Compliance with the law isn't subjective.. or is it?

 

"In Sabbath: Restoring the Sacred Rhythm of Rest, Wayne Muller said,
The God who made the Sabbath is not a cranky schoolmaster, always forbidding, coercing obedience, and watching sniveling subjects slinking about in cowardly compliance. Let me make it easier for you, God says…if you work all week and forget to rest, you will become brittle and hard, and lose precious nourishment and joy. Forgetting the Sabbath is like forgetting to unwrap the most beautiful gift under the tree. (31-32)

Unfortunately, it seems to be human nature to take something God gave as a gift and turn it into a law. The Pharisees seemed gladly to have taken the responsibility to coerce obedience."

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"Whenever there came a conflict between the law and grace, Jesus gave grace. Several years ago I heard preacher, scholar, and author Calvin Miller say the following in a sermon:

...Remember this: If you are torn between doing what you know to be right and what you know to be loving, do what is loving first. If you are torn between your convictions and your compassion, be compassionate first. If you can't tell whether you should throw stones at a sinner or embrace her, ask yourself how it was that God first greeted you, with rocks or love."

"Piety" is an often misunderstood word in Scripture. The Hebrew word for piety means fear or reverence for God. In Greek, the word means righteousness. But piety can also have the negative connotation of righteousness for righteousness' sake. Jesus says, "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 5:20). He also warns, "Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven" (Mt 6:1).

Jeffrey Wisdom is a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, where he met his wife, Brenda, in 1975. Married in 1979, Jeffrey and Brenda have two children, Sarah and Iain, and live in Matthews, North Carolina. Jeffrey has served five congregations in North Carolina and presently serves as the chair of humanities for the University of Phoenix Colleges for Arts and Sciences, Charlotte Campuses, Charlotte, North Carolina.

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Healing on the Sabbath LUKE 13:10-17 (The Message)

   ^{10 -13}He was teaching in one of the meeting places on the Sabbath. There was a woman present, so twisted and bent over with arthritis that she couldn't even look up. She had been afflicted with this for eighteen years. When Jesus saw her, he called her over. "Woman, you're free!" He laid hands on her and suddenly she was standing straight and tall, giving glory to God.
   ¹⁴The meeting-place president, furious because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the congregation, "Six days have been defined as work days. Come on one of the six if you want to be healed, but not on the seventh, the Sabbath."
   ^{15 -16}But Jesus shot back, "You frauds! Each Sabbath every one of you regularly unties your cow or donkey from its stall, leads it out for water, and thinks nothing of it. So why isn't it all right for me to untie this daughter of Abraham and lead her from the stall where Satan has had her tied these eighteen years?"
   ¹⁷When he put it that way, his critics were left looking quite silly and redfaced. The congregation was delighted and cheered him on.