Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus said, “Hear Me, all of you and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”  +In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.      
 
Law versus Grace has been perhaps the longest debate among Christians when it comes to living a live of discipleship. The argument generally boils down to two questions: Should I try to do all the right things? Or should I simply try to love God and let Him take care of the rest? And the answer is yes. Yes, I should try to keep all of God’s commandments, to do the right thing, and I should simply love God and let Him take care of my life. Both are true.

The problem that we get into, and Jesus points it out in today’s Gospel lesson from St. Mark, is that we have a disturbing tendency to turn God’s laws into a human legalistic religious system. And by trying to follow a man-made religious system, we end up with mere external obedience, and unchanged hearts.

Once again, we see that Jesus is confronted by the Pharisees, the members of a Jewish religious order that was highly respected by the people for their knowledge of the Law and for their diligent efforts to apply it to their lives. Here, we read them criticizing Jesus because His disciples did not strictly observe the ceremonial laws concerning cleanliness with respect to the washing of hands.

Jesus’ response is to chide the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. That is, Jesus points out that the Law of Moses does not require the strict regimen of handwashing that the Pharisees are promoting. What the Pharisees are advocating for is a tradition that was established by the Jewish elders. Furthermore, Jesus is asserting that in their calling out of His disciples, the Pharisees are revealing their own hypocrisy, because their hearts are not motivated by love for God, but by the desire to appear pure in the sight of others.

Jesus then cites a specific example of this. He reminds them of the commandment to “Honor your father and your mother,” and that they teach that those who do not do so are deserving of death. Yet, at the same time, Jesus reminds them that they have added a loophole: if you declare something “corban” or set aside for the Lord, you could withhold money from your parents, money that could be used to alleviate their suffering and poverty in their old age (After all, there was no Social Security back then). Thus, Jesus declares that in their effort to promote a human religious system, they are neglecting the commandment of God, pursuing worldly righteousness at the expense of godliness.

But Jesus doesn’t stop there. Jesus then addresses the whole realm of dietary laws. Now, we do find strict dietary laws in the Law of Moses (the first five books of the Bible). But a proper understanding of these dietary laws was the God was teaching the people of Israel obedience. That is, there is no moral reason for the Israelites to avoid eating pork or shellfish (though one could make a case for health reasons). In effect, God was telling the Israelites to avoid eating these foods out of obedience (because God said so). Now Jesus takes up this issue and tells the Pharisees that eating the wrong kind of food does not make you impure. Why, because all the food you eat is processed through your body’s digestive system and passed out of the body.

Jesus declares, ‘Hear Me, all of you and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” We are not defiled by the things that we eat, or even by the things that we see and experience around us. Rather, we are defiled by the things that come out of our hearts: in our thoughts, our words, and our actions. St. Mark writes, “Thus He declared all foods clean.”

Jesus then gives specific examples, saying, “For within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these things come from within, and they defile a person.”

What Jesus wants each of us to understand is that our task as disciples is to nurture and grow the life of God in our hearts and souls. We are to engage in activities that help us do that. That is the purpose of the spiritual disciplines; things like attending Mass, prayer, fasting, confession, works of mercy and service, evangelism, loving our neighbor as ourselves. All of this is meant to help us grow the life of God inside our hearts. It is meant to be the antidote to the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. So the best test of my spiritual maturity in Christ is not how many times a day that I pray, or how much I give to the poor or to the church, but it is best measured by the things that Jesus mentioned—evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. Do I have these things in my heart? Am I working to purge these from my spiritual system?

Ultimately, we need to remember that we are engaging in a spiritual war for our own souls. To that end, St. Paul exhorts us, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”

​+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.