People Are Watching

Sermon for SMHP, Year B, Proper 17, Sept. 2, 2018

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

          Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, ²they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. ³(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; ⁴and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) ⁵So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” ⁶He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
⁷in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

⁸You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”     

               ¹⁴Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”

          ²¹For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, ²²adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. ²³All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

          26,000

          Anybody know what that number represents?

          It’s the number of children…killed by gun violence in America since 1999.

          Gun violence is now the third leading cause of death for children in this country.  That is a healthcare crisis.

          And what have our leaders done to address this crisis?

          Basically nothing.  Children are dying and the congress has done basically nothing.

          Which is not to say that they haven’t been focused on healthcare.  No, they have voted over fifty times…to repeal all or part of the Affordable Care Act.  Since 2013. 

          Over fifty times.  The repeal effort has its own Wikipedia page.  (Slide 2)

          So…and this is not news to you, I’m sure…our leaders are excellent at crafting plans to not do things.  Or to do little things.

          At the end of the last session, they managed to pass the EGO Act, which amends Title 31 of the US Code “to prohibit the use of Federal funds for the costs of painting portraits of officers and employees of the Federal Government.”

          And the Ceiling Fan Energy Conservation Harmonization Act.

          You honestly can’t make this stuff up.

          It’s understandable.  It really is.  I too find it easier to focus on small things.  I did about ten little projects while trying to get this sermon written.  Which is about par for the course.  Little things, like regulating ceiling fans and sticking to ritual purity laws—those things are relatively easy. 

          Much easier than making sure all of our neighbors have food, and showing love for everyone we meet, even the irritating ones.

          The scribes and the Pharisees seemed to have a little problem with this, and it’s fair to say that irritated Jesus.  A lot.  Maybe disproportionately, but I think we can understand why.

          They want to know why the disciples don’t wash their hands.  It’s a reasonable question.

          Of course, we’re not talking about handwashing from a sanitary perspective.  We’re talking about ritual washing.  For the purpose of participating in the “traditions of the elders,” as they call it.  These are the traditions set down by rabbis and scribes for many generations.  The codes for how to eat kosher, how to remain ritually pure and clean, and how to conduct worship. 

          And is there something wrong with those codes, per se?

          No.  Far be it for us, as Lutherans, participating in a worship service which follows the ordo of the church laid down in the Middle Ages, to denigrate tradition.

          There is nothing wrong with tradition.  There is nothing wrong with washing your hands.  Nothing at all.  Even ritual washing, which reminds us that we are to remain pure before God and one another.

          Purity isn’t a bad thing.  Unless it begins to supersede love.  Honor.  Service.  Unless following the traditions of the elders takes the place of following the Commandments of God.

          The reason Jesus got so irritated at those scribes and Pharisees is that he saw them doing that.  He saw them ignoring those in need in their midst while they washed the heck out of their “cups, pots, and bronze kettles.”

          In the section of the lesson that the lectionary excludes, Jesus talks about the practice of Corban.  It’s a little esoteric, so the lectionary writers figured it was best to leave it our.  I think you can handle it.

          Corban is just a word for offerings designated for God.  Now, again, are offerings bad?

          Certainly not!

          But like all things, our offerings have to balance the rest of the Law.  Speaking to the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus reminds them that the commandments say “honor your father and mother.”  Yet some were saying to parents, “Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban.”  Thus they were failing to honor the commandment in order to be thought of well in the synagogue and temple.  Or in order to atone for their sins.

          Balance.  Order.  Minding the big things—the ten commandments, the greatest commandment—love God and love your neighbor as yourself.

          Children must honor their parents, God declares. 

          Parents must honor their children.  It can be pretty easy to get caught up in the small stuff as a parent…am I right? 

          Lot of handwashing going on there.  As there should be.  But you can keep your kids clean and fed and in bed at a precise hour every night, and lose the opportunity to teach them joy, to let them play and have fun and get dirty. 

          Look, just be this guy.  [Slides 3-6]  There is no question that Michael—and Jessie—attend to the important things.  But they have not neglected important teaching about love.  And fun. 

          Swinging.

          Dirt.

          Thanks to Jess for collecting all of those photos for Michael’s birthday and making it really easy to add them to my slide presentation this morning.

          And please keep Michael—and Jessie—in your prayers, as he is in Japan for a couple of weeks for the Navy.

          Look, this is an important teaching.  You can tell it’s important, because Jesus gets a little hot under the collar as he is responding to those scribes and Pharisees.  He tosses out the “h word.”  “Hypocrite.”

          “You are hypocrites,” says Jesus, “because you focus so hard on what goes into your bodies that you neglect the more important concern—what comes out.” 

          And then the people watching you believe that the primary concern of God’s people is staying clean.  And making flashy offerings.  In order to be regarded as a “good Jew.”

          And before you know it, that’s what the world thinks of when it thinks of the Jews.  “Those people who follow all of those rules about food and drink and ritual washing.”

          Even Mark falls into that trap.  Did you notice? 

          Verse three:  “For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders.”

          Obviously this is not the practice of “all the Jews” because the lesson is about how the disciples don’t follow it.

          But…and it’s really important that we recognize and remember this:  it is not unusual for all religious people to get characterized based on what some of them do.  Especially when they make a big deal about it, which is exactly the behavior that Jesus is pointing out here.

          Why is this important for us?

          Because it is true of us as well.  How many have friends, acquaintances, family, who have told you that they have no interest in church because all Christians are hypocrites?

          Or bigots?

          Why do they say that?  Because there is a very public segment of American Christianity that exhibits values in direct contradiction to the teachings of Jesus.  Which is the definition of “hypocrisy.”

          There is a very public segment of American Christianity that has aligned itself with anti-immigrant policies, with white supremacy, with policies that hurt the “least among us.”

          And when people are painting with a broad brush, we get lumped in there too. 

          I remember when I waited tables at the Bristol.  I had coworkers who hated working brunch, because folks would come in from church and be demanding and cheap.

          What do you imagine they thought of Christians, these impressionable young waiters?

          People are watching us.  They are watching to see if we are “practicing what we preach.”  If we are living by the great commandment—love God and love your neighbor.  Or we are caught up in little things and neglecting the rule of love…care for neighbor…honoring of parents.

          People are watching us…and that is a really good thing. 

          I feel really good about releasing you all out into the world and letting you stand for the Christian faith.  I believe you will keep your eyes on the big things alongside the small ones.  I believe you will stand up for children, for the elderly, for the ones to whom Jesus gravitated.  I believe you will place your bodies in the places in which he placed his—the places of pain and struggle.

          I think if people can see you, they will have a new picture of Christianity, and that maybe they will even see Jesus.  And seeing Jesus is a big thing.

          A very big thing.