"Stretch Out Your Hand" (Mark 2:23-3:6)

Stretch Out Your Hand

Preached 6/3/18 at First Presbyterian Church (Connersville, Indiana)
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Mark 2:23-3:6

2:23One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” 25And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? 26He 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.” 27Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; 28so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

3:1Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” 4Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

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We find ourselves this morning near the beginning of the Gospel of Mark. Like parents aren’t supposed to have favorite kids, I don’t think pastors are supposed to have favorite Gospels. But I have to admit … Mark is my favorite. In Mark, there is no sweet baby Jesus, wise men, or silent nights. There is barely even an Easter. If you look at the end of the Gospel, the Bible is clear that church leaders in antiquity added two different endings to align the Easter story more fully with the other Gospels. No, instead of these important images and the back story, in Mark we are confronted with Jesus as a cranky thirty-something. Maybe that’s why I like it so much. In Mark, the bulk of the story features Jesus in the prime of his ministry, often getting frustrated and cranky. Frustrated that his followers and the Jewish leadership of the day just don’t get it. They don’t get that a new realm is at hand, one that frees us from the burdens of injustice and inequality. Instead, Jesus’s followers, Jewish leaders, and the Roman Empire hold  onto their old ways marked by hypocrisy, violence, and clinging to rules that don’t always make sense in a world rapidly growing, adapting, and becoming more diverse everyday. Given this context, we can empathize with the anger and crankiness Mark uses to describe Jesus.

Our passage today starts in the grainfields on the Sabbath, with the Disciples leisurely picking grain as they walk through. Admittedly, this is a little odd - it’s not the harvest season and the disciples aren’t hungry, picking this grain isn’t necessary at all, nevermind that it is on the Sabbath. The Pharisees are right, the Disciples are in the wrong. When Jesus is confronted about this violation of Jewish law, he offers a defense by quoting an old testament narrative where the priests give people in need bread that was supposed to be consumed by clergy. This situation was different though, the old testament narrative involves starving people escaping impending violence, this isn’t the leisurely stroll the Disciples were caught in. Perhaps Jesus realizes that he’s comparing apples and oranges when he abruptly stops himself to deliver one of the keystone lines of our passage,“The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.” Put less gracefully: “Who are you to question me about this? I created this for you, and you are missing the entire point.”

Lest we forget what our key point is, we are immediately given essentially the same story, this time with greater stakes because it takes place in the synagogue and the focus is healing a man, not with senselessly picking grain. However, we can safely assume this man’s hand has been withered for awhile, what harm would it cause to simply wait another day? And that is where our story really takes off. While accusing Jesus of breaking Jewish law by healing and harvesting on the Sabbath, the Pharisees apparently think it is okay to plot and kill. It is hypocrisy in its purest form, and Jesus calls them on it. He asks a pretty basic question … “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” Caught in the rhetorical trap, the Pharisees become angry and start plotting to destroy Jesus. Unphased, Jesus delivers the second keystone line of our passage: “Stretch out your hand.” And the hand was restored.

We can read this passage and leave with a pretty clear Markan message: don’t take the rules of the old world too seriously, the realm of God is at hand, where a new order with new rules will take hold. In the meantime, there is work to be done - grain to harvest, and hands to heal. If we leave this morning with just that message, that is great. But, we are called to look just a little deeper.

Emotionally, I keep getting pulled to the phrase “stretch out your hand.” Two people - Jesus and the man with the withered hand - were required to make this miracle possible. Two people had to ignore a rule for the greater good. Two people had to choose love over the relics of the unjust old world. This really isn’t a story about the sabbath, it is a story about love. Sabbath is a day of rest and worshipping God. Worshipping God, though, isn’t just about what we are doing together this morning. It is about stretching out our hand to a stranger or someone in need, equipping them to worship or giving them the ability to rest, perhaps for the first time or in ways they have never imagined. Worshipping God is about loving our neighbors.

We can stretch out our hand when we are a faithful listener to a friend in need.

We can stretch out our hand when we guide an addict to the help they deserve.

We can stretch out our hand when we give a meal to a stranger down on their luck.

We can stretch out our hand by sharing the fruits of our harvest.

And we can stretch out our hand in healing the parts of our soul that has been withering for far too long.

We stretch out our hands by loving one another. Not when it is convenient or cheap, not six days a week, not just for the people in our inner circle. We worship God and honor the sabbath when we stretch out our hands with love to everyone. No exceptions. Rules and boundaries are important, they are needed to live in community with one another. But, as Jesus taught us in this passage, they should never keep us from doing the work of God. An old rule is never an excuse for turning our backs on someone in need, never an excuse for not loving someone who is different than us - lest we be like the hypocritical Pharisees in this passage plotting to destroy the new realm of God while our brothers and sisters in Christ are stretching our their hands.

How important is this lesson? Responding to those that would keep Jesus from healing, our passage says: “Jesus looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart.” This is one of the very few times in scripture that the word anger is specifically used and not just assumed, like in the turning of tables. What made Jesus angry was not breaking old rules, it was having a hardened heart and missing the whole point of living as Christians. We are given a gift of grace knowing we will fall short of this call to stretch out our hands sometimes. But remember, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.” The sabbath is a gift from God to enjoy in joyful celebration of God’s unending grace, no one is keeping score and no one is taking minutes. The evangelical pastor Mark Driscoll puts it like this: “On the Sabbath day, we are remembering that my relationship with God did not begin with what I've done, it is not sustained by what I do, and it is not guaranteed to the end by my effort or work. I'm saved from beginning to end by Jesus' work.”

I end today the way I began. Would Jesus be frustrated that his followers today just don’t get it? Do we understand that a new realm is at hand, one that frees us from the burdens of injustice and inequality? Or, do we hold on to our old world ways marked by hypocrisy, violence, and clinging to rules that don’t always make sense in a world rapidly growing, adapting, and becoming more diverse everyday. By honoring the sabbath and, yes, even cutting ourselves some slack on the rules every now and then, we can fully and faithfully worship our graceful and loving God. I hope you enjoy the emotional Jesus of Mark the way I do, a unique addition to our scriptural heritage. And just so we are clear, while I’ve broken with tradition to admit that Mark is my favorite gospel, I’ll hold true to the parental code of not having a favorite child. Amen.