When I was a kid, I went to church with my family, and Sunday school, and then if my brother and I hadn’t aggravated my parents too much, we would go out to eat, at either a burger place or the local cafeteria, and we’d have typical Sunday fare – burgers or meatloaf. Indeed, whenever now I have a good burger or any meatloaf, I think of noon on Sundays (Of course, if we’d been naughty, which was just as likely, it would be baloney sandwiches for everyone).
And that was Sunday – time for God, the time for eating (followed by time for homework or chores). But God time was always Sunday; rarely otherwise. Oh, I’d sometimes think, later in the week, “God, let me pass this test,” but that wasn’t a real religious experience.
So when we look at Luke’s story for today and see Jesus breaking the rules by healing on the Sabbath, we see a redefinition of “God time.” The religious authority gets bent out of shape because Jesus is “working” on the sabbath. But what work! We think to ourselves, “can’t the guy even heal on the sabbath? What is it about these rules, anyway?” (but when I think of all the leaves I raked, or pecans I picked, on Sundays I remember thinking, “wait a minute, we’re not supposed to work!”).
The Sabbath, whatever day you observe it, is definitely “God time.” But that’s not the only “God time” there is. Jesus is no respecter of rules here. He does his Work regardless of the time, or the rule, or the custom. There are other God times, too. Jesus found his God work wherever it was. Find your own, when and where, and do it.
Member of Creighton University Community
Since its inception in 1997, Online Ministries has been blessed to have myriad members of the Creighton University community offer their personal reflections on the daily scripture readings.
