Listen to Sermon
Pastor Tom Johnson, September 2, 2018
Part of me is with the Pharisees. I’m all for washing our hands before we eat, washing cups and pots and copper vessels and vacuuming dining couches. The Pharisees were minimizing rodents, bugs, and germs. But when Jesus’ disciples come for dinner, they wrap their grubby fingers around their cups. They grab their polished copper vessels with their grimy hands. They put their dirty feet all over their spotless dining couches. The Pharisees and Scribes are not just offended by these disciples bad manners. They are offended by Jesus because he has not taught them to follow the tradition of the elders. Jesus does not make them wash their hands before supper.The Pharisees and Scribes might have pointed to the Scriptures. In both Exodus and Leviticus the priests are instructed to wash their hands and feet ritually. They are even threatened with death if they don’t. These are commandments for priests. But they want to apply it to everyone. “If God wants the Levites to ritually clean their hands in the Temple,” the elders thought, “wouldn’t it be good for us to clean our hands in our homes? Seems pretty harmless, doesn’t it, to follow the tradition of the elders? The problem is that rather than it being a voluntary act of piety, they make it into a rule and a tradition—and even worse—they measure peoples’ devotion to God according to this human commandment.
And so the Pharisees and Scribes ask Jesus, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” “What sort of Rabbi are you anyway, Jesus? Why do your followers act like uneducated and irreverent men?” Jesus says 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.” “God had you in mind, religious leaders, when Isaiah wrote those words generations ago. Your washing and polishing may brighten your cups and vessels, but there is still a stain on your soul. Your hands may look clean but you ignore your unclean hearts and spirits.”
What I believe bothers Jesus so much is not the washing, polishing, and sweeping before they eat—it is their judgmental attitude toward others—it is measuring people’s religiosity and placing people into categories. By their focus on tradition, they have twisted the Word of God. By their attention to rituals and rubrics, they no longer know what true worship is. If Jesus thought Isaiah’s words were God’s Word for the Pharisees and Scribes generations later, we should hear the same warning for ourselves: Do not put human tradition above God’s commands. Sadly, in Canada and the United States, some Christians tried to “civilize” Native Americans by cutting their hair, requiring certain clothing, and prohibiting their native languages. A few generations ago, many of our churches prohibited dancing and skirts above the knee. A few years ago, I was asked by a visitor what kind of Lutheran church this is. I said, “It is the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.” She responded, “You mean the Misery Synod? We called it that because they wouldn’t let us dance!”
Today, we have churches and pastors publicly endorsing political candidates. Or we might question the authenticity of someone’s faith if they are not as passionate as we are about one cause or another. Or we put unnecessary obstacles in the way of people freely coming to worship with us whether they are written, spoken, or unspoken. People are smart. They know when they are not welcome. We do not even need to say what is in our hearts.
Years ago I was talking with one of our church leaders about a controversial issue. “Tom,” he said, “this is what you do.” And he grabbed a Bible and slapped it on his desk. He pushed the Bible toward me slowly and said, “Show me. Show me where it is forbidden or where it is commanded.” Jesus was harsh with the Pharisees because they were making a mountain out of a mole hill—majoring on minors. And even more importantly, they were holding people back from understanding God’s grace. What really matters is true worship—not what we do for God but what he has done for us.
True worship is not washing our hands before supper. True worship is receiving God’s tremendous gifts in our grubby little hands. True devotion is not polishing copper vessels. True devotion is filling these clay vessels with his true Body and Blood. True faithfulness is not vacuuming off the couches so that we can sit rightly before God. True faithfulness is God washing us with the Word and the waters of Holy Baptism. So leave other people’s dirty hands alone. Allow your Christian friends to vote for the other guy. Don’t judge your sister or brother for their body art or their golf shirts. Don’t leave the commandment of God and the Good News of Jesus for the tradition of human beings. Things that we think are important—and they may be—should still not be an obstacle to people hearing the good news. There is a wide variety of human beings out there—with different perspectives, traditions, and cultures. Not all these differences are bad. But Christ did die and rise for all. It’s not our job to change them. It’s our privilege to tell them the Good News.
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