Proper 17 (B) who may dwell in your sanctuary
Deuteronomy 4:1-9
Moses said, “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. But you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today. See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today? Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children”
Psalm 15:1-7 BCP 357
Ephesians 6:10-20
Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Now when the Pharisees gathered to Jesus, 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. (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.) 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?” 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.” And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
How is the race of man ever to overcome theft, immorality, murder, wickedness, deceit and the rest of the litany of evil that Jesus said proceeds from the heart of man?
The reading in Deuteronomy begins with a theme echoed often in the first 5 books of the Bible, the Torah, the Law. The theme is God’s word to the Children of Promise: keep my laws and you will live long enough to enjoy the land I am giving you.
Moses and the writers of Wisdom Literature and the Prophets reiterate this message many times and compare the greatness and goodness of the Shepherd of Israel with the idols of the Pagans who gave no such wisdom to their people and who could be swept away in a night. The Bible tells of the rise and fall of nations and in this history discerns the hand of God exalting nations when the rulers and people did well, and bringing them down when they no longer honored God by living justly and with truth.
Read again the last line of the lesson from Deuteronomy: ? Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children”
To this very day, observant Jews still read the Bible, observe the Passover and recount the great acts of God in bringing their people out of slavery in Egypt and bringing them to the Canaan, a land they were allowed to possess as long as they kept Covenant with God. They still teach their children, reminding them daily of the laws by which to live.
When the temple worship was established, the statutes and great acts of God were memorialized in poetry, making it easy for the people to remember as the Psalms were chanted. The heart of relationship with God is expressed as walking righteously through life. So part of the answer to the question, how restrain the evil that comes from our evil heart, is listening to the word of God and walking with Him in following his teaching.
Psalm 15
1 LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may live on your holy hill?
2 He whose walk is blameless
and who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from his heart
3 and has no slander on his tongue,
who does his neighbor no wrong
and casts no slur on his fellowman,
This is an important concept. What does it mean to be Godly? Mysticism, finding the mind and heart of God, as we read last week from St Paul and hear today from the Psalm, is not only prayer and reading Holy Books, it is to be found in the mystery of marriage, in obeying parents, in righteous business dealings, in good government and in righteous living with your community. We find God when we see his image in others and respect it.
It is our Christian duty to mentor others, not only our near kin, but we are indebted to all.
It is ours place as the people of God to live and teach that at the center of the universe is not cold black space but a heart of love. God told the Israel how to do this teaching to their children, and it is found in Deuteronomy six verses six through nine.
"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."
It was to be passed on as a part of every day life. It was not compartmentalized into a fifty minute classroom setting, but it was to be shared as they went about their every day activities. It was to be communicated through a relationship already established.
Our culture is broken and has been for over a century. War disrupts all areas of life. I remember well my uncles who came back from WWII shattered in mind and spirit and some of them wounded in body as well. Two divorces happened almost immediately in families that had never known divorce. Children grew up without fathers to guide and protect. The economic changes drove families off the land into cities and women from homes to factories and offices. Communities and churches were depopulated. Secular, sometimes anti-Christian humanism was held high in universities and even primary schools. WE TAKE THIS FOR GRANTED NOW, WITHOUT QUESTION.
The Christian who still sings God bless America, should add a prayer, “And turn away wrtath.” As a country we are hardened to the evils around and within us.
You will note that Psalm 15 ends, “He who does these things will never be shaken.” He will be able to enjoy life on the land God has given. As Moses said, “Make them known to your children and your children’s children.”
Paul, writing in a time of relative world peace, under the Pax Romana, was never the less writing from prison. He had been hounded in his journeys around the Mediterranean Sea by fanatical Jews who opposed his presentation of Jesus as Lord of life. These were his national countrymen who were acting like terrorists. It was because of these countrymen that he was at times hauled before magistrates and put into jail. In the City of Ephesus, Paul was opposed by supposedly religious people who made idols. They feared Paul would ruin the business and stirred up a mob reaction against Paul.
Paul, in prison, reflected on these acts and in his letter to the Church at Ephesus wrote, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. “
We see clearly that the Bible is one Book. From the Law, to the Poets and now to Paul, ethical dealings, wearing the breastplate of righteousness and being held together, that is belted with God’s truth we are able to stand against the world, the flesh and the devil.
Moses, David, Paul and Jesus all have the same ethical and spiritual message. Jesus’ speech to the Jewish religious leaders has echoes of the Psalms that reads, “You have desired truth in the inward parts” Psalm 51:6
o American Standard Version (ASV)
Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts; And in the hidden part thou wilt make me to know wisdom.
NIV:Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
Jesus words are reminiscent of Jeremiah who was a teacher in Israel when the nation was in deep trouble. He forsaw a day when
31 "The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,"declares the LORD.
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ’Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,"
declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." This is what the LORD says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the LORD Almighty is his name:
On this anniversary when a storm from the sea caused the greatest natural disaster ever to touch this land and which has driven ½ of a major city from their homes, apparently never to return, American Christians would do well to reflect on what local and national leaders are doing with the warnings given to ancient Israel, and to the Christian Church in mind. “Righteousness exalts a nation” and “Vengeance is Mine” are two maxims we should never forget; and teach to our nation and our children. We are a hardened people, we (and I don’t mean all the Christians gathered in the churches this morning), but our countryman and to some extent all of us are hardened in unbelief.
The hearts of many in the Western world, Europe and the Americas have been hardened.
We don’t really believe the teaching in the Bible that God created this world and that he upholds or sustains the universe. We think storms and sickness and war is random. We are used to it, see nothing special in it.
I suspect that most people in our times, when hearing this from Jeremiah count it as the ravings of a primitive, paranoid ancient having no relevance to us today. In our smart, scientific understanding of the world, storms are random and deity has nothing to do with it. The flood story of Noah was interpreted throughout the Scripture as the judgment, the wrath of God. Storms and flooding were natural evils that had a moral intent of convincing men to purify their behavior.
In fact, that language became symbolic of any natural disaster, so that the evil of men in war could be called a storm. St. Augustine continued this Biblical doctrine and in City of God viewed the invasion and fall of Rome as the wrath of God revealed on a civilization that had become corrupt..
This thinking of war as being like a storm is found in Jeremiah 30. Jeremiah was offering comfort to captive Israel and Judah promising that “the Lord Almighty will break the yoke of their necks and will tear off their bonds; no longer will foreigners enslave them.”
How would this happen, by another nation sending armies to defeat Israel/Judah’s captors. He likened it to a storm.
1. Jeremiah 30:23
o English Standard Version (ESV)
Behold the storm of the LORD! Wrath has gone forth,a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
We are hardened in our time. We really don’t believe that God controls the storms, nor for that matter the destiny of nations. We think of it as random acts of nature. We compile crime statistics and think we understand it. We keep count of tides and storms and think we understand the weather. We are hardened in unbelief.
When Jesus said to the Jewish leaders that a man is corrupted because of what comes out of him, not because of the externals, he was reiterating Jeremiah’s message. Jesus was looking for men who would accept God’s gracious spirits so that there would be “truth in the innermost parts” resulting in righteous actions thus assuring the man would live in peace and enjoy the land and avoid wrath that would rain down on the wicked.
In Matthew 9 it is written that Jesus taught the religious authorities a lesson when again they were confronting him over a minor infraction of Jewish tradition, eating with sinners. He said, “Go and learn what this means, ’I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." Matthew 9:12-14
That quotation of Jesus from Scripture was traditional in Jewish Religion. So Jesus’ instruction to the religious teachers was something with which they were very familiar.
They knew the essential tradition the ten laws and the memorial observances, but were not practicing them. Instead, they had put in place self serving legislation and passing these off as sacred traditions. There were traditional rules so controlling that they restricted good creative activities.
Here we need to clarify. Moses, the Prophets, the Apostles and Jesus were not against law or government. In fact, civil government was viewed as an essential good; a gift of God.
Jesus was not against tradition, he used tradition as a means of carrying on the divine teaching, and the Church may and should continue these traditions. Paul tells us to pass on the tradition he had received. The reading of Scripture, the chanting of Psalms, observing Holy Communion as Jesus himself asked us to do are traditions that aid in shaping a people. These are Godly, life giving traditions and not the traditions of men.
Many a well-intentioned good brother has not made that distinction and have hindered the teaching of the faith as a result. You have all heard people say we don’t need the Church, we don’t need liturgy, we don’t need hymns, we don’t need anything but the Bible and prayer. They say, “ask Jesus to come into your heart”, and that is all you need.
Jesus came to do more than stir our emotions. God who is the height of intellect and creative power made us in his image. He intends that the whole person be renewed in his image; mind, body, soul and spirit. St. Paul talks of the renewing of one’s mind. Jesus and St. Paul as well as Moses and David talk of the straightening out of our behaviour so as to save our bodies and lives from disaster in the here and now.
Expecting that Jesus will change us through emotion while leaving heads empty, hands idle and life unreformed will not achieve the redemption of the body, the hallowing of relationships, the resurrection to new life and conformity to Christ that is the goal of our endeavors. If the Body of Christ does not hold high the cross in the community, then the community, the nation is certainly subject to Wrath.
Now that may sound a bit grim and puritanical, but it is the Devil that makes it so. The flip side of that is the Good News, The Gospel for there is escape from Wrath provided by our Lord. The enemy will attempt to convince us there is no real evil in the world and send us off looking for painkillers and panaceas that do not address our real illness.
Our heavenly Father wants us to enjoy the land, and live peaceably and joyfully in it.
It is for that purpose he shows us a better way to live and calls us to feed on the Bread of Life and draw water from the well of salvation.
The Psalms over and over sing, “Oh Be Joyful in the Lord all ye lands.
Come before his presence and be glad in Him with Psalms.”
This is the day the Lord has made, I will be glad and rejoice in it.”
Let us be joyful together as we approach the Altar with thanksgiving.
Charles R. Scott, Pastor
Church of the Good Shepherd, Anglican
2060 E 54th Street
Indianapolis, In, 46220
crscottblu@yahoo.com
http://www.goodshepherdindy.org
