Rest and restoration

Earlier this week there was a news article on the BBC about the toll long working hours are taking on many families with young children. We probably know about this all too well as posts disappear from companies leaving someone to pick up the slack with the ominous knowledge that if they will not do the extra work then there will be a lot of other people only too happy to step into their shoes.

But we also all know that simply going and going and going is not healthy - from a ten minute break for a cup of tea to the more planned holidays which we might be able to take, it is all important for our health and well being.

The Gospel today (Mark 3:1-6) at first sight seems to be a healing miracle - and it is a man's hand is restored to health - bit it is about a bigger restoration too. It is about the restoration of the whole idea of the Sabbath.

You see, from the most ancient writings of the Bible the Sabbath had been a time of rest, the day, in the Creation narrative, which God set aside for rest. It was a pattern deep in the hearts of the Jewish people that they were, from the very beginning made for both work and rest.

But then as rules and regulations had grown up around everything the Sabbath had become, not a day of freedom, but a day of obedience. The sorts of things we might like to do on a day off were forbidden, gardening or going for a long walk - it had become restrictive and mean spirited.

Jesus heals the man on the Sabbath and the pharisees are incensed - surely he knows better. Jesus does, indeed, know better - better than all those Pharisees - he is breaking the Sabbath to restore the Sabbath.

Jesus never goes away from the principle of a day of rest, He just goes against the way that it is being used as an instrument of control.

Modern society has learned that human beings are programmed to need rest and relaxation. This is hard enough in the workplace but when it comes to having small children at home the concept of Sabbath is very hard to grasp, especially if you do not have family close enough to help out.

I suppose the important thing to have in mind is that the need to rest, to take time away, is built into us, it is not a failing or something we need to feel bad about. We are simply not made to keep going at a great pace 24/7 and the results of trying to do that are devastating to both ourselves and those around us.

Jesus sees the need for restoration in its truest sense and that is what God wants for us - a wholeness of life and existence which includes both work and play.