‘Why do your disciples … eat with defiled hands?’ (Mark 7: 5) … preparing to dine at the Sunset Taverna in Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Patrick Comerford
We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and today is the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XIV, 1 September 2024). Today also marks the beginning of Autumn. In the calendar of the Orthodox Church, today is the beginning of a new church year, also known as the beginning of the Indiction.
John Keats in his poem ‘To Autumn’ described this time of year as the ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’. Creationtide also begins today (1 September) and continues until 4 October. This is the period in the church calendar dedicated to God as Creator and Sustainer of all life.
Later this morning, I hope to lead the intercession at the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford … 1 September is also Saint Giles Day. The parish fete takes place at All Saints’ Church, Calverton, this afternoon (2 to 4 pm).
But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:
1, today’s Gospel reading;
2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
‘Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?’ (Mark 7: 5) … a statue with a bowl in her hand at Vergina restaurant in Platanias near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23 (NRSVA):
1 Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2 they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3 (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4 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.) 5 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?’ 6 He said to them, ‘Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
“This people honours me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.”
8 You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.’
14 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand:
15 there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.
21 ‘For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22 adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’
‘There are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles’ (Mark 7: 4) … pots and pans in the kitchen in Bryce House on Garinish Island, Glengarriff, Co Cork (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Today’s Reflection:
Do you remember how not too long ago we were all sanitising our hands every time we went into a shop, a church, an enclosed public space? The Covid-19 pandemic meant we all got used to wearing masks not only in those places but also outdoors and on the street.
We all got used to it very quickly, and most of us have forgotten about it all, all too quickly it seems.
The arguments about sanitising our hands and wearing facemasks just a few years ago are a very different order of argument to the arguments in today’s Gospel reading about washing my hands before I prepare food, and about presenting that food with clean cups and plates and knives and forks.
It is so easy for me to look at the people I do not like and then to find passages in the Bible that shore up, that support, that justify that prejudice, and make me feel good because I now feel a little more smug, a little more superior.
And that is precisely the moment when the Jesus of this morning’s Gospel reading steps in and upbraids me, and calls me a hypocrite.
In Greek, the word hypocrite (ὑποκριτής,
hypokrités) was used for an actor who masked or hid his face. It came to mean someone who plays a part on stage. Because these people did not speak their own words, this label came to mean a pretender, what we call today a hypocrite.
When I speak words taken at random, or taken out of context in the Bible, I need to be careful I am not using them out of context, or to condemn people for a fault that is not necessarily theirs, something I project onto them.
Some time ago, I came across this piece of doggerel inside a church porch in Ardmore, Co Waterford:
I was shocked, confused bewildered
as I entered heaven’s door,
not by the beauty of it all,
nor the lights or its décor.
But it was the folks in Heaven
who made me sputter and gasp –
the thieves, the liars, the sinners,
the alcoholics and the trash.
There stood the kid from sixth class
who swiped my lunch box twice.
Next to him was my old neighbour
who never said something nice.
Bob, who I always thought
would rot away in hell,
was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
looking oh so well.
I nudged Jesus, ‘What’s the deal?
I would love to hear your take.
How come these sinners get up here?
God must have made a mistake.
‘And why is everyone so quiet,
so sombre – give me a clue?’
‘Hush child,’ he said ‘they’re all in shock.
They weren’t expecting you.’
If I saw myself the way others see me, I would be less reluctant to open my mouth so often.
But the Church is full of people who continue to judge others – even other members of the Church – and justify their judgmentalism with passages of Scripture they quote out of context, sometimes even claiming passages of Scripture that simply do not exist.
And it’s not just about washing hands and pots and pans. If it was only that, it might be funny.
There are people who condemn people for their sexuality, they look down on people because of who they fall in love with or marry, they even claim to uphold Biblical standards of marriage.
Yet David offered no Biblical standards of marriage, and Solomon, who provides the first reading this morning (Song of Solomon 2: 8-13), had 700 wives and 300 concubines – once again, hardly a Biblical standard of marriage.
I find it quite shocking, yet it seems inevitable, that many people in the Church use arguments about sexuality, bolstered with phrases such as ‘Biblical standards of marriage,’ to express prejudices about sexuality. Some even remain opposed to women being ordained priests and bishops.
This is using another voice, another set of words, Biblical quotations to express what is not in the Bible; the very origins of the word ‘hypocrite’ in the classical Greek and in this reading readily come to mind.
The
Song of Songs, which we are reading from this morning, is not afraid to affirm healthy sexuality, and in a creative and poetic way it compares the pleasure two lovers find in each other with the love of God for God’s people.
Here the voice of God is poetically represented by the voice of the shepherd; and the voice of the people is expressed by the woman. This woman is the voice of the people who love God and she also speaks back to the people on behalf of God: ‘My beloved speaks and says to me …’
In the Church, there can be no discrimination against people in ministry based on gender, age, sexuality, ethnicity or language, for God knows no such discrimination.
I too easily become a hypocrite when I use the words or behaviour of others to condemn them, without having the courage to say exactly where I stand.
Father Tikhon (Murtazov), who died in 2018, was a much-loved Russian spiritual guide. A nun, Sister Olga (Schemanun of Snetogorsk Monastery), recalled how he welcomed everyone who came to visit him and who asked for his guidance and prayers.
Amazed at his kindness, she asked him one day: ‘Why don’t you refuse anyone? You bless whatever they ask of you.’
‘We’re in difficult times now,’ he said. ‘It’s better to sin by love than by strictness.’
We should worry as much about making careless wounding remarks as much as we would worry about preparing food unhygienically.
Can you imagine how much more positively people at large would view the churches if every parish and church put as much care into seeing that our children are not abused or infected with racism or discrimination or hate as much as we put into seeing we have sanitised our hands, are wearing colourful facemasks, seeing that the cups are clean for the tea and coffee after church on Sunday morning – or even as much as we attend to the cleanliness of the sacred vessels used for the Eucharist or Holy Communion?
‘There are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles’ (Mark 7: 4) … a cup of coffee at Taverna Garden in Platanias (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Today’s Prayers (Sunday 1 September 2024, Trinity XIV):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘To Hope and Act with Creation.’ This theme is introduced today with a reflection on Creationtide:
Creationtide is the period in the annual church calendar, from 1 September to 4 October, dedicated to God as Creator and Sustainer of all life. Many churches choose to use this time of year to hold special services and events to give thanks for God’s gift of creation, and to renew their commitment to caring for our one-planet-home.
The theme for 2024 is: to hope and act with creation and the symbol ‘The first fruits of hope’, inspired by Romans 8: 19-25, is the guiding inspiration.
In the letter of Paul the apostle to the Romans, the biblical image pictures the earth as a mother, groaning as in childbirth (Romans 8: 22). Francis of Assisi understood this when he referred to the earth as our sister and our mother in his Canticle of Creatures. The times we live in show that we are not relating to the earth as a gift from our Creator, but rather as a resource to be used.
And yet, there is hope and the expectation for a better future. To hope in a biblical context does not mean to stand still and quiet, but rather groaning, crying, and actively striving for new life amidst the struggles. Just as in childbirth, we go through a period of intense pain, but new life springs forth.
Find out more at
seasonofcreation.org.
‘The first fruits of hope’, inspired by Romans 8: 19-25, is the guiding inspiration for Creationtide this year … apples in a garden in the small village of Shutlanger near Stoke Bruerne in Northamptonshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 1 September 2024, Trinity XIV, Creation Day) invites us to pray:
You made the goodness of the land,
the riches of the sea
and the rhythm of the seasons;
as we thank you for your gracious provision
may we cherish and respect
this planet and its people.
The Collect:
Almighty God,
whose only Son has opened for us
a new and living way into your presence:
give us pure hearts and steadfast wills
to worship you in spirit and in truth;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post Communion Prayer:
Lord God, the source of truth and love,
keep us faithful to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship,
united in prayer and the breaking of bread,
and one in joy and simplicity of heart,
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Merciful God,
your Son came to save us
and bore our sins on the cross:
may we trust in your mercy
and know your love,
rejoicing in the righteousness
that is ours through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s reflection
Continued tomorrow
‘It’s better to sin by love than by strictness’ … Father Tikhon Murtazov
Scripture quotations are from the
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
http://nrsvbibles.org
