Sidney UMC - Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost - 08/29/21 - Sermon - “Dirty Hands Vs. Dirty Souls” (“Feeding the Body and the Soul” - Series: Part 5 of 5)

Sunday 08/29/21 - Sidney UMC 

Sermon Title:                “Dirty Hands Vs. Dirty Souls”

                    (“Feeding the Body and the Soul” - Series: Part 5 of 5)

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9                                     

New Testament Scripture: James 1:17-27

Gospel Lesson: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

          I remember sometimes when I was kid, we would have a nice Sunday family dinner. As a typical kid, I liked to play outside and get dirty sometimes. To come to mom or grandma’s dinner table however, you better have washed up before you come to the table. If I attempted to come to the dinner table dirty or with dirty hands, I would not have made it to the table. In fact, if I tried that I might not be standing here right now.

          It was not that me being clean made me a better person, it was more that if I got the table, the linens, or other parts of the table dirty, then that would be bad. It also showed respect to my mom, my grandma, and my family. Washing our hands, our face, and behind our ears was showing love and respect. I never did figure out why we cleaned behind our ears, as I cannot see my ears getting the dinner table dirty. That’s a whole different conversation, however!

          Having our hands, our faces, and behind our ears washed was not something that I learned in Sunday School. It was also not something that my parents taught me that God wanted from me, but it was more part of the culture or the tradition of my family. We washed up for dinner, as did and do many families. It was good hygiene, and it made sense. When I was younger, we also had to finish the food on our plate, and sometimes we asked to be excused from the dinner table. The whole thing about not talking as kids during dinner, was sure not the case at my house. We were always a chatty and jolly bunch.

          It was important, as I said, in my family to wash up for dinner, but whether we did this or not was not a reflection on us as a person. If I did not wash up, my family would not say that God was mad at me, but they sure might have been. It was not required by God, but it was part of the culture and the tradition of my family.

          A couple of summers ago, Melissa and I hosted a teacher from Japan at the church parsonage for a month. It was a great experience! I ate a lot more rice, I learned to bow as a sign of respect, Melissa was given a Kimono to wear, and I learned that most Japanese people do not wear their shoes in the house. In fact, most Japanese people take off their shoes at the door and put slippers on in the rest of the house. Does anyone here have a take your shoes off at the door policy at your house? When I do visits, I try to remember to ask if I should take off my shoes at the door. I do not think taking off your shoes at the door is biblical, but it is part of some cultures and traditions.

          I have also always enjoyed officiating weddings where “the bride to be” had to have, as that that old rhyme goes, “Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue”. Certainly, a tradition that some still follow, like not seeing the bride until the marriage ceremony itself. None of these traditions are strictly biblical though. There might be some loose biblical references to them, but in general, it is culture, it is tradition. If we think about it, all of our families have elements of our culture and traditions that are not always required of us by God in the scriptures, but we have incorporated them into our lives.

          This is exactly what Jesus, and his disciples encounter in our gospel Mark reading for this morning. Before jumping into our gospel of Mark reading for this morning however, I want to recap this five-week sermon series, ending today, called once again, “Feeding the Body and the Soul”. In the gospel lessons that we have had for the past four weeks and today, we have parallels and connections between the realities here on earth, and the realities of God, or heaven.

          So far, we discussed the importance of sharing our faith in Christ with others, and also living out our faith through caring for the bodily needs of others. We talked about that while we are living on this earth, we should strive to be focused on God and heavenly things, more so than being focused on earthly things. We talked about how Holy Communion or the Lord’s Supper is both earthly and divine, as bread and juice, or bread and wine, become something holy and divine in Holy Communion, and bring us into the real presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Last Sunday we talked about looking at someone’s flesh versus someone’s spirit or their soul. Jesus is interested in our souls, much more than our bodies. God is interested in our hearts, our spirits, and our souls while so many on this earth are only focused on the flesh or the body. May we be focused on the internal beauty, the spirit, and the soul of a person much more than their outward appearance.

          This takes me to the final sermon of this five-week sermon series for this morning, called “Dirty Hands Vs. Dirty Souls”.  Like going to the dinner table, “Dirty Hands” are earthly, but “Dirty Souls” are of a divine nature. As a result, we have the same reality of this sermon series called, “Feeding the Body and the Soul”.

          So, what is worse then, “Dirty Hands” or a “Dirty Soul”? If we are clean, if we are well groomed, and if we dress fancy, but do not know Christ, and do not love others, we look great on the outside, but are dark and unloving on the inside.

          It is interesting then that we read in Psalm 45:2  

² You are the most handsome of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore, God has blessed you forever (Ps. 45:2, NRSV).

          This imagery in Psalm 45, of the Messiah, of Jesus, seems to indicate that the Messiah, that this Jesus, will be good looking. More than this though, this scripture is discussing that this Messiah, this Jesus will abound in inner beauty and inner grace. Jesus will be perfect inside and out.

          In our reading from the Book of James from this morning, it says in James 1:26-27 once again:

²⁶ If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. ²⁷ 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 (Jas. 1:26-27, NRSV).

          So again, there is what we believe, and there is what we do. What is better, “Dirty Hands” or a “Dirty Soul”? If we come to the dinner table physically clean, but morally and spiritually dirty, which one is worse?

          This is what Jesus encountered once again in our gospel of Mark reading for this morning. In looking at our gospel of Mark reading for this morning once again, it says starting in 7:1:

7 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) (Mk. 7:7-4, NRSV). 

 

          The practice of hand washing, washing food, and washing dishes and cookware is very much part of the historical Jewish tradition and culture. These practices, however, are not strictly listed in the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible. I think that being clean and sanitary are great things. During the Middle Ages in Europe sometimes when an episode of Black Plague or Bubonic Plague would break out, Jews were sometimes blamed and persecuted for supposedly causing the plague. This, among other reasons, happened because often Jews were washed and were cleaned, so they did not get sick as much. This was mis-construed that the Jews were poisoning others, when they really just washed more, and were often more sanitary. This being said, and while washing and being sanitary is a good thing, these are not direct biblical laws from God.

          The gospel of Mark reading for this morning continues on saying:

 

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 honors 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” (Mk. 7:5-8, NRSV).

 

          Jesus and his disciples have not committed a sin, nor have they dishonored God, instead they have broken with the culture and the tradition. When it comes down to it though, what is more important the laws of God, or tradition? Jesus says what is in our hearts and what is in our souls is more important than the traditions that we have. Jesus tells the Pharisees and the scribes that they are correct that some of Jesus disciples are eating with dirty hands. Yet, while the Pharisees and the scribes have clean hands, Jesus accuses them of trading God for tradition. Jesus is telling them that they have taken their own traditions and placed them above God’s laws. It is good to have clean hands, but it is more important to have God in your heart and your soul. This is why my sermon title for this morning is called “Dirty Hands Vs. Dirty Souls”.

          If I were to come to church this morning with incredibly dirty hands then, it would be seen probably as inappropriate and not good. Yet, I would not have offended God, broken any of God’s laws, or hurt anyone. Our tradition would say it is wrong though. In general, it is good to wash your hands, but dirty hands should not take the place of the value and the love that we and God has for a person.

          In fact, Jesus ends this gospel lesson for this morning by saying once again:

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.” (Mk. 7:14-15, 21-23, NRSV).

 

          So, Jesus doesn’t mean never wash your hands or eat anything at all no matter how crazy it is, but what he is saying is that it is what is inside of you that counts the most. We can dress right, we can act right, we can wash right, and we can pretend to live right, but if we do not know Jesus, and if we are not pure on the inside, then we are little more than hollows shells that are beautiful on the outside, but are broken and fallen on the inside. We look holy, we act holy, we present as holy, but inside we are broken and sinful.

          If our hands are dirty, especially at mom or grandma’s dinner table, this is not good, but it does not mean that we are bad people. The Pharisees and the scribes were often looking to catch Jesus on the smallest and the most insignificant infractions, when they themselves worked so hard to look the part and act the part, but maybe did not live or believe in the part.

          You see, you can look like a Christian, you can act like a Christian, you can go to church, you can give, etc., but if you haven’t been changed by Jesus Christ, you are living what you believe on the outside, but you are still broken and dead on the inside. This is what “Dirty Hands Vs. Dirty Souls” is all about, and why the bible speaks so much on “Feeding the Body and the Soul”. When it comes down do it, it is what we believe, it is our faith, and it is what is in our hearts that matters the most. Our behaviors, our hand washing, our love, our giving, etc., should all flow from our hearts and our souls being changed by Jesus Christ. For through Jesus and his life changing love we can not only have “Clean Souls,” but we can also have “Clean Hands.” Amen.