Life-Affirming Living
August 29, 2021
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around [Jesus], they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and 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.) So 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?” He 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;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’
You abandon the commandment of God and
hold to human tradition.”
Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”
For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
We begin with an experience Amy C. Howe, Parish Associate at Evergreen Presbyterian Church in Memphis, Tennessee shared in a commentary I read last week. One Sunday morning as she entered her office, she found a note quickly scribbled and left on her desk. The author of the note wrote something like, “It seems that our youth don’t know how to spell any better than they know the Bible!” She walked to her doorway where she had a good view of the newly created bulletin board that welcomed kids and adults to the Sunday school wing of the church. In bright, happy colors it invited one and all to attend “Sunday SKOOL!” She chuckled to herself realizing that their intent was to get people’s attention; and it worked!
She was amused, but was also angry. She knew the young people who had created the bulletin board had sacrificed part of their Saturday so people could feel welcomed to a new season of Sunday school. The person who had left the note on her desk was missing the deeper Christian message. The note she wrote was not life-affirming. It was critical. Yet the message on the bulletin board was life-affirming. It was inviting everyone to come to Sunday school.
Perhaps Jesus is feeling similar emotions as this parish associate was feeling when the pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem gather around him and take notice that some of his disciples are eating with defiled hands. They ask Jesus “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of he elders? Instead they are eating before washing their hands. What’s up with that, Jesus?”
Jesus may have been amused at their disapproval. After all they had been attending to the needy and healing the sick. Water wasn’t exactly available to them. But he also may have felt some anger.
Now, let’s pause for just a moment. I ask you, What brings meaning to life? Maybe it’s our jobs, money, power, family, fame, authority over others. You could have all those things, and still feel your life is meaningless. Is it correcting the spelling on a bulletin board? Or is it misspelling a word in hopes that it will entice the congregation to go to Sunday School?
What is life-affirming living? Is it the practice of traditions? Is it living by the spirit of the Law? Or, maybe it’s both? These questions are addressed both by Jesus and James in our lessons today.
So, let’s look at the value of tradition first. Certainly our traditions bring some kind of value to our lives. We get together with family to celebrate special occasions—such as holidays, birthdays, anniversaries and graduations. During Advent we light a candle each week in worship to remind us that Christmas is coming. At Christmastime we buy gifts, wrap them, and send cards. Some of us bake cookies. Or, send fruit proverbial fruit cakes to our friends! We put up Christmas trees and hang lights. Some people put up Christmas displays so elaborate it is as though they are competing with their neighbors or posing as contestants on The Great American Light Fight!
Ultimately traditions can contribute to a sense of comfort and belonging. They bring families together and enable people to reconnect with friends. Traditions may reinforce values such as freedom, faith, integrity, a good education, personal responsibility, a strong work ethic, and the value of being selfless. But we need to know why we are doing them. And in doing so, they must be heart-felt and life-affirming to others.
In Judaism tradition brings continuity with one’s past It preserves Judaism’s character as a unique faith with a distinct way of life. In orthodox Judaism tradition reminds the faithful that God gave Moses commandments on Mount Sinai. Tradition can only be changed within the framework of rabbinic law. In Conservative Judaism, tradition is a vital force, but can be modified. Jewish traditions can evolve over time. And in Reform Judaism, although tradition has been more appreciated recently, traditional practices remain voluntary.
When our traditions are not life-affirming, they may harm others, cause hurt feelings, or prompt us to be critical and unloving. Some of the requirements of ritual purity in the first century could become a means for judgment and oppression. Well, our gospel lesson refers to the traditions of kashrut—concerning the suitability of food and the fitness for use of ritual objects. The tradition states that one must wash their hands before eating. In addition, glass and metal posts, pans, dishes, and bronze kettles are to be immersed in boiling water before they are used. A blessing is recited over them as the immersion is performed to praise God for having “sanctified them through His commandments.” When Jesus responds to the scribes and pharisees’ questions about his disciples unclean hands, in a sense, he holds a mirror up to their faces by saying, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’ ” Jesus clarifies his point by saying, “You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” He makes his point perfectly clear. What really renders a person “unclean” in God’s sight is what comes out one’s heart. It is not what we eat or how we eat, but what we do that really counts with God. It is a matter of the heart!
If we were to put this lesson into today’s context, I suppose it might be like preparing for all the trappings of Christmas, having a big Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, and then forgetting about Jesus or failing to take time out of the festivities to hear God’s Word that evening or the rest of the year for that matter. It’s like placing the traditions in the foreground and placing Christ in the background.
Which brings us back to our questions, What is life-affirming living? Is it the practice of traditions? Or is living by the spirit of the Law? One of the stories we teach the kids, when they attend first communion classes is Moses’ receiving God’s Law. Moses goes up Mount Sinai and God gives him ten basic commandments to live by. The first three express love toward God. Commandments four through ten express love toward humankind, our family, our neighbors, co-workers, and the strangers we meet on the street. In other words we live by the spirit of the Law, which is LOVE! Furthermore, these commandments form the basis of Israel's covenantal relationship with the God who had delivered his people from slavery in Egypt. Now God calls them to be wholly devoted to him alone. Only through obedience to God’s laws could Israel fulfill its role as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. God gave these laws to Moses and God’s people to serve as a guide for living in a way that demonstrates love for God and leads to a deeper experience of God’s love.
In other words when we live by the spirit of the Law, it brings greater meaning to our lives.
Interestingly, in this lesson, Jesus does not condemn the scribes and pharisees’ beliefs or denounce their traditions. The Jewish leaders who confront Jesus about questions of ritual purity are concerned that Jesus’ disciples do not demonstrate reverence for the tradition of the elders, since the ritual of hand washing was considered an integral part of Jewish faith and identity. Jesus simply asserts that their hearts are far from God. It is what is in our hearts that matters, which bring us to James.
The writer of James shows us what it means to live by the spirit of the Law. He says, we are given birth by God’s word of truth. His advice is: be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. Anger does not produce God’s goodness. Get rid of every filthy habit and all wicked conduct. Welcome with meekness the Word God has implanted in you. It has the power to save your souls. Be doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who take a good look at themselves in the mirror and then go away. At once they forget what they look like.
But if you look closely into the perfect law that sets people free, and keep on paying attention to it and do not simply listen and then forget it, but put it into practice—you will be blessed by God in what you do. That is what life-affirming living looks like.
In our opening story, Amy C. Howe, the Parish Associate does not tells us what she does with the note. I suspect she took notice of it and then threw it away. Telling the kids about the note would not be helpful or loving. If she knew who wrote it, she doesn’t say. God calls us to be an alternative to the larger “world” of our society by choosing and living out right relationships: kindness over cruelty, compassion over condemnation. God gives us commandments to help us to serve God by doing good, holding in check our own selfish desires so that we might better direct our energies toward the welfare of others and the larger community. True faithfulness is not about sending critical notes or eating with clean hands, but rather it. is about a heart that is cleansed and a life shaped by the radical, self-giving love of God in Christ.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.