“The Ox Fed & Watered”

(Jer 1:4-10; Ps 71:1-6; Luke 13:10-17) JG White

10:30 am, Sun, Aug 24, 2025, FBC Amherst

Today’s creature that caught my attention in the scriptures of the day was the ox. Do you feed and water your ox or your donkey on the Sabbath, the day of rest? Of course you do, said Jesus. 

This domesticated and trained animal is still familiar to us here in the Maritimes. On our bulletin cover is one of the many images of oxen painted by Maud Lewis. There might still be more than one hundred teams of oxen in Nova Scotia, which you can see in competition at local exhibitions, if you like. 

An ox is, I think, a steer - a castrated bull - of any breed, really, that has also been trained to be an ox and to be in a team of two oxen. This ancient art in farm life lives on, with much tradition and decor and pride. Here is a photo of my great-grandfather, Albert White, of Yarmouth, with one of his teams of oxen. Here at the pulpit we have an old yoke for oxen, from the Miller family: thanks to Donnie for lending this to us. 

Oxen are mentioned in scripture in many places. Thankfully, as I said, we still know the ox and what a team or ‘yoke of oxen’ is. They are real workers in agriculture. Today, we have this record in Luke of a teaching moment with Jesus, after he meets a woman, ill for many years, and performs her healing on the Jewish Sabbath, Saturday. So this story is about ‘working,’ & working on the weekly ‘day of rest.’

Any of you ‘break the sabbath’ today? Did you hang out your laundry? Do a bit of shopping already? Or plow a field with your team of oxen? Seriously, we may well wonder what it means, as Christians in 2025, to ‘keep the sabbath holy.’ It is still one of the Ten Commandments. 

Exodus 20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.

Sometimes, I think, The Ten Commandments are more of a symbol for Christians than they are actual guidelines. Like the ten words on this stained glass window. These are not Hebrew letters. Or Greek. Or Aramaic. Or any language. These are just make up marks, to look like some ancient writing upon the tablets of old. Do we claim the Ten Commandments without actually using them, following them?  Sometimes. 

In the life of the Hebrews of old, and of Christians also for two thousand years, one day a week - the sabbath - has been an act of discipline, a gift of rest, a reminder of freedom, and a defining part of our identity - our togetherness and belonging. 

You remember which two chapters list the Ten Commandments? Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. Interesting: the sabbath commandment in Exodus gives the reason as rest, just as the Creator rested on the seventh day. Deuteronomy says with the sabbath to remember how you were slaves and were set free by God. 

To be free from working seven days a week, week after week, sounds like a gift to me. A gift I have always enjoyed. And remembering all the freedom and privileges I have is a blessing I can appreciate and share on my days of rest and worship. ‘Thank You, Jesus!’

Even oxen get a rest on the sabbath. Deuteronomy 5 mentions the ox and donkey in particular, in the commandment. But they also are fed and watered. They are helped out of a ditch on the day of rest. Of course you do that bit of work and help your animals. As I would say, there is an exception for everything (including what I have just said). Of course you heal and set a woman free from her disability, as Jesus did, that day. 

It is a poignant scene, here in Luke 13. So much can catch our attention. It is Jesus who notices her. Her crippling illness is spoken of as the work of Satan, the Accuser, which tells us her problem was an evil thing, not something the God of goodness gave her. This person does not speak up or even ask for anything. Jesus simply speaks a word of healing to her and touches her. He speaks of her being set free; such an interesting way to put it. 

Then, standing up straight for the first time in eighteen years, she rejoices! And the legalists at the Temple complain, and accuse Jesus of breaking the Sabbath law. Sounds quite heartless to us, eh? But this points out how important the laws of Jewish life were; as they always are. 

We can ask, is religion, even our religion: Christianity, mainly about rules and keeping them? No, is my short answer. No, because following the right ways is but one of many parts of the life of faith. Following the Way of Jesus has several parts, and may emphasize various paths. Individual people, and different denominations, can be strong in one facet or another. Ponder with me, for a moment, what areas of Jesus’ own life you are most interested in? 

Praying.  Striving against sin.  Ministering and healing in the power of the Spirit. Showing compassion. Proclaiming good news and reading Scripture. Uniting the physical and the spiritual. 

Striving against doing wrong, and living a holy life is one aspect of Christianity, but not the only part. It is a part that is a gift to us. For instance, the discipline of Christian sabbath is a training ground for us. As a team of oxen must be trained, so are followers of Jesus trained, we the disciples of today. 

In my fifties, I am still in training with Christ. I yet have things to learn about communication. Skills to develop about leadership. Humbleness to deepen in the face of my prosperity. There is always some tearing down and building up in us to go on. As young Jeremiah was called upon to destroy and overthrow kingdoms in his world back then, so the kingdoms of our own hearts today are being bulldozed and rebuilt, by the Spirit of God.

Just as healing in our bodies, in our lives, is a gift, so are things like the sabbath, and prayer, and worship together, and so forth. Guidance and guidelines and rules can be true gifts, helping us live the best life and be life-giving to others. These are gifts we have for our lives, and we offer to others, in the name of Christ. A Christian sabbath can train us to let go of accumulating every single day. Jesus claimed to have the sabbath for people, for the good of all creatures.

We may know how Jesus speaks of having a yoke, not of slavery but of service. His poignant words are recorded in Matthew chapter 11. 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

We rejoice that our life of Faith is a life of being yoked to Jesus, teamed up with our Master, for all the goodness and blessing we can do and share. 

The practice of our Faith, our religion, is not a yoke of slavery! It is freedom AND it is discipline. As Christ proclaimed, His yoke for us is easy and His burden is light.