BProp17

Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-9; Psalm 15; James 1:17-27; Mark7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

August 30, 2009

 

Following tradition, traditional manners, traditional food preparation,

saying the traditional blessing….

When you ignore these things in good company you seem inconsiderate of those you are with.

To the Pharisees Jesus and his disciples seemed more than just inconsiderate.

They appeared to disregard and even rebel against rules that were taken very seriously in their day.

What’s wrong with you and your disciples, Jesus?

These traditional rules are very important and we hold it against you that you dismiss them so flagrantly.

 

And, of course, we get Jesus’ drift.

The practices themselves had once had meaning,

but they had become more important than the meaning behind them.

 

Jesus was stressing that the attitude of our hearts is what is truly important.

Outward appearances and actions are mere empty shells

if our acting and our thinking don’t conform to a heart that is true to God.

 

Would chaining a vicious dog to a tree so that it would not bite anyone

mean that it was a tame dog, a ‘good’ dog?

No, because the dog is only as good as the strength of its chain.

If, however, the dog were tamed and made gentle,

then the need for a chain would be unnecessary.

Externals would not be needed if the internals were right.

 

In the movie ‘Dogma’ – kind of crude, some strong points are made

about this very problem with dogma and rules.

 

In one scene, very proper grey-suited executives are seated around a board table.

In the middle of the table is a golden cow.

It is the equivalent of a gold Mickey Mouse statue being on the board table at Disney headquarters.

This happy cow was the mascot of a huge corporation geared toward children –

Complete with toys and cereals and theme parks.

It all looks good on the surface.

But an angel walks around the table and tells the horrible truth about each person

just underneath the outer image they wear so well.

The gospel today names them all…

fornication, theft, adultery, murder, deceit, revenge…

and what these actions have done to hurt the people in their lives.

 

Another example:

Adolf Hitler was an avid vegetarian and a general health food nut.

 

 

 

 

In a behavior modification class I took in college there was a mantra we went by:

It is easier to act your way into a new way of thinking

than to think your way into a new way of acting.

 

To act your way into a new way of thinking.

This means that outer behaviors will eventually lead to new habits and better intentions.

But so often the actions stop short of their goal.

We get to church on Sunday and go through the motions.

We get a good feeling that we got up and came to church and participated in the service correctly.

But, that doesn’t mean that that we are ‘kneeling with the knees of our heart.’

 

To think your way into a new way of acting means trying to change from the inside out.

Oh, God, I know you want me to be healthy.

I know you gave me this body to live and move and have my being to your glory.

So, please, God, help me want to get out of bed and go to the gym.

And we – I – turn over, pull the covers up and feel good

that I at least had the desire to be healthy.

Maybe tomorrow.

 

It’s like rotely ask in our blessing at dinner

for God to feed the hungry.

 

Jesus said, How many of you will cry Lord, Lord –

and I won’t recognize you.

I think because he might have been clueing us in that

it is our hearts, our true selves, that he recognizes us by.

 

The fullest life, most complete is

when our actions and thoughts come from a heart awakened by God..

 

Rules and traditions aren’t bad.

They usually are derived from an authentic experience that we want to protect and keep.

 

James and Jesus agreed on something.

If you get to places where the rules and traditions don’t matter,

-because rules will not satisfy the empty stomach of a hungry child and traditions

will not mend a broken heart -

your eyes will be opened to the places in your life

where your actions and your thinking are not in sync

with that deep place where God resides and speaks to you.

 

As good and beneficial as traditions and rules may be to you and to many,

when we step out into places and people

- the defenseless, the vulnerable or whom the rules and traditions

are not life-giving, and often unattainable, our vision gets clarified.

Our perceptions shift. Our priorities get realigned.

 

I’ve said the word ‘mercy’ how many times? Thousands?

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, like the wideness of the sea.

Yet, when mercy took on the face of nurses caring for orphans

and people stuck in the hell of living in the city dump are offered a way out,

all of a sudden, mercy meant something.

And I hope that for the rest of my life when I say that word, mercy,

Those experiences will keep its meaning clear and alive for me.

 

When our youth went on their mission trip to Mississippi, the same thing happened for them.

And they have come back with something to say to us.

 

Jesus is saying

“Let’s get down to the heart of it, beneath our actions and our thoughts,

to the deep place where God speaks and reveals the truth to us.”

To where the Spirit dwells within.

 

Holy Spirit, giving life to all life, moving all creatures, root of all things, washing them clean, wiping out the mistakes, healing their wounds, you are our true life, luminous, wonderful, awakening the heart from its ancient sleep. (Hildegard of Bingen)

 

Let us close with our collect for the day…