Jesus' ministry was not focused on rule keeping.
Mark 2:18-20 18 Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" 19 Jesus said to them, "The wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.
Why can't they fast while the bridegroom is with them? Our boys are home from college and seminary for a few weeks. Everything in our lives comes to a joyful stop when they are home! We can't eat healthily, because we try to have all their favorite foods on hand (which are our favorites too!). We can't get anything productive done. We just do the bare minimum of the mundane stuff so that we can spend time just being with them whether it means late night discussions about politics (we haven't gotten in bed before 1 am since they arrived home), cooking a meal together, or going some place fun. It isn't that we couldn't theoretically fast during this time, but it would be wrong - we need to be with them! We will have plenty of time to fast when they have gone back to school.
The religious people of Jesus' day (especially the Pharisees) fasted. They had determined that to be right with God - to get God's blessings - you needed to fast - no matter what else might be going on. They fasted several times a week and then on special occasions too. The rules say you fast no matter what. And fasting means you separate yourself from others and pray. But Jesus was only going to be on earth a little while. It was more important to spend time with him than to keep the rules. The rules they kept to make God happy actually kept them from getting to know God. What rules are we keeping that keep us from experiencing God?
I was at a meeting of folks who had gathered to explore what God was calling their church to do and be. The guest pastor was telling them how his church had become one of the fastest growing churches around. He talked about how his congregants invited outsiders to become part of small groups that supported each other - and how so many people wanted to join that they had a hard time creating enough small groups to hold all of the newcomers. He challenged them to try the same thing.
But these folks had a hang up... "if we start getting a lot of newcomers and start all these small groups, how are we going to monitor what the people who join them believe and do?" In other words, how can we make sure they agree with our theology and keep the rules that we set for them? The rules were more important than the people. More important than Jesus' command to reach out and invite others in. These people wanted to practice their religion - keep their rules and make sure others kept them too. They couldn't see that their worries over "rule keeping" was costing them the experience of being part of God's mission.
Likewise, the people in the scripture today wanted to cling to their religion rather than the life that Jesus offered. They had Jesus with them in flesh and blood. The creator of the universe wants to spend time with them and all they want to do is keep the rules and make sure he keeps them too. What rules do you keep that keep you from a relationship with God?
Do we ignore Jesus' example that his ministry did not center around keeping a list of rules? It centered around God's desire to be in relationship with us and for us to be in relationship with one another.
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