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Kit 6 2003 - Pentecost 7 to Pentecost 13
Written by Rev Dr Harry Swadling
Sunday 31 August 2003 Pentecost 12
Song of Sol 2: 8-13, Ps 45:1-2,6-9, Jas 1:17-27
Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23
We suddenly seem to be in much more familiar territory here! This immediately forces us to note the geographical situation, which is a little remarkable. The setting is Galilee and Mark makes a point of telling us that it is a group of Jerusalem leaders who have come to see Jesus. They have come a long way and we seem to have here something of Mark’s way of thinking of Galilee as a safe, good place for Jesus and Jerusalem as dangerous. Although they are not said to come with the intention of attacking Jesus, they waste little time in noticing something to criticise. It is worth noting that the Pharisees were a lay group and that there would have been local Pharisees. They are not dependent on the Temple.
The second thing to remember is that, although the Pharisees get a consistently bad press in the New Testament, their intention was good. Their objective was to define the Law so that what started out as a code for a nomadic people would remain relevant for the 1st Century situation. Ordinary people wanted to know how they could keep the Law and the Pharisees made it their objective to show them. So what we have here is really a profound clash of cultures. On the one hand, the Law and its definition, on the other hand, the root purpose of the Law, which was to help people relate to God. And if Mark has Gentiles in mind as a target audience, then there is no doubt as to which side he will come down on.
Notice that Mark goes into a great deal of detail about what the tradition involved. Clearly he has an audience in mind that has little idea of what the Jewish Law required. From his point of view it is important to see that the Law is secondary to the person and teachings of Christ. It is even more important too for him to show that the tradition surrounding the Law is irrelevant to Christians.
We can, of course, see this section as part of the working out that the early Church had to do in defining itself against Judaism. If Mark was writing in the mid to late 60’s, Christianity was still very much a sect within Judaism, but it is rapidly moving out beyond that. For preaching today, however, such matters are of little more than academic interest. How can we make this familiar story relevant for our own situation?
It seems to me that the text asks us questions today about whether our traditions bring us closer to God. Jesus makes it very clear that it is not the externals that matter but what is in our hearts and minds. The passage is, for us, not about washing hands or washing dishes – we do these things recognising that they have a role in physical health. It is, however, helpful to remember that such actions can become obsessive and therefore destructive of mental and emotional well-being. We need to ask ourselves what are our equivalent traditions? What are the things we do because we have always done them assuming that they bring us closer to God?
We might start by examining our forms of worship. Do they bring us closer to God or are they habit? In doing this, we need to remember how very quickly something new can become mere habit. And at the same time we need to remember that not all habits are bad. For example, the ritual washing described by Mark may not have brought anyone closer to God, but it may have helped public health. And habits like going to church are not bad habits. Maybe the nearest we get to a “burning bush” most Sundays is looking at the pulpit fall, but every now and again we may have a startling encounter with the divine.
And perhaps a good way of examining the effectiveness of our traditions is to look for signs that the Kingdom of God is near. Think, perhaps, of the messengers from John the Baptiser (Matt 11: 4) or Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4: 16ff). When these indicators of the Kingdom, or their modern equivalents, are present, then we can see that the traditions are working.
This test works whether the religious practices are ancient or recent. It can be applied to a very old tradition or to a religious group that has only been in existence for a year or so. Does what we do on Sunday have any effect on our Monday morning living? It seems to me that Jesus is asking that very question of the people around him, then and now. Do you honour the letter of the law or the spirit of the law? Evil intentions come from within the human heart, and it is a charming catalogue that Jesus gives us. The funny thing is that the list would be just about the same today! How little human nature has changed. What we eat or how often we go to church or how often we read the Bible is of no significance if these evils are seen in our everyday living.
We need to be constantly holding our religious practices up for examination to see whether they are in fact bringing us closer to God or whether they have become empty. A difficulty here is that we cannot all fit into the one box. Music that some find repulsive brings others closer to God. And music that some find boring brings to others a profound sense of the presence of God. It is an ongoing challenge for us to ensure that our religious actions are indeed Christian and not mere habit. We are, or should be, after all, a reformed Church in constant need of reformation.
A responsive prayer for renewal:
Leader: O God, who makes all things new, renew us by your power.
People: O Guide, who is always faithful, lead us by your vision.
Leader: O Hope, who renews all life, bring us out of despair.
People: O Friend, who loves us always, challenge us to live your love.
Leader: Create in us a clean heart, O God.
People: and renew a right spirit within us.
Leader: Take from us our hearts of stone
People: and give to us hearts of flesh.
Leader: Renew us by your Spirit all the days of our life.
People: Bring us to the place of rejoicing in the New Jerusalem of your love. Amen
Lisa Withrow, “Seasons of Prayer”