[Greetings
to St. Paul’s, Clay Center, KS – good to be with you again on this Sunday of
Labor Day weekend; was here on this same Sunday last year; and, two years ago
this weekend, I was just arriving in Manhattan, KS after having driven from
Santa Monica, CA]
“You
are what you eat.” We’ve heard that
before… and, in a biological sense it’s true.
In modern times, many people are particularly attentive to how the foods
put in our body affect the condition of our heart.
“Have
you washed your hands / have you brushed your teeth?” Again, this is a question many of us heard
growing up as elders encouraged us to stick with tradition which was considered
good practice. And, again, in a
biological sense, hands and mouth free of germs can help prevent heart disease.
In
our Gospel lesson for today (Mark 7:1-23… note that I’m adding back in the verses
that our lectionary skips over), we have a confrontation between religious
legalists and Jesus and his disciples.
The scribes and Pharisees have observed that Jesus’s disciples have not
washed their hands before eating a meal.
The Greek word they use to describe the hands of the disciples is koinos, which is rendered by various
translations as “defiled” or “unclean”, but can also mean “common” or
“un-special.” So, to be clear, they
aren’t so much concerned about biological hygiene as they are ritual purity and
spiritual readiness – have the hands of the disciples been purified and
sanctified in order to be acceptable for worship and fellowship with God? Or, are the disciples presuming to come to
the table with merely ordinary/common hands?
Further, have the disciples lost their respect for the traditions of
their elders?
If
washing of hands before a meal isn’t as compelling of an issue for us today,
imagine one of these confrontations:
“Hey,
I noticed that you don’t stand/sit/cross-yourself when you’re supposed to in
our church service, are you not taking this seriously?”
“We
stand and put our right hand over our heart during the pledge of allegiance to
our nation’s flag – you were sitting… or you were using the wrong hand… are you
not really an American? Why are you
being disrespectful?”
“Look
at me in the eyes when I’m talking to you.
Don’t you know that lack of eye contact is a sign of dishonesty and
disrespect?”
In
all these cases, Jesus calls our attention to concern that God has for the
intentions of the heart, not how we make mortal judgments based on our human
rules.
Eugene Peterson paraphrases how Jesus applies wisdom from the prophet Isaiah (in Mark 7:6-8) to critique the hypocritical religious purists who are trying to avoid the revolutionary truth of the good news he is proclaiming, “These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their heart isn't in it. They act like they are worshiping me, but they don't mean it. They just use me as a cover for teaching whatever suits their fancy, Ditching God's command and taking up the latest fads.” Jesus continues with vivid rebuke of legalistic obsession with man-made religious rules at the expense of someone else’s dignity at His table (Peterson’s paraphrase of Mark 7:15, 18-23), “It's not what you swallow that pollutes your life; it's what you vomit—that's the real pollution…. Don't you see that what you swallow can't contaminate you? It doesn't enter your heart but your stomach, works its way through the intestines, and is finally flushed… It's what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness—all these are vomit from the heart. There is the source of your pollution.”
[Foreshadowing:
Next week’s Gospel lesson (Mark 7:24-27) will continue to challenge our notions
about who is worthy to at God’s table as well as what it means to get our hands
dirty in order to do God’s work – stay tuned]
However right we might feel about our
actions, when we are more concerned with outward appearances and conforming to
our own set way of doing things rather than coming to know and love our
neighbors as they truly are and seeing them with loving and caring eyes the way
that Christ does, we miss the mark regarding what makes any of us clean or
unclean or worthy to be in communion at God’s table.
Note that in the list of things that pollute
us, there are only three that actually come out our mouths – obscenities, lies,
and speaking poorly of others. The
others are all conditions of our heart that eat at us, separating us from the
love of God and neighbor, and lead us into temptation and unclean/unholy
actions towards others (E.g., lust, illusions of scarcity, covetous desire for
more / greed, pride and arrogance, and desire to control through domination).
What
are we to do?
Next
time we observe someone doing something we believe is defiling, or failing to
do something that would make them less ‘common’, let’s seek first to understand
them before accusing or judging them.
“Excuse
me, I noticed that you were doing things a little differently that I do… I’m
curious to know more… is there something I can do to help you feel more welcome
and comfortable here?”
“You
seem like you might be a little distracted… what’s on your mind or heart
today?”
What if
we approached observance of differences with a sense of wonder and humor… and
opportunity to learn more about the wide and varied nature of God’s creation?
And, to
bring it close to home for us Episcopalians who can be very… ummm, ‘attentive’
to right-form, correct-action, and liturgical purity, I reflect on how I often
speak with newcomers about our bells, smells, special lingo, and costumes…
All these things we say and do, wear, sing,
light on fire, etc. – they’re all tools to help draw us closer to God and each other… not magic rules or rituals that
draw God closer to us. If we’re using
the tools well, we’re building a stronger communion together. When we misuse them, or fail to teach people
to use them well, we risk further separating ourselves through shame, blame,
and embarrassment.
So, this morning, let’s not be
concerned with who has washed their hands or brushed their teeth – as helpful
as those practices are to us feeling comfortable and safe with each other. Nor let us concern ourselves with what we’ve
each eaten and whether it conforms to our sense of good nutrition or a proper
meal.
Rather, let’s wonder what’s eating at
each of us – what condition our hearts
are in emotionally and spiritually.
When we pray today, let’s ask that the
darkness in our hearts be excreted out as unhelpful waste.
When we confess our sins this morning,
let’s be brutally honest with God about things we know we’ve done or left
undone that has contributed more to separation that communion.
And here’s something I invite you to
try at this service… When we share the Peace of our Lord with each other,
rather than rely on words, do this in silence, really relying on the tenderness
and firmness of the grip and the knowing sensitivity and sincerity revealed in
each other’s eyes and our smiles. See if
you can sense the condition of our hearts without having to say anything.
We approach Christ’s table this
morning remembering that this is more than literal, biological food… we are
putting into ourselves Christ’s own presence as spiritual nourishment to
strengthen us for work in His name, to love our neighbors as Christ has loved
us.
O God, you have taught
us that without love whatever we do is worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit, and
pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which is love, the true bond of peace
and of all virtue, without which whoever lives is accounted dead before you.
(The Very Rev. Charles Hoffacker, St. Paul's
Episcopal Church in Port Huron, Michigan, “Tradition
and Traditionalism” sermon 8/31/2003)
Christ,
break our hearts for what breaks yours… and give us the strength to dare
mending the brokenness that surrounds us.
"God of unclean hands, touching those rejected by the world, despised by the religious: guide us from false purity which hides misshapen hearts; lead us to the joyful feast in which all are renewed; through Jesus Christ, the beauty of God's face.”
(Shakespeare, Steven. Prayers for An Inclusive Church (NY: Church Publishing, 2009) p.69) AMEN
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