Song of Solomon 2:8-13
Psalm 45:1-2, 7-10James 1:17-27
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
There is an anti-bullying
charity called Ditch the Label. A year ago that organization published a video
about the lies that people tell on social media.[1] These
are not “fake news” lies, but rather lies that people—even friends—tell one another.
One clip shows a young woman
jump out of bed in the morning to wash her face, fix her makeup, and return to
bed where she takes a picture—she posts it on social media to show that she
woke up like this, even though she did not. Another part of the video shows a
series of people making great life decisions like going on a bike ride, getting
organized at work, and drinking a healthy juice—except all of those pictures
were staged; they were all untrue. Still another clip depicts a group of
friends in their own little worlds on their individual smart phones at a
restaurant, then after they ask the waitress to take a picture of them
together, one posts the photo with the caption “quality time with friends”—really?
This video has been seen nearly
5 million times on YouTube, and it displays the all too popular trend of people
double-dealing on social media about what they are doing, or how they’re feeling,
or even who they are! We might recoil at the thought of doing this—lying about
how we’re having the best time ever sipping our Triple, Venti, Half Sweet,
Non-Fat, Caramel Macchiato or how we killed our crossfit workout this morning
or how we are living our best self, keeping it 100, or whatever the latest
expression of success is—still it is all too common for all of us to make small
edits to how we portray ourselves. Each and every one of us shields the
darkness that is inside, so that no one else sees it—and I do not mean in
virtual life, I mean in real life.
The hard truth is that you and I—that
we—all have dirt within us. No, I don’t mean because we have inhaled it during
construction. I mean all are broken inside. That’s not how we were made, but
this hard truth is quite apparent nowadays, especially in the reckoning that
society has been going through recently. Even the most trusted news anchors, even
the most beloved actors, and even the top church leaders within the Episcopal
Church and the larger church have this wickedness within them. You have come to
church today and that is awesome, but it doesn’t mean that you are exempt from
what I am saying. Even though I am standing here in this pulpit, I’m not
excused from it. We are not a gathering of pious saints better than everyone
else, no we are a group of recovering sinners just like everyone else.
I would love to tell you that
there is a silver bullet or a secret pill to stop you and me from causing
others pain or making mistakes or doing one of those things that Jesus listed
in today’s Gospel lesson, but that’s just not true. As someone wiser than me
recently wrote, “No law or tradition can protect us from the darkness that
lurks within our own hearts. We can try to project a squeaky clean image, but
one way or another, the evil within will find its way out. The highly edited
version of ourselves, the façade that we present to the world, will crumble
sooner or later.”[2]
These words ring so clearly of truth. And, they describe something that is not
new—not in the least bit. The Pharisees of long ago were all about this. Often Pharisees get beat up by preachers and good Christians alike. Horrifyingly though, we are more like them than we might know or admit. You and I are here because coming to Church brings us closer to God, it gives us a good foundation for building solid lives, and it provides us a way to say thank you to God. All of these things were true also of the Pharisees. When Jesus got so angry with the Pharisees in today’s Gospel lesson it wasn’t because they were faithful, nor was it because they thanked God, nor was it even because of their traditions, although often that’s what preachers talk about on days like today. No, Jesus was frustrated because even the most well-intended traditions, religious laws, and spiritual practices cannot cordon us off from the dangers that exist within our own souls.
If you and I are honest and not just focused on how we present ourselves to the outside world. If you and I instead see who we really are, then, we will see all those sinful behaviors in today’s Gospel not in someone else, but in ourselves. That’s right I will see fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly in myself and you will see it in yourself. We may not do those things, but the potential is there. No amount of editing on social media can take those things away. No law can protect us from them. Nor can even the best spiritual practices shield us from the darkness within us. Although religious traditions and healthy practices can be helpful in living our lives; they cannot do what God alone does—they cannot do what Christ Jesus makes evident.
Clearly the Gospel lesson from today is clouded with bits about the law, but Good News shines through it as well. Jesus clearly sees what lies within each of us. He sees all those things that exist in the darkness in us. And yet, he does not turn away. He could have run for the hills—or I guess to heaven—when he recognized that human beings were fallen, broken, and corrupted. But, that’s not what he did. Even when we edit ourselves online and in real life Jesus knows our truth—what resides in the hidden recesses of our hearts, what pictures we lied about on social media, and what sins we cannot help but fall into. And even knowing all this, Jesus loves us still. He loves us always. Jesus most obviously showed this in his actions of including the outcasts, loving the unlovable, and reaching out to the unreachable. The most religious, the least religious, the unreligious—all are loved by this one who came to show us what love truly is.
The good news, the best news, is
what we know to be the truth in Christ. Even on the dark side our souls, even
when we as human beings betray, torture, and kill the Son of God over and over
again, God’s response is love. It’s to love us. But, we cannot, we must not
simply rest on this overwhelmingly Good News, this treasure that is God’s love.
No, we must allow it to take us over.
If God loves us despite our inner
grime, then we too must love. We must love ourselves despite our filth and
failings. We must love others even when they throw dirt on us. This life is not
about getting down in the mud to decide who’s clean and who’s not, but rather it
is about experiencing the cleansing love of grace. Through the Creator’s love,
Christ’s grace, and the Spirit’s power, the holy and undivided Trinity makes us
new—today and always. Nothing other than God’s love makes us refreshed, clean,
and whole. But, the best way—perhaps the only way—we experience this love is with
and through each other.
[1] “Are You Living an Insta Lie? Social
Media vs. Reality.” Published February 20, 2017. Accessed August 31, 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EFHbruKEmw&feature=youtu.be
[2] Elisabeth Johnson, “Commentary on Mark
7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23.” Working Preacher. Published August 26, 2018. Accessed
August 31, 2018. http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3758
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