Lectionary Readings: Song of Solomon 2:8-13 James 1:17-27 Mark 7:1-23
… Christ urges us to examine our own defiled hearts
rather than our neighbours’ dirty hands.
Dawn Ottoni Wilhelm, Feasting on the Word; year B vol.4 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009)
Introduction:
When I was a student, I managed to try several different types of work, some more interesting that others. Among them I picked strawberries and potatoes one summer; it wasn’t work I chose to return to, but it was one that raised some very interesting questions when I got home.
My lunch box was somewhat grubby. This was because, out in the middle of a fenland field, the possibility of following the usual niceties of ablutions at lunchtime didn’t exist. Mother was not happy; so, it’s a good job she never knew about the lack of toilet facilities. It also gave me a life-long passion for washing all fruit and vegetable.
Ritual ablutions
Mark 7 finds the disciples in a similar dilemma; not because their hands were dirty, but because they were defiled. In other words, they hadn’t followed age-old custom which was about ritual washing rather than cleanliness.
But if you were out on the land or indeed away fishing, how could you realistically follow the strict ritual laws? It would be fine for the Jerusalem scribes to follow tradition in well-appointed homes in the capital, with servants to help pour out the water, but ordinary working people would not always have access to water, jugs and bowls in the first century.
Worse still, when you look back in the pages of scripture, there is no injunction for the Jewish people as a whole for ritual purity before eating. Instead there was a requirement was for the priest to wash hands and feet before ministering at the altar (Exodus 30:17-21). And this was understood to include washing of the hands before eating holy meat from the sacrifices. But over time, those responsible for safeguarding the tradition, extended the priestly law to the whole nation, because God had declared in Exodus 19:6, ‘You shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation’. Everyone was required to perform the same ritual ablution as the priests.
Jesus appears to have some very harsh words to say to the scribes about their comments. He recognised that ritual ablutions may do little to affect the hearts of human beings. So with the help of Song of Solomon and the letter of St James, let’s look more closely.
Words create worlds of meaning
In this famous passage about ‘being doers of the word’ (1:22), St James helps us to understand that words can create worlds of meaning. Whether in the written word or the spoken word, information and ideas are exchanged. If you ever had someone in your family who has suffered a stroke, you know the sense of frustration caused because the person cannot express what they long to say.
When describing the worlds of meaning released in words, Archie Smith Jr. says this:
We use words to express ourselves: to convince and convict ourselves and others; to describe, name, blame or label things, to win arguments; to sell an idea or object; to lecture; to expound a point, explain things into or out of existence, persuade, condole, console, counsel; to announce, denounce, deceive; to ask someone to marry; to declare war and make peace; to sentence someone, diagnose a condition, analyse a problem, deliberate or negotiate a deal.. we cannot get along without words. Words can alarm, harm, uplift, inspire, degrade or silence someone. They can reveal our inners thoughts. Where would we be without words?
Archie Smith Jr. Feasting on the Word; year B vol.4. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009)
Oddly enough, the compilers of the lectionary seemed not to notice this when the Gospel reading was edited. Instead, having seen that there are two very different conversations around the same two topics: cleanness and uncleanness, scripture and tradition, I chose to expand the passage, because when that happens, it is possible to see that the two conversations are with different groups of people. It’s just the same with our own conversations: there are some thoughts which are rightly expressed in public and there are somethings which are kept within the home. The gospel records two very different groups and Jesus cannot say in public what he says here in private. We have the critique of the behaviour of the scribes who had been so quick to adhere to their principles that they had forgotten that the whole point of the scripture was that holiness extended to the physical as well as the spiritual. Somehow, they had come to believe that ritual was everything and ethics had flown out of the window.
Yet Jesus reminds us that there has grown imperceptibly a gulf between practice of religion and the underpinning values that the rituals are meant to convey:
Hypocrisy refers to the disconnect between the moral values and standards that we espouse and those we actually practice in our behaviour. (Loye Bradley Ashton Feasting on the Word; year B vol.4. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009))
We are meant for authenticity of life and that can only be achieved where there is integrity between what we think and say and what we do.
Constructive and destructive expressions of anger
St James encourages us to be quick to listen but slow to speak, slow to anger (1:19). This is really hard work. But Jesus manages it beautifully. Although his words are succinct and sharp (he really does not mince his words), he neither interrupts his critics nor does he point out how much his own disciples have sacrificed in order to follow him; some gave up family, others gave up career and some status.
The discipline to be patient with ourselves and with others does not mean we have to be nice all the time. There are moments when hard truths need to be said with honesty – even if the other person would really rather not hear it.
Having grown up with Star Wars films, it is still amazing to see Yoda, the Jedi master very patiently trying to train Luke Sky-Walker to use his anger in calm, positive ways in order to courageously face the challenges which will lie before him.
And there are times when we too must stay true to our principles, whilst we treat the other person with respect and dignity. Jesus challenges the scribes with words from Isaiah
13 The Lord said:
Because these people draw near with their mouths
and honour me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote;
14 so I will again do amazing things with this people, shocking and amazing.
The wisdom of their wise shall perish,
and the discernment of the discerning shall be hidden. Isaiah 29:13-14
Jesus stands in the prophetic tradition along with Isaiah (see also Isaiah 58:6-7): the ritual act alone does not suffice, it must be match with ethical and moral behaviour. It is not what goes into your stomach that is important, so much as what comes out of your mouth, which reflects what you really think. Because at the end of the day, what is in our hearts and minds shapes the kind of relationships we have with one another.
Actions speak louder than words
The passage from the Song of Solomon (2:8-17) reflects an intriguing tradition. For centuries, struggling with a very erotic text, the church chose to read Song of Songs as an allegory of love between Christ and the Church. But you may prefer to read it for what it is: a beautiful love-poem between the young maiden and her beloved.
Set in spring-time, it is equally suitable for this time of year when harvest is being gathered in here in Britain. It is full of rural references to nature (fruit, wine, animals and flowers) and tells of God’s grace transform the world. Even with significantly challenging conditions this summer, the crops are harvested, the countryside looks good.
And if we struggle today, surely it will be to put this idyllic picture alongside devastating images of flooding over the summer, or burning forest fires, or images from Haiti or Afghanistan.
Song of Songs also describes a world of grace in terms of transformative power in relationships; here are two young people deeply in love promising themselves to one another. Or here is a poem speaking of the deep love between Christ and the Church. As Jesus engages with the scribes in the public arena and later the disciples in the privacy of the home, the reader is aware of the impending arrival of God’s kingdom. In the context of the Song of Songs, the beautiful poetry describes how the winter is past and the rains are over; and there is something very energising about the renewal of the countryside in spring. And there is something energising about the renewing of God’s people that Jesus envisaged as God’s kingdom took root and began to grow through his ministry. The new age is dawning as God’s servant has arrived. However, we are more than aware that only some will receive this message. Christ’s words and deeds will bring with them the power to challenge, and also to divide.
and so to return to my starting quote,
… Christ urges us to examine our own defiled hearts rather than our neighbours’ dirty hands.
Or if you prefer, we are called to people holding to worthwhile moral standards. John Wesley put it this way:
Do all the good you can,
by all the means you can,
in all the ways you can,
in all the places you can,
at all the times you can,
to all the people you can,
as long as ever you can.
To do less, is to exclude ourselves from the kingdom of God.
Worship at home 