Page 8...T h e P o rtlan d O b s erv er...M a rch 4, 1992
™ Portland Observer
RELIGION
Scripture o f the
Romans 2:1-4
Insight on the Word: An Eye for What Really Matters
BY MICHAEL LINDSEY,
Dean of North Portland Bible College
The Bible text fo r next week’s Sun
day School lesson is Mark 2:23 through
3:6. This passage is very important fo r
understanding Jesus' concept o f true
religion. L et me encourage you again to
attend the S unday School o f your church
this week; I know yo u 'll be blessed!
Have you ever known someone
who "m ajors on the minors”? That is,
someone who gets so tied up in the
details o f living that they make impos
sible demands on themselves and on
others around them. Such a person usu
ally ends up frustrated with the people
around him/her, very hard to live with,
and totally stressed out! Now does that
person sound familiar?
W hat happens is that that person
has a hard time distinguishing between
the important things and the most im
portant things; between the good am bi
tions and goals, and the best. And I
think we can all identify with that prob
lem some times. W e know we need to
value our children and spouse, but we
also need to do good quality work in
school or on the jo b , in order to provide
for the family. W e need time for recre
ation, but we also need to be available
to help a friend in need, or to counsel a
loved one. And these values cannot be
simply prioritized, can they? Some
times one value seems more important,
sometimes it seems a trivial or even
selfish matter.
The same is true in the realm o f
relig io n -th e practice of our faith in
God. There are some outward signs of
Christianity which people look for,
which label usas "godly’’people. These
include our consistent church atten
dance, and abstinence from obvious
vices and sins. The standards on some
issues vary from church to church in our
community, but many churches have
some standard on “godly” dress in
church, and elsewhere; “godly” enter
tainments, and things to shun; o r“godly”
music and worship.
These standards are often unstated,
but they do exert a powerful influence
on whether a person can be accepted
in to a c o n g reg atio n w arm ly , and
whether that person will even be will
ing to confess Christ as Lord. I suspect
many readers who are not now active in
a local church, can relate incidents in
which they felt shunned, or ostracized,
or just uncomfortable, because of stan
dards o f “holy behavior” in a particular
church which discouraged them from
participating.
The Lord Jesus him self was a vic
tim of this kind o f religious legalism.
In Loving Memory of
Market DeAndre Sayles
Bethel African
Methodist Episcopal
Church
September 30,1977 - February 20,1992
Services w ere held W ednesday,
February 26, 1992 at 12:00 P.M. at
Sharon Seventh-Day Adventist Church,
5209 N.E. 22nd Avenue, Pordand, O r
egon. Interment was in Rose City Cem
etery 5625 N.E. Fremont, Portland,
Oregon.
Markel DeAndre Sayles was bom
on September 30, 1977, in Berkeley,
California to Tanya Sayles. At the age
o f two weeks old, Markel was given to
his great-grandmother, Vergie L. Sloan,
to be raised by her in Portland, Oregon.
Instead of dw elling on our loss, let
us remember the joy Markel brought to
our lives with his beautiful personality
and smile.
Markel will be remembered by his
mother, Tanya Sayles of California;
b ro th e rs , R e n a rd o W illia m s and
JoM onie Sayles, both o f California;
brothers, sister Chantanay Sayles of
California; grandmother, Helen Sloan
o f California; grandfather, Curtis Sayles
o f C alifo rn ia; g reat-g ran d m o th ers,
Vergie Sloan o f Oregon and Thelma
Sayles o f California; great-grandfather,
Charles Sloan, Sr. of Texas; great-great
uncles, Nathaniel Carter and Joseph
Sloan, both of Oregon; great-greataunts,
Deather Sloan and Sally Carter both of
Oregon; great-aunts, Chantay Sloan,
Marilyn Sloan and Rita Sloan, all o f
Oregon; great-uncles, Jeffrey Sloan and
Charles Sloan, Jr, both o f Oregon; and
a host o f cousins and friends.
T he In sp iratio n al C h o ir o f
Bethel A.M.E. Church will celebrate
their Annual Day in Concert on
Sunday, March 15, 1992, at 4:00
p.m. The public is invited to help
celebrate 15 years o f singing praises
to the Lord. The theme this year is
“Spirit of the Living God, Fall Fresh
On Me.”
A reception will be held in the
Fellowship Hall immediately fol
lowing the concert. The concert will
be held at:
Bethel African Methodist Epis
copal Church
5828 N.E. 8th Avenue
Portland, OR 97211-3704
288-5429 or 288-5420
If you need additional inform a
tion or have any questions, please
call and leave a message for Kay
W allace at one o f the phone num
bers listed above, and I will return
your call.
1»»
W «8
W
FU N ERA L
Cleodus Vann
itself perm itted this kind o f do-it-your
self hospitality (Deut. 23:35). [Please
note that “com fields” and “ears of
com ” (2:23 KJV) refer to wheat or
barley grain, and the heads o f ri pe grain.
Com as we know it (maize) was found
only in the Americas and a few loca
tions o f W est African until Columbus.]
So the Pharisees who noticed the
Lord’s disciples took their com plaint to
Jesus. They implied that Jesus was not
teaching his followers very well, or
they would know better than “reaping
grain” with their hands on the Sabbath.
This may seem quite trivia to us today,
but the Sabbath was an important insti
tution to them , and it had to be “pro
tected.”
Jesus’ response did not relate to the
Sabbath as such, but to another holy
institution, the Temple worship. He
reminded his accusers that David and
his men, when they were running from
King Saul, had taken the holy bread of
the Tabernacle and eaten it, though the
letter of the Law perm itted only priests
to eat it (M ark 2:25-26; the history is
recorded in 1 Sam. 21:1-6; the law of
the holy bread in Lev. 24:5-9). The
Bible record does not condem n this
violation o f the Law, for the hunger o f
David’s men was a more compelling
law in this case. The Lord never in
JBL 5pauí ¿Mis stanarti
apiisi (llfjurcíj
On Saturday, March 7, 1992, at
Jefferson High School’s Cafeteria lo
cated at 5210 N. Kerby Avenue, a grand
banquet will be held to honor one o f the
com m unnity’s unsung heroes, Mr.
Phillip W alden.
According to one of the program
planners, Phil W alden has been acting
like the Pied Piper of Albina for nearly
thirty years. He has been responsible
for many young men and w om en’s suc
cess in sports, such as: track & field,
baseball, football and basketball.
If there are any members o f the
AlbinaRoadrunners, ASP Summer Pro
gram or Golden Ball Basketball who
are interested in attending this function
or who would like to become a working
part of this project, you should contact
- Sis. Mattie Ann Callier-Spears at
281-5380orJon“Hammer” Richardson
at 240-5323.
Tickets: S 12 - Adults and
6 - K-12 grade
Free - 5 & under
Call Today!
F '
i f .if '
sfe Si
:fti is
unity Owned and Operated
Since 1954
•ruing the City o f Portland
fo r over 37 years
In your hour o f need
Vann &Vann are there to serve
Psalm 34:3
4236 NE Eighth Avenue
(corner of 8th & Skidmore)
Phillip S. Nelson Pastor
Pastor. Rev. J a m e s C.E. F a u lk n e r
Them e: W h atever you're going to do
for th e Lord, do it now
I P eter hr.11
M allory
C hurch
3908
c
i p
l e
of
C hrist
NE M A L L O R Y
M allory Avenue
Christian Church
i s
CME Ck urch
(503) 287-0261
AVENUE
SUNDAY SCHEDULE
Bible Study
9:30 am .
Morning Worship
10:45 am .
M en’s Training Leadership
s
W om en’s Bible Class
God's Presence promises
Power through Jesus Christ In
Good Times and Sad Times
5:00 pm.
Evening Worship
A/loltfieuv / /. ¿'¿J
"Come to me oil you who are
weary and heavy laden and I
will give you rest"
9:45am
11:00am
7:50pm
Minister Gregory Fobbs
Sunday School
Morning UUorship
Tuesday Bible
Study and Prayer
Inter-racial Congregation
6:00 pm .
Attended nursery for all
services
W ednesday prayer meeting
and bible study
7:30 pm.
Radio Ministry Each Sunday, 11:00 AM - KBMS
288-1092
Denise FI. Bet!, Postor
126 N.C. Alberta t Portland, OR 97211 + (505) 288-5175
Union Avenue Baptist Church
D IR E C T O R S
A lle n Tem p le
Portland, Oregon 97211
Sunday Service
1 0 :4 5
Sunday School
9 :3 0
Bible Study
6 :0 0
Evening Service
7 :0 0 P.M.
D
ready to plot m urder (3:6). And note this
well: these evil men would have been
considered religious paragons, and up
right community leaders.
So what should we say? Like the
Pharisees o f old, many times we also set
up rules and interpretations o f the Bible
laws, which fit our own lifestyle and
tradition. And we aren’t always aware
when these rules get in the way o f true
worship and true holiness.
As an exam ple, we have a healthy
concern for m odesty in clothing, based
on biblical principle (1 Tim. 2:9). But
this concern has grown through tradi
tion into rules (stated or not) about proper
dress for w orship, or for other public
settings. And people who d o n ’t dress
that way are treated like heathens, while
new believers are alm ost forced to
change their ways. But I subm it to you
that Jesus was more interested in help
ing people grow in the Lord on the
inside, than in how they looked on the
outside.
As we m editate on this Bible text,
let’s rem em ber the two great com m and -
m entsofthe Law (Matt. 22:34-40). Real
holiness m ust be based on love for God
and love for our fellow humans. As we
encourage each other to live holy lives,
let’s pray to God for an eye for the things
that matter.
Jesus Loves You!
Study P hone: 2 8 9 -1 9 1 1
Church Pho.te: 2 8 9 - 0 1 4 7
Jesus Christ Is Salvation
SS
tended the laws o f worship to supercede
the basic law o f loving one’s neighbor,
and m eeting real human need.
Jesus then applied this to the Sab
bath laws the Pharisees championed.
These laws also were set up by God for
the good o f hum anity, to provide rests
and opportunity for regular worship.
They were not meant as a moral straight
jacket to limit and complicate their lives.
It seems to me that this is a good prin
ciple for us to consider, as we evaluate
our moral standards on issues to which
the Bible does not speak clearly.
But first, let’s look at the other
incident (M ark 3:1-6). The Lord him self
was under scrutiny by his opponents for
his conduct on the Sabbath day. He
knew fully what they were thinking, and
yet he proceeded to “w ork” on the Sab
bath d a y -a n d right in a synagogue! He
did the work o f a physician, o f course,
by healing; and he did it without cau
tion, before the whole assembly.
And yet he first explained himself,
through two rhetorical questions. His
point was clear to them, as it should be
to us. At its heart, the Law was intended
to lead to doing good; and sometimes
doing nothing isreally doing evil. Jesus’
healing touch was good, and should
have motivated praise in the assembly
(see 1:21-28); instead, evil men were
8101 N. Fiske Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97203
Phil Walden
Appreciation Banquet
VANN & VANN
9 if
T hat’s what today’s text describes for
us. And 1 hope as we study this scripture
we w ill look at our own attitudes toward
the behavior o f others, both church
members and non-members, and ask
the Lord to g i vc us “an eye for the things
that m atter” in Christian living.
Both the incidents in our Bible text
refer to working on the Sabbath. And
there was a law, the Fourth o f the Ten
Commandments (Ex. 20:8-11) which
forbade G od’s people from doing any
kind of work on the Sabbath. But the
problem arose in defining “ w ork.” Was
it work to build a fire, or to cook, or to
travel (how far?), or to write? So the
teachers of the Law had set up certain
definitions of “w ork” (one list in the
Mishnah has 39 acts) so people would
know what they couldn’t do on the
Sabbath.
One of those “ works” was reaping
grain. That makes sense, doesn ’ t it? B ut
the Pharisees taught that even picking a
handful o f grain to eat raw as one
walked, was still reaping grain, and
therefore forbidden on the Sabbath.
The disciples ofJesus, like so many
other Jews of their time, were not aware
o f all the fine points of Law as taught by
the scribes and Pharisees, so they just
helped themselves to some grain as
they walked with the Lord. The Law
5029 N. E. MLK Jr. Blvd.
Portland, OR 97211
Telephone Number - 287-8344
He that is too good to realize that he need to be saved, cannot be
helped. But he that recognize he has a need, can be helped.
What A Friend We Have In Jesus
Are you a friend of Jesus?
Do you want Jesus to be your friend?
We want to be your friend and would love to have you as our
friend.
503/281-2836
Everyone is welcome to this church, (the body of Christ).
There is a place and a work here for you.
5211 N. W illia m s P o rtla n d , Or. 97217
Rev. A. G. May, Pastor
RESTORING
N EW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANITY
M t O livet
baptist C hurch
Has moved Sunday services to
Stone Tower Church,
N.E. Sandy Blvd. & 30th
Worship Services 8:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m.
Church School 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Bible Study, Wednesdays, 116 N.E. Schuyler
10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Radio Ministry each Sunday, 8:00 a.m. on KBMS
A Teaching Church With A Reaching Ministry
Dr. James E. Martin, Senior Pastor
Church Office 116 N.E. Schuyler St.
(503) 284-1954