Dirty Hands and a Clean Heart
HMC September 1, 2024
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 22-23
Craig Atwood
Scripture: 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, and there are also many other traditions that they observe: the washing of cups and pots and bronze kettles and beds.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk 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.”
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.” For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Introduction
As you probably know, this is Labor Day weekend, which traditionally marks the end of summer. Many people take a mini-vacation during this long weekend, especially if the weather is nice. My father did not believe in Labor Day. Every year he found projects for us to do on the remnants of the family farm. One year we tore down an old dairy barn, which was quite a project. Both of us wound up in the emergency room getting tetanus shots because we had stepped on rusty nails poking up through boards. Another year we cut down and cut up a large gum tree. I think I broke two ax handles trying to split the wood. Every year I asked my dad why we were working so hard on Labor Day when all my friends were at the beach or Lake Norman. Every year he would tell me that Labor Day is a day to labor on! I think he missed the point.
Of course, every year my mom had to work, too. She would cook us a big supper since we had been working all day. The first thing I had to do when I walked through the door was wash my hands before supper because I was usually filthy. I didn’t dare quote this passage from the gospel of Mark to her to argue that Jesus said it is okay eat without washing your hands first. She was a firm believer in the need for biblical interpretation rather than just applying a verse without thinking about it.
Food
This week we have another gospel lesson about food. I told you there are a lot of stories in the gospels about Jesus eating with people and using the occasion to teach. Now this story is not about a miracle – it’s about the rituals that go with eating. Food is one of our most basic human needs, and if you think about, much of our time involves getting food, preparing food, eating food, and cleaning up after eating. For many modern Americans this is more of an endless process of asking your spouse or children “where do you want to eat” until you finally settle on your usual diner. Before modern technology, though, people spent a lot of time sowing, harvesting, hunting, cooking, and preserving food. The wealthy paid people to do all of this for them, but most people were not wealthy. So every meal was important. And the rituals related to food stress the need for gratitude. We Moravians do this with our ritual blessing “Come Lord Jesus” in which we invite Jesus to dine with us while thanking him for the gift of food. In Judaism, washing hands is part of the ritual of blessing the meal and being grateful to God.
I’ve learned through the years that the only topics more dangerous than religion and politics are food and diet. I think our lesson today offers us insights that might be helpful, but we need to realize that the passage is not about food; it is about morality, hospitality, and spirituality.
Mark 7
The first thing we can see in this passage is that it is written for people who aren’t Jewish since Mark has to explain Jewish practices. The scene Mark provides is Jesus and his students were dining with Pharisees. We don’t know who had provided the meal or in whose house they were dining, but we can assume it was someone rather wealthy. Perhaps he was one of the Pharisees himself. The Pharisess, as you may know, were members of a Jewish group that tried to live strictly according to the laws of Moses. They took the whole Old Testament seriously and tried to apply its teaching to their daily lives. Pharisees often debated how Jews should observe the laws of the Old Testament, and over the years their interpretation of right and wrong actions had grown far beyond the laws recorded in the Bible. The Pharisees argued that there were two sets of laws: the written Law or Torah found in the Bible, and the Oral Law that was passed down by teachers called Rabbis and lawyers called Scribes.
Rabbis were responsible for interpreting and teaching the laws of Judaism, so it is not surprising that the Pharisees were upset that Jesus’s disciples were eating without following the laws. They expected that a rabbi like Jesus would teach his followers the proper ablutions. By the way, ablution is one of my favorite fancy words for a common action. It just means washing your hands or face as a daily ritual.
Rituals
We learned during the pandemic that we should sing Happy Birthday or Raspberry Beret while washing our hands with soap and warm water to remove potentially infectious germs. The Center for Disease Control hoped that this would become a habit for us, not just before meals, but several times a day, and many of us continue to kill germs. The Pharisees, of course, did not know about germs and bacteria since they didn’t have microscopes in those days, but they knew that it is a good idea eat with clean hands rather than dirty hands. Muhammad made this part of Islamic teaching, and devout Muslims today wash their hands, face, and feet regularly, especially before prayers and meals.
And that is all perfectly fine. I agree with my mother that we shouldn’t use this passage in Mark’s gospel to justify poor hygiene, but we also shouldn’t use it to criticize the ablutions and rituals before meals in other cultures. Too often this passage has been used to criticize Judaism, Islam, and other religion as if washing your hands and face is somehow contrary to God’s plan for the world. Jesus was not arguing against ablutions before meals, but he did use the Pharisee’s criticisms to teach a more important lesson.
Judgmentalism
Fundamentally Jesus was reacting to the condescending and judgmental attitude of the Pharisees at the meal. Rather than using the meal as a time to learn more about each other and discuss important issues, the Pharisees criticized Jesus for not making sure that his disciples observed the proper etiquette. They were giving the disciples what some people call the “side eye”. Perhaps they even pointed at them or feigned shock.
They were kind of like people in church when a visitor comes to worship and doesn’t know when to sit or stand or how to eat communion. Just think of the poor worshiper who doesn’t know the words to the doxology or how to read in unison with a large group of people. I remember how scandalized my grandmother could be at the behavior of visitors in lovefeast especially. Didn’t they know that you don’t eat your lovefeast bun like a hamburger? Didn’t they know how pass the cups down the row? I picture the Pharisees in this story like that. Metaphorically they were clutching their pearls and gasping at the disciples because they had dirt under their fingernails.
There’s a scene in To Kill a Mockingbird when the young girl, named Scout, is mortified that one of her classmates poured corn syrup over all his food at lunch. Scout’s care giver, Calpurnia, takes her into the other room to impress upon her that the boy is Scout’s guest, and she must make him feel welcome rather than shaming him for being a country boy.
That’s one of the things Jesus was trying to teach the Pharisees. They were using their religion and knowledge of the law to shame the poor country folk that were traveling with Jesus, and he was not going to put up with that. Religion should not be used to shame people, but to make people feel at home. Our rituals should be teaching us how to be hospitable not making us judgmental. By the way, I suspect that after the meal Jesus gently reminded his rough hewn disciples that they ought to wash up next time just to make their hosts feel more at ease.
Defilement
We also must be cautious about misusing Jesus’ statement that it is not what we eat that defiles a person. Obviously, Jesus is not telling us that it is okay to eat spoiled food or poison or other harmful things. Jesus often used hyperbole to make a point, and I think that is what he is doing here. But his words provide a helpful counter message to the ads and internet influencers who insist that our righteousness and health depend on avoiding whole chunks of the food pyramid. I do think Jesus was telling us not to obsess about food and not be self-righteous because of our diets. He wasn’t telling us to gorge ourselves on cheesecake and Cherwine every morning for breakfast – that’s just a sometimes treat.
So, if Jesus wasn’t condemning ablutions and dietary restrictions, what was he talking about? Notice that at the end, he turns everything around to address something much more important. He tells the Pharisees that they are worried about the wrong things. They were completely missing the point of the Old Testament laws and words of the prophets they honor and study. Jesus said that we shouldn’t obsess so much things that come into our bodies; we need to worry more about what comes out of our hearts and minds. We are not defiled by food; we defile ourselves with the corruption of our hearts. It is from out inward desires that our outward actions come.
He said: “For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” I have known people who were paragons of healthy eating and healthy lifestyle who were toxic to everyone around them. They were so hollow inside that they had to fill the void in their hearts with hatred and abuse of others. They were like Dorian Gray in Oscar Wilde’s famous novel. Beautiful to look at, but corrupt and violent and dangerous.
Throughout the gospels, Jesus refuses to give people a detailed code of conduct or even religious rituals to observe. Instead, he repeatedly urges people to change their lives from the inside out. Murder usually begins with hatred and threats of violence. In many cases theft, especially white collar theft, begins with greed or envy. We could go down the list. If our hearts are pure, our actions will be as well.
Paradise of the heart
In John Amos Comenius’ spiritual masterpiece Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart, the main character examines every aspect of human society and finds hypocrisy and misery in every profession. In despair he contemplates suicide, but then he hears a voice calling to him, urging him to return to his true self and quit trying to live up to the expectations of others. “Return whence you came, to the home of your heart, and shut the door behind you!” the voice says. The Pilgrim answers by closing his “eyes, ears, nostrils, and all external passages” and turns his consciousness inward. He observes the condition of his own character and finds that the virtues he carries withhin himself (Prudence, Humility, Justice, Purity, and Temperance) are faded and distorted. The problem was not just that the world was full of hypocrisy and abuse; he was internally corrupt as well. He was part of the problem.
In the quiet of his heart, the Pilgrim waited. Then a light burst forth, and God appeared to him in human form. “Although his face shone greatly, yet it could be looked upon with human eyes; nor did it inspire terror, but radiated a loveliness such as I have never seen anywhere in the world. Then he, the epitome of kindness and good will, addressed me … embraced me cheerfully, and kissed me.” With the help of Christ, the Pilgrim is transformed internally and is then prepared to go back into society as an agent of divine love. He learned that it is what is inside that matters most.
Conclusion
You’ve probably heard an old saying that “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” That’s almost the opposite of what Jesus told the Pharisees. Of course, you should wash your hands and avoid eating things that are harmful. But that’s not the most important thing. It is more important that we let the Holy Spirit purify our hearts. It is our motivations, desires, and intentions that lead us to do harmful things to ourselves and others. Jesus is telling us that it is possible to have dirty hands and a clean heart. That is especially true if our hands are dirty because we have been working hard and helping others.
