SCRIP-BITS

Oh Friends, today I was reading a local magazine, Mississauga Life, and fortunately happened upon an article titled ‘From War to LOVE.’ Now that should really read, God’s guiding hand led me to the article, because after reading the powerful opening statement, I just knew that I was meant to share it with you. It says: ‘Forgiveness made me free from hatred. I still have many scars on my body and severe pain most days but my heart is cleansed. Napalm is very powerful, but faith, forgiveness and LOVE are much more powerful. We would not have war at all if everyone could learn how to live with true LOVE, hope and forgiveness.’  Oh Friends, Jesus Himself could not have said it any better. But those are words spoken by Kim Phuc Phan Thi, on National Public Radio in 2008. That’s the now forty-something mother who in June of 1972, as a nine year old Vietnamese girl, shocked the world as the centre of attention in what’s ‘considered the most powerful political photograph in history.’ Yes, we’re talking about the picture of a naked nine year old girl running down a village street in South Vietnam, surrounded by others fully clothed. The fact is that some of the napalm from the bombs dropped on her village that morning had gotten on to her clothes and burned them right off, then continued burning through her skin, down to her bones. Ah Lord eh! But Friends, our God is so good and great that 39 years later she resides in Mississauga, next to Toronto, and though she’s still plagued by pain, spends a lot of her time going around the world spreading her message of peace, LOVE and forgiveness. And all God’s people gratefully intoned: ‘Glory Hallelujah! All praise and thanks be to our wonderful God who never deserts His children!’ Ah mih breddren, yuh see the awesome power of the LOVE for God and forgiveness, and what it can do in our hearts if we really set our minds to it. Can you imagine what a wonderful place our world would be if most of us behaved like that, actually walked our talk of Jesus? Okay, so I’m a dreamer, (smile) but stranger things have happened, and remember, where there’s life, there’s always hope, plus with our God, nothing is impossible. So now let’s turn to our Bit. ‘And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers (experts in the law) and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?’ Oh Friends, that was always a big bone of contention between Jesus and the Jewish leaders. And the occasion I want to highlight today is one Sabbath when Jesus and the disciples walked through a cornfield. The poor disciples were tired and hungry, so they plucked off some ears of corn and ate them. (Matt.12:1) But you’d think that they committed some horrendous crime the way the Pharisees complained to Jesus: ‘Behold thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day.’ (Matt.12:2) Now I think that’s overdoing it. And per the scholars: ‘The Pharisees had burdened the Sabbath with a multitude of detailed observances that were not laid down in the Mosaic Law. In responding to their legalistic traditions, Jesus always referred to the Scripture.’ And in this case, He referred them to (1 Sam.21:1-6) ‘But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungered (hungry), and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?’ (Matt.12:3-4) The best explanation of this also comes from the scholars: ‘The Lord makes the point that in the case of necessity the ceremonial law might be overruled. He uses the illustration of David eating the ‘showbread.’ These loaves were placed on the table in the holy place in the tabernacle each Sabbath. They were to be eaten only by the priest and his family.’ See (Lev.24:5-9) for a more detailed description. And Jesus didn’t let up on them with that one example: ‘Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane (treat as common) the Sabbath, and are blameless.’(Matt.12:5) Here Jesus is referring to the fact that despite the general prohibition of work on the Sabbath, the priests prepared the sacrifices on the Sabbath and nobody said anything about it. (Num.28:9) And Jesus continued chiding them: ‘But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy (desire mercy), and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.’ (Matt.12:6-8) Amen mih Saviour! Now that’s telling them ole greedy, selfish hypocrites where to get off! It thrills me how Jesus could put them in their place and leave them speechless. There He was referring to Samuel’s remark to Saul after he’d disobeyed God’s command. (1 Sam.15:22) As the scholars so aptly put it: ‘If the necessities of temple worship permitted the priests to ‘profane the sabbath’, there was all the more reason why the service of Christ would allow a similar liberty.’ Ah mih people, when will we ever learn that the Law of God always transcends that of man eh? But I guess since they didn’t consider Him the Messiah, they didn’t pay much attention to His words. More on this tomorrow though…if we don’t read our names in the obits. (smile) Till then walk safely with the Lord. Much LOVE!…forgiveness blesses us…much more than those we forgive…