From The Heart

Jesus had a lot of interesting interactions with the religious authorities of his day. Needless to say, he wasn’t popular with them, generally, and it sure seems like they looked for any opportunity to challenge and discredit him. To be fair, he certainly challenged them, questioned their authority and credibility and, to them at least, seemed to be undermining the laws and practices they were responsible for upholding.

The gospels don’t portray the pharisees in a very favourable light. It’s important to remember, though, that they had a difficult position, especially in an occupied country and not all of them would have been as bad as we interpret them. There are a few key stories where a religious leader is portrayed sympathetically.

Maybe not this one, though. There’s a story in Mark where some pharisees, as they so often do, question the behaviour of Jesus' disciples for not following the required rituals of the law. That is part of their job, after all. In this case, they noticed that some of Jesus’ disciples hadn’t washed their hands before touching food. According to “the tradition of the elders,” they were defiling themselves by their actions and they challenged Jesus on it.

That might sound like a minor cleanliness issue your parents taught you about when you were little - that suddenly became a much bigger deal in 2020 - but to the pharisees, the keepers of the law, it was a huge deal. And an opportunity to challenge Jesus.

But Jesus replies that the action itself, the tradition, is more important to them than what’s at the heart of it. And that's a common occurrence with the pharisees. They honour the action of the law, but their hearts are far from God. Jesus calls them hypocrites and quotes Isaiah’s saying that they honour God with their lips, but their hearts are far from God.

Jesus goes on to point out that it's not what goes in our mouths that defiles, it's what comes out of our mouths: hurtful words, harmful intentions and unkind, untruthful behaviour. Well, Jesus' list (according to Mark) was a little bit more specific: "fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly" (Mk. 7:21-22).

Jesus was likely addressing Jewish law and tradition, something we should definitely extend to the traditions and practices of the modern church and temple. Are we living the truth at the heart of what we do? Are living what’s at the heart of the Word we share? 

It’s just as important, though, to point out that, everyday, the news is full of everyone from politicians to celebrities, leaders to ordinary folks on the street, spouting all sorts of words and intentions that defile. You might also encounter it more personally. Take a moment, please, and remember that it’s important to be patient, listen, be discerning and ask thoughtful questions in order to best understand what is true and from the heart. We also want to remember to apply all of that to our own words.

I often refer to something Stephen Covey said: we don't listen to learn, we listen to respond. Likewise, I think we speak simply to be heard rather than share wisdom or a kind and supportive word.

Words of wisdom, kindness, compassion and, most of all, love, are a place to start.  Being doers of those words - being doers of The Word - builds up, strengthens and honours ourselves and our relationships.