For this thought, we’ve taken some extracts from Rev Sheila Cameron’s sermon on 21 August …

“So much of the life and death of Jesus was about challenging the law, drawing his followers into a fellowship based on the two great commandments, love of God and love of neighbour as ourselves. The first of these offers us a deeply personal relationship with God which is our great strength and our security, from which the second, the one we call the golden rule, breaks down all barriers and speaks to all people. We are called to set aside our preconceptions and prejudices and accept all people as equal children of God.”

…

“Jesus heals a woman who has been crippled for eighteen years and he does this on the Sabbath, causing outrage to the leader of the synagogue. There is evidently a deep misconception about what the Sabbath is all about. God means it to be a peaceful day, a day which is set apart for honouring God, not for going our own way or serving our own interests or pursuing our own business. God is to be at the centre of this day and there’s no doubt that honouring our relationship with God and caring for our neighbour are very closely connected.”

…

“There is a danger with lukewarm religion that it will tolerate evil and even let evil get the better of it. The Sabbath is not just a day of rest but essentially a day of deliverance from all kinds of evil: selfishness, unkindness, and also interpreting the obligations of our faith in ways that are unhelpful and life-denying for others.”

You can read the whole of Barbara’s sermon at this link.

The image is “Jesus and the Bent-over Woman” by artist Barbara Schwarz OP found at https://tinyurl.com/e2j22s9f/ and available to buy as a print at https://artafire.homestead.com/.