Missing the Point

Mark 2:23-3:6

So there’s been a lot of talk about a Mega-Church televangelist who is convinced that God wants him to purchase a $54 million private jet. He’s asking his followers to “pray about it” and then to contribute funds to his ministry…so he can buy a Dassault Falcon 7X Luxury Jet. Just to make sure we’re on the same page here: I think this is ridiculous (what I really think, I wouldn’t feel comfortable saying from the pulpit). What is even more ridiculous, however, is that Jesse Duplantis, the guy asking his followers to help him buy this plane, already owns 3 private jets. But none of those planes, he says, can make the round-the-world trips he wants to make, to “spread the gospel”, in one flight…and that would save so much money on gas. I can’t imagine it saving $54 million worth of gas, but what do I know…I don’t own any private jets, so I have no idea how much it would cost to refuel one.

Anyhow, you might not be surprised to learn that the “gospel” Duplantis spreads is none other than the “prosperity gospel”, which says God shows favor by rewarding the faithful with earthly riches. “If Jesus were to descend from heaven and physically set foot on 21st-century earth, he tells his followers, the Redeemer would probably take a pass on riding on the back of a donkey: ‘He’d be on an airplane preaching the gospel all over the world.’”[1] Again, I think this is ridiculous (again, I’m strongly resisting saying what I really think from the pulpit). This is not how WWJD works. “What Would Jesus Do?” does not mean deciding what you want to do and then claiming that that is what Jesus would do, too. Just to be clear, $54 million dollar private jets are NOT what Jesus was talking about when he mentioned “treasures in heaven.”

“Why a private jet? Why can’t he just ride on a commercial airliner?” you might ask. And that’s a good question. I’ve done the math, and even flying first class, half-way around the world, from Louisiana to Kenya, at $12,500 per flight, $54 million could by 4,320 flights. That means, for the amount of money he’s trying to raise to buy a private jet, Jesse Duplantis could literally fly first-class back and forth from Kenya (a flight which takes nearly 20 hours) non-stop for the next 12 years. But no. He couldn’t, he insists. In a televised conversation with Kenneth Copeland the two men shuddered at the mention of having to fly with common folk on commercial airliners. Copeland defended the use of private jets for ministry. His words, “We’ve got to have this. The mess that the airlines are in today, I would have to stop [doing mission work].” He then goes on to describe riding commercial airlines as boarding a “long tube with a bunch of demons.” Private jets, however, are sanctuaries where these pious and holy men can talk directly to God. So Copeland claims.

And people support these claims. People view these men as “model Christians”, pious, righteous, holy, ethical, moral…they are the Pharisees of the modern world. Think about it…the Pharisees were men who abused their position to procure power and wealth and prominence. People revered the Pharisees as pious and holy, but they also feared the Pharisees. The Pharisees interpreted the laws and rules of Scripture with very specific and legalistic terms and conditions which were nearly impossible to live up to. But, of course, if you didn’t live up to these expectations, you were a dirty, rotten sinner, and God would want nothing to do with you. Hence the co-mingled fear and reverence. You could probably pay a Pharisee to say a prayer for you if you messed up…but if you were too much of a lost cause, you might put them at risk by associating with you.

Just for reference, these people who were really messed up are the ones that Jesus kissed and healed and went to dinner parties with and asked to be his disciples. Do you really want to know what Jesus would do? I think he’d treat the prosperity preachers exactly the same as he did the Pharisees of his time…he’d go to their mega-churches, stand in the middle of their congregation, and shout, “I think you’re missing the point!” Or maybe he’d shout something else…but I’m not sure I can say it from the pulpit…

Just an example of the Pharisees and their legalistic rules interpreting Scripture. So…Deuteronomy 5:12-15 says this about Sabbath:

"12 Keep the Sabbath day and treat it as holy, exactly as the Lord your God commanded: 13 Six days you may work and do all your tasks, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. Don’t do any work on it—not you, your sons or daughters, your male or female servants, your oxen or donkeys or any of your animals, or the immigrant who is living among you—so that your male and female servants can rest just like you. 15 Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That’s why the Lord your God commands you to keep the Sabbath day."

Deuteronomy 5:29 goes on to say “If only their hearts would be inclined to fear me [that is the LORD, God] and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever.” Is that a threat? If we don’t fear God and keep these commands…will our children suffer? Fear and the well-being of our children are very strong motivators. And then verse 32 and 33, “So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in obedience to all that the LORD your God has commanded you so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land you will possess.” Health and wealth and longevity are also strong motivators.

So…being strongly motivated, Jewish leaders interpreted the Sabbath law to create 39 Melakhot…39 specifically forbidden Sabbath behaviors, including: plowing fields, sowing seeds, harvesting wheat, binding sheaves of wheat together, threshing wheat, winnowing the grains, sorting, grinding, and sifting the grains, kneading the ground flour into dough, or baking the kneaded dough into bread…also forbidden: shearing wool, whitening wool, combing wool, dyeing wool, spinning, weaving, or crocheting wool, trying or untying knots in yarn, sewing stitches, tearing fabric in order to stitch it…the list continues: you can’t hunt any animal, slaughter any animal, skin any animal, salt the meat or cure the hide, nor can you scrape, cut, or write on its hide, and you must not build up or tear down any timbers, you can’t light or extinguish a flame, you can’t use a hammer or do any heavy lifting.

To simplify this extensive list: you can’t do any field or kitchen work to create the bread of the presence (bread specifically baked to give as an offering to the LORD), you can’t slaughter any animals (also offered to the Lord at the tabernacle altar), you can’t make any curtains of wool or leather (necessary for covering the tabernacle, or tent of the LORD), you can’t make or erect tent beams or hammer any stakes into the ground, and you can’t light any lamps, or candles, or altar fires. You can’t do any of this stuff on the Sabbath…because the point of the Sabbath is to give humans a day in which we are simply able to be at peace in the presence of God. If we spent all of our time on the Sabbath baking, and stitching, and building, and setting up the tabernacle but never spent any time at peace in God’s presence…we would be missing the point.

But the disciples are harvesting wheat on the Sabbath. When the Pharisees ask Jesus, “Why are they breaking the Sabbath law?” I want you to hear their inner fear, “Why would you break the law in our midst and threaten our prosperity and favor with God? Do they not care about our well-being? The well-being of our community? The well-being of our children?” Jesus knows the laws, and he also knows the scriptures from which they were interpreted, and his response to the Pharisees is this: “I think you’re missing the point, here.”

“Haven’t you ever read what David was in need, when he and those with him were hungry?” (He knows they’ve read this) “David went into God’s house and ate the bread of the presence…that’s the bread that was consecrated for God.” Then he said, “The Sabbath was created for us…we weren’t created for the Sabbath.” He might as well have asked the Pharisees: How much peace do you imagine you’d be able to find in God’s presence if you were hungry the entire time you were there? The Pharisees have managed to turn Sabbath starvation into a practice of painful piety. Granted, none of them are starving themselves to appear pious…but if you are one of their starving followers, don’t expect the Pharisees to lift a finger, donate a denarius, or send you a casserole. However, they will, for the right price, pray for your prosperity and health…and should you die of starvation overnight they might even extoll you as a pious saint for silently and faithfully carrying the burden of hunger. Jesus understands Sabbath as a day of renewal, not an additional burden to carry. In other words…if you need to eat the bread of the presence of God to be at peace in the presence of God…eat the bread. In other words…”This is my body, broken for you…take and eat…”

“And…” Jesus adds, “I am Lord over the Sabbath.” As Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus has the authority to reinterpret Sabbath law. And in Jesus’ interpretation our welfare is the top concern. Jesus interprets the law towards our well-being and prosperity.

But the Pharisees know the Scriptures and the laws by heart. So does Jesus…and he has since he was at least 12 years old. Jesus also knows human needs, because…you know…he is human. Jesus also knows God’s will to meet our needs because…you know…he is our savior and redeemer. Pharisees…no?

So then…maybe this is the same day, or maybe it’s another Sabbath day, but Jesus is in the mega-church…I mean…Synagogue. And the Pharisees are watching him with laser eyes. They are watching him with the express purpose of finding grounds on which to accuse him of wrongdoing. They are not focused on human need because they are consumed by human greed. Jesus knows they’re watching…so he takes the stage and invites the man with the withered hand to join him. “What’s the point of the Sabbath?” he asks the Pharisees, in the midst of their followers. “Is it really about our well-being? What does the law say? Is it legal for me to save a life or to kill? Should I do good to this man…or just ignore him and shun him like you have every day of his life?” Here’s how Lamar Williamson describes the silence that follows. “Their silence is poisonous, for it [reveals that the Pharisees] care more about their custom than they do about their brother.”[2] They are more eager to bring Jesus down than they are to lift up this man’s needs.

Jesus is angry and deeply grieved. They’ve missed the point.

So Jesus heals the man…and then what? The Pharisees gather to plot how to destroy Jesus.

Is Jesus threatening their well-being by healing a man in their presence?

Is he threatening their prosperity?

Well…how do you define prosperity? Is prosperity exclusive, privatized wealth that you don’t have to share with stinky, hungry, poor people? Or…is prosperity God’s desire that all of humanity be provided for? Jesus Christ reveals God’s desire to meet all human need, not human greed.

So to summarize: Sabbath is for humans. We need rest. The point of Sabbath is to be at peace in God’s presence. But there are those who are wealthy in greed and can afford rest while not allowing it to the workers and laborers who make them wealthy. In Deuteronomy 5, God forbids this. Most arguments against a “living-wage” miss the point. There is tremendous greed at the top, and tremendous need at the bottom. The Sabbath question to ask is: Where is God?

Jesus Christ is Lord of the Sabbath. Without this, we can miss the point of the statement that “Sabbath is for humans.” Ooooh…that means we can do whatever we want, right? This is my day to do as I please.[3] Miss. It’s still God’s day. Granted…God desires our rest, renewal, and well-being…but God also desires that of our neighbor who is hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, in prison. Have we done the prep-work to ensure that they can be at peace in God’s presence, too?

So it isn’t enough that we simply take time to be at peace in God’s presence. God desires that we are well rested so that we have energy to serve, to do good, to love our neighbor. And love isn’t just a feeling. When Jesus talks about love, he is teaching us about how we expend our energy in this world towards the accomplishment of God’s will. And God’s will is for our well-being, and the well-being of our neighbor.

God desires our rest and well-being so we have energy to devote to our neighbor’s well-being.

Here’s how Lamar Williamson puts it: “Undertaken out of genuine reverence for God and love of neighbor, acts of kindness on a Sunday can be restorative not only of the persons healed by those acts, but for the healer too.”[4]

And here’s how my good friend, Allison Unroe, puts it in a Facebook post. She’s a small church pastor…who grew up with me at Bon Air Presbyterian Church, Camp Hanover, and Union Presbyterian Seminary…

“My newsfeed is full of articles about some evangelical "leader" saying he needs 54 million dollars to buy a jet in the name of Jesus. I don't want to give this a ton of time, because y'all, it's too much, and there's A LOT going on in the world today. But, a few thoughts:

1) This is greed. This is gluttony. This is NOT the gospel of Jesus Christ. Unless that jet is going to be used to feed people and clothe people and house people and heal people and welcome people, this is heretical.

2) The church SHOULD be an example of justice in this world, part of which means paying a living wage. You should be suspicious of anyone who goes into ministry to get rich. You should also be suspicious of a church that doesn't believe in, fight for, and pay a living wage.

3) There are small churches all over the world doing good work in their communities. These are the churches that people drive past every day but never stop in to visit. Or they do visit, but the nursery isn't full enough or worship isn't flashy enough. These churches are quiet, consistent FORCES keeping food pantries open and clothing banks stocked and domestic violence shelters running. We don't make the front page, because that's not the point. Sadly, what that means is that we are no longer the face of the church in America (if we ever were). But we're here, doing our best to be as faithful as we can.

4) There's a lot of talk about the death of the church these days. That's a whole big long conversation that we can have, but today suffice it to say, if this greed and depravity is the church, then let it die. God will resurrect something so much more beautiful and so much more faithful from those ashes.”[5]

That’s the point. Break the wheat. Eat the bread. Be at peace.

Amen.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/05/29/a-televangelist-wants-his-followers-to-pay-for-a-54-million-private-jet-its-his-fourth-plane/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5bf90f0f849a

[2] Williamson, Lamar, Jr. “Mark” from Interpretation: A Biblical Guide for Teaching and Preaching

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Unroe, Allison. Facebook Post. May 30, 2018, 12:50pm.