15th Sunday after Pentecost
Text: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Pastor Jean M. Hansen
Today’s Gospel is about issues of the heart. Did you ever notice that when people are having issues with their hearts, especially if it involves blocked arteries, they begin to watch what goes in their mouths (or, at least, they are encouraged to do so.) In other words, ice cream and donuts suddenly enter the “do not consume” zone. Watching what goes in is vital in such a situation, but today’s Gospel looks at heart issues in another way. Jesus is concerned about what comes out, not what goes in. It’s really not as complicated as it sounds.
We’ll begin our consideration of this text by switching from the heart to hands. We all became very focused on handwashing during the pandemic of recent memory. There even were tutorials detailing the best procedure for washing one’s hands. The concern was about not spreading germs that would lead to illness. That’s our frame of reference; four years ago we might have been critical about anyone sluffing off in the handwashing department.
In today’s Gospel lesson the Pharisees are critical of Jesus and his disciples due to their lack of handwashing before eating bread. They probably viewed this as yet another example of the dangerous precedent being set by Jesus who broke other rules by healing people on the sabbath and welcoming outcasts who were considered unclean. Unlike our pandemic focus, this handwashing ritual was not a matter of hygiene but of ritual purity. While the practice was not stipulated in the Law of Moses, except for priests performing sacrifices at the altar, it had become an expected tradition for many by Jesus’ day. That certainly that was the case for Jesus’ opponents. Everyone should do what they did seemed to be their attitude toward this handwashing ritual; it honored God and demonstrated holiness.
But Jesus begs to differ. First, he notes that these rituals to promote holiness are not from God. (Remember, they are not in the Torah.) And second, while their actions may look good, what really matters is what’s in their hearts, which will eventually be revealed in their words and actions. All the ritual handwashing they can do won’t change that reality.
Speaking to the crowd Jesus said, “there is nothing outside of a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile. For it is from with, from the heart, that evil intentions come….” In this context Jesus was talking about food that “goes in”, which even if it was ritually unclean or was eaten with unclean hands, could not defile a person. It’s what they do, which originates from the heart (the worldview then was that the heart was the control center of the mind and will) that has the power to defile, that is, spoil, degrade or corrupt. That which comes from a heart full of fear, bitterness, anger, self-centeredness defiles that person and the people around that individual.
Here’s a good example. How many of you remember the movie, “As Good As It Gets”? In it Jack Nicholson played an obsessive-compulsive author of romance novels; his name was Marvin and he is a outwardly successful man. But, he has some “issues”; one of them is his daily handwashing ritual. When he opens his medicine chest there is row upon row of gleaming amber bars of antiseptic soap, individually wrapped in cellophane. Each time he washes his hands he uses several bars of soap, swiping each bar only once across his palm before discarding it and unwrapping another. The water he uses is so hot that it nearly raises blisters.
Marvin has clean hands, excessively so, but he has a significant problem with his heart, which is revealed in the verbal garbage that comes out of his mouth, insulting everyone with whom he comes in contact and fouling the air with his prejudices. (1)
Now, we might excuse Marvin due to his mental health issues, except that other people have this same diagnosis and are not just plain mean and dismissive. It’s a problem of the heart. He needed a heart check.
And, in truth, we all do. It’s tempting to look outside ourselves when bemoaning the negative state of “things”, but as Methodist Bishop William Williman notes, the problem may not be “the fix the world is in but rather the fix that we all are in, internally, deep within our hearts.” Could it be that what “causes us grief is not so much the wicked world and its impact upon us, but rather our own internal misdirected wants and desires.” (2)
As we attend to checking our hearts, it’s good to consider how the “externals” of our faith – worshipping, praying, studying the Bible, volunteering, interacting with the faithful – are impacting the “internal” state of our hearts. Are these activities making a difference in our heart health? If not, why not? St. Augustine once defined the Christian life as long-term training in desiring the right things in the right way for the right reason.
Of course we won’t get all the “rights” right, but are we headed in the right direction? God knows if we are, we probably know – especially if we take some time for self-reflection – and it’s no doubt true that others know too, because the heart-truth will be revealed in our words, our actions, our attitudes, our priorities and in how we treat people, especially those who differ from us. All of these things come from the heart and have the power to bless or defile.
Finally, though, and most importantly, the condition of our hearts depends on our grasping who we are in God’s heart. One of the books I read during the past two weeks was by Father Gregory Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles where gang members’ hearts and lives are changed. And a major part of that transformation is their understanding of God.
He writes, “If our God makes us feel unworthy and in debt, wrong God. If God frightens us, wrong God. If God is endlessly disappointed in us, wrong God. We ask ourselves, what can move the dial on God’s love for us? Nothing. It is always at the highest setting. After all, God’s love for me is zero dependent on my love for God. God never has second thoughts about loving us. Never.” Given that, we are all “meant to be in the world who God is.” That is, loving, compassionate and kind – which grows from hearts open to receive God’s unconditional love.
God is the best cardiologist ever and will heal our hearts so that what comes from them doess not defile, but transforms. AMEN
-
“Heart Check Up!” by Dr. Alyce M. McKenzie, August 25, 2021, www.preaching@smu.edu
-
“What’s Wrong with the World” by William H. Willimon, 2021, www.asermonforeverysunday.com
-
The Whole Language: the Power of Extravagant Tenderness by Gregory Boyle, 2021: Avid Reader Press, pgs. 4-5