Collect for Trinity 1
2 Corinthians 4: 5 – 12
Mark 2: 23 – 3: 6
Doing the right thing the wrong way
You may remember the song: ‘It ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it, that’s what gets results.’ Catchy tune, catchy title. But wrong. Actually, it’s the other way round – ‘It ain’t the way that you do it, it’s what you do…’
The problem the Pharisees have – but don’t understand or even know that they have it – is that they are so fixated by keeping to the letter of the law, they forget that the purpose of being given the law in the first place was to bring justice, peace and healing among God’s people.
They recite the fourth Commandment recorded in Exodus 20:8-11: Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day and hallowed it.
In striving so hard to follow the rules, they lose sight of their purpose. They believe that the important bit is doing no labour. It isn’t. The important bit is keeping the Sabbath Holy, resting from the necessary activity of living day-to-day, and celebrating the Sabbath as sacred and special. And what could be more Holy than healing others in God’s name? Even when Jesus explains, they refuse to hear Him – indeed, they plot to have Him killed. He’s rocking the boat – their boat – and He can’t be allowed to carry on.
There is one proviso though. You might summarise the above as ‘The end justifies the means’ – a phrase first coined by the Roman poet Ovid (and plagiarised by Machiavelli). But the Russian political theorist Trotsky rightly qualified this by insisting that it is only true if the end itself is justified.
In our case, the end – furthering the Kingdom of God – is achieved by means of obedience to the New Commandment Jesus gives – to love. Sunday, Monday, Holyday and everyday. It is justified in Him.
Previous Posts
Praying Together 10th August 2025
And while we think of the things we value most, do we remember that we are of such value to God, that His Son was prepared to go into the flames for us?
Praying Together 27th July 2025
In a word, it is all prayer, a rich sequence, choreographed in different moments of gathering, praise, listening and communion.
Praying Together 20th July 2025
Jesus comes to us in many ways and with many faces. Are we aware we may ‘entertain Angels without knowing it?
Praying Together 13th July 2025
May we never miss meeting your gaze,
in the eyes of our sibling, the stranger.
Praying Together 6th July 2025
Always remember that ‘success’ is simply doing His will – it’s not necessarily achieving the outcome we would ourselves consider to be ‘successful’. Leave that definition with Him.
Praying Together 29th June 2025
Jesus is looking for commitment. Absolute, unconditional, commitment. When I think of what that means, I’m always minded of Martina Navratilova’s remark: “The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed.”
Praying Together 22nd June 2025
As Christians, may we never regard mercy and compassion towards others as weakness, naivety or gullibility, but display the traits which demonstrate that we follow a Saviour who came to rescue those left behind.
Praying Together 15th June 2025
You couldn’t fly a kite inside a church building –for the Kite to fly you’d have to go into the windy street outside. Where does that place the need for the Spirit to act?
Praying Together 8 June 2025
Of all the strange things happening on the Day of Pentecost, perhaps the most puzzling is when God appears to have second thoughts. In Genesis 11, He makes it difficult for people to understand each other’s language
Praying Together 1st June 2025
The song by Mary Black, ‘Bless the Road’, while written as from a parent whose child is leaving home alone for the first time – maybe first day at primary school, going to college, beginning an independent life – always puts me in mind of the thoughts and blessing of Jesus as He prays for His disciples before His Ascension.
Praying Together 25th May 2025
‘Peace I give to you… do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid.’
His peace is not remote and only there at the end of things – His Peace is with us now.
Praying Together 18th May 2025
So the commandment is a challenge. To love those who betray you. Those who jeer. Those who wield the whips embedded with flint, hammer in the nails, pierce your side.