It was meant to be a gift for God’s people so that they would have the strength and ability to serve Him the other six days of the week.

Jesus entered the synagogue and saw a man who needed His healing. He confronted them, asking if it was ok to heal on the Sabbath. Now, in other healing stories, Jesus did specifically disobey their rules. He mixed mud. He told the cripple to carry his mat. In this story, He asked, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?” They were silent, although the answer is that if a human’s life is in danger, then we have to responsibility to disobey the laws to save the life. In this case, Jesus didn’t do anything wrong; He simply told the man to reach out his hand and his hand was healed. Jesus proved that He is the Lord of the Sabbath. He also showed us that mercy is greater than obedience.

We should take a Sabbath rest, but it isn’t about avoiding the work that needs to be completed. It is about setting our hearts and our minds in the right place so that we can do that work the other six days a week. We can’t accomplish anything if we are burnt out. However, we are also reminded that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, so our Sabbath rest is in Him. The more we are connected to our Lord, the better we can accomplish His Work.

Martin Luther writes in the Small Catechism, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.” The Sabbath, as so much else in the Old Testament, was given to point us to Jesus. Our Sabbath rest is in Him, and we are commanded to keep our lives holy by spending time with Him. There are good and healthy reasons to take a day of rest each week, but even more so there spiritual reasons to spend time in worship and prayer. We will discover in that time that God really does have a plan and a purpose. We’ll discover through His Word the things we should do during the other six days of the week. We will realize that we are called to be merciful and in doing so we will find the real blessing of living in faith.

We won’t be perfect. As a matter of fact, we are little more than cracked pots. Yet, there is great value in those pots because we are filled with God’s Spirit and His grace. There is a story told of an Indian water bearer who had two large pots. One was perfect, the other had a crack. The perfect pot was always full when the bearer arrived at his home, but the cracked pot was only half full. The bearer carried his water daily for two years, ending with only a pot and a half of water at the end of the journey. The cracked pot thought it was a failure. “For these past two years I am able to deliver only half of my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master’s house. Because of my flaws, you don’t get full value for your efforts.”

The cracked pot did not realize the affect it was having on the world. A row of beautiful flowers grew where the water dripped for two years. The flowers were only on that side of the path; the water bearer had planted seeds to take advantage of the dripping water. He had used those flowers to decorate his master’s table. Though broken and leaking, the pot provided beauty to grace the life of someone else.

The same is true of us. We are broken and leaking vessels, but we are filled with God’s Spirit. That is truly the treasure that fills us. As we begin to travel this year’s Pentecost journey, let’s look for those opportunities to let that Spirit leak into the world, to share His grace with our neighbors. It begins with remembering the Sabbath and keeping it holy. It begins with honoring God’s work and holding it sacred. It begins with resting in Jesus and trusting in Him.