More than dos and don’ts

Deuteronomy 4; James 1; Mark 7

 

Shavuot is one of three High Holidays in Judaism. It is a harvest festival which also celebrates the giving of the Torah to the Jews. It is the reason so many Jews were in Jerusalem at the time of Pentecost.

The Torah is the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, which tells the history of the Jewish people from creation to their arrival at the Promised Land. This includes Moses receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai.

Rather than a list of “do’s and don’ts”, the commandments are viewed by the Jewish people as a description of the covenant relationship between God and God’s people. God says through the commandments, “I claim you as my people, and I want you to claim me as your God. These commandments tell us how we will be there for each other.”  

… By Jesus’ time, some groups were working to refine the interpretation of the commandments. This included table manners, food preparation, hygiene, and worship rituals. For convenience, let’s call them all “rules.”

Some of these rules were biblical, especially those related to worship. But many were based on human decisions, cultural practices, and local context. Some of them are a sort of “Best Practices” or “For your own safety” or “To honor God” types of advice.  

For example, you may know the Jewish practice of not mixing meat and milk. The biblical origin of this practice is mentioned in Exodus. Its meaning has puzzled readers for centuries, but its interpretation led to the separation of meat and milk at mealtime.

When Mike and I were in Israel, I noticed that dairy is served at breakfast, and meat is served at dinner. Jews do not enjoy a glass of milk or slice of cheese with their dinner, nor would they have steak with their eggs at breakfast. To avoid cross contamination between meat and milk, different sets of dishes are used.

This kind of rule began at about the time of Jesus, with the pharisees attempting to clarify the Torah and the commandments in it. By around 300, the rules were collected in a book called the Talmud. So, when the Pharisees ask Jesus about his disciples and hand-washing, the rules were just beginning to take shape.

The Pharisees use the word “defile.” This does not mean the disciples are defiled in God’s eyes. It means they are ritually unclean, and would need to cleanse themselves in some way before they are eligible to worship in the temple. The rules the Pharisees were talking about were intended to keep folks safe from ritual uncleanness, as well as physical cleanness.

Jesus calls the Pharisees hypocrites, accusing them of making obedience to the rules more important than the relationship between God and God’s people. In other words, Jesus was saying, “Even if our hands are dirty from sorting fish or planting wheat, the food we touch is clean, and putting it in our mouths does not make us unclean. But the words we speak with that same mouth may not be clean if they are not spoken in love.”

Let’s take care that the words we speak and the actions we take match.

James speaks plainly. “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Here’s a story from my past. My good friend Marilyn and I were both leaders in Women of the ELCA, and regularly attended regional and Synod-wide events together.

One morning, I was at a church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. As we gathered, we had coffee and muffins first, then devotions. We were waiting for the speaker to give a presentation on homelessness. People were saying, “Where is Marilyn. She’s always here at these meetings. I hope she is OK.” “It’s not like her to miss a meeting.”

The local president started the meeting with a few announcements. In the meantime, a woman with dirt on her face and wearing layers of raggedy clothes came in and sat in the front row. She was hunched over, and kept to herself. She began to sort through things in her big bag, pulling them out and checking on them, and putting them back.

A woman came and told the president that she had locked the doors, to make sure no other people like this strange woman entered. After another minute or two, the strange woman stood up and turned to face the group. As soon as we could see her face and hear her voice, the women recognized her as Marilyn, my friend, and the speaker for the day.

The women thought they were welcoming of all people. They thought they cared about needy people because they gave money and things to provide for needy people. But when it came to the reality of having a poor woman, perhaps a homeless woman, right there in their midst, they bailed.

Let’s remember that the commandments are more than a list of dos and don’ts. They are a description of our relationship with God and God’s people.  

Let’s us take care that what we say we believe is the way we act and speak. Instead of judgment, let’s offer compassion. Let’s offer a warm welcome, and get to know our neighbors as God’s children, just as beloved as we are.

Amen