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Thank you very much. Please do keep your bibles open in Luke, chapter six, if you're new with us. We are in the middle of a little series looking at these early chapters of Luke's gospel together, and we've been seeing the way in which Jesus has been ministering, healing and teaching. Now, each year around this time, the new freshers would arrive at Worcester College in Oxford. And one of the things on their arrival is they'd be invited for tea and an opportunity to meet the college chaplain.

Now, after a little small talk, most would say something very politely like, I'm afraid you won't see much of me. I don't believe in goddess. Now, the chaplain, who went by the name of Tom Wright, would respond something like this. He'd say, oh, that's interesting. Which God is it that you don't believe in?

And of course, you can imagine there'd be lots of different answers. Some might say, well, I don't believe in the Father Christmas goddess. You know, the kind of old kind man in the sky who gives nice gifts. It's a bit silly, isn't it? Or, I don't believe in the zeus like God, you know, the angry.

The angry one with a beard and a lightning bolt. I don't believe in him. Or perhaps I don't believe in the head teacher type films. You know, the one I mean, with the. The list of rules, the tick list, the detentions.

And really all that matters is, have you been good on your report? That type of God. I don't believe in that God. And when Tom Wright would hear some of these responses, he'd reply, well, I'm not surprised you don't believe in that God. I don't believe in that God either.

We can have all sorts of different ideas about God that can often be way off the truth. And we're going to see today, as Jesus talks and ministers of that idea of God as being like the headmaster. The rules, the tick list, the detentions. That's not the kind of God that Jesus reveals to us. I wonder if over recent weeks, you've had an opportunity to watch a tv show.

It's called Freddie Flintoff's field of dreams. Have you seen that? Freddie Flintoff, of course, the former England cricketer, takes a group of lads from Preston, where he grew up, lads who have never played cricket before, and teaches them how to play. You can imagine how that might have went if you've not seen it. And in this second series, he's taken them on tour to India.

Brave man he was. But the whole premise of the show is saying, well, the thing about cricket is it's really quite an elitist game. I think they said something. Over 80% of England cricketers have been privately educated and there's quite a high barrier to getting involved. There's a lot of equipment that you need to buy.

And Freddie Ventoff was saying, well, you know, really what I want to do is bring down the barriers. I want to give a chance to people who've never played at all, to let them have a go to see if they even like crickets. And do you know what? That's one of the things we want to try and do with church. We recognise that faith and church can often seem like big barriers.

How do I get in? What is it these people believe? I don't know anyone here. How can I get involved? For some, church can feel really alien.

How can I even get across the threshold to find out more? And like Freddie Glintorff does with the show, we want to try and bring down some of those barriers because we want to help you all. And those are the other services here, to get to know God through Jesus Christ.

But that's very different to the approach taken by the Pharisees. They come up time and time again in the gospel and do so again today in Luke chapter six. They loved barriers at not bringing them down, but bringing them up. And they loved the head teacher, God. In fact, they were so keen on rules and laws, what they even did was they set up, as it were, their own law.

They described it like a fence. If you've got the law here, and we don't want to break the law, what we'll do is we'll set up a fence of other rules around the law so that we might not break the law itself, like another code of conduct, a big barrier, so they wouldn't break the law itself. So these Pharisees, they're very keen on making sure other people and themselves obey not only the law, but the rules they put around the law. And in Luke chapter six, they have something of a debate with Jesus. Verse one.

One Sabbath, Jesus was going through the grain fields and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. Some of the Pharisees asked, why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath? Now, the Pharisees, they know the law really well. They have got all their rules and regulations lined up, you see. They will have known what it said in deuteronomy chapter 23.

Deuteronomy 23 says, if you enter your neighbor's grain field. You may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to their standing grain. So it sounds okay, doesn't it? The disciples are going through the neighbour's field and they're picking some grain. Ah yes, but it's the Sabbath.

Exodus 34 tells us, six days you shall labour, but on the 7th day you shall rest. Even during the ploughing season and harvest you must rest. You see, it looks like the disciples are just picking a bit of grain, but they're eating it as well. It's the Sabbath. And in effect, they are harvesting.

Pharisees say, what are your disciples doing, Jesus?

They're harvesting grain on the Sabbath. Gotcha, you lawbreakers. Now, interestingly, Jesus doesn't exactly defend himself on this point, or his disciples, even though the law probably is on his side at this point. But nonetheless, he doesn't become a lawyer. He doesn't say, well, let's argue the finer points of the law.

No, rather, he cites another case. And it's the case. The story of David eating consecrated bread. In one Samuel 21. Have a look at that story later.

Look there, at verse three. Jesus answered them. Have you never read what David did? Well, of course they have. They're the pharisees.

Of course they've read what he did. He knows that when he commanded his companions, who were hungry, he entered the house of God. And taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.

Now, Jesus doesn't really answer the question, but he leaves it with the Pharisees. I suppose the question behind the story is, well, was David a lawbreaker? King David, was he a lawbreaker? Did he break the law in this case? Well, I think at this point the Pharisees would have to probably say, well, no, because it was the priest who gave him the bread, and the priests gave David the bread because David was on a mission from God.

It would be tricky for the Pharisees to say that King David was wrong at this point, or that the priest was wrong. Nevertheless, Jesus leaves them with that legal dilemma. I think the bigger point that Jesus is trying to make is if he was okay for David on mission from God, how much more is it okay for God's son on mission from the father to proclaim the kingdom? How much more is it okay for him to feed his disciples? But interestingly, Jesus doesn't dwell on this point.

He doesn't make a big point about arguing the law with the Pharisees. He's got something much bigger to teach them. You see, if they're like, there's a bit of what you call a mic drop moment, drops the mic end a conversation in verse five where Jesus says something quite remarkable. Verse five. Then Jesus said to them, the son of man is lord of the Sabbath.

That sounds like a bit of a throwaway line, doesn't it? To finish this debate with them. But consider the magnitude of what Jesus is saying in but when he talks about the Sabbath, he's not just talking about the Saturday, the day off. The son of man is Lord of the day off in the week. No, he's saying something far more than that.

Think about what the Sabbath is. For a start, the Sabbath is very much part of the law. It's part of the Ten Commandments. The fourth commandment to keep this day holy. Its also part of creation.

The Sabbath is the 7th day of the creation. For six days the Lord worked his work of creation and he rested on the 7th day. Its part of the law, its part of creation. And its more simply than a day off. Its a gift, its a grace, it's rest that God gives to his people.

So when Jesus says the son of man, and that's the name he often uses to describe himself, Jesus is lord of the Sabbath. He's saying that he is lord of everything. Over the law, over creation, over even of the gift, the grace of rest. So let's for a few moments consider this Jesus, who is the lord of the Sabbath. Now in verse six, Luke shifts the scene to at least a week on.

Because he says, on another Sabbath, on another Sabbath, he went into the synagogue and was teaching. You see now, Jesus from saying he is the lord of the Sabbath, is going to prove, is going to show to the people he is indeed lord of the Sabbath. And the first thing we see is that he is indeed the lord of the law. The Sabbath is integral to the law. And Jesus says he is the law of the law.

And he does that in verse nine by teaching. So verse nine he says, then Jesus said to them, I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath? To do good or to do evil? To save life or to destroy? He says, look, okay, pharisees, you claim to know the law really well.

What's it all about? Is the law for good or is it for evil? Is it for life or is it for death? Is it for saving or is it for destroying? You see, Jesus reckons the Pharisees have missed the point about the law.

They've misunderstood it. I think he says it even more clearly in his teaching in Mark, chapter two. Where Jesus says the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. This law was supposed to be a gift. It was supposed to be life and grace to the people.

Never meant to be a law to restrict or limit. It was about giving life.

And these Pharisees, they so misunderstood the law. That they made the law an end and a study in itself. John, chapter five. Jesus is teaching them. He says, you study the scriptures diligently.

Because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very scriptures that testify about me. They're missing the point. They're so keen on the details, the minutiae of the law. And how they might defend it and protect it and never break it.

That they fail to see that the one about whom the law speaks and points. Is standing their rights in front of them.

Of course, the Pharisees know the Sabbath is supposed to be good. It's supposed to be for good. And yet, look at what they're doing. Verse seven. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law.

Were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus. So they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. So in the Pharisees mind. Eating grain and healing a man with a shrivelled hand. Is a bad thing to do on the Sabbath.

And yet it's perfectly appropriate and reasonable and within the law. To be making plots to kill someone. Do you see the folly of their position? Do you see the inconsistency?

They claim to be people of the law, and yet they misunderstand it. They don't see who it is right in front of them. And more than that, they break the law themselves. That they claim to want to uphold. You see this law.

Far from being a barrier to climb over. To reach God. As the Pharisees had wanted it to be. It reveals more to us about who Jesus is. He's the Lord of the Lord.

Second thing, he's the Lord of creation.

See, what jesus does then is he shows he does indeed have power over creation. And power to restore it. Verse ten. He looked around at them all. And then he said to the man, stretch out your hand.

He did so, and his hand was completely restored.

It's an interesting and unusual choice of words here. He doesn't heal, as in many stories. He does. He doesn't save, he restores. Now, Jesus is indeed the Lord of creation.

Jesus was there at the beginning of creation. John tells us. All things were created through him. He was the word that raised up mountains. And carved out rivers.

He was the one who formed seas and stretched out skies.

He made our eyes and our ears in their intricacies. He filled our lungs with breath. He crafted fingers and toes. Now, with just a few words, he restores, he recreates, he puts back this man's shrivelled hand to how it should be. Jesus here shows he has power to create, power to restore power over all creation, because he is truly the Lord of creation.

There's been a recent series on tv, on Amazon tv, called Rings of power. It's a prequel, some of the background story to Lord of the Rings. And some of the story is around the creation of those rings of power. And there's a scene at the end where Sauron says, I'm the creator. I'm their master, the master of the Rings.

Kerubrimbro, the elf who's helped him to create these rings. He says to Sauron, no, you are their prisoner. Sauron, lord of the Rings. He says that title quite ironically, because he can see what's happened. Power has consumed, it's corrupted.

And that's what power always does. It always enslaves, always twists, always imprisons.

But not with Jesus. Here Jesus is presented as the one with all power over all creation. And what does he do with that awesome power?

He restores. He puts this man's hand right back to how it should have been. He, as it were, gives life back to this man.

One day, Jesus will do this for all people. One day, jesus will do this for you and me. One day, Jesus will do this for the whole of creation. By his power, it will be restored, made new, brought back to how it was always meant to be. That's power.

But did you see what these legal barriers did? If jesus restores the barriers the Pharisees were erecting, were doing something else. They divided good and bad, insiders, outsiders, saints, sinners. And the Pharisees liked it because they got to decide who was in and who was out. They love their black and white world.

That's why, as we call this sermon, religion is so toxic, because it always does that. It always corrodes, always destroys, always divides. But here, Jesus restores.

He restores. You see, like Tom Wright to those students, we don't believe in that head teacher, God either. We don't believe in the God with a clipboard and a tick list looking at your final report. We believe in the Jesus God who comes to restore all things because he's the Lord of creation. Finally, we see he's the Lord's rest.

The Pharisees could never be sure they'd been good enough. Had they broken a law by mistake. They must have been absolutely exhausted every day, striving to be good, to try and get it right, and policing others to do the same.

I think many of us today are tired, and I don't just mean they're tired because my kids wake me up this morning. Not that kind of tired. I mean that weariness that comes from trying to prove ourselves, the exhaustion that comes by trying to meet the standards of others. Perhaps that's been your life experience, always trying to please someone else.

That weariness that comes from each day, trying to put on a brave face, to go out into the world. It's exhausting, it breaks us down. But that's what religion is, that's what religion does. It says to you, you've got to jump over the barrier, you've got to climb up the ladder, you've got to smarten yourself up if you want God's love. But Jesus here is revealed as the Lord of rest.

He's the true Sabbath, the one we can come to, to find rest for ourselves. Not a holiday, but freedom from striving, release from religion, restoration of life as it's always meant to be lived. The man's hand there is restored, but it's a picture, a sign of so much more to come. Jesus said, come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. You see, when Jesus says, the son of man is the lord of the Sabbath, he's not saying, I'm just a better version of Pharisees.

I'm now going to tell you what to do on the Sabbath. No, he says, I am the Sabbath, and so I can give you true rest. There's loads of interesting stuff we could go into about what the Sabbath means. Perhaps you could do some of this in connect groups. We could go and look at Hebrews chapter four, and how Sabbath has been pictured as an eternal rest, a land for God's people, an eternal hope where we can enjoy God forever.

We could look at the structure of Luke's gospel and see how there are seven Sabbath days, and how that points us to the wonderful proclamation at the beginning of the gospel about Jesus coming to reclaim Jubilee, and how that comes to fulfilment at the end of Luke's gospel with Jesus resurrection. Here now is freedom, here now is life. We don't have time to look at those things now. Look at them in your groups. But what is this Sabbath?

It's. It's life. It's grace, it's rest. It's a gift to God's people. Earlier this year, Andy Murray, tennis player, retired.

And as you looked at him, you thought, gosh, you look like you need to retire. I mean, you've been carrying the hopes of Great Britain on your shoulders for the last however many years. You've had so many injuries, your body is kind of falling apart in front of us and you think, well, if anyone deserved a rest, Andy, it's you. But I wonder if sometimes that's how we view the christian life. We hope that one day we will make it to heaven and we will see goddess.

But when we get there, we probably think, I'll probably end up looking a bit like Andy Murray in order to get there. I'll just be completely exhausted, completely spent, broken, because we've been striving to get there.

But, friends, that's not how we get there. That's how the Pharisees thought we'd get there. Constantly striving, climbing, working, getting it right, that we might please God. But that's not. As we've seen over recent weeks, and particularly as we look to Romans, that's not how we're made righteous.

That's not how we're made good. We're made good because of Jesus work alone. His righteousness lived on our behalf so that we might rest. Rest in him. You know, we can come to Jesus just as we are.

Of course he'll change us. Of course he'll make us more like him. But we've got nothing to prove, nothing to earn. We can rest in him and his finished work. Friends, we see in this little story, Jesus is the one with the power to restore all things and give you rest now and for all eternity.

Amen.