James 1.17-27; Mark 7.1-8, 14-15, 21-23

James 1.17-27; Mark 7.1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Jesus’ dispute with religious authorities about food laws, rules for cleanliness, and practices of ritual purity might seem archaic to us, a subject for ancient biblical scholarship and nothing more. But his challenge to the religiously devout Pharisees and scribes touches on a matter relevant to any time and place. All societies have rules and practices about cleanliness, probably none more than ours. We teach children to sneeze in the crook of their arm. We are reminded that handwashing is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of germs and avoid getting sick. As for the washing of cups, pots, and kettles, I am sure you appreciate, as I do, that one of our fellow members who runs the dishwasher here during church events has a rule about silverware: if it goes out of the kitchen, it gets washed when it come back in. We like things clean and the assurance that things are clean.

Now without anti-bacterial soap, hand sanitizer, and disinfecting wipes, the biblical world had lots of practical wisdom to address this matter. You’ll find many of these measures in the book of Leviticus: quarantining sick people for a period of time, cleaning houses affected by mold, how to butcher and handle meat. Yet in today’s gospel reading, something more than external cleanliness is at stake. The Pharisees want to talk hygiene, but Jesus turns the subject to the internal condition of our lives. Something deep within us needs cleansing, more than a hand sanitizer can give. Jesus diagnoses the condition of the human heart.

“For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come,” says Jesus. Only why doesn’t Jesus name the good things that come from the heart? Because at another point in the gospel he tells us that the first and greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart. And don’t we often think that if something ‘comes from the heart’ it’s perfect? ‘You have to follow your heart,’ we say. ‘Follow your heart and your dreams will come true.’ That does, however, stand in stark contrast to the prophets and psalms that say, “The heart is deceptive above all things.” Perhaps Jesus wants us to give us a fuller picture of our human heart than we’re usual willing to see, a reality check, a 3-D echocardiogram of the spiritual condition of our lives. “Why can the world be such a miserable place?” asks Presbyterian pastor and social critic Tim Keller. “Why is there so much strife between nations, tribes, and classes? Why do relationships tend to fray and fall apart? It’s the self-centeredness of the human heart.” Today Jesus diagnoses us all, shows the depths of a problem that can’t be remedied by washing our hands.

In Christian thought, one of the classic definitions of the word ‘sin’ is to talk about the self-centeredness of the human heart; to picture our lives turned in on themselves. This is different than the specific sins Jesus names in the gospel: wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, and more. There are all merely symptoms of a deeper problem. Life ‘turned in on itself’ is that deeper problem, the very opposite of what the New Testament tells us when it says, “Look not to your own interests but to the interests of others.” Life turned in on itself is how the catechism in the Book of Common Prayer defines sin. “Sin is the seeking of our own will instead of the will of God, thus distorting our relationship with God, with other people, and with all creation.”

Why is there so much strife? Why do relationships tend to fray and fall apart? Jesus response is that “there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile.” Scrupulously scrubbing your fruits and veggies, or the desire to ‘eat clean,’ to make sure the food you eat is as close to its natural state as possible—valuable as that might be—will not, to use an image from Psalm 51, create a clean heart within us. “There is nothing outside the person that by going in can defile…for it is from within, from the human heart, that evil inventions come.” Now I’ll leave Jesus’ list of specific sins as symptoms of the condition of our heart to your own prayer and self-reflection, something for you to bring to the confession today; or, if you are so inclined, to individual and private confession so that you can hear a word of Jesus’ cleansing forgiveness for you. Jesus diagnoses our inwardly-turned heart to create in us a clean heart—a heart open to, and turned outward toward, God and others.

This is what the New Testament letter of James is doing, too, not only today but throughout the letter. James is the appointed second reading over the next five Sundays and, in the weeks to come, we’ll explore what he says. Of all the New Testament letters, James is the most practical. It’s filled with wisdom born of a life shaped by the words of Jesus. James says very little about Jesus but shows a deep and intimate familiarity with Jesus and his teachings. This New Testament letter often echoes what Jesus says, calls us as Jesus’ followers to put into practice the things we believe and not just pay lip-service to them. Christians are not just hearers of the word but “doers who act.”

Take, for example, what James says today, that the generous gifts that come to us from the “Father of lights” make us people of light. This reflects what Jesus once said, “Let your light shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Without good actions accompanying the good news, we forget who we are. We might recognize ourselves if we catch our reflection in a mirror, but not have any idea who we are or why we act the way we do. Better than looking at yourself in a mirror is looking outward to “the perfect law, the law of liberty.” Look to the steadfast faithfulness of God. And, in God, begin to see and learn the life you are meant to live, the person you are meant to be. This is who you are already now—born of God through the word of truth, says James. The heart of God makes your heart new.

Now none of what James lays out today, or in the weeks to come, is what you might call heroic. James lays out simple deeds worked out in practical ways, daily ways—caring for the poor and vulnerable, for example. Or in another very practical application heard today, “Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger, for human anger is never the means of achieving God’s goodness.” How much does that need application in our lives? Addison Hodges Hart, writing about this passage says, “More and more, it seems, [even] believers are mirroring the behaviors and moods of the world around them. There is a notable increase in coarseness, less patience and charitableness toward those with differing views, a cavalier tendency to judge and condemn others, negligence of the poor and people in need.” That’s stating the obvious. You’ve noticed, too, haven’t you? So what does James say about our speech, of not being mindful of it, of not bridling our tongue? When we don’t, we deceive our hearts. It’s an echo of Jesus diagnosing the internal condition of our life. From the heart comes envy, slander, pride, and folly. It’s not meant to be this way. In Jesus, our words are meant to be the fruit of life with God at the center of our being—God giving us a new heart so that we have a heart for others.

Jesus diagnoses the condition of our inwardly-turned heart to create in us a clean heart, a heart turned outward toward God and others in words and deeds of truth. It’s James saying, “Welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls,” James says today. Or Tim Keller, “Our hearts are more sinful and flawed than we will ever know. Yet by the cleansing grace of God in Jesus we are more loved and healed than we ever dared to hope.” Here is the answer to the prayer of Psalm 51, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Look to the steadfast faithfulness of God and, in God, begin to see and learn the life you are meant to live, remembering who you are and to whom you belong. Every generous act of giving, every perfect gift, is grace at work in and through you, your heart made clean and transformed by God.