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Gospel: Mark 7:1-13
When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem
gathered around Jesus,
they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals
with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.
(For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews,
do not eat without carefully washing their hands,
keeping the tradition of the elders.
And on coming from the marketplace
they do not eat without purifying themselves.
And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed,
the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.)
So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him,
“Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders
but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?”
He responded,
“Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites,
as it is written:
This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.
You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”
He went on to say,
“How well you have set aside the commandment of God
in order to uphold your tradition!
For Moses said,
Honor your father and your mother,
and Whoever curses father or mother shall die.
Yet you say,
‘If someone says to father or mother,
“Any support you might have had from me is qorban”’
(meaning, dedicated to God),
you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother.
You nullify the word of God
in favor of your tradition that you have handed on.
And you do many such things.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
***
***
Jesus’ words were very scandalous at the time he spoke them, because he directly accused the scribes and Pharisees of being hypocrites; phonies.
To be a “hypocrite” originally referred to someone who wore a mask; an “actor on a stage.”
Jesus applies the idea to the scribes and Pharisees, saying they’re no more than religious actors.
Their entire practice of religion is like acting, because it’s not led to an inner transformation.
On the contrary, vesting themselves in robes and filling their minds with laws only hardened their hearts, making them believe they were better than others.
***
Unfortunately, there always will be some who use religion as a cloak. They appear holy on the outside but are unchanged within.
***
Certainly, we’re gathered here this morning because we want to know the Lord. We want to be holy.
So, what does this Gospel have to do with us?
There’s always the temptation to become comfortable with religion, to reach a point where we no longer change within.
Perhaps our prayers have become rote; we say the words without attaching our hearts to them. Or we stop the Spirit from inching us out of our comfort zones. Or we slow our efforts at charity.
But religion is always meant to stretch us; to challenge us to love more, to serve longer, to pray harder, to live more humbly.
Resist becoming stagnant; allow the Spirit to stretch you today.
***
