Mark 7:1-13
Anne and I were blessed to go on vacation a couple of weeks ago. We looked forward to it, but we were a little nervous about how Killian would do on the long flights. For a 7 month old baby, I think he did great. The last leg of the journey was a little much for him though and he started to get fussy near the end of the flight. I hear someone near us say, “He’s saying what we’re all thinking!” I laughed because he was right; Killian was really the only honest guy on the plane at that moment. We were all ready for it to be over, but only he was letting everyone know what was going on inside.
That got me thinking about everyone else on that plane, myself included. Everyone was doing a pretty good job of keeping up appearances. Looking, “normal” if you will. Most people looked like everything was going OK for them, and maybe it was. But on a plane full of people, you know every one of us was dealing with sin in our lives, that there were a whole lot of secrets that people were keeping, that on that plane there were lots of fears, and regrets, and failures, and that most people were doing an incredible job of hiding it all.
If there is one thing you can say about people, it’s that we are talented when it comes to putting on a happy face, smiling and responding to the question, “how are you doing?” with a resounding “Great!” or at least an, “OK” even if we just got done slamming our finger in a car door. We can fake it. We can look great as our lives are falling apart, we can take cover like someone is shooting at us, we find all kinds of things to hide behind so that people out there, don’t know what’s going on in here.
How often do you read about a great comedian who OD’s on drugs because life really wasn’t a barrel of laughs for them, but filled with pain and insecurity? A friend of mine, who had the kind of marriage that people spoke of wanting to emulate (he and his wife were the life of the party, they just lit up the room together), just emailed me to tell me that they had been unhappy for years and are now getting a divorce. They hid well behind happy faces, instead of being honest and trying to get help. We are SO GOOD at hiding. Makeup and hair can be a mask for feeling ugly inside. People accomplish so much, but can be driven by a feeling of worthlessness. God calls us to faith, but some people hide behind excuses of being too busy, or focused on other things to answer that call. People have new cars and great homes, but are hiding the debt it took to get them there. You can think of other examples as I speak, I’m sure.
But this is really nothing new. We find this exact thing going on in our Gospel Lesson. We read about this delegation of Big Shot Jewish leaders (Pharisees and Scribes) coming all the way from the big city of Jerusalem to challenge Jesus and his teachings. They want to trap him so bad, and they are conceited enough to think that they can do it. And upon arrival, they thing they have it made, that Jesus has just pitched them a fastball at bat height right down the middle of the plate, and they are going to hit it out of the park. They see something that makes them thing they can discredit Jesus and destroy his credibility. It seemed too easy!
What is it that they saw? The disciples were eating without first washing their hands! “Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed.” (Now before we go on, I have a message for all the kids here today. If your mom and dad tell you to wash your hands before you eat, you listen to them, don’t say, “The Bible and Pastor Matt said I don’t have to wash my hands!” Go look at verse 10: “For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’”
Why do I say this? Because the Pharisees and the Scribes washed their hands for very different reasons that we do today. It wasn’t about sanitation from germs. It was a ritual designed to sanitize them from people. “(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches. )”
You see, they had a tradition of making sure they washed their hands when they came home from the market just in case they happened to brush up against a gentile, or perhaps something a gentile touched, or an item owned by a gentile, or a Michigan fan or whatever. Now, this would be of, IF it were a rule that came from scripture. But it isn’t. In fact, it is a tradition that not only isn’t supported by God’s Word, but goes TOTALLY against what God teaches us in his Word.
God doesn’t have distain for Gentiles. He loves them. Throughout the Bible, even the Old Testament, He makes this abundantly clear. The Pharisees loved to say they are set apart from everyone else because they can trace their lineage through Abraham. But what did God promise Abraham right from the start: “ALL peoples on the earth will be blessed through you.”
So we have a dangerous situation here. Those “great” leaders of the faith are abandoning God’s Word and hiding behind man made traditions. You can see the ridiculous one-upsmanship (you wash your hands, well I wash my cup too. Oh yeah, well I wash my pot… copper vessel… COUCHES!). Over time, this stupidity and pride led them further and further away from God’s Word, until they get to this point where they think they can condemn the Son of God, not for breaking the Word of God, but for violating these arbitrary rules! Listen: And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”
Jesus doesn’t respond by defending his actions in light of the traditions. He drops the hammer of the Law right from Scripture. (These guys weren’t used to being the accused!): And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
Jesus says in effect, it’s not your rules that matter! The Commands of God should be your concern. But instead you hide behind your rules. They make you feel safe in your pride. They make you feel OK about sinning rather than doing what God wants you to be doing. Jesus then gives a great example of this:
And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God) — then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
The commandment is clear, “Honor your Father and Mother.” These people raised you, and fed you, and changed your diaper, and taught you the faith. But Jesus makes the point that when they are old, and need you to help them, some of these leaders of the faith were saying, “I can’t.” The word they used was, “Corban.” What I have has all been dedicated to the Lord, so I can’t share anything with you. But the catch was that there weren’t any rules about actually giving this stuff to the temple, so they used this man made rule as a “loophole” for getting out of fulfilling God’s Word.
Or so they thought anyways. (Never bothered to ask what God thought of their loopholes!) But they used tradition to break God’s clear commands. And they were pretty good at it. Jesus says, “And many such things you do.” What they really thought they were good at was hiding from the truth. And the truth is, we think we’re pretty good at it too.
Sometimes we use tradition or religiousness to hide from God. Rather than confront our own failings, sins, and the places we fall short with God’s Word, we like to find comfort in our own ideas, or measures, or the standards of the world, or even the laws of the land. You can be a lawful citizen according to the state, and never love your neighbor. You can abuse your body and not be arrested, even though God says it’s His temple. You be a model citizen, even a member of a church, and yet be total spiritual train wreck.
Sometimes we use tradition to hide ourselves from the world. Even church traditions. We ask questions like, what have we done before, rather than what might be most helpful to the proclamation of the Gospel right now. Sometimes we hide behind the church, and what we feel comfortable with rather than praying that God would help us BE the church that follows his lead in sacrificing for others and loving sinners.
We even try to hide ourselves from fellow members of the Body of Christ. We find it easier to smile and wave, even to those people we sit next to in church, than to honestly share our burdens, or ask for help, or confess our sins to those we profess to walk together with, members of our own family. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran Pastor who was eventually killed by the Nazis, wrote a book called, LIFE TOGETHER, about an underground seminary he was running. And I’m paraphrasing, but he makes the point that it says something about us and our sinful pride that we find it easier to confess our sins to a holy, almighty, righteous God than to fellow sinners, our Brothers and Sisters in Christ who struggle just like we do. Think about that!
You know, we all have different struggles, but every one of us does struggle with sin, with disappointment, with selfishness, with stupid decisions. I am going to ask a question, and you all have to participate. How many of you have sins you are struggling with right now? Raise your hand. Now look around! You see my point. And actually, what you have just done is a very important thing. In a way, you have just confessed your sinfulness to your brothers and sisters in Christ. This is a huge step to coming out from the shadows and stepping away from false impressions and facades. And there is power in confession! “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:8-9)
Confession is so important for a number of reasons, but one thing to remember is that Satan loves a hider. He wants nothing more than for you to be alone, for you to try to conquer your sins yourself, to be too ashamed to be in community with other Christians. Because when he has you isolated, he can beat you up, and you won’t cry for help. He can walk all over you, he can shatter you, and splinter your will, he can scream accusations, he can break your heart, and you won’t say a word. And he’ll love every second of it.
But as that great line in “A Mighty Fortress” tells us, “one little word can fell him.” LORD… I need you, I’m stuck, I’m sorry, I repent, Please forgive me… And the light of God’s mercy comes flooding in like a tsunami and devours Satan’s hold on you.
God doesn’t hide. Not from Satan, not from you, not from anybody. He doesn’t put on a front. He doesn’t say one thing and do another. He says, “I love you,” then he dies for your sins. He says, “I give you hope,” and then he rises from the dead. He says, “I’m preparing a place for you,” and he ascends into heaven so he can come back and take you there.
And we don’t have to wonder where we can go for help, or if God hears us, or if he loves us. We know the answer to any accusation that is thrown at us. And it’s not found in any man made tradition. It is found at the foot of the cross, it is found in Jesus. He is our help, our hope, our forgiveness of sins, our new life.
He is the one who strips us of our hypocrisy, our sin, our false walls and barricades. He says come to me all who are burdened and give me that burden. Give me all that sin, talk to me honestly and openly. Tell me what hurts, tell me your fears, repent of your sins. And I will answer you honestly, “I forgive you, I love you.”
With this love, he calls us to real community with one another. To be open and honest with each other about our struggles. To confess our sins to each other, to hear the words of forgiveness from each other. To see this as Real Community, not some fake utopia, or false perfection, but to live real life with each other and experience real forgiveness with and from each other.
I will leave you with 2 thoughts that I want you to take home. The first is a question, the second is a Truth. #1 What are you hiding from God and from others? Maybe you can answer quickly, maybe you need to think about it for awhile, but you do have an answer for that question. #2 Is the truth… In Christ, and in the Cross, the truth is, you don’t have to hide anymore. No matter what, you are loved.
AMEN.
