WATCHWORD:
1 One day some Jewish religious leaders arrived from Jerusalem to investigate him, 2 and noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the usual Jewish rituals before eating. 3 (For the Jews, especially the Pharisees, will never eat until they have sprinkled their arms to the elbows, as required by their ancient traditions. 4 So when they come home from the market, they must always sprinkle themselves in this way before touching any food. This is but one of many examples of laws and regulations they have clung to for centuries, and still follow, such as their ceremony of cleansing for pots, pans, and dishes.) 5 So the religious leaders asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old customs? For they eat without first performing the washing ceremony.” 6-7 Jesus replied, “You bunch of hypocrites! Isaiah the prophet described you very well when he said, ‘These people speak very prettily about the Lord but they have no love for him at all. Their worship is a farce, for they claim that God commands the people to obey their petty rules.’ How right Isaiah was! 8 For you ignore God’s specific orders and substitute your own traditions.
14 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 15-16 Your souls aren’t harmed by what you eat, but by what you think and say!”
21 For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts of lust, theft, murder, adultery, 22 wanting what belongs to others, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, pride, and all other folly. 23 All these vile things come from within; they are what pollute you and make you unfit for God.” Mark 7:1-8, 14-16, 21-23 NLT
Meditation:
Rules of Worship
New York City painter Archie Rand likes to work big. He tackles big themes, like jazz in American culture and the history of the Jews. He paints very large pieces, including murals. And he likes to work in expansive series, like his collection of 54 paintings, one for each division, in the Hebrew text of the Torah. But nothing prepared the art world for “The 613,” his series, completed in 2008, of 613 paintings, one for each Jewish commandment.
I should mention that Rand has a sharp sense of humor. In a 2007 poll commissioned to promote an animated Christian movie, more respondents knew that “two all-beef patties” were in Big Macs than knew that “Thou shalt not kill” was a commandment. But there are more: From Genesis through Deuteronomy, there are a total of 613 commandments, as counted by medieval sages.
Examples of Rand’s artistic rendering of a few ancient Jewish Laws: #277 commands one to “redeem each firstborn donkey with a lamb given to the priesthood,” which Mr. Rand illustrates with a prosperous-looking burgher riding a forlorn donkey, perhaps on his way to deliver a lamb to the priest. #169 is “the high priest must not marry a widow,” which is dramatized by a cowering damsel, forlorn, it seems, that no priest will marry her. #500, “not to overcharge or underpay for an article,” illustrated with a buxom call girl lounging on a bed, reading a thick book, waiting for her john to arrive.
Clearly humor seasons Rand’s interpretation of those Jewish laws. For the ancient Jew, the Laws were important guide rails for living a sacred life. What would medieval sages make of the commandments, or laws, that modern Christians have thrown up to give guidance to our idea of worship? In the Mark passage we get the impression of conflict between our idea of Christian behavior and God‘s. It would be interesting to see Rand’s artistic interpretation of some of our “Rules of Worship”. How about the sanctity of “Pew Reservations”, the prohibition of women in the pulpit, frequency of Communion and who can receive the sacraments? Not to mention rules that seem to exclude certain groups.
Each “brand” of Christianity seems to have different commandments, different ways of worship; weekly, monthly, annual traditions; different understandings of Christian Education. Have you ever walked into a church, say while traveling, and felt as if you didn’t belong? That just isn’t right. That church is missing something important and it affects your worship of God.
Do you suppose we can count to 613 Christian laws? Probably. But having committed to #1 and #2, the remaining 611 mean nothing. Love the Lord your God and Love others as God loves us, just about covers it. Don’t you think? So be it.
Bulletin Board:
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Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, help us, as we worship You, to give our lives to You. We crave the peace and joy that we find in knowing that you love us and that our commitment to love all others as you have loved us is a measure of praise for You. instill in us the confidence, Lord, that you are in charge, that you love us, and you have a plan for our lives, and you have equipped us to accomplish that purpose. We offer our prayers in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
