The Tradition of the Elders– Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Wow. What a great text to introduce a new preacher with eh? Nothing like opening a can of worms right off the bat just to see what they say and do.

I am generally a lectionary preacher. I follow the lectionary not because I am too lazy to search the Bible and find a text that fits my sermon but because that is exactly what I would do. I would decide what I wanted to speak to you about and then I would decide which text I feel suits what I want say the best.

Do you notice a word that appears an awful lot in that statement? “I.” What I want to say, what I think the Bible should say, what message I think you need to here. It would all be about me and what I think you should be doing. That is not my job or yours. My job is much harder than that.

My job is to preach to you the Word of God. To deliver a message from God to whomever God knows needs to hear that message. I have bad news for you, I am not God. I know, some of you may have had high hopes but alas, I am just another human being with a few fancy titles before and after my name. So, if I am a human being just like you, how on earth do I possibly accomplish the task which God has called me to do?

I remove me from as much of it as possible. How many of you enjoy letting someone else dictate what you say and do in life?

One of my favorite Bible verses is Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;” I like to stop there, halfway through the sentence because verse 6 continues on “in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight.” If the second half of that sentence is true, God must not spend much time in West Virginia or in my life because I have yet to see a straight path. But… it might be because submitting to him in all ways might be the biggest challenge we face as Christians.

Letting go of control. Letting God decide our words, our actions, and our thoughts. I must confess that the more I do this the straighter and easier my path is but I just can’t seem to get all the way there.

Now, imagine for a moment our passage. Living in the world of our ancestors who had to not just follow the commandments but to follow the Laws of Moses. Most of the Laws of Moses were more complicated than just washing your hands before you eat. As this passage shares, you have to wash everything you get from the market.

Granted, there were a lot of health concerns at the time. Imagine if you knew that anything you purchased from the market had bedbugs, fleas, spiders and lice. You’d probably want to wash it before you used it in your home wouldn’t you? Probably. Toss it into the washing machine with a gallon of bleach two or three times and then into the dryer for three hours just to be sure everything was dead.

But what if washing machines didn’t exist?

What if the only water you had to wash anything in was that creek that went through the cattle fields that all the animals drank out of and pooped in? Still wanna wash your hands in that before you eat?

Okay, that might not be the point of this passage, or this message. But I want you to start thinking about traditions in terms of not just functionality in the times they were created but their relevance to today. If I am vacationing in Florida and the temperature suddenly drops to 40 degrees, I buy a sweatshirt at the local gift shop, will I wash it before I put it on? Maybe there’s a few of you who would rather freeze but most of us will just put it on and ignore the washing Law of Moses. Congratulations you have sinned. That’ll be two doves and a day of fasting for you.

You might say that’s ridiculous, how is my wearing a sweatshirt so I don’t catch a chill sinning against God? Exactly Jesus’ point. How is meeting the basic needs of the human body to survive sinning against God? To a Christian, it’s not but to a 1^st century Jew? Absolutely. Law is more important than functionality.

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

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

Sin is not our actions but our intentions.

If I do something out of spite, anger, greed, or jealousy, that is sin. If I do it out of necessity or out of love, then it is probably not a sin. But but but what about the Law?!?! What about the rules?!? What about our traditions!?! What about discipline and doctrine that was written 100-5000 years ago?!?

Pick your religious tradition, any of them will do, sacraments, prayer, song, big stone buildings, stained glass windows, altars, or pick your rule now, why does it exist? What purpose did it serve when it was first created by God or by man, either one is fine. What was its original purpose in its time and place?

We wash our hands before we eat to prevent getting sick. Our ancestors washed everything they bought to remove whatever filth was on before they used it themselves. I won’t lie. I did not wash my new sofa before I sat on it. Our ancestors would have. I do know people who still would and then cover it in plastic but… the purpose is not for the glory of God but germophobia.

Now, look at your religious tradition again, is it being done for the glory of God or are you still scratching your head as to why we even do it because it has just always been that way? And, if you are doing it because it’s just what we do are you really doing it for the glory of God or is it just habit out of spite or out of tradition?

Harder question. If you are doing it for the glory of God, does that mean I have to do it too? If I’m just doing it because you said I have to do it, is it bringing glory to God when I obey you? So many hard horrible awful questions we have to ask in this life with so many answers based in self-righteous indignation. So many people who want to answer for God or on God’s behalf. So many not noticing that every sentence, every action has too many I’s in it.

I follow the lectionary because I choose to not lean on my own understanding. I choose to not be in complete control over the message I relay to you on a given Sunday. I choose to trust in those who came before me who did their best to design a system that covered the bulk of the Gospels every three years. In my mind, it is a simple way of honoring my ancestors as the 5^th commandment.

I know roughly how those who designed the lectionary, why they created the way they did, and the purpose to which it can serve to bring glory to God in a way that helps to spread the messages of God’s Gospel at a pace which is digestible and with a level of repetition that helps with retention and application of God’s will through Jesus Christ to the people of God. For me, I have been called to honor God with my lips and to make sure my heart is also bringing him honor, I trust in him to give me the message I am to deliver. But, I don’t expect everyone else to do it the way I do.

Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside of a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.

Your words, your actions, can and will defile you not someone else. Any word or action that does not uphold the commandment of Christ to love God and one another will defile you. It matters not how many traditions you uphold, how many prayers you pray, how many church services you attend, the only thing that matters in the end is how much love you showed, how many people you included, how much your heart cared about leading your body including your mouth and your mind to bring glory to God. How many hungry you fed, naked you clothed, sick people you looked after, people you visited in prison, Matthew 25:35-36 in case you’re wondering. We are commanded to liberated the oppressed, free slaves, advocate for all those who abused and neglected.

The scroll Jesus read from Isaiah at Nazareth in Luke 4:18-19 ¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,   because he has anointed me        to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives    and recovery of sight to the blind,        to set free those who are oppressed,¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” That is our church. That is our purpose.

So, how much control are you willing let God have over where He wants his church to go what he wants them to do and stand for? How willing you were to trust that God is leading us to our destination.

Do not be a hypocrite. Do not worship in vain. Do not teach human precepts as doctrine. Do not abandon God to hold on to your traditions. But please… do wash your hands before you eat and after you use the rest room, we don’t live in the 1^st century, that’s just good hygiene.

Above all else, first and foremost, honor God with both your lips and your heart.

May, the Lord bless you and keep you;
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you
And be gracious to you;
May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you
And give you peace

Numbers 6:24-26