The Pharisee in us: Sept 1 2024

 Year B, Pentecost 15                                               Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23                                                                                                              

            Over the last month and a half, we have been reading from the Gospel of John. The Gospel of Mark is a welcome reprieve from the theology of John. However, it’s a little unsettling to be suddenly dropped in the middle of an argument between Jesus and the Pharisees.  Let me provide a recap of the chapter that preceded our Gospel reading for today. It’s been a busy time for Jesus and his disciples. He fed the 5000, he walked on water and healed a bunch of people.  That was just the 2^nd half of chapter 6.  As a result, Jesus was a rising star, which meant that his actions and the actions of his disciples were more closely scrutinized then they had previously been.

          Who better to scrutinize actions and make judgments than the Pharisees and Scribes?  These men were the experts in the laws and the rules around the laws. They had dedicated their lives to the study of these laws. It was their job to explain the laws to people and make sure that people were following them. Often times, they get a bad rap and I am not sure it is always merited. 

A lot of people like to paint Jesus as this anti-establishment rebel who was trying to change the Jewish faith and dismantle the institution.  But this was not what he was doing.  He was trying to get them to go back to the basics, consider what the important things were  The laws of the Jewish people were the 10 Commandments and the first 5 books of the Hebrew scriptures (what we call the Old Testament).  However, over the years leaders of the faith built up rituals and traditions to protect these laws.

Many people compare these rituals and traditions to a fence.  They built a fence around the laws so they could protect the people from breaking the laws.  This fence became so high and so dense, that people sometimes forgot there was something behind it.  This is what Jesus was talking about when he said, “You abandon the commandment of God and hold on to human tradition.”

The rule that the disciples were breaking in this story was not a law.  It was a ritual that had been created by religious leaders over hundreds of years.  It was not for cleanliness, it was ceremonial.  It came out of the act of thanksgiving, like how we say grace before a meal.   It started for good reasons. They wanted to recognize that every meal was an opportunity to give thanks and an opportunity for religious fellowship.  Then some people got so obsessed with the ritual, they put more emphasis on that than the thanksgiving and fellowship.  Jesus was showing them that they could still give thanks and have fellowship without all these add ons.

Thankfully getting lost in the details never happens in Christians Churches.  We never create traditions and rituals and forget the reason behind the tradition.  We never get upset when something changes.  No one has ever said, “We’ve never done it that way before.” Of course we do.  We also have our own oral laws (or what Mark refers to as the tradition of the elders).  Some of our traditions have been honed over 100s of years.  But some have only been around for 5 or 10 years. It is amazing how quickly traditions can take root in the church.

Unfortunately when we acknowledge that we sometimes cling to our traditions, I have to admit that the clergy are often the Pharisees.  As a clergy person, I am the one who makes sure that the things we do in the service are liturgically proper.  This was part of my seminary training.  Let me show you an example some of these Episcopal oral laws that have been written down. 

*These are essentially text books.  They tell you how to stand, when to kneel, when to cross yourself. They don’t all agree.

*These  books are full of Episcopal vocabulary.  That’s right.  Many of these are words that we made up.  We had to memorize them and I have forgotten at least 50%. 

*This is a commentary on the Book of Common Prayer.  It tells you what all the things in italics really mean. 

Now some of these things are helpful, some of them even necessary.  But a lot is just unnecessary detail. Many clergy will disagree with me on that…and they are the one who own more of these books. Yet it’s not just the clergy who guard tradition---we all do. Some of these traditions that we guard are shared by many churches and some are specific to individual churches.  Christ Church is less pre-occupied with liturgical traditions because that isn’t really where the emphasis is.  But we have a default traditions that are based on what we don’t do.  Or we have traditions based on the building itself…because it’s historic.  The walls have to be a certain color.  If you came in and were disturbed by all the random stuff we have in here for the On Buried Ground performance, it’s because you are used to the ways things usually look. It’s unnerving to me as well and I’ve only been here 11 month.

The traditions that we have, come from a rich history and the great majority of them have a holy and profound purpose.  The problem comes when our commitment to these traditions gets in the way of how we love our neighbor or when we spend more time arguing about the rules than we spend actually doing the work God has called us to do.  That is when these rules and traditions are dangerous. 

The Pharisees were upset because the disciples were eating with defiled hands.  This is not because their hands were literally dirty. Their hands were defiled because they had not been ritually cleansed.  Some pharisees couldn’t recognize the good work that Jesus and his disciples were doing because they were concerned with how it all looked, how it reflected on them.  They were so focused on the change itself, they never noticed the positive outcome of that change. They could not see the people who were drawn to Jesus because he didn’t worry about laws that determine ritual cleanliness.

          There is a point in our spiritual journey, when we should look for the Pharisee within us.   You might think “I don’t have any Pharisee in me. I am not worried church traditions.” But consider what is underneath the need to protect traditions. It sometimes comes from a desire to defend what is sacred.  Sometimes, it just comes from not wanting to change.  Any of you have issues with change? I am not just talking about church—but any change.  I struggle with change, and I have had a lot over the last year. The hard part of change is that is usually involves some kind of loss.  It might lead to something good, but it can be hard to get past the loss.

          Just like the Pharisees built a fence around the law, we have built fences around our hearts.  Jesus was not only concerned about the heart of the law, he was and is concerned about the heart of each one of us.  Jesus said, “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” 

When we become too comfortable in our life and our faith, when the status quo becomes our creed, then we will become stagnant. It means that we have become too attached to what once was rather than what could be.  Sometimes it feels like we have protect the church and in doing so, we are protecting God.  But God doesn’t need our protection.   In fact, God needs us to be a little more fearless, a little more open to the unknown.  Let us walk boldly forward.  May our traditions be something that grounds us, but doesn’t bind us.

 

 

Law of Love: September 2, 2018

Year B, Pentecost 15                                                                          
Mark 7: 1-23                                                                                      

 

          Over the last month and a half, we have been reading from the Gospel of John. It’s been a little heady and dense.  The Gospel of Mark is a welcome reprieve from the theology of John. However, it’s a little unsettling to be suddenly dropped in the middle of an argument between Jesus and the Pharisees.  Therefore, let me provide a recap of the chapter that preceded our Gospel reading for today. It’s been a busy time for Jesus and his disciples. He fed the 5000, he walked on water and healed a bunch of people.  This was just the 2^nd half of chapter 6.  As a result, Jesus was a rising star, which meant that his actions and the actions of his disciples were more closely scrutinized then they had previously been.

            Who better to scrutinize actions and make judgments than the Pharisees and Scribes?  These men were the experts in the laws and the rules around the laws. They had dedicated their lives to the study of these laws. It was their job to explain the laws to people and make sure that people were following them. Often times, they get a bad rap and I am not sure it is always merited. 

A lot of people like to paint Jesus as this anti-establishment rebel who was trying to change the Jewish faith and dismantle the institution.  But this was not what he was doing.  He was trying to get them to go back to the basics, consider what the important things were  The laws of the Jewish people were the 10 Commandments and the first 5 books of the Hebrew scriptures (what we call the Old Testament).  However, over the years leaders of the faith built up rituals and traditions to protect these laws.

Many people compare these rituals and traditions to a fence.  They built a fence around the laws so they could protect the people from breaking the laws.  This fence became so high and so dense, that no one even knew that there was something behind it.  This is what Jesus was talking about when he said, “You abandon the commandment of God and hold on to human tradition.”

The law that the disciples were breaking in this story was not a law at all.  It was a ritual that had been created by religious leaders over hundreds of years.  It was not for cleanliness, it was ceremonial.  It came out of the act of thanksgiving, like how we say grace before a meal.   It started for good reasons. They wanted to recognize that every meal was an opportunity to give thanks and an opportunity for religious fellowship.  Then some people got so obsessed with the ritual, they put more emphasis on that than the thanksgiving and fellowship.  Jesus was showing them that they could still give thanks and have fellowship without all these add ons.

Thankfully getting lost in the details never happens in Christians Churches.  We never create traditions and rituals and forget the reason behind the tradition.  We never get upset when something changes.  No one has ever said, “We’ve never done it that way before.” Of course we do.  We also have our own oral laws (or what Mark refers to as the tradition of the elders).  Some of our traditions have been honed over 100s of years.  But some have only been around for 5 or 10 years. It is amazing how quickly traditions can take root in the church.

Unfortunately in admitting that this clinging to tradition happens in our churches today, I have to admit that the clergy are often the Pharisees.  As a clergy person, I am the one that makes sure the things that we do in the service are liturgically proper.  This was part of my seminary training.  Let me show you an example of these oral laws that have been written down. 

*These are essentially text books.  They tell you how to stand, when to kneel, when to cross yourself. They don’t all agree.  (In the spoken sermon---I show books!)

*This book is full of Episcopal vocabulary.  That’s right.  These are all words that we made up.  We had to memorize them and I have forgotten at least 50%. 

*This is a commentary on the Book of Common Prayer.  It tells you what all the things in italics really mean. 

*This is a book on the canon laws of the church.  Apparently there is another book explaining the laws which only the most exceptional church nerds know about.

Now some of these things are helpful, some of them even necessary.  But a lot is just unnecessary detail. Many clergy will disagree with me on that…and they are the one who own more of these books. We could argue about it, but that would probably make us even more like the Pharisees in this text.  Of course if we are honest, we will admit that it’s not just the clergy who guard tradition. We all do. Some of these traditions that we guard are shared by many churches and some are specific to individual churches. Recently someone told me that you need to wear a tie to be an usher at St. John’s.  This surprised me as I have never seen this written anywhere.  I have read our church bylaws.  That rule is not in there.  Maybe it was a rule at some point, but I challenge any of you to find it written. 

Or let’s look more broadly at a rule that many liturgical churches are passionate about---that there can be no Christmas music or decorations until after the 4^th Sunday of Advent.  I assume this is written down somewhere, but I’ve never seen it.  I know the reason behind it, but we tend to go a little overboard with it on occasion. It’s not like lightening is going to strike us if we sing Away in the Manger on December 15^th.

The traditions that we have, come from a rich history and the great majority of them have a holy and profound purpose.  The problem comes when our commitment to these traditions gets in the way of how we love our neighbor or when we spend more time arguing about the rules than we spend actually doing the work God has called us to do.  That is when these rules and traditions are dangerous. 

The Pharisees were upset because the disciples were eating with defiled hands.  This is not because their hands were literally dirty. Their hands were defiled because they had not been ritually cleansed.  They were blind to the good work that Jesus and his disciples were doing because they were so concerned with how it all looked, how it reflected on them.  They were so focused on the change itself, they never noticed the positive outcome of that change. They could not see the people who were drawn to Jesus because he didn’t worry about laws that determine ritual cleanliness.

            There is a point in our spiritual journey, when we should look for the Pharisee within us.   Just like the Pharisees built a fence around the law, we have built fences around our hearts.  Jesus was not only concerned about the heart of the law, he was and is concerned about the heart of each one of us.  Jesus said, “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” 

We can do all the right things in worship.  We can cross ourselves at the right time, we can kneel when the prayer book tells us to.  But if all those actions are devoid of any real feeling, what’s the point?  When we become too comfortable in our life and our faith, when the status quo becomes our creed, it is then when we have to ask ourselves: Are we protecting God’s law or are we protecting ourselves?  And what exactly are we protecting?  Because I am fairly certain that God’s love doesn’t need our human made protections.  God’s law of love, doesn’t need our fences.

 

 

Be Opened: September 6, 2015

Year B, Pentecost 15                                                                         
James 2: 1-17 & Mark 7:24-37                                                           

 

            In 2003, the Bishop of Rhode Island took a sabbatical.  She decided to leave her home for a month; but she didn’t go far.  She went to the streets.  She became homeless for one month.  She said that because of her privileged position in life, she had lost touch.  She wanted to get to know people in a different way.  She only told her staff.   No one else knew where she was or what she was doing, nor did anyone recognize her despite the fact that she saw clergy of her diocese and even visited different Episcopal churches in that month.  When asked about her visits to Episcopal Churches she said that there were “Moments full of grace, and moments of deep disappointment.”[1]  The moments of grace were when people welcomed her and invited her to coffee hour and shared food without expecting payment.  The example she used as a moment of deep disappointment was when she was in a church that would not allow her to join them for breakfast because she did not have the $3 that they required.  I imagine that they had treated her much differently when she made her official Bishop’s visit. 

            Our second reading for today is from the Book of James.  James is an interesting book and we will be hearing parts of it for the next several weeks.  Unlike the letters of Paul, it is not addressed to a specific person or community.   However, he clearly had some experiences in a community or several communities that he found rather troublesome.  He spoke of a time when two people entered a worship space.  One was poor with dirty clothes.  The other was clearly well off.  The rich person was shown to a choice seat and the poor person was told to stand or even to sit at their feet.  James then challenged the community to consider whether this was the way that they showed love for their neighbor.  Hadn’t Jesus loved the poor?  Hadn’t Jesus consistently shown compassion for the people who were on the fringes of society? 

            We do not have to look very far for the answer to that question.  There are a multitude of examples in the Gospels of Jesus’ treatment of the poor.  He fed them.  He healed them.  He encouraged others to do the same.  He spoke passionately about the need to care for the poor.  Jesus lived among the poor because he was born to a poor family.  God chose a poor girl to be the mother of his child.  He could have chosen anyone, the daughter of an emperor, a high priest, a wealthy land owner.  But he chose someone who was poor and marginalized. 

Our Gospel reading for today does not explicitly talk about the poor, but certainly the marginalized.  First we hear of a woman who came to Jesus begging him to cure her daughter.  If a woman was approaching a man on her own in this time period, it was because she did not have a man to speak for her.  And if she did not have a man, it was unlikely that she had resources.  It was not impossible, but unlikely.  She was almost surely poor. The other person in today’s story was a deaf man.  In this time period people who had any kind of disability were outsiders.  Often it was assumed that they had sinned or their parents had sinned and that was why they were disabled.   So this man was most likely also among the marginalized. 

            Yet consider how Jesus cared for these people.  I have preached many sermons about the Syrophoenician woman and there are many theories about why Jesus initially refused her.  But the important point for today is that he heard her. He heard her desperation and her pain and he cured her daughter.  He didn’t even have to go to visit the daughter. He healed her in a moment. The second story is different.  He was face to face with the man who needed healing.  The man was deaf and had a speech impediment.  Jesus took the man aside, put his fingers in his ears, spat, touched his tongue, looked to heaven and then said, “Ephphatha.”  The first couple of times I read this I was struck by how different these two healings were.  The first was at a distance without even a word.  The second seemed to be so much more involved. There was spitting and hands in ears and a special word.  It seemed so elaborate for Jesus when you know he could have cured him just by thinking it.    

            Let us not forget that Jesus knows us.  Like the Good Shepherd knows the sheep, Jesus knows us. He knows what we need and how we need it. This man was deaf.  Jesus knew that for this to be a true healing of heart, body and mind, the man would need to see what Jesus was doing.  Jesus healed him in a way that he knew that he would understand.  That required that Jesus touch the ears that were not functioning and the tongue that was not responding.  Jesus wanted the man to know what was happening so that when his ears were suddenly functioning, he would understand it. He would be able to process it.  Miracles are well and good, but Jesus was more than a miracle worker who was interested in showing off his powers and moving on.  He wanted people to know that he loved them and he loved them in their joy and their pain, for their gifts and their needs.  That is how he continues to love us.

            In one of the interviews, the Bishop was asked if Episcopalians deserve our reputation for being the frozen chosen.  She responded, “We're not frozen. But for some reason we choose to see whom we want to see.”[2]  I don’t think the reason for our partial vision is that difficult to understand.  We’re not cold.  The people in this church care.  They care deeply.  I have heard it when people have approached me asking how they can help so and so.  I have seen it when people spend hours in the kitchen getting ready for our summer lunch program.  I have seen it in donations people make to the discretionary account that is specifically for the poor and needy.  I have seen it in more way that I can share now.  But at some point, we get overwhelmed and we acquire some degree of blindness or deafness for self-preservation.  Or we simply grow weary of trying to help and not seeing any change or any improvement.  I don’t know the answer.  I really don’t. 

But I think our readings for the day give us a starting place.  We can start by simply welcoming the people in our midst.  We have all kinds of people visit St. John’s.  But how do we treat them?  It’s easy to welcome the young family with the adorable child.  It’s easy to welcome the person who knows the same people we know.  But what about the homeless or just the people who look a little beat up by life?  Do we make sure that they are welcome?  Do we smile and look them in the eye instead of averting their gaze?  That is a place where we can begin. 

While Jesus knows us all, we don’t know everyone who walks into our assembly.   When we don’t know someone, we make judgments, often solely based on how they look.  That is human nature.  It’s going to happen and we can’t beat ourselves up over that.  But after that initial judgment, we can try to consciously move past that judgment.  We can remind ourselves that there is one thing we know about this person. Jesus loves them, just as much as he loves us.  Jesus loves them and he wants us to see them and to hear them, just as he sees and listens to each one of us.  We are all blind and deaf in some way.  There is a cure and that cure starts with a word.  After Jesus spat and stuck his fingers in the man’s ears, touched his tongue and looked toward heaven, he said, “Ephphatha.”  Be opened.  He did not say that for the deaf man.  He said it for us.  Open your heart, open your mind, open your eyes and open your ears.  Be opened.

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[1] http://archive.episcopalchurch.org/3577_19835_ENG_HTM.htm

[2] http://archive.episcopalchurch.org/3577_19835_ENG_HTM.htm