My hands are clean…but I am about to get them dirty!
It is interesting to note that every commentator I have
researched all start with the same concept…
“Welcome back to Mark! After six weeks in John’s “bread of
life” chapter, you’re probably more than ready to come back to the extended
story Mark is telling about Jesus.”
Whew that john text was hard and now we do not have to hear
it again till three years from now. So
we are back in mark and it is so much easier right…it is just about washing our
hands. How simple is that. I mean whew
have all heard it …did oyu wash your hands before you sat at the table young
man.
For me this was annoying I would get up from the table in a
huff and rush off run my hands under water and wipe them off on my jeans and sit
down again…
Of course, then came the next question…Did you use soap???
Ugh maaaaaa!
You do not get to eat until those hands are clean now go!
At the age of 15 I started working in nursing homes and then
in care homes and schools for the developmentally disabled believe me my
routine around clean hands changed very quickly.
“That can’t surely be what’s going on in this passage, can
it, an argument about washing hands before eating that has probably been
repeated in each and every one of our homes? Yes and no. Yes, it really is
about the practice of washing hands. No, as is often true in such arguments,
there is often more going on beneath the surface than initially meets the eye.
With our kids, maybe they just forgot. Or maybe they’ve decided that even though
Mom and Dad think this hand washing-thing is important, they don’t, and, while
they’re at it, maybe they’re tired of all the rules Mom and Dad are making. So
maybe not washing their hands, in this case, is less about forgetfulness and
more about testing their parents’ authority.”[1]
A very similar thing is happening here. The Pharisees are getting all in a huff
because the disciples are not following tradition. “why don’t you follow the tradition of our elders?”
Their tradition and the tradition and the law must be upheld. How can Jesus’ authority usurp that of the
law??
“And at this point, it’s nearly crucial to put back in the
verses the lectionary omits. Because it’s not simply about authority, but
authority linked to behavior. Our everyday, ordinary, decisions about how we
treat each other. Which is why Jesus throws the “tradition of the elders” thing
back in their faces. Want to talk about tradition? Jesus asks. Then let’s talk
about the tradition – make that a commandment! – of honoring our parents. Seems
pretty straight forward to me, and yet you’ve found a religious loop-hole by
which you can declare your wealth an offering to God and thereby not have to
share it with your parents!”[2]
“Jesus knows, of course, that when the scribes and Pharisees
ask why some of his disciples do not wash their hands, the question is not an
innocent one. It is meant to indict Jesus. Asking why some of his followers
"do not live according to the tradition of the elders" (Mark 7:5) is
really accusing Jesus of not following the law himself, of acting as if he
believes himself to be above the law. Knowing this, Jesus responds with a
rebuke from Isaiah (Isaiah 7:6-7), which changes the direction of the
conversation: "This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are
far from me" (Mark 7:6b). Jesus calls them "hypocrites (Mark
7:6a)," because they "abandon the commandment of God and hold to
human tradition" (Mark 7:8). This reproach is more than a condemnation of
empty worship practices; it is a condemnation of the scribes' and Pharisees'
distortion of tradition in order to circumvent the law. Jesus is not rejecting
the law; in fact, he is rebuking them for their failure to uphold it.
Mark 7:9-13, which are not a part of the lection for today,
clarify Jesus' point. Jesus condemns the scribes' and Pharisees' use of Corban:
a practice of willing assets to the Temple, assets that may no longer be used
for the family's, including elderly parents', care. Such a practice, Jesus
asserts, violates the commandment to "honor your father and mother"
(Exodus 20:12), for it enables the denial of support to parents who are in
need. The scribes and Pharisees are allowing people to circumvent the moral and
legal imperative to care for their parents through the use of Corban and are
"thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have
handed on" (Mark 7:13).”[3]
To me , what I am hearing is …you do not get to pick and
choose how or if you will follow quote
“the Law” end quote. You see…
“The question raised by the Pharisees in 7:5 is apparently a
sincere one, and the narrator tells us why in vs. 3-4. Ritual purity is an
essential dimension of Pharisaic religion, an effort to claim Jewish identity
in a world that was much happier with a polytheistic style. The pharisees argued
that the practice of eating with undefiled hands was an obligation imposed not
on Temple priests only, but on all Jewish people who sought to be the holy
nation they had been called to be. To heed a stipulation of the oral law (“the
tradition of the elders’) like this was not to escape into trivialities but to
demonstrate how seriously the law of God is to be taken.”[4]
These purity codes where basically traditions used to say
who was in and who was out. Who are the proud members of the Jewish faith? They are the ones who perform outward signs
that they belong so all who observe know they are good faithful practicing
Jews. But where the pharisees missed the boat was the opportunity to care for
the elderly, the sick and the widows. Basically they were picking and choosing
just which purity codes to follow...
Which traditions to follow.
It raises some interesting questions…
“Jesus is challenging them as to how their traditions
contribute to them fulfilling their mission. And I think this is just where
this week’s sermon might bring this odd passage to bear on our shared life. I
mean, maybe we don’t seem at first blush quite as fussy about tradition as
Jesus’ opponents did, but what if you were to suggest tinkering with some of
our own traditions? Perhaps changing worship in order to make worship more
understandable and accessible to a younger generation? Or what if you were to
drop the lectionary in favor of moving through the narrative of the Bible? Or
what if you were to cancel all committees in favor of a more nimble way of
governing the congregation? Or what if you were to suggest getting rid of pews
to make the sanctuary space more flexible so you could offer it to some
community groups? Or what if each fourth Sunday folks didn’t come to church at
all but rather were engaged in community service throughout your county? Or
what if…?
You probably get the idea. We each have traditions that are
more than traditions. They are markers of what has been accepted as right and
wrong and thereby serve to lend us a sense of stability. (Never mind that our
traditions do in fact change over time – what’s important is that they appear
unchanging in the moment!) This passage serves both to relativize our
traditions – should we really hold them sacred? – while also pushing us to the
far more important concern of the law to help us care for each other. ”[5]
The broader context into which this interchange between
Jesus and the pharisees occurs presents an interesting backdrop. On the one
hand, there are two generous feeding of the hungry multitudes (6;30-44;
8:1-10), and an extravagant summary of Jesus’ healing s in and around
Gennesaret (6:53-56). They pose a sharp
contrast to the restrictive issue of washing the hands before eating. On the
other hand, the interchange of the Pharisees is followed by the stories of the
persistent faith of the Gentile woman of Syrophoenician origin, who asks only
for the crumbs and her daughter is healed. And the restoration of hearing and
speech to the deaf man living in the gentile are called Decapolis (7:24-37). It
is as if Jesus’ critique of Kosher laws (“thus he declared all foods clean,”
7:19) is then documented by the healings of these non-Jewish people.”[6]
It is not what we put in our bodies but what comes out of
our hearts and lips. Proclaiming that the kingdom of God belonged only to the
Jewish people who followed only certain rules and regulation as opposed to
offering peace, healing, food, welcome, to those beyond their borders was what
was wrong. You can keep your traditions as long as they are not interfering
with the work of Gods kindom here on earth.
Letting people know they are loved welcomed and cared for
isn’t always easy. Sometimes it contradicts our own “traditions.” We are called
as Christians to grow, study , learn…as a result we have ONA churches. “Open
and Affirming (ONA) is the United Church of Christ's (UCC) designation for
congregations, campus ministries, and other bodies in the UCC which make a
public covenant of welcome into their full life and ministry to persons of all
sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions.”[7]
We have immigrant welcoming churches. “In a world becoming
increasingly globalized, more people are leaving their homelands to seek better
lives and opportunities in new countries. Their reasons for leaving are diverse
and complex: economic necessity, war, or persecution. The U.S. has long been a
nation of immigrants and we have consistently been conflicted about this. We
gratefully welcome immigrants and their contributions, and we exclude them,
discriminate against them and, at times, inflict grave harm upon them.
As Christians, we are called to love our neighbors. The
Bible is unambiguous in calling us to welcome aliens and strangers in our land,
and to love them as we love ourselves. In these times, let us listen to the
voice of the still-speaking God. We will learn how to respond to these new
sisters and brothers residing among us.”[8]
We are an earth Justice Denomination
Since we are about to enter the season of creation and many
are marching this Saturday September 8: Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice in
san Francisco I would like to share this video
It is time we got our hands dirty …The church needs to
strive to be a place of welcome, education and partnership as we seek to mirror
the kindom of God here on earth …amen!
[1] http://www.davidlose.net/2015/08/pentecost-14-b-tradition/
[2]
Ditto
[3] http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2607
[4] Brueggemann,
Walter, and Charles B. Cousar. Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary,
Based on the NRSV. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993.,pg. 492
[5] http://www.davidlose.net/2015/08/pentecost-14-b-tradition/
[6] Brueggemann,
Walter, and Charles B. Cousar. Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary,
Based on the NRSV. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993.,pg. 492
[7] http://www.ucc.org/lgbt_ona
[8] http://www.ucc.org/justice_immigration
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