Proper 17 (B) + doers from the heart + 8.30.15
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| https://abluemug.wordpress.com/2013/01/26/whole-hearted/ |
M. Campbell-Langdell+
All Saints, Oxnard
(Song of Songs 2:8–13; Ps. 45:1–2, 7–10; James 1:17–27; Mark 7:1–8,
14–15, 21–23)
“Quit Picking on the
Pharisees!” this was the title of an article I read recently by a Jewish New
Testament scholar, Amy-Jill Levine. Her idea was that we tend to look at the
Pharisees in scripture and just see them as the bad guys, the ones who “didn’t get
it.” Levine’s contention was that they were a varied bunch and that, while some
certainly came up against Jesus and may have helped lead to his death, they
were not by and large the “above it all,” haughty folks that we see portrayed
in much New Testament commentary. They lived among the people, were frequently
workers of trades. St. Paul himself mentions that he is of Pharisee extraction
with some pride. They were an important part of the Jewish religious scene in 1st
century Palestine.[1]
Looking at today’s gospel
reading, we might easily think that the Pharisees just “didn’t get it.” Here
are these people all tied up in knots about cleanliness, trying to set a trap
for Jesus and his disciples, who are not following the “handed down” tradition
of washing hands before eating.
We might just say this is
yet another example of Jesus showing up the Pharisees by saying they didn’t get
it, and ra-ra, the Christians are so much better because we don’t follow all
these silly dietary laws.
But I think that way of
reading this would be to miss the point.
Were you ever in class as
a kid with a particularly strict teacher? Perhaps this teacher asked a question
of the class, and some eager beaver put up his or her hand, thinking he or she
knew the answer, only to be told, “No” by the teacher? Perhaps this was because
the answer was mostly correct but missed one small but definitive detail? I
believe this is a bit like what happened with the particular Pharisees and
scribes questioning Jesus in today’s gospel. They think they are so smart, and
they have the answer. And in many ways they really do. They are technically
correct that the Bible has many laws regarding cleanliness. But they have
missed in entirety the spirit of the law.
How do we know this? One
example is in what is left out of our gospel reading today. Jesus gives an
example of how many Jewish believers of high rank are missing the mark. Jesus
points out that although this group claims to honor their father and mother,
they can make excuses for not caring for them by simply saying that whatever
they might have given them they instead gave as an offering to God, or Corban.
This is one of the top ten, a commandment, not one of a multitude of purity
laws, that this group is conveniently side-stepping. And Jesus will not have
it.
Because remember, there
was no social security in first century Palestine. No Medicare or anything of
the sort. The elderly, the orphan and the widow relied on their family to
support them. Jesus says not to do so is to dishonor God, to truly neglect the
commandments and scripture. This is why Christians, including our James today,
speak of the need to serve the widow and the orphan, as to many observant Jews
and people of other faith traditions. The others should be cared for by their
families. This is love of God, to serve the neighbor.
So Jesus says, yes, you
can talk all you like about whether we are technically following all the laws
and get nit-picky about it. Interestingly, apparently Jesus’ disciples, in not
washing their hands, flout tradition rather than scripture—was Jesus strategic
about their disobedience?[2]
But the point is, it is not what goes into you that really matters. It is what
you put out into the world.
Some of our more new-age
friends would talk about this as “putting out good vibes,” and I think there is
something to that. But Jesus wants us to go a little deeper. He isn’t just
saying be peaceful all the time, man. But he is asking us not to look
critically at others as much as to look into our own hearts.
And that is the rub. When
we turn the lens on ourselves, we realize that God has given us much work to
do. When we quit picking on the Pharisees in our midst but instead look to
ourselves, we are faced with new and more subtle challenges. Challenges that
build character.
An example: one of the
most important pastoral ethics lessons I learned from my mentor priest as a
curate was about ethics around money. Serving in Riverside, we were near a
National Cemetery and performed many funerals. Although I often did not know the
families who came to us, it was an honor to be there for them in their time of
need. Since these families were not typically members of our church, we often
asked if they could give a donation for the service, although we never turned
anyone away. These donations were often largely in cash and our policy was for
these to go directly into the discretionary fund of whichever priest performed
the service. Now this money was technically ours to keep individually, but we
together had this policy as our discretionary funds were often running low.
Now, on occasion, I as do
many priests, had an out of pocket expense related to ministry that might have
been covered by discretionary funds if we had it, but instead came out of my
pocket. At one point the amount was exactly around twenty dollars. And I asked
my mentor priest when I received the next envelope of cash from the next
funeral, if it would be ethical to reimburse myself with one twenty since that
would have been money I would have used had it been available. But he surprised
me. He said “No, don’t go there. You chose to make the other expenditure and
you earmarked this other amount. When you start accounting like that, it can
lead to trouble.” Now, know this. No one but me would have known if I had
slipped out one twenty from the fold. But I would have known. And my mentor
priest was very right. I didn’t need to start bargaining with myself or
thinking that the church “owed” me money.
James tells us to “be
doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves” (James 1:22).
And it is this self-deception against which Jesus warns. We, the lovers of God,
are to strive to be at peace, as much as possible, in our own hearts. Does what
we put out into the world in word and deed serve God? Or do we just go through
the motions. At the end of the day, Jesus says we need to account not to
critical onlookers as much as to ourselves and to God, who is the only one who
knows our heart.
How to go about this?
There are many ways. The main way is to look within. If you do not have a daily
prayer practice, consider starting one. In order for us to be doers and not
just hearers who deceive ourselves, we need to create space for God to speak
with us. That means in your daily prayer you must be slow to speak and quick to
listen. That is the hard part for me! One tried and true way of making space
for God is simply to spend time in quiet meditation on a word or phrase from
the Bible. Or you may need a more structured and active approach. You can try
the Ignatian Examen. In short, you find a time to be quiet with a journal and
with God; often the evening is best, but you can make it work for you. Then you
follow these steps: “1. Become aware of God’s presence. 2. Review the day with
gratitude. 3. Pay attention to your emotions. 4. Choose one feature of the day
and pray from it. 5. Look toward tomorrow.”[3]
The idea is to look at your day as much as possible with God’s eyes, and see if
God would tell you either to do anything differently or to continue in a given
vein.
Let us be true hearers of
God so that we can be true doers of God’s work in the world, which is what that
old time true religion is all about!
Amen.
[1] Amy-Jill Levine, “Quit Picking on the
Pharisees,” Sojourners Magazine
(March 2015), 26-29.
[2] Matt Skinner, Rolf Jacobsen and
Karoline Lewis, “Sermon Brainwave #433” from www.workingpreacher.org (for August
30, 2015).
[3] “The Daily Examen” from http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-examen
(accessed 28 August 2015).
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