John McGinn, Rector
A father opens the door to greet his daughter’s date and there stands a young man with his cap on backwards, jeans that sag practically to his knees, a diamond stud in his lower lip and wearing headphones. The young man grunts “Hello” and comes in. The father is more than a little taken aback. He goes upstairs where his daughter is putting on the finishing touches to her make-up. “I don’t think you should go out with this boy,” says Dad “he doesn’t look to me like a nice person.” The daughter is shocked. “Daddy” she says, “If he wasn’t such a nice person, why would he be doing 500 hours of community service?”
Sometimes you can judge by appearances, sometimes not. In the gospel lesson from Mark, the Pharisees
and some of the teachers of the law had come from
This was not really a debate about etiquette. The Pharisees didn’t have Miss Manners on speed dial. They were asking about a far more serious matter. They were asking Jesus who was worthy to come before God. I t is a question that many churches still struggle with today, including our own. Like the head waiter in an elegant restaurant, many want to be Holy bouncers who stand at the velvet rope and decide who is acceptable and who is not. After all, we can’t just let anyone into church, can we?
The Pharisees question is especially pointed when we read
that they have just come from
Gentiles. You have probably guessed that it is us. They didn’t want to be tainted by slimey and creepy crawly creatures like you and me. You see we were once on the outside looking in. If we could see ourselves as those who were once discriminated against, because of our ethnic origins, we might be slower to discriminate against others.
There is another side to the pharases actions. In psalm 24 verses 3-4, “who shall ascend the
hill of the Lord? And who shall stand at his Holy place?” The answer is “those who have clean hands and
pure hearts” Being acceptable before
God is important. And when a young man
named Isaiah heard the call, to become a prophet to the
C.S. Lewis once wrote, “The real test of being in the presence of God is that you either forget about yourself all together, or see yourself as a small, dirty object. In God you come up against something that is in every respect superior to yourself, and unless you know God is that and therefore you know yourself as nothing in comparison, you do not know God at all.”
God’s chosen people had been in the presence of God. They were acutely aware of God’s holiness. God is over here, and God’s imperfect humanity is way over there. Between us stands a grand canyon of sin. And who is worthy to come before God?
We must respect the Pharisees position. They wanted to honor God. For centuries, the Jews had practiced external rituals of cleanliness. They washed their hands and feet to remind them of the holiness of god. Somehow over the centuries, the reminder became a rule. And the rule became a religion.
The Lever soap company came out with an advertising catch phrase a few years ago “Lever 2000 cleans all your 2000 parts...” There is one place that even the best soap can’t reach. It can’t give you a clean heart. Jesus replied “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about the hypocrite as it is written these people honor me with thy words, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules tought by people. You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of humans.
Again Jesus called the crowd to him. “Listen to me, and understand. Nothing outside a person can make one unclean. By going deeper into one’s self, rather it is what comes out of a person that makes one unclean.” Jesus is saying here not to judge your devotion to God by how clean your hands are. Your devotion to God shows in your ethics and attitudes and your motives. Most importantly your devotion to God shows in your love
for others.
People are more important than religious rituals. I think that is what Jesus is saying them. Remember where Jesus and his disciples had just been, they had been ministering. This is how Mark described Jesus’ ministry in Gennesaret, “Wherever he went, in villages, towns or countryside, they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged Jesus to let them touch even the edge of his cloak. All who touched Jesus were healed.”
Jesus let sick people touch him. Let that sink in. Jesus let sick people touch him. The diseased and disabled were deemed unclean in pharisaic law and they were barred from making offerings in the temple, they were unacceptable in the sight of God. The Pharisees were so concerned with ritual cleanliness, that they washed themselves after going to through the marketplace because they had been in the presence of Gentiles.
Yet Jesus wasn’t simply in the presence of gentiles, sick people and sinners, but Jesus touched them and let them touch him. And everyone who received his touch was healed, restored, made acceptable in God’s sight.
What a beautiful thought.
Jesus let unclean people touch him.
I wonder what would happen if unclean people started visiting the
services here at
If they did come here, could we handle it? Would we head toward the exit?
Our religion is a good thing. Our worship services are a good thing. The way we dress for worship is a good thing. If our religious activities stand as a barrier to other people and God, they are no longer a good thing. It is a scary thing to think about. What is really scary is how far the church of 2006 is from where Jesus meant for it to be. That is just a thought.
The Pharisees were really good people, a lot like us; they wanted rules that are set in concrete. They wanted to know where the boundaries are. “These people are bad.” Or “These people are good.” “These people are acceptable or these people are unacceptable” and “These people are clean, those people are unclean.” It is very difficult to do that. Where do we draw the line? And what do we do with Jesus’ message that he has come not to calm the well, but to treat those who are sick. It is a problem.
Legalism comes in many forms; there are some Christians who draw a line that excludes Gay people from church. There are more liberal Christians who draw the line that excludes people who drive SUVs since they consume too many natural resources. And someone reading the New Testament t might conclude the real enemy of faith is legalism. Particularly the legalism that decides whose in the group, and who is cast out.
If we were to look at the history of the Christian churches over the centuries, we would conclude that either some Christians weren’t listening or don’t care. For so often it is in the Church that legalism still resides.
In case you missed the gospel somewhere along the way, I want to say it again. The only thing that God cares about is people. It doesn’t matter who those people are, what they look like, or what they have done. Even if they are prodigals in a far off country given to riotous living, there is a patient, loving, divine parent at home waiting, hoping and praying and ready to forgive. And if the boy comes home smelling of the pig pen, that is all right. The loving parent will not order the prodigal to clean himself off; the loving parent will throw his arms around the prodigal and welcome him home. That is what the gospel is all about.
People make bad choices to be sure, and usually they pay for those choices. But it is not our business to make sure they pay, it is our business to help them put their lives back together. You all know that. Deep down in our hearts we all know that. Maybe what we forget is that you and I, we are Jesus in the world. I ask you again, where will people of today touch Jesus if not in the church?
More hurting and diseased people need to touch Jesus than ever before. Where can they turn? Can we envision the church, not this beautiful church we worship in, but the church which includes all people who love Jesus, can we really visualized us as Christ’s body reaching out to touch and allowing ourselves to be touched by broken people?
I don’t think the gospel is about drawing lines, but about helping people find God. Legalism comes in many forms, and according to Jesus, none of it matters to God. What God cares about is people. People like you and me. AMEN