The Gospel lection for the day was these selected verses from Mark 7. Listen for God s word.

Transcription

1 Reflection (John) You ll recall that yesterday as we talked about the work of the Synod Governing Commission during the past year, both Sue and I mentioned that the Commission had been discussing at almost every meeting what role the Synod has in addressing the issues we face as a society today. As we ve delved into policy governance, we keep repeating that our constituents, as well as our owners, are the presbyteries. So, in serving our owners/constituents, we keep seeking clarity on whether or not, and if so how, does synod have a responsibility, or even a role, in working on issues, issues such as hate groups, gun violence, opioid or other addictions? As a group, I think we re still grappling a bit with that question, although I also think most of us feel at least somewhat inclined to agree that there is such a role. As I was getting ready for our last meeting in September, this question merged with another one that s been floating through my head, and it sort of came together recently when I was asked to fill the pulpit at a very small, family church in the very rural area just west of Morgantown. The Gospel lection for the day was these selected verses from Mark 7. Listen for God s word. Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and 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.) So 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? He 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; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines. You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition. -0- Then he called the crowd again and said to them, Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile. -0- For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person. 1

2 This is the word of the Lord, thanks be to God. And this led me down a scary path, but it was a path I felt the Word was leading. It s still where I think this Word was leading, but I want to acknowledge up front, especially after Rick s powerful words yesterday, that some in this room may feel as if they have been blindsided, and I want to assure that was not the intention or plan. Rick and I developed our messages completely independently from each other and as he suggested as he said farewell last night, he recognized the discomfort his words may have been caused and was thankful for the grace he was shown. I too acknowledge that some of where I m headed may be too much, by itself or maybe especially back-to-back with Rick s message. I ask your forbearance. Here s part of what I said to that small congregation in rural Monongalia County: It has never been more important for us Christians to stand up and say, Enough. [W]e have arrived at a place where being Christian is no longer considered the norm. Surveys still show a large majority of Americans just over 70 percent -- still profess to be Christian and only about 23 percent to be atheist or agnostic. But a recent Pew survey ago says only 50 percent identify as somewhat or very religious. Dig a little deeper and you find some interesting things: only 53 percent say religion is very important, only 36 percent attend services at least once a week and another 33 percent once or twice a month or a few times a year. There does seem to be a disconnect between those who say they are Christian, and those who act as if they are. Here s another quote you ve probably heard; it s from Mahatma Gandhi: I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. Amen to that. And it s gotten worse since Gandhi s observation. In our Gospel passage today, Jesus and the Pharisees are not really talking about good health practices or dietary restrictions. As Charles Cousar says: The Pharisees argued that the practice of eating with undefiled hands was an obligation on all Jewish people who sought to be the holy nation that they had been called to be. To heed a stipulation of the oral law ( the tradition of the 2

3 elders ) like this was not to escape into trivialization but to demonstrate how seriously the law of God is to be taken. This tradition, in their eyes, is a fence around the law. But Jesus challenges that God s law needs any protection, any human-made fence. 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 abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition. Now, some think it s OK to separate children from their parents as a deterrent to people coming to this country to seek a better life. Many of those children end up abused or even dead at the hands of their jailers and yes, I chose that word deliberately. And some want to build walls around land that is not ours to begin with, but God s, to keep them out. Laws are passed that enrich the already rich among us, all the while removing any protections for those on the other end of the scale, struggling every day just to make it through life. We forget that troublesome Golden Rule In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets. Instead it is more like, I got mine, you worry about yours, or maybe even better, the punchline has become reality: He who has the gold makes the rules. Hate groups with their angry, violent beliefs are defended as some good people. We forget that when Cain suggested he was not his brother s keeper, God responded: What have you done? Listen; your brother s blood is crying out to me from the ground! What has happened to us? Looping back to the status of faith in days gone by, it took nothing, really, to be a Christian because it was the norm. But since those days, I would suggest starting with the rise of a particular approach to Christianity incorrectly labeled evangelical, by the way that has pushed a judgmental, white male-dominated agenda, we have seen the status of Christianity decline. The reaction to this has been that, in the popular mind, that Christianity is an angry, judgmental religion that has long since outlived its usefulness. 3

4 We re to the point where, as the recent Pew survey found, 21 percent of Americans say religion does more harm than good and, what may be even more trouibling, 23 percent say it makes no difference at all. Recently columnist Colbert King, writing in The Washington Post, said: Religious leaders, among their biblically mandated duties, have a responsibility to speak out about criminality, abuse of authority, and immorality, including serial lying by America s moral leader, the president of the United States. He closes his plea with this: In the name of all that is ethical and moral, call him out, and from the pulpits. Christ s indictment of the Pharisees and scribes sounds very applicable today: 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 abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition. Human tradition: Take care of myself. God s commandment: Love thy neighbor (and we re all neighbors). Human tradition: Get off my lawn. God s commandment: In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets. Human tradition: I m right, you re wrong. God s commandment: Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God. John Calvin said it this way: "Whenever we are so eager to keep the laws of [humans] as to bestow less care and attention on keeping the law of God itself, we are held as transgressing it." While I acknowledge that there is much room for interpretation in the Bible, there are some things that are pretty clear. For me, it s pretty clear where Christians should stand in the present circumstances. We should stand for truth. We should stand for love. We should stand for compassion. We should stand for honor. We should stand for forgiveness. We should stand for charity. We should stand for each other. We should stand for God. 4

5 We should not stand for exclusion. We should not stand for hate. We should not stand for the ends justifying the means. We should not stand for hypocrisy. We should not stand for evil. As I was delivering the sermon, I watched the small congregation carefully, looking for signs of tomatoes ready to be tossed, pitchforks coming out or people rising to leave. What I saw was interesting as many of the folks were leaning forward obviously listening. Afterwards, only one person came up to engage, and she was not happy, not happy at all. It s just wrong, she said. She wanted to know if the PCUSA was asking ministers to call out the president. No, I assured her at least not by name as I had done. She wanted to know, again, who it was who had urged leaders to call out the president from the pulpit. When I told her it was a Washington Post columnist, she immediately dismissed it as irrelevant then. I also affirmed that I understood and even expected reactions such as hers. Others in the congregation were still friendly, and even invited me to say for the first Sunday of the month lunch. And just last week I ve been invited back to preach again. I have preached at this little church several times in the last few years, and as one elder said to me last time, you re probably a bit more liberal that most of us so I knew that I was pushing the envelope. Probably not only for that congregation, but maybe most congregations maybe even this group. But it is truly where I felt the Word was leading me. In fact, I suggest that s where I think the Word is leading us as a Synod and as a denomination and as followers of Christ. Those of us gathered in this room have been selected, elected, called as leaders of our congregations and of our presbyteries and of this synod. Some of us may shrink away from that term out of a sense of modesty or humility. But that doesn t make it any less of a reality. And as leaders we have a responsibility to those who have lifted us up to be a leader. While in a practical sense, perhaps we can t get too far out in front of the, for lack of a better word, followers, that doesn t mean we have to only reflect their ideas. That s not consistent with our theology, theology that drives our polity. So, I ask essentially rhetorically for now, but to be on your mind as we go about our work What and how is the Synod of the Trinity being called to lead now and into the future. To God alone be the glory. 5