Outside or Inside
Mark 7:1-8, 14-23
Rev. Dr. Mary Alice Mulligan
After spending five weeks digesting the lengthy Bread Discourse in the 6th chapter of the Gospel of John, now we move back to this year’s lectionary Gospel, Mark, with his condensed style, quick movements, and frequent sense of urgency. Probably Mark writes for Christians who are under suspicion as a group of religious weirdos, whose leader was considered a threat to Roman occupation. Since Mark explains many of the Jewish customs Jesus discusses, we believe congregations who first receive Mark’s writings are non-Jewish converts to Christ. Like most of us, they are gentile Christians. Today’s reading moves quickly through several scenes, raising a number of crucial ideas. Jesus, in typical Markan fashion, wants us to catch the importance of what he is saying, now. These ideas are to help us be more mature, right now.
The scene opens with a typical interaction between top religious thinkers who want to better understand the faith. It’s true, Pharisees often get a bad rap, as if they are religious charlatans. But they are actually committed to pleasing LORD Yahweh; wanting to make every decision in light of God’s torah commands. Common practice in the first century is for rabbis and scholars to argue over God’s law, hoping their conclusions will help both sides be more faithful. Jesus calls the Pharisees to a higher sincerity because he knows they want to please God. They want to be corrected, even though his response sounds harsh to us. Jesus’ strong words do not mean the ones he addresses are bad people. The Gospels are written for us to hear those strong words and take them to heart.
First, a quick explanation of the word “defiled.” It does not mean sinful; it means just not having been ritually cleansed. On this occasion, some of Jesus’ disciples skipped a hand washing ritual. From the 7th chapter of the Gospel of Mark, listen for the word of God.
Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly 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 human precepts as doctrines.’
You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”
Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”
When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, “Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Outside things matter. What we do with the outside of our bodies makes a difference. Jesus claims external things cannot defile a person, cannot make a person ritually unclean, but they do make a difference. We know the risks of putting unhealthy food in our bodies. What a person imbibes can affect their health. Cigarettes, lots of alcohol, fried foods, big, globby, desserts – such things going into a body on a regular basis are dangerous. And truth be told, non-food things going in can be unhealthful, too. Most would agree for instance, a diet of pornography is not good for anyone. But not just smutty books and videos. Movies that glorify violence; books whose plotlines focus on getting even with someone; television programs that award the person who is most devious, most deceptive, especially shows advertised as being “reality.” Putting such garbage in a body is harmful. Obviously these things are not true food or healthful entertainment.
But Jesus is not just talking about putting external things inside. He is specifically talking about performing rituals mindlessly. Rituals we perform are important. We hope when people say their wedding vows, for instance, they are taking the words very seriously and intend to keep those promises made to each other and to God. Jesus criticizes when ritual is performed for show and does not indicate true religious commitment. People can go through a ritual without paying attention to what it is supposed to mean. Jesus quotes scripture that such people are honoring God with their lips when their hearts are far away. Remember too people in the 1st century believed the heart was the place of decision making and thinking, so we would say they are honoring God with their words but their minds are not seriously committed. Most people go through rituals in an effort to connect with God, to make serious vows, and to honor God with their hearts, minds, and bodies. But we know, sometimes people merely perform. We believe our external behavior should be meaningful. Outside things matter.
But real commitments come from inside. Who we are is revealed by what we do and say. Our inside self is manifest externally. Jesus says the source of our words and actions is our heart, which we would translate again as our mind. So, our words and actions have their source in our own thoughts, choices, and motives. Our internal being determines what comes out. If we take Jesus’ teachings seriously, they shape who we are inside, so our externalized actions reflect who we claim he is. Jesus calls his followers to an alternative way of living – not following society’s guidance, but following the ways of God. Society may say “The one who dies with the most toys wins,” but we can be pretty sure accumulating more stuff is not important to Jesus Christ. Nor is carrying out every religious ritual or rule.
In one congregation, a deacon went to the pastor to complain about a young woman in worship in a tank top, with several tattoos. The pastor asked what the problem was, adding “Are we trying to teach who Jesus is or are we trying to keep certain people out? Probably God would prefer people with tattoos spend time inside the church rather than out.” Such complaints come from our willfulness, our choices, in other words, our hearts. Jesus seems concerned with our living out of the vision of God’s future where everyone has enough, where respect is granted each precious person, and where generosity and joy are universal. Living out of who we are on the inside is the key.
But what does that look like in real life? Simple examples happen all the time, like when something surprises us – someone cuts us off in traffic or a grandchild drops a treasured bowl. What pops out from our inner self? More importantly, we need to ask what internal resources we tap when our own desires arise, when the words we heard so casually a few minutes ago – evil intentions, theft, avarice, deceit, adultery, envy, pride, slander – suddenly describe an action of our own. Can we tap into what God is shaping within us? We must admit, our actions, our commitments, come from who we are inside.
And here’s the goal. God’s resources bless everyone. As we get filled with holy guidance, we see how everyone benefits. If the one thing we choose to be filled with is God’s will for creation, then our actions support God’s future. When our actions come from telling the truth, keeping our pants zipped, cheering for someone else’s success in life, our hearts and minds are becoming engines for living out of a holy generosity and restraint in our lives. And when our motives are godly, everything gets blessed. That’s the planned future. God wants each person to understand, the well-being of each of us is interconnected to the well-being of everyone else. Get it? The more each person is generous, the more each person has. The more forgiveness we spread around, the more wholeness and joy exist. God establishes this openhanded vision because God wants the best for the whole world. Divine guidelines shape who we are on the inside, change our hearts (our decision making), so what comes out of us blesses everyone.
We could think of the whole human race as a family taking a road trip together. Anyone who has taken a family vacation knows the possibility of chaos in the car – “Make him stop looking at me.” “She’s got her Legos on my side.” “Don’t make me stop this car.” In most cases, these squabbles are petty. What Jesus might call folly. However, if instead each family member considers the well-being of all the others, immediately the atmosphere in the car alters. Not merely the ugliness stops; actual pleasure arises. So we can think of the car as the world and the family as everyone God created. Jesus calls us to pay attention to the well-being of each family member. Scripture tells us: God, so loved [what?] the world, that the Creator took on human limitations to be able to interact intimately with us, to teach us how to live from joy and blessings, where everyone has enough because each one is attentive to the needs of the least and the well-being of all. That’s the plan. Jesus’ teachings change people on the inside, so all creation can be blessed.
For sure, life is enriched by rituals and rules that keep our Legos on our side of the car. But eventually we learn that rituals and rules don’t make us holy. They do help shape our inner being. Following Jesus changes our hearts, our minds; helps us make right decisions; clarifies the proper motives for taking this human trip together so that God can bless us through each other with love and joy and fulfillment through Jesus Christ.