Aug 30 gospel sermon

 

Like Us but Unlike Us

 

Mark 7:1-8

 

At the summer Session meeting in the context of a discussion about Pandemic prevention and planning, among other considerations, our Elders decided that they would put hand sanitizers here and three around the church- near the door where we all shake hands, at the head of the buffet table and the coffee line and in other strategic locations. Not a big deal but it’s the kind of thing is being done in public spaces and work places all over the country -with a diligence inspired by H1N1 concerns. Suddenly, this summer, I think every washroom I’ve visited- in campgrounds, stores, or offices has had FULL soap containers and adequate paper towels and/or blower hand driers that actually work: and that’s a change for the better… people haven’t been so conscientious in years… Pandemic or not, something to offer a sigh of relief over… And, if all that our reading today was about was hand washing and proper hygiene, then, we could pat ourselves on the back and leave well enough alone confident that even the Scribes and Pharisees would give us a passing grade… Sermon over and done but for one pesky little word found in the parenthetical  annotations of verse 3…the word “thoroughly” as in, “The Pharisees and the Jews did not eat unless they THOROUGHLY wash their hands.”

 

The Centre for Excellence in Preaching explains for us why this particular word takes the topic and concern of today’s pericope to a whole new level:

 

In Mark 7:3 there is a strange Greek word that no one seems to understand. Where most translations say that the Jews had the practice of “thoroughly” or “completely” washing their hands, the original Greek has the word PUGME, which literally means a balled-up fist. No one is sure how to interpret that word. Indeed, some variant readings show that some substituted the word PUKNA, which would be an adverb meaning “thoroughly.” But the oldest and most reliable manuscripts have the pugme word, meaning “balled-up fist.” The best guess may be that this indicates that even the washing of hands before a meal had become so encumbered with rules and regulations that it was not some simple passing of your hands under water but involved perhaps the cupping of one hand and the scrubbing or pounding of it with the fist of your other hand. That’s just a conjecture, but… clearly there is some reference here to a highly ritualized way of washing your hands- a Jewish and even a “good Jewish” vs some sloppy kind of half-hearted, virtually apostate, if not Gentile or pagan, way of getting the job done…A special hand washing ritual- kind of like how some gangs or fraternal organizations have special hand shakes or other rituals by which identity is defined and proclaimed…an “in” way of washing one’s hand- known and practiced by those of the “in” group of “good” Jews- which, clearly, as far as the Pharisees were concerned, Jesus and his disciples were not.[1]

 

In his book Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, the philosopher Rene Girard talks about the significant and constructive role served by “imperative memesis”[2]- imitation, of each other, and rituals that define community and safeguard its uniqueness. Special hand shakes or hand washing rituals reinforce collegiality: however, Girard goes on to explain that life is a constant balancing act of, on the one hand, similarities and, on the other, differences. We all have a need to be “like” and yet “unlike” those around us…. We need to be alike enough to belong and yet unique enough to be valued and appreciated for the gifts we bring to community: so that, in addition to being appreciated and having our ego stroked, should ever a time of peril or evolutionary metamorphosis come along, we can be confident that WE will be protected and sustained even if others must sacrifice or be sacrificed to make that happen….

 

As time rolls on and one age gives way to the next, where an individual or, more to the point of today’s reading, where a community among other communities might best be situated on the “like/unlike continuum” changes… At the time of the Exodus Moses heard God suggesting that as his people travelled through foreign nations, where, along the way, they would be open to all kinds of cultural and religious influences and as the people entered the “Promised Land” which was occupied by ancient peoples of rich cultural and religious heritage- myriad assimilative pressures would bear and could potentially undermine their uniqueness as God’s “Chosen People.” So, Moses said to the people (in Deuteronomy 4):

 

"Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. In your observance of the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin upon you, you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it. Observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statutes and say, 'This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.' For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?"

 

The law that Moses “set before the people that day” was a living, evolving and growing body of “statutes and decrees” that embodied both religious mores and the best of folk, scientific and just plain good, advice… Some of the things Moses included in the law were and are of a nature that merits eternal recognition (things like, for example, the Ten Commandments) and other bits of what was the best collective wisdom in its day have long since been transcended by new learnings and new priorities…. Moses, himself, never intended that every dot and tittle of what he wrote as “law” would stand forever… Notice, again, the first line of the reading from Deuteronomy that we shared a moment ago. Moses says- “Hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you” then, once you’ve done that, Moses says, by implication, of course you will change and evolve and adapt and do things with different emphasis, priority and facility- as knowledge and opportunity may commend.

 

That was Moses’ plan, but, even as late as in Jesus’ day, some of the Jews- characterized here as the Scribes and Pharisees, were stuck in the past giving undue weight and orthodox priority to what were, in effect, “scripturalized customs” of an earlier age- as (unfortunately) written down (oral traditions are much more malleable than written traditions) in the days of Moses. Such slavish devotion to ancient customs once upon a time designed to accentuate and perpetuate uniqueness was not, as far as Jesus was concerned, useful in the emerging context of an increasingly multi-cultural and multifaith context of Roman Empire in which survival for God’s people depended not so much on being unique and different, but on finding a right balance whereby they could be faithful Jews in the context of Hellenized Society.

 

Jesus knew that his people were living in an age in which they had to adjust to find the best place to be on the “like/unlike” others continuum. Marcus Borg finds Jesus acknowledging this, as in today’s story, in Luke’s gospel, even more directly, at Luke 6:36 where Luke has Jesus, in parody of the old law and priorities as expressed in Leviticus 19:2 -where God is quoted as instructing that people “Be holy as I am holy”- saying instead to people, “Be merciful as I am merciful.”   …Instead of being “holy” in the ancient sense of that word- meaning wholly other, set apart or distinct (the “unlike” others emphasis) Jesus encouraged people to be “merciful” which, of course, necessitates being in effectual relationship and suggests having common care, compassion and heart with them for the sake of the good that together might be accomplished and shared…. Recognize, Jesus suggests (and I’ll leave you to read about it in the rest of Mark 7), recognize and put the emphasis on things whereby you are “like” others (the Romans and Gentiles around), naming together the things that spring from the heart- and Jesus would specify that he does not refer here to the hearts of man but rather the heart of God, the voice of the Spirit that dwells in all by whatever names God is known in their culture and practise. In effect, Jesus is suggesting that, by the voice of the heart of God that transcends cultures and exclusivities, in his age it would be best for all if “unlike” gave way a little to “like”, uniqueness gave space for commonalities, and the oneness of all that shares life might take priority for the mutual good of all. While defiantly not advocating assimilation, even as an “orthodox” Jew, Jesus could see the value of cooperation, the tapestry of community, the hope of unity in diversity lived at peace unleashing every good and creative potential that, ever, all might know, alone and together: and he knew that in the political climate of his day, the time was right to shift toward that priority on the continuum.

 

Contemporary voices suggest that 2000 years later we may, once again be living in an era in which the priority to adjust our focus along the continuum may be urgent.

 

On August 18, the C.B.C. re-ran an Ideas program, first aired back in June, titled “The Trail of Tears”… Let me read you the promo for that show:

In the winter of 1838, an astonishing sight could be seen in the eastern United States. On rough earthen roads and through mountains and valleys, a great stream of Cherokee, 15,000 of them, slowly made their way west. Wagons with women and children, men walking, herds of cattle and horses, there were thirteen of these caravans. It must have been a terrifying sight too, for the white settlers along the route; who were these Indians, what might they want? Better to move them along.

This was the Trail of Tears, the great Cherokee removal, a move on the political chessboard of the young United States that was to have long repercussions. The Cherokee were an independent nation, but in the great game of the building of America, they were disposable. Cheated out of their lands in the east, the Cherokee were forced to relocate a thousand miles to the west, in Indian territory, beyond the Mississippi. The long march of the Cherokee, through the bitter winter of 1838, had a dreadful toll: maybe as many as 4,000 dead - of exposure, disease, sickness, the whole episode a great human tragedy, a betrayal of ideals, both American and Cherokee, that ripples down to our own time.

As the story was told the suggestion was that the Cheroke had bought into the American dream and followed the route toward assimilation. Many of them became Christian as suggested. Many took to European houses and clothes. They attended school and did better than some of their “American” peers. They entered the world of business and commerce and some become quite wealthy- to the point that as some “Americans” saw it, the Cheroke were becoming too much “like” and in some ways “better” than they were and resentment exploded leading to the forced removal and extreme racist backlash of the day….

 

I find it telling that C.B.C. would tell this story- virtually a prophet commentary on issues of assimilation, racism, immigration and politics in our day.

 

Then, a few weeks ago we got the brochure for this winter’s St Jerome lecture series at Waterloo University and they announced a focus on “Good Global Citizenship” that includes several lectures dealing with multiculturalism, pluralism, and consideration of Canadian and global anxieties in increasingly diverse, and yet intimate, global community… Topics that ask the question- Where are we on the like/unlike continuum? And what are the implications of rebalancing the continuum both in the realm of civil society –issues about foreign policy, immigration, the use of foreign workers, the future of the UN and NATO, for example, and what, we must as church folk ask, are the implications of globalization on spiritual aspirations, dreams and expectations as best might nurture and meld the world we share in the spirit of equity and sustainability and justice for all.

 

Is this a time to punctuate those things that define us as different- substantive realities and cultural mores like hand washing or national holidays that just happen to coincide with Christian celebrations: or, is this a time to recalculate and more equitably balance the focus of our common life on things that coalesce rather than divide? Global economic realities, global warming, the threat or necessity (as you choose to see it) of environmental refugees invading northern climactic territories, the reality that the world cannot sustain its whole population in anything like the manner to which we have become accustomed, the threat of water wars…all these realities make sorting out issues of distinct vs common future urgent priority: and, perhaps there can be no better advice today than what Jesus offered to people in his age of adjustment to new reality- let the goal of being merciful, in such consideration of others as we would hope they also might have for us, be guiding light and standard: weight of priority and balance of justice.

 

May God help us determine what “being merciful” might best look like in our age and as we lay hopefully solid foundations for our children and grandchildren and all who must dwell together in every age beyond- like us and unlike- al as one in perfect harmony.

 

So may it be.

Amen

 

Charles Love

St. Andrew’s United Church, Bayfield

August 30 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



[1] Centre for excellence in Preaching as found at deaconsil.com Italicised commentary added….

[2] Girard, Rene Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World Stanford University Press 1978 pg 19





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