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A Sabbath Day's Journey

By: Rev. Paul Landgraf
What is a Sabbath day's journey? First of all, it is a Jewish expression. We measure distances in meters or yards. The Jews had a certain distance that they could walk on Saturday before it would be considered work. So their synagogues that they went to on Saturday could not be very far away. The word appears only in Acts 1:12 and indicates a distance of about three-quarters of a mile.

With that in mind, I think it is important to remember the origins of Christianity. Just because we have an Old Testament, it does not mean that we call it the 'Outdated Testament'. Much of the Old Testament has a literary structure that we are not aware of because of our modern emphasis on chapter and verse divisions. Within many of these blogs, I try to get the reader to see a bigger picture, a larger perspective that often includes the Old Testament and the environment that was present when the New Testament was seeing the Light of the day.

Second, a Sabbath day's journey is intentionally short. These 'journeys' with a text, almost always one of the three readings for that Sunday, are deliberately brief discussions. This blog was never designed to be a comprehensive look at any text. Sometimes a specific word is studied in detail. But, as a whole, a blog entry, by itself, is meant to be quite brief.

Finally, since the term 'Sabbath day's journey' appears in Acts, it is meant to appeal to a wide variety of people. This blog is meant for those who cannot come on Sunday mornings. And it is also for those who do come on Sunday mornings but would also like a further study of the text. It is also for those who live somewhere else in the world (besides Drake and Freedom, Missouri, USA) and would simply like a further study of the text. It was meant to get these different groups of people to start thinking about the biblical texts. Part of the reason for this blog is that I am not able to have a bible class on Sunday mornings with either congregation, and so, to have a blog like this seemed like a good idea. I hope it is helpful for you, in whatever situation you may be.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. And thank you for taking the time to read this!

September 23rd, 2017

9/23/2017

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​What did you expect? Those are some significant words. And expectations are powerful things.

If you expect something and you get it, everything is fine. And you might start to feel a little powerful, a little smarter, a little more in control of the situation. But if you expect something and do NOT get it, watch out, right?

And the text for this Sunday, from the first part of Matthew 20, deals primarily with expectations. Those who worked only one hour get paid the same as those who worked a full twelve hours. And it seems to be very unfair.

The text is clear, though, that the master worked it out with the workers who started at the beginning of the day, that they would be paid the typical wage for a day's work. And then, when the master hires the later workers, he said that he will pay them, literally, 'whatever is RIGHTEOUS'. THAT is a significant word, especially when it comes to God.

Expectations are powerful things, but what is the ultimate source of these events that we are trying to predict? Are they coming from ourselves, or are they coming from a righteous and gracious God? Or we holding on to HIS promises, or are we holding on to something that is ours?

EXpectations should only happen after some INspectations--although I doubt that is a word--of the scriptures. We lose our perspective so easily and in so many ways. The Apostles' Creed and the Lord's Prayer help us to get our perspective back, and that was a good reason for Martin Luther to suggest beginning and ending each day in such a way. The scriptures are filled with stories of those who were treated very unfairly, who did NOT get what they deserved.

To be righteous is a term that belongs to God. That term is applied to us quite unfairly, essentially because of the sacrificial suffering and death of a righteous and only Son.

What DID you expect from a loving God?
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