Sermon preached by the Reverend John E. Kitagawa at the Celebration of the Holy Eucharist on Sunday, 30 August 2009 (Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost) at St. Philip’s In The Hills Parish, Tucson, Arizona

BEING DOERS OF THE WORD

Song of Solomon 2: 8-13; James 1: 17-27; Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23

I have read today’s Epistle countless times. Heretofore, I have focused on five words: “Be doers of the Word” [1]. In fact, “Be doers of the Word” could well be a “mantra”[2] for my ministry over the years. You may have heard me talk about a clergy discussion of the proposition that most us only have one basic sermon that we dress up in different ways. For fun, each of us gave a title to our basic sermon. Mine was something like, “Christianity Is A Participatory Sport, Not A Spectator Sport.” If you have been at St. Philip’s for any length of time, you have heard me preach about all the baptized being called to some form of ministry; or, that each of us is gifted and empowered by the Holy Spirit for ministry. So, much of this week, I was thinking about fresh and appropriate examples of “doing the Word.” However, with “being doers of the Word” on the front burner, I kept bouncing back and forth between this Epistle and today’s Gospel.

In today’s Gospel, we find Jesus once again embroiled in controversy with important religious figures of his day. This time, the issue is the apparently inappropriate behavior of the disciples. The Pharisees were unhappy about the disciples openly breaking religious tradition by eating with “defiled hands, that is without washing them” (Mark 7: 3). This led the Pharisees to challenge Jesus’ religious bona fides, and to nit pick and cross-examine him about the righteousness of his and his disciples’ practice of the faith. Jesus was clear about his mission, so he would not accept this criticism from them. His reply was quick, his rebuke sharp:

Isaiah prophesied rightly 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 human precepts as doctrines.”

You abandoned the commandment of God and hold to human tradition (Mark 7: 6-7).

That is quite an indictment! A contemporary writer[3] damns the Pharisees with faint praise, calling them “purity professionals”[4]. Using Gospel imagery, she observes that “… they washed their hands, but did not have a clean heart”[5]. I think Jesus might affirm both the moniker and the observation. He believed the Pharisees were focused on outward actions rather than on inner motivations; on rules rather than on a relationship with the living God. He thought they gave lip service to faith, while neglecting to engage in loving service. Here and in other Gospel stories,

Jesus takes issue with those whose spiritual focus is on the surface, who are concerned solely with outward actions. He is perturbed by those who have reduced religion to doing the “right things,” to looking good, to maintaining outward appearances. He is repulsed by their superficial, skin-deep faith because, as C.F.D. Moule says, “externals are worse than useless, unless the heart is in the right place[6].

In this story and other texts, it is abundantly clear that Jesus does not want us to confuse a code of conduct, or a set of rituals for a deep and abiding relationship with God. He thought the Pharisees had fallen into the sin of idolatry because they elevated visible practices over trusting in the invisible power of Spirit; and, because they settled for the controllable rather than being receptive to the revelation of new possibilities.

Having turned the tables on the Pharisees, Jesus focuses his attention on the crowd, and turns the encounter into a teaching moment. His point was never to disregard dietary regulations per se. He was emphasizing a deeper and more enduring way to be in dynamic relationship with God, and to be faithful to God’s purposes. Remembering the context, Jesus tells us we should not be too concerned about what or how we eat. These are not the things that spoil us, or make us sinful, or make us do bad things—or, conversely, to be and do good. So much for the adage, “you are what you eat”.

… so much for all those antioxidants and fish oil. So much for adding up all those fat grams and shunning products whose labels reveal too many additives. So much for protein diets and carb counting as a path to goodness. Adolf Hitler, after all, was an avid vegetarian and general health food nut[7].

Jesus tells us that it is from within, from the human heart, that good or evil intentions and deeds come (paraphrase of Mark 7: 21).

To appreciate what Jesus is teaching us, we must remember that in Jesus’ day, the heart was the center for emotions, and

the source of wisdom, understanding, and discernment. It was the axis of decision-making and commitment. And, according to Jesus, the “heart” was like an inner umbilical cord to the spiritual realm. It was the entry point of joy, love and courage—or of pride, ill-temper and general evil. The heart could be clear as a mountain stream or as soiled as industrial pollution[8].

I find Clarence Jordon’s[9] interpretation and commentary on Jesus’ teaching to be helpful:

[To Jesus,] the way a person did a thing and why he or she did it, were as important as what the person did. To bring the point home, [Jordon] would ask: would dog chained to a tree so that it could not bite anyone mean it was a “good” dog?

No [he would answer], because the dog’s goodness would be in direct proportion to the strength of the chain. If, however, the dog [was trained to be] gentle, then the chain would be unnecessary. Externals would not be needed if the internals were right[10].

Clearly, Jesus did not think the Pharisees had their “internals” right. Furthermore, Jesus thought they had chosen to teach people superficial external trappings, and rituals of faith, rather than helping them to discover and develop a deeper grounding in the meaning and purposes of God. He was disappointed and perhaps angry with the Pharisees, but he did not give up on them. Jesus extended to them the same possibilities for atonement, reconciliation and redemption. Jesus knew that

… rigid stipulations tied to the threat of punishment might help keep people from each other’s throats. But adherence to the letter of the law, sticking to the “rules”, will not make anyone [more godly][11].

So, how is your heart; how are your internals—clear as a mountain stream, soiled with industrial pollution, or somewhere in between? Do you find yourself unhappy and chafing at a figurative chain that keeps you from experiencing a more joyous relationship with God, and a more purposeful life in God? In reflecting on these questions for myself, I found a significant connection between today’s Gospel and Epistle texts. The bridge is this verse.

Therefore 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 (James 1: 21).

Though the language is a little quaint and arcane, the meaning is clear. We have to let go of the things that take priority over, or sap our capacity to be faithful and to act faithfully. And, as we let go, let us recognize and nourish the seed of God’s Word, already planted within us.

When we put today’s Gospel with today’s Epistle, being “doers of the Word” looks and feels different. Some of you will remember a comment I made in a sermon earlier this summer. I remembered a vigorous debate I had early in my career with a speaker[12]. He had made a provocative statement along these lines: the Church’s biggest problem is that we are so busy doing good things that we have forgotten to be Christians. Being highly incarnational in my theology, I argued a position along these lines: we are called to carry out a variety of ministries that touch and transform peoples’ lives. The speaker’s responses called attention to all the things we do that take priority over, or sap our capacity to be faithful and to act faithfully, or that keep God from entering and transforming our lives.

We do a lot of really good things here at St. Philip’s. In many ways, we have the “doing” part down pat. In these difficult economic and financial times, your parish leadership worries about our ongoing ability to continue doing these good things. Will we have the resources? Today’s Scriptures lead me to wonder whether we need to pay a little less attention to external things we think we can control, and pay a little more attention to opening ourselves to the uncontrollable and unpredictable power and generosity of the Spirit to inform, guide and sustain our ministries. And, each of us in our own lives need to find ways to engage in the same struggle to be more vulnerable and to open our hearts to the power of the Holy Spirit. As Mary Ann Tolbert says in Sowing the Gospel,

If the heart is God’s ground, nothing else is required; and if the heart is not God’s ground, nothing else will suffice[13].

Let us pray.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence,

and take not your holy Spirit from me.

Give me the joy of your saving help again,

and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit (Psalm 51: 11-13).

AMEN.