Hi everyone,
I am back for what is our last installment of the shimmering points of scripture for this summer. This has been a great experiment and because so many have asked what will happen next, rest assured these won't be going away. While most Sundays during the rest of the year will be more traditional style of sermons, we will be sure to include a shimmering point Sunday a few times throughout the year.
This week we tackled Jesus response to the Pharisees, regarding why it is that the Disciples don't wash their hands. The first point that shimmered for me was in fact the Pharisees use of a much stronger word, "Defiled" hands. Mark explains the ritual purification laws of the Hebrew's so we won't get into that here other than to say that living by the law meant that cleanliness was next to Godliness. Jesus response is quite pointed. We of course are not saying that you don't need to wash your hands before you eat. But Jesus is right in saying that the pharisees are focusing on the wrong thing. The ritual, in this case the hand washing, became the god instead of focusing on the reason for why they washed their hands, because it was a way of honoring God. When the ritual becomes the god then there are serious problems.
The second point that Shimmered out for me was Jesus response to them. Jesus says, look you are a bunch of hypocrites. The only reason you are bringing this up is because you want to give lip service to God. He then quotes Isaiah and says they honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. The ritual cleansing became for them the source of righteousness. The righteousness did not come from honoring God, but in asking the question as to why the disciples don't wash their hands, the pharisees are trying to say they are more righteous then you. Jesus response is akin to us saying today, we have widows who are in need, people and families living homeless in the street, children dying everyday of curable diseases because resources are being hoarded, and the thing you are most worried about is weather or not we are washing hands. Give me a break.
The third point that shimmered out was the comment about what truly defiles. Jesus says look it is not what a person takes in that defiles them, but what comes out. Sure you may get sick from not washing hands, but Jesus is very clear that what comes out of a person, ca be more defiling, evil intentions of the heart, including but not limited to: fornication, theft murder, adultery, deceit, avarice. As an aside somebody in church asked what avarice meant. It means extreme greed for wealth or material gain. Jesus is very clear that it is these things which come out of the human heart, are what defile not only them but society as a whole. Ritual for the sake of ritual is only self serving. Ritual for the purpose of connecting more fully with God, is building the kingdom. Ritual in and of itself is not bad, but what are our intentions? To show how religious we are? or to love our God, and our neighbor as ourselves.
Well that is it for this week. I'll continue to be blogging about other things happening in the world and the church, but I hope people have enjoyed these shimmering points of Scripture. You can look for my regular sermons on the church website starting next Monday.
Peace and Prayers
Steve
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