15th Sunday after Pentecost

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9; Psalm 15; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

¹Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, ²they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. ³(For the Pharisees, and all the Jewish people, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; ⁴and 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.) ⁵So the Pharisees and the scribes asked Jesus, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” ⁶He 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;
 ⁷in vain do they worship me,
  teaching human precepts as doctrines.’
⁸You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”
 ¹⁴Then Jesus called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”
 ²¹For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, ²²adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. ²³All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

. . .

The Surpassing Tradition

Grace to you, beloved of God, and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

You may know well by now that my handyman skills are, at best, poor. My father, on the other hand, was a mechanical engineer. He fixed everything. He would know the name of every item on the shelves of the neighborhood hardware store. He tried to inspire me to do those things, I guess. He would write down lists for me to pick up stuff when he needed to fix some plumbing in the bathroom. Or he would take me with him to get the items and explain what they were for. I don’t think I showed too much interest because he eventually started going there alone to meet people, as it was his habit. 

One thing that my father taught me was to grill, Brazilian style, of course. Setting up the fire, arranging the meat on the big skews that look like swords, how far each type of meat should be from fire, etc. 

Nonetheless, that was it for culinary skills. My mother taught me around the kitchen, and I always found joy in spending time with her there, learning how to use pots, pans, and wooden spoons. Oh, Dad taught me to make omelets. He always made a killer omelet. 

Ask Ana if you need to know about carburetors, light fixtures, fixing drywall, and painting in the Vieira clan. Don’t ask, however, for us to find pleasure in baking in the sun at noon during summer because we both had severe sunburns as children. We love cold and crisp mornings despite being natives of Rio de Janeiro. 

The point I am trying to make is that what James calls the “law of liberty,” which most of us agree is a birthright, allows for each one of us to be unique individuals under the same sun that always dies in the East and rises in the West. One creation, one planet we call home, populated by a mosaic of unique creatures, individuals, communities, and nations, all shaped by the same loving God, with whom the Father is well pleased. Some eat with forks and knives, one on each hand, to slice and dice. Others leave the knife on the side and use their forks to cut everything. Some use chopsticks. Others use flatbread and their fingers. None of them cursed or defiled, all of them eating as they were taught, each following their tradition. 

Here is the problem with the Pharisees and the scribes arriving in Galilee from Jerusalem to check Jesus out. They come from the aristocracy in Jerusalem. The elders they refer to were brought up in the higher echelons of the Judean society and likely members of the Jewish council named Sehendrin, which would lately get Jesus arrested and killed.   They were certainly taught some cleansing rituals before eating meals. They could afford bronze kettles, too. 

The folks in Galilee had different upbringings based on the resources they had at hand. They had learned different traditions. So, if you were an envoy from the council of leaders, supposedly working out of the Torah, God’s heartfelt instructions for the well-being of all God’s peoples, you were to be delighted that the joy of the beginning was being restored in the land that once sat in deep, deep darkness. God’s promises were at work there. 

The hungry were being fed, and the sick and the desperate were being healed. Jesus and his disciples were not just proclaiming the good news; they were doing good news. They were embodying God’s covenant and light to all peoples. They were restoring the one great promised nation of all who believe—all who love and trust God above all things and love their neighbors as themselves. 

The envoys could have participated in what God was doing in Galilee and offered to share the human traditions they were taught with those willing. They could have learned from the Galileans, their rabbi, how to be kind to all God’s children. Violence and aggression are what defile because they lead to death, and God wants all to live. Authentic religion, or Christianity if you will, dwells in the love we were taught. The love that embraces our diverse, unique gifts and works together with Christ. Thanks be to God. Amen.