Wondering about my Wanderings

Where I am at with my message.

My message for Sunday is awful long. I need to get back to the essence of what I want to say.
God sees in others what they do not see in themselves.
In the case of this story there is a man in the area of the temple who feels useless. Because of his withered hand he is unable to work. In a scriptural sense he feels soulless. Psalm one goes on to explain that a tree that withers is seen in opposition to a tree that flourishes.

In the scene people are looking on as if there is something going on that is not quite right. There are some people who wonder how it can change and others like the Pharisees who legislate that the law needs to stay in place, lest the wrath of God be unleashed.

The sermon hinges on three precepts.
1. People are created for relationship. In the book of Genesis chapter 3 after God has said that all that has been created is good, looks at the man that he has created and says it is not GOOD that he is alone.
2. The same Genesis story faces us with what voice or voices we choose to listen to. Adam and Eve chose to listen to a serpent when they were told not to eat of a certain tree. They were filled with shame.
3. We are called to consider what our obedience leads to. One of the stories that emphasizes this is the Exodus out of Egypt. Listening leads to action. People who were dead come back to life.

In this story Jesus enters. I postulate that there is truth needing to be unraveled. In that sense Jesus enter into a world that is in untruth. It does not know the truth and therefore people suffer. They are ruled by the law rather than God.

Jesus first offers religious teachers a chance to share their perspective on the Sabbath. They are silent. They treat Jesus and the withered hand man as if he does not exist.
Jesus turns to the man with the withered hand. He is offered the same opportunity to respond to God's voice.
1. This man is around the synagogue, which is an indication that he is searching for God in a place where he has been cast out.
2. He has no doubt been in prayer. He comes to the synagogue even though the rulers dismiss him as defective not worthy of attention.
3. He has no friends. His condition indicates to others that he may be the victim of God's punishment.

Jesus looks at the man in the eyes. He is recognized and the person looks at Jesus as if he sees God for the first time. Jesus is pissed and angry at the religious folk that are so pious. They do not understand God's passion for people being in relation with God and each other. So who is worthy of being in relationship with God?

Jesus exposes the law enforcement of religious authority for what it is. It is an attempt to play at being God. It is as if the serpent has come back to bite and suck the life out of the people God loves.

The Pharisees are representative of a voice that says that we are right and you are wrong.

Jesus offers a viable alternative. He says to the man to stretch out his hand. There any number of references that allude to the stretching out of a hand in order that that the nation of Israel be delivered and freed. In a very real way this withered hand becomes the hand of God ushering people into a new way of knowing deliverance from a God who care. The Sabbath is made for man and not the other way around.

The proof of what has been seen is evidence in the acts that open up the eyes of those bearing witness.

The man's hand is healed. Before he was seen as someone who could not work. God is able to work through this man who at one time was seen as worthless. This meant that the promised land was not far away. The healing was a sign that God was liberating people in a new Exodus out of sin.

The Pharisees on the other hand want Jesus dead. It is reminiscent of how Pharoah wanted Israel dead. Moses stretches out his hands and the Red Sea is parted.

The good news is that God takes away the stigma of uselessness. On the cross Jesus own hand were bound. God raise Jesus up. God raises us up to be the church of the withered hand.