Is it good to help a disabled widow by cutting her grass?

[DamianWarS]

Assuming motivations are aligned to the gospel, it is good to help a disabled widow by cutting her grass?

if we call this good, is it not also good on the Sabbath as Christ tells us "it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath" (Mat 12:12)

it's a simple question but please stick to answering it and not other sabbath digressions. Be careful in your reply, because declaring something is restricted on the sabbath also eliminates it from being called good.

 

[zippy2006]

Something can be good without being good in every circumstance.

 

[SabbathBlessings]

Six days a week God said we shall do all thy works and labors Exodus 20:9. We love God by keeping His commandments that includes the Sabbath commandment, which God said to keep the Sabbath day holy Exodus 20:8 We can love neighbor by helping them with their lawn on the 6 other days God gave us to do thy work. When Jesus said it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath the examples were not leaving an animal in a ditch on the Sabbath-that was an emergency, healing people - helping people who are sick- not breaking the Sabbath, never was there an example of hard labor on the Sabbath. The purpose of the Sabbath is to have communion with God and to honor Him on His holy day Isaiah 58:13. If a neighbor falls and needs to be taken to the hospital on the Sabbath, not breaking the Sabbath. If a neighbor needs help with their lawn and asks on the Sabbath we can be a good witness (doing good) and invite them to church with us on the Sabbath and offer to mow their lawn once Sabbath ends.

 

[HIM]

Assuming motivations are aligned to the gospel, it is good to help a disabled widow by cutting her grass?

if we call this good, is it not also good on the Sabbath as Christ tells us "it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath" (Mat 12:12)

it's a simple question but please stick to answering it and not other sabbath digressions. Be careful in your reply, because declaring something is restricted on the sabbath also eliminates it from being called good.

That is Man's wisdom. You are adding what is not. Cutting grass is not the same as healing someone who has been sick. That was the context of the passage when He said that.. Helping someone in distress should never be ignored. That is the context of all the circumstances when Christ was accused of violating the Sabbath. Not menial labor that can wait. You are making your own criteria rather than going by what God has shown. Before Christ they set such to restrict. Now they are off in the other directions it seems.

Matt 12:9 And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:
Matt 12:10 And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.
Matt 12:11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?
Matt 12:12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.

 

[Leaf473]

Assuming motivations are aligned to the gospel, it is good to help a disabled widow by cutting her grass?

if we call this good, is it not also good on the Sabbath as Christ tells us "it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath" (Mat 12:12)

it's a simple question but please stick to answering it and not other sabbath digressions. Be careful in your reply, because declaring something is restricted on the sabbath also eliminates it from being called good.

Yes, it is good. It is God's work, so it's lawful to do on the Sabbath. That's a way of looking at it if a person sees a strong distinction between their work and God's work.
__________________
Another way of looking at it

Bible Gateway passage: Psalm 24:1 - New Living Translation

Psalm 24 - A psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.

www.biblegateway.com

It is lawful to cut God's grass on the Sabbath.

 

[HIM]

Yes, it is good. It is God's work, so it's lawful to do on the Sabbath. That's a way of looking at it if a person sees a strong distinction between their work and God's work.
__________________


It is lawful to cut God's grass on the Sabbath.

Those are your words not God's. God's example is that of emergencies. And that is not subjective.

 

[Leaf473]

Those are your words not God's. God's example is that of emergencies. And that is not subjective.

Well, the priests do God's work on the Sabbath, don't they?

Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 25:40 - New Living Translation

“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

www.biblegateway.com

 

[BobRyan]

Assuming motivations are aligned to the gospel, it is good to help a disabled widow by cutting her grass?

if we call this good, is it not also good on the Sabbath as Christ tells us "it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath" (Mat 12:12)

it's a simple question but please stick to answering it and not other sabbath digressions. Be careful in your reply, because declaring something is restricted on the sabbath also eliminates it from being called good.

It is good to paint her house,
It is good to vacuum her rug
IT is good to fix her mailbox
It is good to take her out for a meal
It is good to read a nice history about George Washington to her

But all that can be done six days of the week.

 

[BobRyan]

Well, the priests do God's work on the Sabbath, don't they?

Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 25:40 - New Living Translation

“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

www.biblegateway.com

Just as they did at the time of Moses
So do pastors do good work in this day and age preaching sermons and giving Bible studies on the Sabbath.

Obviously the Law of Moses did not stop priests from doing the work of the Gospel on Sabbath.

 

[DamianWarS]

Something can be good without being good in every circumstance.

Indeed, but that doesn't engage the question. Can you help me out a bit and expand on that? Perhaps using the example of the op showing why helping out a disabled widow by cutting her grass is not good on the Sabbath but is good on a Tuesday? Does Christ not show us how goodness breaks through this divide?

 

[DamianWarS]

Not menial labor that can wait.

I'm not speaking or menial labor or did you not read the op? I'm speaking of purposed driven acts intended to show people Christ. I don't consider that menial I consider it good.

 

[DamianWarS]

Those are your words not God's. God's example is that of emergencies. And that is not subjective.

Is there a greater emergency than the lost? You might be confusing the goal. The goal is not cutting grass. The goal is reaching the lost and pulling them out of pits. "Cutting grass" may be used as a mechanism to reach that goal just as many other acts may do the same and this is what makes it good.

 

[DamianWarS]

It is good to paint her house,
It is good to vacuum her rug
IT is good to fix her mailbox
It is good to take her out for a meal
It is good to read a nice history about George Washington to her

But all that can be done six days of the week.

Yet Christ says it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. So you either have a conflict with Christ words or you must reject these acts as being called good if indeed they are unlawful on the Sabbath as you seem to be claiming.

 

[HIM]

I'm not speaking or menial labor or did you not read the op? I'm speaking of purposed driven acts indeed to show people Christ. I don't consider thst menial I consider it good.

More of man’s wisdom. Sinning by doing things menial on the sabbath is not purpose driven life to show people Christ. It is setting a bad example by sinning. Jesus showed the example. Let’s go with that and not add what is not. He healed and showed if an emergency arises, like healing or pulling an ox out of a ditch take care of it. Cutting someone grass is not that. Do it on another day.

 

[DamianWarS]

More of man’s wisdom. Sinning by doing things menial on the sabbath is not purpose driven life to show people Christ. It is setting a bad example by sinning. Jesus showed the example. Let’s go with that and not add what is not. He healed and showed if an emergency arises, like healing or pulling an ox out of a ditch take care of it. Cutting someone grass is not that. Do it on another day.

Is there a greater cause to rescue than the lost? It is that cause that I speak of.

 

[DamianWarS]

"Cutting a disabled widow's grass...."

I hope that is not a figure of speech

Regardless how you understand the phrase the context is to be helpful and motivations aligned with the gospel as the op clarifies.

 

[DamianWarS]

If a neighbor needs help with their lawn and asks on the Sabbath we can be a good witness (doing good) and invite them to church with us on the Sabbath and offer to mow their lawn once Sabbath ends.

Do all respond the same way to that invitation? Could a servant posture at times be more effective at sharing the gospel than an invitation to church? Could both be effective strategies but not one size fits all?

The goal here is not to cut grass, the goal is to share the gospel and help those in need. And is there a greater need than the lost?

God ceased his work because it was finished. Christ uttered his last words "it is finished" then passed on to the Sabbath. The number 7 itself is the number of completion because that is what it is in creation. It starts as unformed chaos and ends in completion the antithesis of everything before day 1. How can we cease which such a vast amount of unfinished work around us?

I speak of doing good as sharing the gospel and helping others where cutting grass is just a mechanism, like inviting someone to church is.

 

[SabbathBlessings]

Do all respond the same way to that invitation? Could a servant posture at times be more effective at sharing the gospel than an invitation to church? Could both be effective strategies but not one size fits all?

The goal here is not to cut grass, the goal is to share the gospel and help those in need. And is there a greater need than the lost?

God ceased his work because it was finished. Christ uttered his last words "it is finished" then passed on to the Sabbath. The number 7 itself is the number of completion because that is what it is in creation. It starts as unformed chaos and ends in completion the antithesis of everything before day 1. How can we cease which such a vast amount of unfinished work around us?

I speak of doing good as sharing the gospel and helping others where cutting grass is just a mechanism, like inviting someone to church is.

You seem to be conflating your own ideas into the scripture. Mowing the lawn, is not the same as spreading the gospel. If you want to teach your neighbor about Jesus on the Sabbath, that is in line with what the disciples were doing, but nothing about manual work on the Sabbath and not inline with the commandment Exodus 20:8-11 Isaiah 58:13. If your neighbor asks on the Sabbath, it would be a witness opportunity to tell them about Jesus and His holy Sabbath and invite them to church. Not everything can be spiritualized away where in the end we are following our own ideas instead of following the Word of God. Proverbs 3:5-6

 

[HIM]

Is there a greater cause to rescue than the lost? It is that cause that I speak of.

If we teach them by our actions to continue in sin we have saved nothing.

 

[Leaf473]

I believe this relates to the op

Bible Gateway passage: James 1:27 - New American Standard Bible

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

www.biblegateway.com