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

May the words of my mouth O God…  speak your truth…

There’s a passage in Deuteronomy 6:5-9…  which is a fuller expression of our reading from a few minutes ago…  it’s a prayer we used to recite every week at Friday evening Shabbat services…  and it goes… 

Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart…  with all thy soul…  and with all thy might…  and these words…  which I command thee this day…  shall be upon thy heart…  thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children…  and shall talk of them…  when thou sittest in thy house…  when thou walkest by the way…  when thou liest down…  and when thou risest up…  thou shall bind them for a sign upon thy hand…  and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes…  thou shalt write them upon the doorposts of thy house…  and upon thy gates…  that thou shalt remember to observe all my commandments…  and be holy unto your God… 

And for a tribal people…  who over the course of hundreds of years…  were moving from the belief in city-gods…  towards the realization that there was only one God…  which was also expressed in Deuteronomy 6:4 as the Shema…  Hear O Israel…  the Lord our God…  the Lord is One…  for a tribal people who were moving towards an integrated code of behaviors…  moving towards more justice…  this way of thinking…  and the traditions which arose out of it… were unprecedented and life giving…  but they arose in a particular time and place…  and in response to particular circumstances…  and that’s the challenge of reading…  learning…  and inwardly digesting the Living Word…  and following a Holy Spirit which blows where it will…  that’s the challenge of being able to discern when the change around us is of God… and being able to receive it…

There’s a story…  for several years…  a young girl watched her mother prepare the Christmas ham…  and every year…  her mother would cut off each end… and bake it…  one year the girl asked her mother why she did that…  and her mother answered…  Well…  that’s the way grandma always used to do it…  and a few days later…  when her grandma came over…  the little girl asked her…  Grandma…  why did you always cut the ends off of the ham before you baked it…  and her grandma answered…  Well…  the baking dish was too small for the whole thing…  so I had to…  sometimes we hold on to something without knowing why…  sometimes we just need to get a new baking dish…  or a new framework for how we behave… 

The ancient Jewish purity laws…  were still in force when the Pharisees asked Jesus why some of his disciples were eating with unwashed hands…  and there are some common sense rules of hygiene which we still follow…  though some of us break them when we’re out running errands and get food at a drive through…  or perhaps when we go out to eat…  and don’t wash our hands…

And you’ll remember…  in the early months of this pandemic…  when we weren’t certain how the virus was transmitted…  we were told over and over to wash our hands…  and there were instruction sheets…  and YouTube videos…  and people were interviewed on TV…  telling us how to safely handle…  and even repackage…  different kinds of groceries we brought home…  some of them suggested letting your non-perishable items sit outside for three days… and out of an abundance of caution…  people were sanitizing packages of deli meats…  and containers of cottage cheese…  and bottles of milk…  and so in a very real way…  we created our own modern day purity laws…  though I don’t know anyone who’s doing that any more…

But Jesus responded…  as he so often did…  on a level far above their question…  and called out the Pharisees and scribes…  by quoting the prophet Isaiah…  when God said…  these people draw near to me with their lips…  but their hearts are far away…  and they worship me in vain…  because they promote their opinions…  as my Word…

You see…  the Pharisees’ concern about eating with defiled hands…  was more than just your mother’s concern about getting sick from eating unwashed vegetables…  it was a much greater concern about being made unholy… about being rendered unhallowed…  and that’s why Jesus doesn’t disagree with or respond to the basic hygiene part of their question…  but responds on a deeper level and says…  you’re following a hollow tradition which doesn’t bring you closer to God…  you’re focusing on what goes in your mouth and what’s washed…  but God cares more about what comes out of your mouth…  because when it comes from an unclean heart…  it’s what you say that defiles you…  and it’s also why Jesus exhorts them in Matthew 23:26…  to clean the inside of the cup first…  because doing that will ensure that the outside becomes clean too…

And James’ letter says… if you want to be closer to God…  be doers of the word…  and when you look in the mirror…  remember that you’re a beloved child of God…  and care for those who have no social capital…  because then there’s no telling what else you might do…  and let everyone be quick to listen…  slow to speak…  and slow to anger…  for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness…

Pastor Martin Billmeier writes…  when I’m angry…  I am slow to listen…  and quick to speak…  and there’s a lot of anger out there these days…  isn’t there…  so when I deal with anger…  whether it’s my own or someone else’s…  I’ve found that it’s good to start asking questions…  like where is this anger coming from…  because anger always covers up a different emotion that we don’t want to feel…  like fear… or sorrow…  or anxiety…  anger helps us feel in control of what is uncontrollable…  so we go to anger…  instead of going to what we’re really feeling…

Our reading from Deuteronomy affirms tradition…  and the momentum of tradition is a powerful force…  there are traditions whose origins we don’t know but follow rigorously…  like cutting off the ends of a ham…  and when traditions change…  we may feel afraid…  sad…  or anxious… 

Many of you know from last Sunday afternoon’s email…  that I will be going to half-time here at Two Churches…  and I have been called…  as they say…  to a half-time position at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Wyoming…  on paper these changes will begin on Wednesday…  but I’m taking three weeks off because Joel and I are also moving into the rectory…  or parsonage…  there…  Pastor Polly will preach and preside the next three Sundays…  and I will be back to lead worship at both churches on September 26…

And because Two Churches and Holy Trinity both worship at 10:00…  there will be worship time changes at both locations as well…  and those at each location are making one hour adjustments…  here at Two Churches worship will begin at 9:00…  and at Holy Trinity worship will begin at 11:00…

In a world which is experiencing many kinds of new birth…  I believe this partnership is one expression…  of the new normal into which God is calling us…  maybe not for a hundred years…  but at least for a season or two…  and it’s my prayer…  that those of us who are here now…  and those whom we will continue to welcome in Christ’s name…  will make new traditions which come from hearts…  including mine…  which are quicker to listen…  and slower to speak…