James 1:17-27, Psalm 15:1-5, & Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 on September 1st, 2024
Above is audio of the sermon pulled from the video and amplified.
Below is transcript pulled from the video and formatted by artificial intelligence. There may be inconsistencies or errors.
Grace Mercy and peace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
So really, what's up with that gospel today? What is Jesus getting us all into today? He's arguing about something that we learned when we were very young and have taught our children and our grandchildren, wash your hands before you eat. What's wrong with that? Good sense.
Here's what's happening. Jesus has already stirred up enough trouble that they're watching out for him. Jesus, this unknown rabbi from that little town, is saying things that make people really get excited about him. But this same Jesus is going to the other side of the sea of Galilee where those heave-in, the Gentiles live, and you know how we feel about them. We shake the dust off our feet if we even have to walk where they've walked. Jesus is eating with tax collectors, chants, who not only take our money, but they are in caroots with the Romans. Jesus, let's women talk to him, touch him. What kind of respectable rabbi does that? All rabbi's know to stay their distance from women, and he's almost embracing them. Jesus is a friend to sinners. Doesn't he know it's important the company you keep? He's going to be defiled by a couple of them for sure. Let's keep an eye on him. And if he's giving any false teachings, let's get rid of him. We've got to protect our beliefs, our systems, our traditions.
Handwashing was a tradition. Now, I think I took handwashing to a whole new level when I was doing chemotherapy, because I was still doing my ministry and I'd go into the hospital. I never, ever left a hospital without first making a stop in the ladies room in the lobby. And there I would wash my hands as though I was one of the surgeons on the hospital staff. I would scrub, I would take each finger individually. I dig my fingernails into my palm to try to move the dirt there. I was not going to pick up any germ from that hospital if I could help it. It was a good habit. I still do it. And for the most part, I've stayed healthy.
Anybody hear crews? Cruisers? Yeah, washy washy. You can't go into a dining room without somebody coming at you with the hand sanitizer, right? But if you've ever had neurovirus, you know why they want to make sure you are protected and others are protected from anything you're carrying around.
Washing our hands is something again. We pass on. It's a good tradition. It makes sense. And since the pandemic, for sure, we have been careful. We fist bump more than we shake hands. We wear masks. We stay our distance. The Pharisees would have loved us. Because the Pharisees took a biblical command, which was given to the priests. The priests would, during their prayers to God, wash their hands to show God we understood that we were stained by sin. We knew the filth of our lives that could only be cleansed by God's forgiveness. And the priests would symbolically offer that all up to God.
But then somehow the practice got put into these traditions where everything had to be washed just so. And pots and hands and foods coming from the marketplace because goodness knows if you touched an olive in the marketplace that was touched by unclean hands, maybe even one of those Gentiles, you would certainly be defiled. So all of these rituals have been put in place as though they are God's law. Common sense would say wash your hands, wash your food, wash your eating utensils. But when judging those who do not, the way you think they should, keeps you out of the chosen. That's a bit too far. That was never God's thinking. Yet it was how these cleansing rituals were being practiced at the time of Jesus.
The Pharisees especially, the very word Pharisee comes from a root word that means to separate, to stay apart from the unholy, the unclean. Do you know how proud we get when we think we are the ones who are unholy or holy and clean and comparison to everyone else who is unholy and unclean. And if it feels good and if we think we are going to shine even brighter in the sight of God, we want to find even more ways to point out where they are wrong and we are right.
That's what Jesus sees in these Pharisees that come all the way from Jerusalem to check out this rabbi who is teaching and stirring up all kinds of trouble. And Jesus calls them hypocrites and teaches them that it's really not the filth from the outside that we should worry about. As much as that which stains the inside, that which comes out in our habits and practices that hurt and divide and share anguish with others. You know the whole list that Jesus speaks. You can go to the Ten Commandments and probably see the parallels.
So today we might stop and wonder what is Jesus saying to us about how we want to be separated, somewhat above those who don't do it the way we do it, not that it's God's command. But maybe it's more our traditions, our ways of belief, what's comfortable for us that we think everybody better get with the program.
We have to stop and think when James the letter that is written and read today is read to us, where do we stand in those words? I've got to tell you Martin Luther did not like the letter of James. He called it a book of straw, had no worth, could be set on fire and just put aside. And I think it's because you know the letters to the Romans or the Ephesians were so filled with gospel. They told us how even when we didn't measure up to God's demands, God's grace had us covered. God was always willing to wash us clean. James doesn't do that. James puts the emphasis on how are you living your life? How are you being a doer of the Word? Not just speaking the Word, but doing the Word.
See right there Luther would say that's works righteousness. You're going to think that by doing the Word you're somehow holy or in God's sight. I take issue with Martin Luther on that. I really think the book of James has some good solid advice for us because if we are doers of the Word, it's not just the Bible. It's not just reading the Bible as a recipe and saying, I did this, I did that, ain't I great? Doers of the Word may also be doers of the living Word. And the living Word is Jesus. To be doing Jesus work in the world is a privilege. Not a ticket to heaven. But a Thanksgiving for everything God has given us.
That's why this letter of James begins by saying every good gift comes from God, even our trust and faith and desire to live lives that are holy. There is a difference between doing good works and doing holy labors. But on this Labor Day, I believe we are the ones called to the labors that God has designed for us.
James says, some of that is the way we behave. You know it. Two years, one mouth, listen more, speak less. Swallow those words that can bring pain. They won't give you any heartburn the way they may hurt somebody else. And watch out for the widows and the orphans. In other words, in the biblical times, watch out for those who have no voice. Watch out for those that are so easily trampled upon by others. Watch out for those that aren't getting an even shake. Be their voice. Stand up for what is right. Quiet the traditions that we have been taught in order to follow the way Jesus has in mind for us to live as one.
There are good works. But on this Labor Day, I encourage you to go about the holy labors. Do it with the Spirit that cleanses you, gifts you, strengthens you and leads you. The world awaits us being doers for Jesus.
Amen.