WORSHIP THAT IS PURE AND UNDEFILED
James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-23 - 14th Sunday after Pentecost — August 29, 2021
Pastor Ritva H Williams
This Sunday we begin a series of readings from the letter of James, the brother of our Lord. Pairing these with our gospel lessons is like listening in on Jesus and his brother talk about faith. How cool is that!
You are probably familiar with James 1:26-27: If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
What’s intriguing about these verses is that James doesn’t use the world religion, he actually uses the Greek word threskeia which means worship or service to God. So let’s read these verses again as James wrote it.
If any think they are worshipping God, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their worship is worthless. Worship that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
So you might be wondering what are we doing here this morning? Isn’t this a worship service? Let me suggest that what happens in this space on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings is not so much about us worshipping God as much as it is about God’s worship. God chooses human beings to present God’s love, devotion and commitment to us. Together in this place we meet God in word and sacrament, confess how we’ve messed up, hear God’s words of forgiveness, consolation, promise, and inspiration, receive sacraments that nourish and energize us, sending us into the world to worship and serve God and Christ in our neighbor. What happens here is meant to change how we live when we walk out those doors.
Jesus’ conversation with the Pharisees from Jerusalem highlights how human beings are confused about faith and worship. The group from Jerusalem complains that some of Jesus' disciples eat with defiled, unwashed hands in violation of the tradition of the elders. Please note these folks are “from Jerusalem” — the big city. They live in a world of public fountains, baths, and sewers, where the elite live in homes with running water and private baths. Washing hands, cups, pots, kettles and stuff bought in the marketplace is relatively easy. For these urban elites, washing becomes a purity practice (we might say a spiritual practice) which they adopt to avoid being stained by the world. They believe it will keep their worship pure and undefiled. But not all Israelites have access to these amenities. For example, Jesus grew up in Nazareth a village without running water or sewers. There were only two small immersion pools for public, shared use. Because washing up was more difficult in small hillside villages, it was optional, and not something used to judge the purity of a person’s faith or worship. Jesus calls these Pharisees hypocrites, engaging in useless worship. They talk a lot about God and purity, focus on an external purity practice that is easy for them and use it judge others regardless of whether they have access to water. Jesus says the Pharisees have it all wrong, what really defiles a person is the evil intentions hiding in their hearts.
This morning Jesus delivers a word of rebuke that challenges us to examine how we measure faith in ourselves and in others. What I hear Jesus saying is, do not judge another person’s faith and devotion to God based on a purity (or spiritual) practice that makes you feel good — especially if the person you are judging does not have equal access to the things needed to engage in that practice. In fact, you have no business judging other people’s faith at all. Pay attention to your own heart, your own motives and intentions, “for it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come.” This is not good news for any of us.
This morning it is James the brother of our Lord, who delivers the good news. We started with verses 26-27, let me now go back to the beginning of chapter one. James encourages Christ-followers who are suffering difficult, prolonged trials and challenges. He insists these trials produce endurance and help us become mature and whole (1:2-4). James writes, “Don’t let anyone under pressure … say, ‘God is trying to trip me up.’ God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one’s way … (1:13-16). This is where our reading picks up with James declaring, “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down the Father of lights” (1:17).
Hear the two brothers in dialogue:
Jesus: evil intentions emerge from the human heart. All human beings are simultaneously perpetrators and victims of the evil that emerges from human hearts and is codified in cultural traditions.
James: so don’t blame God for the challenges and trials you are suffering. God gives only good gifts. That is good news item #1. God gives only good gifts.
James’ goes on, explaining that the God who gives only good gifts gave us birth — we are inherently good too. That’s good news item #2. Our lives have a purpose. We intended to become like “first fruits” — the gift that maintains and supports all of God’s creatures. To become that gift we have some growing up and learning to do: be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger. Since anger does not produce righteousness, it needs to be weeded out of our hearts together with all the other evil intentions Jesus talks about. To accomplish this God has given us the gift of the implanted the Word. As we receive that gift with humility it literally saves and heals our souls of the evil we do and are victims of.
That’s good news item #3. God has planted in every human heart the word (the Christ) who can nourish our souls and energize us to be doers of the word. “Doers who act … will be blessed in their doing.” What is the doing that blesses us? Caring for the most vulnerable members of the human community — the orphans and widows in their distress. God has given us all the good gifts we need to do this. May today’s gathering in this place lead us to take our worship “From Sanctuary to Street” as expressed in this prayer poem by Pastor John van de Laar (www.sacredise.com)
Here in this sanctuary,
we remember, O God, your gift of life to each of us;
and we seek to carry it to the streets –
wherever there is death and violence
wherever there is grief and loss.
Here in this sanctuary,
we remember, O God, your invitation to belong and find shelter;
and we seek to carry it to the streets –
wherever there is loneliness and rejection
wherever there is homelessness and people are displaced.
Here in this sanctuary,
we remember, O God, your reign of justice and righteousness;
and we seek to carry it to the streets –
wherever there is lawlessness or tyranny
wherever there is corruption and oppression.
Here in this sanctuary,
we remember, O God, your sacrifice of love and mercy;
and we seek to carry it to the streets –
wherever there is hatred and evil
wherever there is hopelessness, regret and guilt.
Here in this sanctuary, where we remember all that you have done for us, O God,
we remember also your call to live what we sing and pray.
And so we commit ourselves again
to carry [y]our worship from the sanctuary to the streets in Jesus’ Name.
Amen.
