Brief synopsis of the Readings: Near the beginning of the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy we find Moses speaking to the people shortly before their entrance to the Promised Land. Moses implored them to follow the statutes and degrees given by God. Their obedience will “provide them with wisdom and show others that they are a wise and intelligent people.” In Mark’s Gospel several Pharisees noticed that some of Jesus’ followers didn’t follow the rules about washing (purifying) their hands before eating and asked Jesus about it. Jesus, quoting the prophet Isaiah, told them: “This people pays me lip service but their heart is far from me. Empty is the reverence they do me because they teach as dogmas mere human precepts.” He then gathered those around him and reminded them that nothing that enters us from outside makes us unclean but instead those things that come out of us: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly.”
Every now and then it seems that a politician who identifies as Christian will demand that the 10 Commandments be placed in a courtroom, or a school, or a public square. They implore us that if we just follow these directives all will be will, both in ourselves and in our society. I have to confess that when I hear this I experience some mild nausea.
Understand that I’m not criticizing the 10 Commandments or attempting to say that they aren’t important, only that they are not enough. We read about these Commandments in the 20th Chapter of Exodus (the 2nd book of the Bible) but that’s far from the end of the rules we need to follow. Fun fact: Exodus 21 gives instructions on how a man may sell his daughter into slavery.
By the time of Deuteronomy (the 5th book of the Bible) there were hundreds of rules to follow. Orthodox Jews to this day continue to debate the meaning of these rules. And as a matter of fact Biblical scholars during the time of Jesus did the same thing. They spent much of their lives reading, praying over and discussion these passages. And we can imagine their outrage when Jesus’ disciples violated purity rules right in front of them.
This is one of those times when I’m grateful they didn’t have YouTube then. Jesus would have been hounded on social media about whether or not those disciples should be expelled and condemned. And no thoughtful discussion of this would have been possible.
But that’s what Jesus did, albeit forcefully. I love the line from Isaiah: “This people pays me lip service but their heart is far from me.” In other words they follow the letter of the law and ignore the values that these rules are supposed to serve.
Whenever we set up rules, or law, or whatever, we do this as a way of encouraging or demanding behavior and laying the groundwork for a loving relationship among ourselves. We write laws so that people will love and prosper. But our best attempts at legislation falls short in the end.
When I was a senior in high school (lo these these many years ago) I took calculus. I had no interest in a future in mathematics but my friends took and so did I. One day we were working on problems and the teacher told us that we couldn’t work together or refer to our notes. He did this in the hopes that this would help us master the material. Being fairly smart and imaginative we recognized that he did not prohibit us from referring to each other’s notes. In truth we didn’t do this because we had more integrity than that, but we enjoyed recognizing that we found a way around the rules.
Rules should provide us not just with an opportunity for obedience to the rules, but instead with an opportunity to become faithful and loving. And that’s the rub: as we read the Gospels we find time and again Jesus’ frustration with the Pharisees and scribes, not because they don’t know the rules but that they think simple obedience fulfills what God wants for us. To this day many of us pray before eating not only because God wants us to do this, but instead because it calls us to recognize that we have a meal because of God’s generosity. But we also recognize that we enjoy a meal because of the farmers who grew it, the laborers who prepared it, and those who brought it to our table.
Reciting the prayer without a strong sense of gratitude devalues the prayer. When I was a priest I always made a point of praying in thanksgiving for “all those whose generosity made this meal possible.” Because let’s be honest: I ate only because of those who placed money in the collection basket each Sunday.
But these prayers hold no meaning without the gratitude that followed. We are all called to follow the rules, but even a small child can follow rules. As adults we are called to more. We are called to a faith that sometimes takes our focus elsewhere, even if the rules suffer.
As a hospice chaplain I cared for many patients who, at the end of their life, no longer needed to micromanage their diabetes. Because of their diagnosis they could enjoy things that had been off limits for years and even decades. I had one patient who loved ice cream and would enjoy a bowl of it in the middle of the afternoon. One day his 8 year old grandson visited and was horrified to see that he was “eating sweets before dinner” which was against the rules.
It took a while but we were able to explain that loving life and enjoying God’s gift of flavor meant that sometimes Grandpa could break the rules.
I don’t worry about 8 year olds who struggle with this, but I do worry about adults who do. As we journey from babies to toddlers to children to teenagers to adults we are called, not only by God but by nature, to develop mature understandings of our world. But I find myself surrounded by those who refuse to do that with our faith.
They insist that those who believe in evolution are condemned because Genesis describes a world that was created in 6 days 6000 days ago. They tell us that belief in vaccines shows God that we don’t trust in his ability to protect and heal us. They tell us that ignorance of what we’ve learned through science provides our only path to salvation.
At the end of the day I’m not opposed to following rules. I do that every time I stop at a red light or a stop sign. But if we live in love and faithfulness, the obedience will take care of itself.
And let’s face it: Heaven is ruled by love, not rules. But wash you hands often. During COVID it’s important.
Tom Allain's Thoughts and Musings 