For over 30 years, Judith Martin's advice column has graced the pages of newspapers all over the country. You may not know her as Judith Martin, but probably her better known name, Miss Manners. Of course, she has now gone internet, but her column's purpose is still the same, provide answers and advice on etiquette, and "clarify the essential qualities of politeness."

To tell you the truth, I didn't think she was around anymore. Our society has become much more practical and functional--you might even say "rough," and it seems that manners, the proper way to behave and the reasons behind it, seem to no longer be that much of a concern. I figured she looked out at the world and probably had a nervous breakdown. I guess I was wrong.

Either way, it almost seems that today's text is the concern of one of Miss Manners' advice columns. Two concerns are brought forward in it. First question, "Is it proper to heal on the Sabbath?" And the second, "Where should you sit when invited to a dinner function?" Both questions, as you would expect, are more than just a matter of manners. In fact, in a roundabout way, the second one eventually comes around to the first, encouraging us to show mercy to other people, just as Jesus had done on that Sabbath.

Let's look at the first concern. One Friday evening--which is the evening of the Sabbath--some religious leaders invite Jesus to their dinner. People were observing the Sabbath the way they always did, by doing very little, everyone that is, except Jesus.

He has mercy on a man suffering edema, a severe fluid retention that may have even been threatening his life, and heals him.

The Pharisees, who were passionate about holiness and staying pure in the presence of God, wanted to see what Jesus would do with this man. Would He heal him, and violate the Sabbath, by doing work on it? If He did, they would jump on Him for it.

He did. So they did. Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? They concluded that the answer is no, but Jesus makes it clear what the Sabbath is about. This healing is exactly what the Sabbath is about. It is for the health, healing and restoration of God's creation. It is for showing mercy, first God to us, and then when we go out from here, us to others.

In other words, you should rejoice that He healed that man on the Sabbath. You should rejoice because it tells us why we are given the Sabbath. It is for your healing. This wasn't the only Sabbath when He healed someone. It almost seemed He went out of His way to heal on the Sabbath. He was making His point.

I know what most of us think the Sabbath is about. It's about going to church. It's about getting up in the morning on the only day you have when you can sleep in. It's about getting dressed up and going through what seem to be a bunch of meaningless rituals, or at least rituals whose meanings are beyond most people. In other words, as some of us might protest, if it's about rest, then why aren't we resting?! Why aren't we allowed to sleep in? Why don't we get the time to try to do what we couldn't do the rest of the week? Why does the way we worship have to be so hard, or at least not flow very naturally?

Ehhh? Does this sound familiar? Do you ask these questions? Do you struggle with these? If you do, you're not alone. Many people do. But what Jesus did for that man is the reason why we come to church on Sunday.

Now, some of you might think you are smart and say, "Yeah, but you said yourself, Sabbath was a Saturday. God Himself established Saturday as the Sabbath, by resting on the seventh day of creation." And you know what? You would be right. But, God Himself has made it clear He approves worship on Sunday. In fact, that apparently was His intention all along. Our opening hymn demonstrates it. Take a look at it when you have a little time. If God rested on the 7th day, then He started creating on the first day, a Sunday. God restored creation on a Sunday with the resurrection of Jesus. And God created the New Testament church on a Sunday with the Pentecost. Sunday is all about creation and re-creation, so we can be creatures of mercy.

Now, this only proves the New Testament Sabbath is on Sunday, but Jesus shows us what is to happen on our Sabbath, what we should expect. Already by this point, He has healed several people on a Sabbath.

But what healing do we need? If it's rest for our bodies, then why can't we rest? Why do we have to get up and go to church? Here's why: The Lord wants to distract you from the work you do, so He can do His work on you. I'll say this again: He wants to get you away from your work, school or job, the work you do, so He can do His work on you.

The work He has for you is healing. We need that work. We are ill. We are sinners. Our illness is so lethal we don't even realize we have it or at least how bad it is. That's the nature of this illness. It's not always pure denial. Many times, it's pure blindness. So, whether we think we need it or not, God calls us to come and receiving healing. One of its clearest symptoms is the idea we don't need it. The Lord says "I have this for you because you need it," and we say, "No, we don't." The Lord, our Creator, the one who observes our every move and every thought, knows what we need, and we tell Him, "You don't know what you are talking about." Now, that's bad.

He brings that healing anyway. He brings it because we need it so badly. He brings it despite our lack of recognition of how badly we need it. He brings it because His mercy is not dependent upon our willingness to receive it.

I did a little research on edema, or what was called dropsy in this man. It has nothing to do with dropping things or being clumsy, even though that is what it might sound like. The visible symptoms are usually swelling in limbs, like legs or ankles. But that is only what is visible. The swelling in these areas are usually indication that other places, more critical, like the heart or lungs, may also have swelling. This man probably had swollen limbs, and although it disfigured him, the problem was what was not seen. The same for us and our illness. We can see signs of it, but it's what we don't see that is so bad. That's sin. That's how lethal it is.

Jesus has already been showing mercy and applying the healing medicine of the Gospel to us this morning, but another application is coming shortly. It's probably not proper to call it another application. The whole Divine Service is designed to heal, but it will reach a second climax when the Lord spreads out His life-giving meal from the altar.

And now, we come to the second piece of advice, which is more than just some advice--where to sit. "Don't try to take the best seat. Don't make yourself out to be more important than you are." As Jesus came to dinner, He saw people fighting over the best seat. He addresses their fighting by speaking a parable about it. This parable is more than ordinary advice for dinner, though, because it is not an ordinary dinner. That it is called a parable, tells us that.

"Wedding feast." Jesus said. "When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast." No, this is no ordinary dinner. Nor is it just an earthly wedding feast. This wedding feast is the marriage feast of the Lamb. This is the heavenly meal. Isaiah describes it in chapter 25: "On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, or aged wine well refined." This is the celebration of Christ's victory over death and the wedding celebration of God's people to the heavenly bridegroom.

But here's where it gets truly amazing. We are already participants of it. We don't have to wait until we die or until Christ returns. This feast is happening now. We have already sung it, "This is the feast." "This is the feast of victory for our God," and then we go on singing what the angels sing as recorded in the book of Revelation.

I want you to struggle to get your mind wrapped around this. We are Americans of the 21st century. Twenty-first-century Americans don't think about things like these or think this way. We live in the here and the now. But we are more than 21st-century Americans. We are Christians, and Christians realize they are blessed when they think like God thinks. Do you want to be stuck in just the here and now? Wouldn't it be amazing to actually cross over into heaven once a week? Wouldn't it be something to step out of time and into eternity for a short time? Sound too good to be true? I think a lot of us think it is. You may hear me talking this way, but then filter it through your expectations, and come up with something less than what is actually happening.

It's hard for us to think this way. But this is the way God thinks, and this is how He wants us to think because this is what He brings us when we worship. We Lutherans talk about God actually being present with us. Not the way He is with us all the time, but I mean, coming down (or even bringing us up) and being with us physically.

It's not just a dusty doctrine when Jesus says this is His flesh and this is His blood. We may treat it that way, but it's not. It's heaven here. And where heaven is found, we find angels and all the company of heaven, all the Christians who have gone before us. That is what is happening here. This plain meal, which seems to be little more than a snack of a wafer and wine, is the body and blood of Christ. He gives Himself to us. Wrap your mind around that. The past is brought to our now. The future is brought to our now. Heaven is brought to our here. This is the wedding feast that is eternally celebrated and will be eternally celebrated, and our host is none other than the Lord God Almighty Himself.

What do you think is the proper way to behave? Do we even need to be told to take the lower seat? Wouldn't we instead, need to be coaxed to come to the altar? "It's none other than the Almighty God who has come, who I'm approaching. How dare I do this? How can I even think about it? What am I, but a worm, when it comes to Him?"

But He, your loving and merciful God, says, "Take, eat, this is my body given for you. Take, drink, this is my blood shed for you. I did this for you. I don't want you to hang back, afraid of me. I have what you need. These are the spoils of the victory I won on the cross. I defeated sin, death and the devil, and I came out of it with the medicine you need. You have an illness, which shows itself, but is always much worse than you realize. Here's the medicine."

And then when we have become used to seeing ourselves as helpless, as completely dependent on our God's mercy, when we receive the healing medicine and are changed into creatures of mercy, we won't be so hung up on ourselves. We will stoop down and help our neighbor. We will not consider ourselves better than him, but like Jesus, show mercy to those who need to be shown mercy, just as Jesus did that Sabbath when all those religious guys were watching Him.

So, we take a look again at Miss Manners' question, "Is it proper to heal on the Sabbath?" The answer is not only "Yes," because it is Jesus, but it is exactly what we should expect on the Sabbath. And when we do, when we have been shown mercy in the Supper, when we become more merciful creatures ourselves, we can turn around and show mercy to others.

AMEN