Look Within

Proper 17B; Deut. 4:1-2, 6-9; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23; St. Paul’s

9/2/18

Jim Melnyk: “Look Within”

 

On the surface, one would not think that today’s lessons deal with our partnership with God – on the surface.  Lessons about the Law – or the Torah Teaching – and laws about purification rites seem to have little to do with what it means to be in collaboration with God – on the surface.  But they do.

In his book, God Has a Dream, Desmond Tutu shares how both Torah and Gospel teaching share a word about how we work together with God.  Tutu reminds us that “God calls on us to be [God’s] partners to work for a new kind of society where people count; where people matter more than things, more than possessions; where human life is not just respected but positively revered.”  Tutu imagines a world where peace, gentleness and compassion will be the norm – what Tutu, and what Jesus, would call the Kingdom of God (Desmond Tutu, God Has A Dream, Doubleday, 2004, page 62). 

Partnership with God stems from the reality that we are each – in the fullness of our vast diversity – created in God’s image.  Tutu calls this “an incredible… staggering assertion about human beings” (ibid). In other places he names this, “The Rainbow People of God.”  He offers a story to underscore his assertion: “When I was rector of a small parish in Soweto,” Tutu writes, there was an older woman “whose white employer called her ‘Annie’ because her name was too difficult for him to bother trying to pronounce.  I would tell her: ‘Mama, as you walk the dusty streets of Soweto and they ask you who you are, you can say, “I am God’s partner, God’s representative, God’s viceroy – that’s who I am – because I am created in the image of God”'” (ibid).

In fact, not only does Tutu believe that how we treat one another must be based on our understanding that every single human being is created in God’s image – he believes that to treat anyone as less than the image of God is not simply wrong, or even possibly evil at times – rather he sees our treating anyone as less than the image of God as positively blasphemous.  He likens treating others as anything less than the image of God to “spitting in the face of God” (page 63).  That’s an image we might bear in mind when we debate issues like equal rights for all, affordable and fair housing and health care for all, capital punishment, or whether or not we each have enough money and enough stuff to be truly happy.

All this brings us to the whole debate in Mark’s Gospel about ritual purity, human traditions, and the Torah.  No doubt everyone hearing today’s Gospel lesson can pick up on the tension in the exchange between Jesus and the visiting Pharisees and Scribes.  Perhaps some sense of sarcasm comes across in the translation as well – at least I think it’s meant to be there.  Mark, is writing in the mid 60’s – in the midst of a Roman-Jewish war which will lead to the destruction of the Temple in the year 70 – and Mark is most likely transferring much of the Jewish-Christian tension of his day into the stories of Jesus’ arguments with the religious authorities of Jesus’ day. 

That’s worth repeating.  Tension was growing in Mark’s time between followers of The Way – a movement not yet called Christianity – and the leadership of mainstream Judaism.  And so the disagreement in chapter 7 of Mark is probably as much about the tension between Gentile Christians, Jewish Christians, and mainline Jews in Mark’s day as it was about the tension between Jesus and the Pharisees – perhaps even more so. 

Just how in the world do we find the ability to honor the image of God in one another when ancient teachings, when ancient customs, and new ways of living – all of which deal with questions of faith and fidelity and an understanding of who we are before God – how do we find the ability to honor the image of God in one another when all these things come into conflict?

“Your disciples refuse to wash their hands!”  And then Mark is quick to point out laws concerned about the washing of pots and cups and kettles.  Jesus fires back that his detractors care more about what goes into people’s mouths than what comes out.  Nothing about Mark’s opening narration, the Pharisees’ challenges, or the quick, shaming, rebuke of Jesus seem to have anything to do with honoring the image of God in each other. 

Now it is important to note that laws and customs like those dealing with purification rites were very important to the life of Israel – especially way back when the nation was in exile – or even in Jesus’ day while under Roman occupation, but those rites didn’t carry the moral implications of decrees like the Ten Commandments. The rules we read about in today’s Gospel lesson helped keep Israel from becoming culturally assimilated by the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, and now by the Romans.  They were a way of reminding one another that they were God’s people – loved and cared for by God, and called to be a light to the nations. 

But there have always been instances where adherence to faith seems to have more to do with drawing lines in the sand to differentiate between one group and another rather than embracing both the teachings of Torah and the teachings of the Gospels to love God and love one’s neighbor.  For thousands of years people of faith have used these rules, and ones like these, as ways of proving who is more holy – who is more righteous – who is closer to God – who bears the true image of God. 

When that happens, love of God and love for neighbor become secondary to our religious fervor – or worse yet – love of God and love for neighbor are forgotten and lost.  As one commentator puts it, “Jesus and James make clear that it is the attitude with which we approach one another and the world—pride or love, mercy or judgment, exclusion or acceptance—it is our attitude and actions that betray our true hearts” (Michaela Bruzzese, Sojourners, Preaching the Word, 9/2/18).

But Jesus, like the true Torah teachings of Judaism, will have nothing to do with drawing lines in the sand in an attempt to discount or exclude the other.  “It’s not what one puts in one’s mouth that defiles a person – it’s what comes out of the mouth – it’s what we say about one another – it’s how we treat one another – that matters.” *

The commandments referenced in today’s lesson from Deuteronomy refer back to the Ten Commandments given to Israel on Mount Horeb.  Those commandments are centered in love for God, love for our neighbor, and even love for the alien in our midst.  They are relational – they show care for one another in the midst of God’s presence – as a part of God’s hope and God’s dream for a humanity that reflects the grace and love of God – that expresses the compassion and justice of God – that lives out the mercy and promise of God in community. These commandments honor the image of God in every human being.        

The key commandments of Torah – which Jesus holds as absolute imperatives – are not about when to wash one’s hands, or how to prepare one’s food, nor are they about cups and kettles; they are not about whether we stand or kneel to pray, bow or cross ourselves at the right time, or support the right candidates based on their expressing the proper policies or the right faith.  The commandments of Torah, and the precepts of the Gospels, are about people – and about how we choose to honor the image of God in one another, and reflect the love God has for each of us.

The thirteenth century poet Rumi put it this way: “Look inside and find where a person loves from.  That’s the reality, not what they say” (Rumi: the Book of Love, Coleman Barks – quoted in Synthesis).  In other words, telling everyone how important it is to follow rules – or to be right with God – or to love God – or to love our neighbor – without actually carrying that love out in tangible ways is nothing more than religious misdirection – nothing more than theological and ideological smoke and mirrors. 

It’s as if Desmond Tutu had been reading today’s lessons while he put his thoughts on our partnership with God and his story of “Annie” down on the page.  We are created to see one another with the eyes of our hearts.  Remember, that person sitting next to you this morning, or near you, or in the car or on the street corner you passed on the way here, people who look just like one of us or who look different, people who vote red or vote blue – remember that they, like you, bear the image of God! They – you – we – are God’s beloved children.  They – you – we – bear the image of God. They – you – we – are God’s beloved partners.

* I had an addendum at the announcements.  "I realized as the sermon came to an end that I should have commented that living this way isn't easy.  I know my reaction when someone yells at me or calls me stupid or a fool.  I want to explode right back at them, and sometimes I do.  That's my confession.  I'm not sure if you find it difficult as well.  But perhaps that's why we have the Law, Moses, the Prophets, and as Christians, have Jesus.