Sermon Cloud

August 30, 2009

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

Proper 17

The Rev. W. Terry Sweeney

“So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?"”

 In the Name of God: + Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 Parents for generations have sent many a child back to the bathroom to wash their hands before eating. . . . with the discovery of germs and how to kill them hands are washed before eating.

 Doctors, dentists, and anyone who has significant contact with another person should keep their hands clean. It helps stop the spread of disease.

 Prior to about 150 years ago disease spread through germs on unclean hands wasn’t understood.

 For example during the Civil War surgeons would go from patient to patient with bloody, unclean hands which resulted in a high mortality rate of wounded soldiers. 

 Disease killed 2 to 1 over combat.  You were twice as likely to die after being wounded then in combat even though at places such as Petersburg, Virginia, on 18 June, 1864, the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery, sustained a "record time" loss of the war- 635 of its 900 men (71%) within seven minutes.

  During the first day at Gettysburg the 24^th Michigan engaged the 26^th North Carolina.

 Of the 496 men in the 24^th Michigan, 362 (72%) were killed . . . . . 714 of the 800 (89%) of the North Carolina 26^th gave their lives which eclipsed the loss of the 1^st Maine in Petersburg.

 Yet as horrific as these numbers are more men died from infection and disease once wounded.

 About 150 or so years ago an article called “Wash Your Hands,” by Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian obstetrician, noticed that death rates in a Viennese maternity ward staffed by student physicians were five times higher than death rates at another clinic not attended by the student physicians. The hospital’s reputation was so bad that mother’s would beg to go home as soon as they gave birth. Here’s the problem, student physicians were working on corpses in an anatomy class immediately before beginning rounds in the maternity clinic. The death rate at the hospital was five times greater than any other hospital. After Dr. Semmelweis insisted that the student physicians wash their hands before treating the maternity patients, the death rate decreased fivefold putting it on par with other hospitals in the area.

 Today we know the critical importance of good hygiene and how proper hand washing keeps us healthy and saves lives. . . . . that’s not in doubt.

 In thinking about Mark 7 it appears that hand washing is the issue – notice the questions: v. 5, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”  (Don’t ceremonially wash)

 The question begins yet another bitter confrontation between Jesus and the S & P.

 The question is just symptomatic of a greater issue that Jesus uncovers – so let’s take a look.

 V. 3 & 4 describes a tradition (practice handed down to generations) of a “washing” or rinsing of the hands from the wrist down before eating, especially before eating bread, by either pouring water over the wrists or something similar in case their hands became defiled by touching someone or something.

 Mark uses the example of coming back from the marketplace where among other things a Jew could bump into a Gentile!!

 The Scribes were known to have handed down hundreds of traditions that had to be carried out in minute detail almost as if salvation was at stake . . . a thorough rinsing of the hands from the wrist down must be done to wash away any defilement.  

 So the question is asked of Jesus, why don’t your followers follow the traditions of the elders?

  In a general way it’s like a parent being questioned about a child’s behavior or a supervisor about an employee under him.  The difference in this case is the questioners are looking for a way to destroy Jesus not to just correct something they see as a concern.

 Notice the S & P didn’t accuse the disciples of breaking the Law of Moses but they’re asked about breaking tradition – customs handed down from previous generations.

 Jesus as we often read did not answer the question but instead quoted Isaiah 29.13 which accuses the S & P who really give God outward lip service through teaching “as doctrines the commandments of men.”

 A doctrine in this context is a core principal of Judaism – that which has been established and is fundamental to the faith.  The Vincentian Canon of St. Vincent of Lerins, “that which has been believed everywhere, always and by all. That is truly and properly 'Catholic. . . “

 There is no violation of a primary tenant of faith.

 Jesus is saying the S & P are giving too much weight to man made traditions – building their piety around a secondary aspect of faith and not on the Law given to Moses.

 He describes this as lip service and being hypocritical . . . . . showy and outwardly religious but inwardly they were looking to build-up their own prestige and importance.

The Sermon on the Mount instructs us this way:

 Matthew 6.2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

  ⁵"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

 ¹⁶"When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

 The doctrinal purity of the Law lies in the spirit behind it, not in a man made ritual or set of regulations to draw attention to the person doing it.

 I want to take a minute to give us a quick picture of who these S & P were:

 The Pharisees were a sect within Judaism who lived and breathed the Law; they worked tirelessly to live out the Law.  Righteous under the Law was their constant goal.  They obviously believed that to be right with God meant following all the rules from the least to the most significant.

 On the other hand, Scribes were “professionals” who specialized in the Law.  They studied and taught the Law in its smallest details. 

 Aother role they took on with great pride and put effort into was their role in passing on to their own generation the traditions which from generation to generation had been handed down with respect to the interpretation and application of the Law, traditions that had their origin in teaching of the venerable Rabbis of generations past.

 So the real issue isn’t eating with ceremonially unclean hands  – the real issue is laid out for us in v. 8, “You let go the commandment of God in order to cling to the traditions of men.”           

 The religious leaders who seemed to be schooled, experts of the Law whose lives centered around pleasing God by obedience to the Law were in fact guilty of placing human tradition above the divine word of God.

 The Rabbis had successfully divided the Mosaic Law into 613 separate decrees.  365 were prohibitions (do not’s) and 248 (do’s) . . . . . .

 Within the 613 decrees they extended God’s word with regulations that placed extra details around  Sabbaths, travel, meals, fasts, ablutions (our issue this morning), trade, treatment of outsiders, etc.

 There was a growing practice among the scribes that in some cases seemed to elevate the teaching of traditions and interpretations by past notable Rabbis above the plain word of scripture.

 The oral tradition of men was becoming more esteemed than the written tradition of God’s Word given to Moses.  Jesus opposed them and confronted this practice.  They in turn despised Him.

 Why?  Jesus didn’t honor their traditions. Jesus claimed divine prerogatives. Jesus hung out with publicans and sinners. Jesus had a positive and powerful influence over the people. Jesus was the polar opposite of the Pharisees or Scribes.

 In their souls the Pharisees and Scribes could see in Jesus that He was literally a better man than they were . . . . . as hard as they tried to DO the Law Jesus lived it simply and more completely with a grace and mercy they could not deliver.

 He was humble (Luke 22.27) - They were pompous (Mat. 23.5-7) – Jesus was sincere (John 8.46) – they were hypocrites (Mark 7.6) – Jesus displayed sympathy (Mark 6.34) – they were cruel if not mean spirited (Mat. 23.14).

 Jesus told them “They leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

 He then turned to God’s Word and illustrated his point using the 5^th Commandment: Mark 7.10

 For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' ¹¹But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), ¹²then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. ¹³Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."

 The tension is between the Commandment from God given to Moses and a developing tradition sanctioned by the S & P.

 To honor ones parents involves caring from ones emotions (feelings, thoughts, attitudes), ones actions (behavior, generosity, willingness to think of ones parents, sacrifice of personal pleasure), and obedience to God’s expressed command.

 Honoring our parents is an inner attitude that implies love, high regard, a spirit of respect and consideration.

 It’s funny that when our parents were young and had children they took care of us and when they grow old we get to take care of them. . . it’s a full and natural cycle.

 Here’s the problem – a growing tradition whereby an adult could say to his parent something like this:

 I pledge 50 sheep, and 30 goats as Corban ( a term that means a gift set apart for God) therefore I will not be able to afford to help you with food . . . . . you’ll need to get food somewhere else.

 The S & P would honor the pledge as Corban realizing that the son may never actually give the sheep or goats . . . . . the gift could dangle in limbo for years until the parent died.

 Jesus is confronting a man made and man supported tradition that got around the clear commandment of God . . . . . call it through a clever technicality but it is what it is nonetheless.

 The accusation against Jesus’ disciples served to highlight the real problem – allegiance to man made traditions and regulations over God’s clear Law.

 I would certainly support any effort to keep our hands clean especially given the threat of the H1N1 flu this year.

 The issue here really is that in the name of a pledge men could get around the burden of supporting their parents . . . . . if a son had something the parent needed all he had to say was that it was “Corban” – a gift set apart for God and that kept it away from the parent.

 On the one hand we have an oral tradition of man made, sometimes convenient chicanery that skirted around a moral obligation. . . .

 On the other hand we have the Word of God which we believe is infallible and inerrant – given for the ages . . . . .

 In between stands Jesus who says to his accusers “You nullify the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down” v. 13.

 We have to come to understand the Bible is the only infallible rule of faith and practice.

 I realize that as good Anglicans we often talk about a three legged stool of Scripture, Tradition and reason . . . . . .

 In this analogy the leg of scripture is longer – it’s a lopsided stool we sit on.  Tradition is developed around the following of scripture – taking guidance from it – making decisions based upon it – and passing along guidance and decisions in the form of traditions.  Reason isn’t what we think best at the time inasmuch as reason comes from a mind informed from scripture lived out in the traditions of the Church . . . reason has in fact some predictability to it.

 In Jesus’ time the S & P took the Law of Moses and added regulations, then they looked for multiple areas in life where the regulations could be applied so they applied the regulations to every area of life possible . . . . this ended up with precept after precept being pilled upon daily life which in of itself made it impossible to follow.

 The result was the unity and purpose of God’s holy law was eclipsed by manmade regulations and traditions.

 As the Church we should place a high value on biblical traditions – for examples Holy Days such as Christmas and Easter, celebrations such as Holy Week, Red Letter Days, Pentecost, Saints Days . . .

 Let me give you an example of a tradition which may have slipped into the same category as Jesus’ example of the 5^th commandment . . . . . Christmas.

 It wasn’t until around the 4^th century (Maybe 326) until Christmas was generally celebrated.

 In the Eastern Church the Epiphany (Jan. 6^th) which also commemorated the Baptism of Jesus was at first more important.

 By the 5^th century there was significant unity around the date of December 25^th as the Feast of the Incarnation and Jan 6^th as the Feast of the Epiphany.

 Christmas developed a bit of the Roman influence of merry-making and experienced further changes through the influence of Charles Dickens, Christmas Trees and German traditions.

 There was a season of time in the early days of America when Christmas was not celebrated – in fact I seem to recall it was outlawed.

 The point I want to make is this. . . . there is nothing specifically commanded in scripture to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  Just as there is nothing that commands us to celebrate the resurrection.

 In both cases there is however a clear doctrinal outline for us to follow – we can trace the steps of Mary and Joseph, we can follow Christ through His passion, burial and Resurrection.

 Because of the traditions of the saints before us – the Pilgrims who visited Jerusalem and walked the way of Christ – those who has gone to Bethlehem and sat in vigil at the holy places we have been given traditions that honor God’s word.

 Where Christmas and Easter have become derailed is we’ve allowed Christmas to become a major marketing exercise with Santa Claus driving his sleigh, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer = where making sure a child has a toy equals to giving them a Christmas.

 Easter has become a great Easter Bunny, chocolate, jelly bean, Easter basket exercise and less and less about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

 These are two great examples of traditions of men have crept in and have blurred the Word of God to the point of being second place.  Lord have mercy upon us.

AMEN+