Doing the Word

Sermon for Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021
James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Last week, Ann and I drove to New York to see our daughter, Kathryn, and her fiancé, Sam. Years ago, I remember my parents visiting Ann and me and saying how much they appreciated getting to see us in our “natural habitat.”  I know what they meant.  Kathryn and Sam have a good life, and it’s a joy now to be able to picture them in their home.

But more than that, I was struck by the authenticity and purposefulness of their daily life.  Here’s a small example:  Sam drinks a lot of soda, and they both care deeply about stewarding God’s creation.  So they don’t buy soda in cans or bottles.  They make their own, with syrup and a carbonating machine on their countertop.  I didn’t know that was something you could do.  It may be a small thing, but small things are what make up our lives.  And I really admire people who are able to weave their daily decisions into a cohesive, integrated whole.

I doubt Jesus thought much about soda in cans or bottles, but I do think he wants our words and our actions to align.  In today’s Gospel reading, the guys with the answers, the religious authorities, are giving Jesus trouble because he and his disciples don’t follow all the rules of ritual purity.  Now, it would be easy, at this point, to launch into a self-righteous critique of Judaism in Jesus’ day, arguing that the religion was all about law rather than grace.  I don’t think that’s true, and it misses the point.  Yes, Jewish religious practice included lots of ritual.  But that was because those practices of holiness pointed to something bigger – the integration of who we are and how we live.  The Jewish people understood themselves to be set apart, an example to other nations of what life can be like when you walk daily in the ways of the one true God.  That’s what “holy” means – to be set apart for special use in accordance with God’s purposes.  So all those Jewish rules weren’t about rule-following.  They were about creating a framework by which a person’s day-to-day life could reflect God’s purposes for the world.  

But, because people are people, of course it was tempting for ritual purity to become an end unto itself.  And today, the Church faces that same temptation to focus on itself and its own life, getting wrapped up in, “What’s the right way to worship?”  Frankly, I don’t think Jesus cares much whether our worship is more or less ritualistic, higher or lower “up the candle,” as people in the Church of England put it – whether we cross ourselves, or wear vestments, or celebrate Eucharist at every service.  Instead, what Jesus cares about is being set apart for God’s use and God’s purposes. 

So, in the Gospel reading, Jesus confronts the religious leaders for failing to live the set-apart life their rituals were intended to shape.  It’s about authenticity – the need for our words and our actions to align, the need to be “doers of the word,” as the Letter of James puts it (1:22).  Because, Jesus says, what defiles us isn’t what goes in but what comes out.  What defiles us is our hypocrisy.

Well, if we’re human, and I think most of us are, then we’ve got work to do in aligning our words and our actions.  Now, that doesn’t mean we’re going to hell because we get it wrong sometimes.  Instead, I think Jesus wants us to look hard at ourselves and ask a question.  In fact, it’s your homework assignment for the week.  Ask yourself this:  “In my life, how are my words and my actions out of alignment?”

Here’s one I struggle with.  Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus says, “Give to all who ask of you” (Matthew 5:42, Luke 6:30).  I want to be faithful to that call, but I’m not.  I don’t give to everyone who asks of me.  In fact, on this question, we wrestle with authenticity as a congregation, too.  When people come to the church seeking financial assistance, we offer one-time help with utility bills.  That’s a good thing to do.  But if you don’t have a place to live, you probably don’t have a utility bill.  Of course, we also recognize that simply handing out cash would be problematic because, when you do that, more and more people tend to come and take it.  Recently, some of us have begun asking the question, “How can we provide a generous welcome for people in need without fostering dependency?”  We don’t have an answer yet, but I think the question is one we need to ask if we want our words and our actions to align. 

Here’s another holy question for us as a congregation.  The Church asks individuals to tithe – to give back to God 10 percent of what God gives us, as an outward and visible sign of gratitude for our blessings.  Does our congregation do the same – how close are we to giving away 10 percent of what we receive?  Well, the answer depends on how you slice and dice the giving.  We give our Outreach partners about 4 percent of our pledged income off the top.  We also give tens of thousands of dollars a year through individual parishioners’ gifts for special projects – support for the school in Haiti or Andie’s Pantry, that sort of thing.  Does that count toward a parish tithe?  I would love for us to answer this question by simply budgeting 10 percent of pledged income as direct giving to our Outreach partners – money that comes from all of us – and then see how much more we can give through individuals’ gifts.  It’s a work in progress; but this question of the congregation’s tithe is one we need to ask if we want our words and our actions to align.

Here’s another rich question of authenticity for us as a church.  Over the past couple of years, many of us have become increasingly concerned about honoring and lifting up Black lives.  I struggle with how to put that thought into practical action.  Well, recently, someone suggested to me a very concrete way to do that – by seeking out Black-owned companies for work the church needs to have done.  When we’re looking for a plumber, or a food truck, or lawn-care company, we could make a difference by hiring Black-owned businesses for that work.  How would we manage a policy like that?  I don’t know.  But it would be a good question to ask if we want our words and actions to align.

            I want to leave you with an example of what can happen when we ask holy questions like these.  As many of you know, we had a conversation over the past year about whether to fly a Pride flag at the church.  As I shared with you a few months ago, the decision was to put up the banners you see at HJ’s, which several of you have taken home in the form of yard signs:  “God loves all.  All means all.  Pass the peace.”  I think posting those signs has been a good and right thing to do – and it’s all the better when we then ask the question, “OK, what’s next?”  What’s our next step in aligning words and actions about how we’re called to love and serve and welcome all?

Well, last weekend, nine St. Andrew’s people served at the congregation’s booth at Pridefest, the first time we’ve taken part in a Pride event.  I don’t know all of what may come from our presence at Pridefest, but I do have a first-person report of the difference it made.

A stranger stopped by the St. Andrew’s booth, looked at the “pass the peace” sign and the church’s materials, and talked with parishioners who were walking the walk of loving people in our community.  This man grew up in Kansas City, though he now lives out of town; and his experience of “church” has been less than loving.  Here’s what the man had to say:

I went to a religious organization that sent me to conversion therapy when I was 15.  Part of the reason I left Kansas City was because I didn’t feel I could be who I am here safely.  It’s been a long journey finding my way back to God and to myself.  And now, I come across this sign [about God loving all].  And I started crying because [the sign’s message] wasn’t true when I grew up here.  So, for me to see a sign like this now is incredibly healing and something that needs to be shared.  So, if you’re out there and you’re queer or … nonconforming in any way, and you think that God doesn’t love you, that the universe doesn’t care about you – it’s not true….  Happy Pride!

This moment shows the difference it makes when our words and our actions align, when we live into Jesus’ vision of us as doers of the Word.  Living with integrity isn’t just about you pleasing God by practicing a good, holy life.  It’s about the effect that your good, holy, authentic life can have on others.  When you do the Word, you pass the peace.