Cockroaches and Healing on the Sabbath

I came in the office this morning and was blessed to find out that Ethan and Adam and their girlfriends spent their Sabbath yesterday helping one of our low-income neighbors to clean out her trailer-home.  


The trailer had been cluttered with a years worth of "life" and the neighbor had been un-able to clean it herself for a variety of health reasons.  The small trailer had become a breeding ground for cockroaches and spiders but when these young folks heard about the need they cheerfully gave up their Sunday afternoon to get dirty living out their love for Jesus.

This selfless act of worship reminded me of the story in Luke 13 where Jesus heals a crippled woman on the sabbath. The religious leaders of his day were  incensed by the fact that Jesus would violate the Law that mandated a ceasing from labor on this day.  Despite the protest, Jesus "worked" on the Sabbath by healing the woman and demonstrating a different set of Kingdom rules, rules that emphasize mercy, grace and shalom.  


I am blessed to work with people like Adam and Ethan, who live out the Kingdom today as Jesus did 2,000 years ago.  God help me to live and love like this.