I. Theme – The challenge of living according to God’s guidelines
Cerezo Barredo (1999)
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9
Psalm – Psalm 15 Page 599, BCP
Epistle –James 1:17-27
Gospel – Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Today’s readings remind us of the challenge of living according to God’s guidelines. Moses in Deuteronomy teaches that the law of the lord is a gracious gift to God’s people. James reminds us that the word planted within us can save us as we do what it says. Jesus emphasizes that right relationship is based on obedience to God, not in compliance with human traditions.
Incorporated in the Deuteronomy passage is the incalculable mystery of Israel’s election and mission. Moses appeals to the unique revelation of God to Israel and pleads for whole-hearted obedience to God. The law is to be a fence around the people of God so that they may live obedient to the One God, preserved from idolatrous influences in the years to come. The nation’s fidelity to God’s law was meant to demonstrate to all humanity the divine rule in human history. Here in substance is the missionary purpose of Israel’s existence.
Judaism considers the messianic claim of Jesus an addition that radically departs from the basic principle of the Jewish faith–the unity of God. The reference to a “god so near” is interpreted by the rabbis to mean that no intermediary of any sort is required for the worshiper to approach God in prayer. Judaism has a wide tradition of religious tolerance. It teaches that all people are judged solely on their moral life and the righteous of all nations share in the world to come with the righteous of Israel.
Judaism always taught that right motives are all-important, and Jesus certainly emphasized this in his teaching and preaching. In Mark 7, he points out that evil comes from within, “out of the heart.” Although righteousness cannot be legislated, the innumerable additions to the Torah via the oral tradition were justified by Israel’s teachers as necessary for deeper understanding and for increased resistance to idolatry–the offense that leads to all other sin.
Sin continues to take its toll. Human pride and perversity remain unconquered without divine intervention–the new and marvelous things that God did by sending the Son into the world. We know that the rulers of darkness and the spiritual hosts of wickedness assail us. The sword of the Spirit is still the Word of God. But the word came new and powerful in Christ to cleanse our hearts of evil from within. Christ completes the “whole armor of God.”
Faith is a matter of head, heart, and hands. Faith without works is useless, so says the author of the Epistle of James. Theology that can’t be practiced is irrelevant – a noisy gong or a clanging symbol. Action without reflection or divorced from values and vision is ultimately aimless and destruction, and certainly self-serving. Holistic theology embraces the wisdom of embodiment and integrates it with the guidance of spirit and reason.
In all things and at all times, our lives should praise God. In all things and at all times, our lives should model to others the love of God. In all things and at all times, our words should build up the reign of God, and not harm others. We are called to tear down the walls of division, not to judge others. We are called to care for the poor, the widows, the orphans, the marginalized, the oppressed—not to condemn or curse or justify ourselves. And when we bring ourselves into alignment—our words, actions and beliefs/values, we find ourselves living more authentically as Christians and followers of God’s way, and living more filling lives. We give value to ourselves and to others when we live authentically as followers of Jesus the Christ.
II. Summary
Old Testament – Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9
Chapters 1–4 of the book of Deuteronomy outline God’s care for God’s people in the wilderness as the basis for obedience to the legal code set forth. Adherence to the law gives security and prosperity in the promised land. Disobedience to God’s law forfeits the blessing. God’s word is not to be altered by addition or subtraction, a common warning in ancient legal codes, although the “statues and ordinances” (v. 1) were later codified into 613 specific commandments. For the Israelites, the law was a gift from God that expressed God’s guidelines for life in their special covenant relationship. Its possession was a privilege and it was regarded with reverence and admiration, for it evidenced God’s proximity to them and God’s intimacy with the chosen people. This heritage was to be transmitted faithfully to future generations.
We are reminded in Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9 that we are also required to be faithful to God. We live by example to others, and we teach by example. If we are called to live in the ways of love and justice, when we hate others and when we gain by privilege over those who are marginalized and oppressed, we are not witnesses of God’s grace. We do not model the love of God that was modeled to us by God through the prophets and ancestors, and as Christians, modeled perfectly in the life of Christ. The law and commandments are not rules to follow, but a way of life to live. We do not want to be legalistic in our interpretation and following of the law, but rather be led by the Spirit to live a life in relationship with Christ, which calls us to live out the law and commandments in our own lives.
Psalm – Psalm 15 Page 599, BCP
Psalm 15 challenges us to this walk of faith as described in Deuteronomy. It is a song calling believers to integrity, to stand by what they say and promise, to do what they say they will do, to live into God’s ways of justice. When we live this way, we are faithful to God, and God’s faithfulness is made known to us.
This psalm presents a brief entrance rite for someone desiring to enter the temple for worship. The pilgrim’s question about who can enter (v. 1) receives a response from the temple personnel describing the attitudes and behavior required for worship. This portrait of an ideal worshipper can still act as a guideline for our approach to the altar of the lord today.
Epistle – James 1:17-27
For the next few weeks, the second reading is taken from the letter of James. This sermonlike letter, addressed to the Church in general, consists primarily of loosely organized ethical advice of a sort common to Jewish and Christian writings. Its basis is halakah (literally “walking”), the Jewish word for practical guidelines for walking in God’s way. James appeals to the understanding of God’s will shared by both early Christians and Jews.
James 1:17-27 reiterates this theme of the Gospel for today: it is about what we do more than what we say, but what we say has the power to harm others if we are not careful. Our actions need to be in alignment with our words and values and we need to be careful that what we say does not keep someone from understanding God’s love. Our actions should speak louder than our words and live out God’s commandments to care for those in need and love others. St. Francis of Assissi has been quoted as saying, “Speak the Gospel at all times; use words if necessary.” Our lives ought to follow that.
Faith involves both action and abstention. Be doers of the word. Don’t just spout platitudes about justice, global climate change, care for the vulnerable, or the importance of diversity! Put your actions where your words are.
The author addresses those who have been given “birth by the word of truth” (v. 18)–a phrase that could be used equally of humankind as the first fruit of the creation (Genesis 1) and of Christians as the first fruits of redeemed humanity. This implanted word brings salvation, but one must do it as well as hear it.
The image of a mirror, which in those times gave an indistinct reflection, is used for the forgetful hearer. The one who both hears and acts discovers the true self in “the perfect law” (v. 25) of Jesus’ teachings. True religion involves not only belief but also practical behavior expressing social responsibility (Exodus 22:22; Matthew 25:31-46; 1 John 4:20) and moral uprightness (1 John 2:15-17).
James grounds our behavior in the generosity of God. God is the everlasting, always generous, never failing source of all good gifts. In the spirit of Luther, God’s generosity flows through us – or ought to flow through us – in relationship to our neighbor and fellow companion in the way of Jesus. Divine grace fills us, enabling us to be a wellspring of life-giving love to others. James provides a brief guide to healthy communication – listen well, speak carefully, and share you anger in ways that join not separate. James recognizes that anger is part of life and is a reflection of the basic desire for self-affirmation, nurture, and protection; but anger need not be expressed in ways that strain relationships or community life. James is counseling a certain type of anger management: expression of anger seldom diffuses tension but actually leads to greater anger and hurt. While we are not counseled to deny our feelings, we are to keep guard about how we discharge them.
Gospel – Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
In the Gospels, we turn back to Mark after our long discourse in John. Mark and James are paired for the next several weeks and complement each other on how we ought to live out our faith. Mark narrates an encounter of Jesus with certain Pharisees.
The selection from the sayings on defilement (7:1-23) that constitutes today’s gospel raises the question of the relationship between “the commandment of God” and “the tradition of the elders” and of the real meaning of cleanness and defilement, issues of vital interest to the early Church. All three sections concern ritual purity: the first centering on washing (7:1-8), the second and third on food (7:14-15, 21-23).
Mark 7 begins with Jesus being challenged by the Pharisees and scribes for how his disciples have behaved. They have not all washed their hands. In those days, the washing of hands was for a purification ritual, not for hygiene. The washing of hands was to purify themselves against what was unclean, specifically in this case, food that might have been handled by Gentiles. The leaders were more concerned with people following the literal letter of the law, the traditions that they held, rather than the spirit of the law, which was to honor God in all that they did and said. Their tradition justified the keeping out of the Gentiles as well as the poor and those they would call “sinners”—people who could not afford the rituals of purification in the temple. Jesus tore down the walls that would divide the “pure” from the unclean, the sinners, the Gentiles, the Others—and declared that what comes out of the mouth—what we say that hurts and harms, that divides and separates—this is what is really sinful, what is unclean, what is against God’s ways.
Various regulations had been established in the Mosaic code to ensure the ceremonial cleanness of priest and people, for defilement rendered one unfit to participate in the community worship. The “tradition of the elders” was the body of interpretive comment on the law of Moses accumulated as people tried to apply the law to new situations. It was passed down in oral form and only first written down about A.D. 200.
The issue of eating foods held unclean by the Mosaic law actually involved a point of the written law, not the oral tradition. Not observing dietary restrictions meant invalidating sections of the Old Testament scriptures. This matter was hotly contested in the early years of the Church, especially in the Gentile churches for which Mark wrote (Romans 14; 1 Corinthians 8). Mark takes pains to insert an explanation of Jewish practice for them and to make clear the implication of Jesus’ saying (7:19b).
The final verses (7:17-23) may all have been shaped by the controversy in the early Church–it is difficult to account for the disputes at Jerusalem (Acts 15:5-21) and Antioch (Galatians 2:11-16) if Jesus’ words were so unambiguous. In general Jesus seems to have set aside the demands of the law (e.g., Sabbath observance) in response to particular situations of human need. Freedom for the Church from the dietary code opened the way for the mission to the Gentiles (Acts 10).
Jesus overall responds to the pharisees by asserting that following God’s law is first a matter of spirit, first, and then a matter of action. External behaviors – following or neglecting a ritual action – are no proof of our inner moral life. Our inner values, the habits of the heart, are the primary locus of spirituality.
Mark’s Jesus believes, like James, that behavior is important. Jesus’ own behavior – his willingness to welcome outcasts, commitment to healing, embrace of the stranger – is central to his ministry. But, this behavior reflects an inner spaciousness and experience of the breadth of divine love. The inner and outer journeys are essential. Social transformation involves behavior and changed lifestyles, but it also involves cultivating the inner life – attitudes, responses to otherness, patience, forgiveness, humility, love, perseverance, and so forth. Action and contemplation are essential to spiritual life, healthy relationships, and social concern.
Jesus clearly interprets scripture in a non-literal way. What was written in the law of Moses of cleanliness codes was taken literally by many of the Jewish religious leaders of his day and Jesus does not interpret it literally. Jesus is more concerned about how Scripture was used to create rules and traditions that kept others out, not about the letter of the law. We need to be careful when we make literal claims of Scripture, because Jesus, and later Paul, also interpreted Scripture in ways that were inclusive instead of exclusive, and we ought to do the same. It is about honoring God and living God’s way in our lives, and not about keeping others out. We need to be concerned with how we are living out the Good News, and how we are welcoming and inviting others, instead of concern about how others are behaving.
III. Articles for this week in WorkingPreacher:
Old Testament – Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9
Psalm – Psalm 15
Epistle – James 1:17-27
Gospel – Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23