When I am in need of a nap,  I will watch baseball, or even more soporific, golf. In the last major tournament this past Sunday, a golfer lost his chance for a win, as his club touched the sand in a small bunker. Some applauded the strict golf code of rules, but others wondered why he lost two strokes, if no advantage emerged from his mistake. It is the old argument for the spirit of the law, the rationale for the law,  or the strict letter of the law.

 

Jesus is in the middle of this type of argument. No one can argue that the 10 Commandments say that the sabbath is for rest. When does work happen? In the case of healing, some rabbis said to heal only in emergency situations on the Sabbath, but others said no; one should help save from suffering. Jesus goes by the spirit of the law as he see sit as beneficial not only toward worship but for human good. After all, Jesus cannot see the sense in helping an animal but refusing to help a fellow human being on the Sabbath. Jesus is fierce here since the woman has been crippled for eighteen years. Jesus cannot imagine letting her suffer another day, rule or no rule. Human well-being takes precedence over the interpretation of the command at Sinai for Sabbath rest. The Sabbath day is the right place for her to find rest after eighteen weary years of suffering.

 

All of us have images of God deep inside at various levels. Hebrews plays on two fundamental polarities: God as a fearsome god or god of joyful assembly in heaven. Is God a stickler for rules or does God go more for the spirit of the rules at hand? As Christians we claim into our lives the revelation of Jesus Christ about human nature but also the nature of the divine. Jesus embodies the nature of God. Here our worship does not touch the fearsome God where we are awestruck, but we touch heaven's gates in worship.Worship is a way station but also a glimpse of where we are all headed. In a world that seems shaken up every news cycle, here we touch and handle things unseen. Here we get a glimpse of God's unshakable life for us. Still, our god is not to be taken lightly. This is still the creator and judge of all. This is still god, not some fuzzy buddy in the sky. Hebrews quotes Deuteronomy and speaks of God as a fire, its warmth and light but also its awe-inspiring effects if we mere mortals get to close, so this consuming fire got close to us in Jesus Christ. We so emphasize the softer side of god that we have reduced God where it doesn't square with the many sides of God in Scripture. The point is that we have access to the abode of God, the fullness of God, in worship. We carry on a worship that tries to be appropriate to the character of God fully. Notice the reference is to God, not our personal tastes and transient trends. Presbyterian worship has always emphasized hearing the word, for we worship this God who speaks in various ways to and through us. I know my preferences in worship, but I am open to the preferences that others have as to style. I have no patience with folks who deign to prescribe a style for everyone to follow. At the same time, Presbyterian worship is so concerned with propriety that it does lack in the celebration that we see pictured in heavenly worship. Whatever worship style, we enter into the presence of God. Do we enter half asleep, or open to the miracle that is set before us, week after week? Are we open to the miracle of being palced at the gates of the abode of God?