Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Speaker A: This is Sundays with Bishop Ken.
Thanks for sharing some quiet time with the Lord.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: Today. Our guest reader is Fr. Burt Gome, a senior priest from the diocese of Saginaw in Michigan. Father Burt was a priest in the diocese when Bishop Ken was its shepherdess.
[00:00:33] Speaker C: A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark.
When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come up from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed hands for the Pharisees. And in fact, all Jews do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders.
And on coming from the marketplace, they do not eat anything without purifying themselves.
And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups, jugs, kettles, and beds.
So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders, but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?
He responded, well, did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites? As it is written, this people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. In vain do they worship me. Teaching as doctrines human precepts, you disregard God's commandment, but cling to human tradition.
He summoned the crowd again and said to them, hear me, all of you, and understand, nothing that enters from outside can defile that person.
But the things that come out from within are what defile from within people. From their hearts come evil thoughts on chastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within, and they defile the gospel of the Lord.
That's quite a list we hear at the end of today's gospel passage.
The catalog device was common in the literature of that time, and this specific list was probably put together by Mark. Rather than coming directly from the lips of Jesus, Mark wanted to give specific examples of the kinds of unclean things that come from inside of us.
Long lists like that have their place, but they aren't the sort of thing that helps us in the day to day living of our lives.
Basic principles that get to the heart of the matter are more helpful.
For example, a concert pianist can't think individually of all the notes she's playing, an e flat, an f sharp. Rather, she has the whole piece in her heart, and she plays it.
The same is true of the way our mothers and grandmothers cooked. They didn't worry about every detail of the recipe. They simply made the pie the way they knew how to make it.
So in living a good life, what is the heart of the matter?
What is the simple, uncomplicated principle that underlies it all?
Jesus gives us that quite clearly.
Nothing that enters one from outside can defile the person. But the things that come from within are what defile that is the key.
The jewish laws about being clean, that's what the word kosher means, were meant to remind them that they were God's people. Chosen, set apart.
So when they went into the marketplace and mixed with all sorts of people and perhaps touched food that had been offered to pagan gods, they purified themselves when they came home.
This reminded them that they were God's people. Chosen, set apart.
The purpose of all this was to remind them that they were to act differently.
But some of them got so wrapped up in the detailed rituals of cleansing themselves that they forgot the purpose of it all.
And of course, as sometimes happens, the religious leaders multiplied the rules on how to cleanse yourself, and it all got overly complicated.
I suppose it's something like going through all the complicated details of filling out an income tax form, and we forget that we're doing this because we love our country.
Jesus gets to the heart of it and reminds them that they should worry less about the non kosher food that comes into them and think more about the non kosher thoughts and actions that come out of them.
You and I can take a cue from this and ask ourselves the simple what comes out of me?
Out of my heart, my mind, my mouth, my actions?
Is it goodness? Or is it something not so good? It's that simple, and at times, it's that difficult.
We have to keep two thoughts in mind.
There are two great truths. We believe, and they're at the heart of our faith.
We must keep reminding ourselves of these truths and believe in them, so much so that they affect everything that comes out of us.
First, the cross.
The cross is our logo, our trademark, meant to characterize the christian life.
Jesus puts it very clearly, if anyone wishes to come after me, they must deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow me.
The cross means that we overcome evil by enveloping it with goodness.
Do I really believe this?
Am I up to it?
Which leads to the second great truth.
God is within us.
Again, Jesus put it very clearly, especially in John's gospel.
Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my father will love them, and we will come to them and make our dwelling with them.
Whoever believes in me, as scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from within them.
John then adds a footnote. He said in reference to John 737 38, we have God within us and it is the goodness of God that is meant to flow from inside us.
This gives new meaning to the words we heard in todays gospel.
Hear me, all of you, and understand.
Nothing that enters from outside can defile the person, but the things that come out from within are what defile.
We are meant to continue the work of Jesus, to make all things new, to bring about the salvation of others, the whole world.
How do we do this?
We do it by letting the goodness of God flow out like a river of living water, even in the face of evil.
Are we up to this?
Well, not on our own. But the Lord's presence within us makes it possible.
I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in them will bear much fruit. Because without me you can do nothing.
At the beginning of this homily I said that long lists aren't always helpful, but basic principles that get to the heart of the matter do help.
This is the heart of the matter.
In all circumstances, let God's goodness and only God's goodness come out of you.
It is a beautiful way to live.
You and I, daughters and sons of God, are called to nothing less.
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