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| Welcome back Mark |
It's Labor Day weekend . The unofficial end to summer. And I am back to Beverly Church on a hot and humid Sunday. Walking through the streets with the English names and Victorian homes. And occasional gardens.
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| a home garden |
Mark, who is in the Navy, as he does whenever he is home on leave has come. And brought an old friend. Here is the reflection....
It's good to see you again. As always, there's a lot on my mind. I spent a week back home in Pittsburgh. And many of my friends were struggling with a grand jury report that came out and said that in Pennsylvania, there was testimony of 300 priests abusing over1000 victims. And they believe those figures are conservative. Everyone was checking the list. One of the musicians from my old church found the priest who had married him, baptized his first child. Beloved parish priests . Men I used to work with. Some friends wanted to know where to turn. Because they could not go back. Can you imagine how that would feel?
I continue to wrestle with that. Thinking of all the victims.
I'm also thinking about the death of John McCain. When I was at the ballpark yesterday afternoon, the flags at Yankee Stadium were at half mast. In his honor. And so all the other flags were lower as well so as to not be higher than the US flag. His body lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda, rare for a Senator. And everything from invited speakers to pall bearers had symbolic value and meaning.
Of course some can argue about some of his decisions, his positions. But at the end of the day, I think we want to have someone who symbolizes for us a different way of being than we are living out right now. Where personal integrity is important and valuing and respecting others, especially our opponents, is honored. And I believe our desire to lift up those values says something good about us.
I think both these stories relate to our scripture passages today. In the Gospel, the religious leaders are very upset at Jesus' disciples' failure to wash before eating. (Not a bad idea..) Jesus is very clear that no ritual of what to do before eating or even what we eat is as important as righteous behavior. You've heard of clean hands, pure heart? He's saying clean hands don't count when your heart isn't pure....
Part of what's going on here is opening up the doors of the community so more can come in. Jesus is saying no ritual, no tradition, is more important than the living, moving spirit of God.
Let me clear though. Jesus is not saying that tradition has no value. Think about it....Jesus went to worship regularly. He prayed. He was going to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. In our communion service today we'll recall Jesus following the traditions of his faith.
I've spent enough time with you to know that you have your special traditions, your ways of doing things that are different from what any other church does. If I asked you, what would you say you'd most want to hold on to? Or miss the most if it were gone?
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.'
We take our human prejudices and make them doctrines.
Certainly, our Roman Catholic church knows about tradition. They've been at it longer than we have. But I wonder if some of those traditions may not be contribute to their problems. Maybe it's time to have women priests. And allow priests to marry.
Certainly we Presbyterians have had to move beyond tradition. We divided over slavery in the 1860's and didn't reunite until 1983. We hesitated to ordain women and when we made it mandatory, some of our churches got angry and left. And when we finally allowed LGBTQ folk to have their God-given ministries officially recognized, more couldn't abide that and left.
Traditions keep us and imprison us. We have a President who seems to be telling people things can go back to the way they used to be. No uppity women or scary black people or other languages on our phones.
So OK. What makes us us? What is distinctive? We don't dress like the Amish people I saw in the Philadelphia Greyhound station. Or wear yarmulkes like Jewish men or hijabs like Muslim women or turbans like Sikhs.
I think it should be in our practice...in James' words, caring for widows and orphans.
In James' words, being doers, not just hearers. And he's got some wonderfully specific advice...
: Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20for your anger does not produce God's righteousness.
Is that true of us? Of you? Of the church?
I had a preacher who used to end his sermons with Let those with ears to hear, hear...
But maybe today what I want to say is Let those with ears to hear, do....
And once again we pray for each other. And share bread and cup together before sharing a meal. I remind them that just being here...just choosing to spend Sunday morning in worship is a witness. Is important. Has value. There is still tomorrow left before we go back to our regular lives...
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Second Reading James 1:17-27
17Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
19You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20for your anger does not produce God's righteousness. 21Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.
22But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 23For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; 24for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. 25But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act-they will be blessed in their doing.
26If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. 27Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Gospel Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
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."
21"For 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."
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