You Work On You, She Work On She, He Work On He; Let God Work Within All of Us; Sermon on Mark 7:1-23

Rev. George Miller
Feb 16, 2020
Mark 7:1-23

Today we start off our message by acknowledging the elephant in the room; except it’s not really an elephant, but a big, beautiful swan:

we are studying a scripture addressing food and what makes a person defiled.

Yet we have here today Carnide and Ari, our accompanist and Director of Music, who are members of the 7th Day Adventists and faithfully keep kosher.

If we’re not careful, we can twist around these words attributed to Jesus and use them as weapons to judge.

But that is not who we, as a church, are.

So let’s lift up what’s been our experience of the Adventist faith- they are deeply rooted, spiritually filled Christians who feel called to honor God through the way they work, the way they rest and the way they eat.

Anyone is welcome to worship at an Adventist Church but if one chooses to join, there is a profession of faith that speaks clearly about sabbath and the consumption of certain foods.

What we’ve experienced is that our Adventist Sisters and Brothers are some of the most loving, faithful, and authentic people there are.

They embrace their faith to offer wholeness, healing, and to bring people closer to God. We see this at the Adventist Hospital. We experience this each week through Ari and Carnide.

I have yet to see an Adventist point a finger and tell me what I must or must not do.

So that is how we are invited to engage today’s scripture and to think about what Jesus is trying to teach us.

Let’s set the stage- Jesus is out and about, all over the countryside.

He’s going to the small towns, he’s going to the farms; he’s going to the Piggly Wiggly and he’s going to Homer’s Buffet.

After his hometown humiliation, Jesus has shaken the dust off his feet, and people are hungry for his hands-on ministry.

He’s fed over 5,000 men, women and children. He’s healed so many sick.

Everywhere he goes folk are clamoring for his compassionate care, bringing the sick to where he’s at.

The leaders of the Temple hear about this, so they leave their big city offices in Jerusalem and travel to whatever Podunk town Jesus is in.

They see the ministry the disciples and Jesus are doing. They see the hungry being fed; they see the sick being healed…

…and instead of saying “Good job, Jesus!” or “Way to go!”,

instead of rewarding them with a dinner at Olive Garden or a spa package to Hammock Falls, they say-

“Ummmm, Jesus….why is there dirt under your fingernails? And why are the hands of your disciples covered with motor oil?”

The scribes with their Blue-tooth earpieces and the Pharisees with their finely tailored robes, are looking at the overalls and sweatstains and the farming implements of the common folk, and instead of saying to Jesus

“Job well done!”,

they run a white glove over the table to see if there’s any dust, and look with disgust at the jelly jars and chipped plates being used for their well-deserved lunch break.

And if you notice, if you are willing to see Jesus as living within human skin with human emotions,

Jesus responds in a way that can seem abrupt, and a bit like a clap-back.

It’s like Jesus ready to start a fight.

If Jesus was a woman, you can almost see him taking off his earrings and stepping out of his high heeled shoes.

If Jesus was playing pool at the Yogi Bar, you could see him turning to his friend and saying, “Hold my beer.”

Except instead of Jesus using his fists or a pool stick, he uses his words.

He says to them “The prophets of the past were right about you. You like to think you’re worshipping God, but you really don’t care about the ways of heaven-

You’d rather pass judgement, bend the rules so you don’t have to care for anyone else but yourself.

You’d rather worry about what ordinary folk eat then about your own greed, ego, and acts of injustice.”

Please note- in no way is Jesus condemning Judaism, the Kosher laws, or belittlingly anyone who chooses to follow the commandments.

What Jesus is saying to this particular group of individuals who purposely left the state capital so they could pass judgement is this-

“If you want to follow the handwashing codes, then follow them. If you want to keep Kosher, keep Kosher.

But do not come and judge others when you yourself are unable to do what you are so demanding of,

and don’t act like you are above anyone else in our community when you are constantly finding loopholes that get you out of doing what is just and kind.”

Jesus uses his words, calls upon the religious teachings of the past, and speak in such a way that says everyone is imperfect, everyone has stuff to work on, everyone has sides and shadows to them that they’d be better off without.

In a way, it’s like Jesus is coming to all of our defenses, saying

“Hey, no one has it all figured out, no one is perfect, so let’s stop the hate and let’s stop the judging.”

You work on you. She work on she. He work on he. And let God work within all of us.”

There’s also another part of today’s reading: there is a Pharisee and a scribe that lives within in each of us.

As theologian Lamar Williamson, Jr. states - in every religious community there are those who “come from Jerusalem” and everyone has “Jerusalem” tendencies. (Mark, 1983, pg. 136)

What this means is that every one of us comes to worship with certain expectations and certain rules about what is right, what is wrong, what is moral, what is ethical.

It may be about the proper way to light the candles, the attire of the preacher, the way children are to behave, the number of verses we sing of a song, if you sit or if you stand.

There is not necessarily a right or a wrong to that answer, but more like-

how does this shape your relationship with God, how does this affect your treatment of others?

Do you yourself talk the walk and walk the talk?

Or it is just a way to deflect attention from your own salvation’s work?

Jesus is on the move; Jesus can not be contained, and Jesus continues to prod us beyond our comfort zone-

What makes us holy?
What makes us unclean?

What makes us human?
What makes us Citizens of Heaven?

What work do we need to do on ourselves?

How can we celebrate the work of others?

These are questions no one else can answer, but God and ourselves.

Let us say “Amen.”