August 29, 2021 Sermon
Sermon title: "Jesus the Iconoclast"
Scripture: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, and 21-23
(Other lectionary choices include Song of Solomon 2:8-13, Psalm 45, and James 1:17-27.)
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15 and 21-23
The Tradition of the Elders
1Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles. ) 5So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?" 6He said to them, "Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, "This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; 7in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.' 8You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition."
14Then he called the crowd again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile."
21For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."
The sermon title is "Jesus the Iconoclast". Do you know what an iconoclast is? It is somebody who breaks idols or ICONS. I chose this title because as I read Mark's account for today, it occurred to me that Jesus broke the rules, rules that had become idols. In today's reading, Jesus is taking a crack at the Jewish dietary laws of his day. The Pharisees noticed that some of his disciples were eating without washing their hands.
Before I say more, let us understand that the Jewish dietary laws came into existence because of health concerns. In actual fact, it's a good idea to wash one's hands before eating, right? And in these days of Covid, we wash our hands a lot, and that's good! But sometimes you have to break the rules. The last time you went to a game, did you wash your hands before you ordered that hot dog? Probably not. How about on your last picnic? Did you wash your hands before you sat down on the grass and ate? Probably not. It would have been better to have washed your hands, but sometimes it isn't possible to do so. And one more: the last time you got some food at a drive-thru.....did you wash your hands before you had that Big Mac? Probably not. By the way in our cars, Harlane and I have hand spray for use after we've gotten gasoline or been to an ATM. It's a good idea to have clean hands before we eat or after we have touched a gas pump or the filthy money in our wallets and purses. So, it is a good idea to wash our hands often, and the ancient Hebrews had that tradition - a good one - for health reasons.
What Jesus's point was that by keeping those laws, one did not become more acceptable to God. And the Pharisees who insisted on keeping such rules actually thought they were better than the average person, and that holier than thou attitude is what Jesus was criticizing. And Jesus even says at the end of today's Scripture reading that what goes INTO your body isn't what defiles you, but what comes OUT of your body, specifically your MOUTH when you speak, is what defiles a person. Okay, okay....Jesus didn't say "mouth", but he said "heart". "For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come."
One of the other lectionary choices for today was from the Book of James, which is the book that has the famous verse, "faith without works is dead". From today's James selection come these words, from Chapter one, verses 26 and 27: "If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress...."
So again, the point? Keeping dietary laws is a good idea as far as your health is concerned. But don't you DARE believe that God likes you more than the next person because you are keeping some arcane rule. Keeping rules isn't what true religion is about, but caring for those in need is more important, being COMPASSIONATE, is more important than keeping the rules. That's why I called Jesus an iconoclast. He BROKE the rules when compassion was needed. I am reminded of the Old Testament prophet Micah's famous line from Micah 6: What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God? Did you hear any RULE there? No. Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.
There is something else that Jesus was getting at, and it isn't clear in today's reading. When Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah and says, "This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines", what does he mean? Then Jesus is quoted as saying, "You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition." What is he talking about? As you and I know, one of the Ten Commandments is Honor thy father and thy mother. What Jesus knew was that some people of his day would declare their property dedicated to God, and if they did that, they would no longer bear any responsibility for their parents! THAT was the hypocrisy to which he was referring. The Bible, the Scripture, the Word of God says to honor your father and your mother, but using some tradition that had built up over the years, some of his listeners had subscribed to THAT tradition and thus saved themselves some money and didn't have to care about their parents. Isn't that awful? THAT was the hypocrisy that Jesus was criticizing. It's as if some of his listeners took the advice of clever tax accountants or clever tax lawyers in order to circumvent that Honor thy father and thy mother Commandment. Now it makes more sense, doesn't it? Again, true religion involves compassion, not following some rules that were built up for selfish benefit.
A modern example that I can think about is the old tradition that Roman Catholics used to practice - they don't practice it now - but it was not eating meat on Fridays. That was not a bad practice, maybe an attempt at denying oneself the pleasure of meat one day per week. But instead of eating a burger or a steak, what if you had LOBSTER instead? That's no sacrifice! That's hypocrisy. And that was what Jesus was getting at: adults saying to their parents, "I'm sorry that I can't help you, but all my property is dedicated to God." They fulfilled the man-made rule, so it was legally okay - but they chose that over the Word of God (Honor thy father and thy mother), and that was why Jesus was so incensed.
Maybe that is ANOTHER way Jesus was an iconoclast: he broke that idol of human wit and cleverness in favor of the original Word of God. The New Testament scholar N. T. Wright puts it this way: "The charge Jesus levels against the Pharisees and legal experts is that, by teaching as fundamental law what is in fact only human custom rather than divine revelation, they are guilty of hypocrisy, play-acting. They are claiming to be teachers of God's truth and law, but in fact they are only teaching human traditions."
I should probably stop there, but I am reminded of some modern hypocrites, and the people to whom I am referring are members of some state legislatures which are trying to make it harder to vote than easier to vote. Don't get me wrong: only people who are eligible to vote should vote. But some members of some state legislatures are pretending that voter fraud is a problem when it is NOT, and they are using the law as a pretense for restricting that right to vote. You KNOW that's wrong! If you are a follower of Jesus, you KNOW that's wrong. But some members of some state legislatures are trying to keep out eligible voters for their own selfish benefit. And they are using the law to do it. Look at that! Phariseeism and hypocrisy still exist to this day! Amen.
Pastor Skip
