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It seems to me that one of the hardest things for committed people
to do is to remain open minded about the things they're committed to, and
especially to critically evaluate their cherished beliefs. If I were to
ask you how you'd changed your most important beliefs in the past ten years,
I imagine many would have difficulty finding an answer, other than not at
all. And if I asked you to critically evaluate the things you hold dear
in Christianity you might well balk at the suggestion. This was particularly
so of the Pharisees in Jesus day, but it's equally difficult for Christians
today, particularly those who come from an evangelical tradition like us.
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In
today's gospel reading we find the Pharisees and teachers
of the law coming from Jerusalem to seek out Jesus in
Galilee. This is perhaps an indicator of how seriously
they saw the threat that he provided. They weren't
prepared to leave it to the local synagogue elders. They
wanted to confront him themselves. |
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The issue
that they choose to confront him with is telling in
itself. It was the issue of washing hands before eating.
Now this wasn't just a carryover from their days in
kindergarten or poor potty training. Rather it was
something that arose out of their desire for purity in
all things. They figured that if you'd been to the
marketplace, you'd almost inevitably have had to have
touched someone who was a gentile, and therefore you'd be
ceremonially unclean. In fact these people were so
concerned about the impurity of Gentiles that they even
considered that the shadow of a Gentile falling across
their plate would make it unclean. So there was real
concern about washing their hands after being somewhere
as tainted as the marketplace. But the thing was, none of
this had come out of the Scriptures. It was all a human
invention. Sure, it was an invention with good reasons
behind it. The intention was good. In a sense it was a
provision for the people, to make up for the fact that
they had no choice but to live in a multicultural,
multi-faith society. Had they been able to live in a land
without foreigners, as God had originally instructed
them, there wouldn't have been a problem. But that hadn't
happened, so their ancestors had come up with this
compromise arrangement. But it wasn't what God had told
them, and in fact went beyond the things God had told
them to do. |
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And as
with many of their rules and regulations, the original
intent had been lost and the rule had become an end in
itself. |
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So the
Pharisees object when they see the disciples start their
meal without the ritual hand washing to begin with. |
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Jesus,
notice, doesn't answer them directly. He doesn't comment
on the question of washing. Rather he focusses on the
heart of the mater. He jumps straight to the real issue
at point. What matters isn't whether you've fulfilled all
the regulations that people have thought up. What matters
is whether you honor God with your heart as well as with
your lips. |
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So he
takes a current example where they observe human
traditions, but in so doing deny God's law. They had this
tradition known as Corban. It literally meant to bring
near. It was an offering that was brought to God and
therefore was holy, set apart for God's use only. So a
man might promise to dedicate his entire estate to God,
so that on his death it would go to the temple. In that
case his property was considered to be Corban, holy,
dedicated, and therefore couldn't be used to care for his
parents. |
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Even if
he were to change his mind later, the Scribes would have
said, 'No! Once you've made a vow to God you can't go
back on it.' And so they wouldn't let him do anything for
his parents. |
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But Jesus
says, look at what you've done by this particular
tradition. You've set aside the fifth commandment. In
fact you've condoned what in a sense is equivalent to
placing a curse on your parents. Your fine tradition of
encouraging a person to give generously to God's work has
been corrupted so that it nullifies the word of God. In
fact, he says, this happens all the time. There are all
sorts of traditions that do the same thing. |
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We need
to ask ourselves whether the traditions that we
hold dear are in danger of doing the same thing. Do we do
things as a church, in our worship, that were once good
but have now passed their use by date and have got to the
point where they do more damage than good? Do the
traditions that we hold to as Anglicans stand the test
that Jesus applies: that is, do they support or do
they nullify the word of God? Let me give you one example
that's very relevant to this 8 o'clock service. I've said
this before but it doesn't hurt to say it again. When
Cranmer sat down to reform the English Church, the first
thing he did was to translate the worship service out of
Latin into English. One of his guiding principles was
that worship should be conducted in the vernacular. That
is, in the language commonly spoken by ordinary people.
And he included in those liturgies lots of Scripture,
because he wanted people to hear the Scriptures in their
own tongue. But what's happened now is that we've come to
love the old language of the BCP, because of the sense of
lyric beauty it has, or so we say, despite the fact that
many of the words it contains have changed their meaning,
so they no longer mean what Cranmer understood them to
mean. Despite the fact that it asks that governments
might show indifference in administering justice. Despite
the fact that it refers to the quick and the dead.
Despite the fact that it prays for Kings and governors,
but not for the democratic governments that we now have.
I could also mention the fact that God is the judge of
men but not women, or the so-called comfortable words
that Jesus says. You see, what was a revolutionary change
in Cranmer's day has now become a stumbling block to
anyone who hasn't been brought up in the tradition and
maybe even to some of them. His foundational principle of
using the vernacular is no longer being followed if we
keep to his translation. That's why we've had two new
prayer books and countless draft revisions in the past 30
years, to ensure that our traditions are maintained in an
appropriate way. In a way that encourages people to
worship God with understanding. Those of you who are keen
on the BCP need to think seriously about whether the
traditions that you hold so dear are a help or a
hindrance as far as the gospel is concerned. |
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But that
isn't the only tradition we have is it? We have lots of
traditions. I remember when I was growing up, Christians
didn't drink, dance or smoke. Some didn't even go to the
movies. If you came across someone who did one of those
things you really started to worry about their salvation.
I remember meeting some Dutch Christians and being
appalled by the fact that not only did they smoke, but
they drank gin! And enjoyed it! These days, it's probably
things like gambling. What do you think if you meet
someone who says they go to the casino every Friday
night, or to the local Tatts venue? |
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Would you
wonder about their salvation? Would you want to censure
them. Perhaps if you were in the right sort of
relationship with them that would be a good thing to do.
But what if they're a non-Christian? How should our
traditions affect the way we respond to them? What if
they're on drugs? Do we hold back because we don't want
to be polluted by the world like the Pharisees did or do
we respond to them the way Jesus did? These are the sorts
of questions we need to keep asking ourselves to ensure
that it isn't our traditions that are determining our
behaviour but the word of God. |
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But let's
get back to the passage. Jesus then goes back to the
issue they first raised. That is, of ceremonial
cleanliness. He makes two statements, one negative, one
positive. |
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First he
says, nothing outside a person can make them unclean
simply by going into them. Secondly what comes out
of you is what makes you unclean, or at least expresses
your state of purity. |
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Let me
ask you, what sort of person are you? What's your
self image like? How do you see yourself? What sort of
picture do you have of yourself? How do you hope others
see you? |
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Well,
then, let me ask you a second set of questions? What sort
of things come out of your mouth? What sort of thoughts
fill your mind? Do they fit with the picture you have of
yourself? Are they words and thoughts that express love
for others? Are they thoughts and words that express a
purity of mind? Or are they thoughts and words that
perhaps reflect a bitterness of heart, or an anger with
God or with the world? Are they words of compassion or
are they words of criticism? Are they words and thoughts
of one who has faith in God, an assurance of his goodness
towards us, of the sure hope of eternal life, or are they
the words and thoughts of a cynic? I ask myself these
questions at the same time as I ask you. Does what I show
by my words and thoughts indicate someone of faith and
integrity or someone who's simply play acting? |
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Jesus
says it doesn't matter what you eat or drink. That's just
an external. If you smoke or drink it won't make you any
better or worse than the next person. It might make you
less healthy, but it won't make you less pure. There's
nothing essentially different between a teetotaller and
an alcoholic as far as God's standards are concerned.
That's because what matters isn't what goes into you but
what comes out of you. It's what's in your heart that
matters. It's the evil thoughts that come from your heart
that make the difference. Then he lists 12 vices that in
a sense sum up human sinfulness: (Mark 7:21-22 NRSV)
"For it is from within, from the human heart, that
evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22adultery,
avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy,
slander, pride, folly." These all come from inside.
These are what makes us unclean. |
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I guess
Jesus didn't have to add that his hearers needed to do
more than just wash their hands to rid themselves of this
sort of stain. What was needed was in fact a change of
heart. The only way we can rid ourselves of this sort of
uncleanness is if we have our hearts renewed. If our
hearts are cleansed from all unrighteousness. The only
way that could happen was through Jesus' death on the
cross and through faith in his name. As the writer to the
Hebrews says, (Heb 10:21-22): "since we have a great
priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true
heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts
sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies
washed with pure water." |
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That of
course was what the Pharisees had missed. They couldn't
see past Jesus' flouting of their traditions to what his
coming could mean for them and their status before God.
They continued to pursue him because they refused to
believe that he was the promised Messiah. That in him was
the salvation of the world. |
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The issue
for us today is to ensure that we never act like the
Pharisees. That we don't become so focused on externals
that we can't see the deeper spiritual issues at stake. I
guess we have to be especially careful that we don't look
at the behaviour of other Christians and begin to judge
them on the basis of our own traditions without looking
behind their behaviour to what they're actually doing in
the light of God's word. Our human traditions must always
be kept in perspective. They must be tested by Scripture
and must be continually renewed as situations change.
Finally they must be tested against the highest demand of
the Kingdom, that is, inner purity and godly love. Let's
make sure that our desire for keeping our traditions
comes from a pure heart not a heart filled with the sorts
of vices that Jesus describes. That way we're more likely
to find a harmony between those traditions and the word
of God. |
