When Traditions Get in the Way
Text: Mark 7:1-8
There is a downside of being a part of a tradition that extends back thousands of years. We can become so wrapped up within the individual traditions themselves that we forget the foundation of why we do what we do. Jesus frequently locked horns with Pharisees over matters of how one expresses faith. Unfortunately, we tend to think of Pharisees as being self-righteous, overly religious folks who were more concerned with doing things right than doing the right thing. While this may be true, we often forget that Pharisees in Christ’s time were the good, church-attending folk. They were people like you and me, who did try to honour the traditions and to follow God with honesty and integrity. Yet there are times when the traditions get in the way of our relationship with God.
Maybe we can hear this in a new way. In a day where hand washing and cleanliness has become even more important to us, with the threat infectious diseases… remembering the SARS crisis a few years ago, we are very much in line with where the Pharisees are at. They see those who follow Jesus eating without first washing their hands. While one would think that this is a cleanliness issue, they rail at Jesus about it because that was not how things were done around here. They were going against “the tradition of the elders.”
Jesus stares at them for a moment with a stunned look on his face. It seems that washing, for these Pharisees, became so obsessive that it went beyond the original intention of simply providing clean and safe food for people to eat. The washing was also helped remind them about the presence of God. However, the tradition became far more important than the reason for which it was created in the first place. The hand washing was originally a method for both public health and to help them learn about themselves and their relationship to God. It seems that these folks were more concerned about doing it correctly, than understanding why they were doing it. Jesus responds by quoting something from Isaiah (29:13): “The Lord said: Because these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote;”
Tradition was getting in the way of their relationship with God.
This is precisely the downside that we as Christians face these days; nearly two thousand years after Jesus confronted the Pharisees in the midst of their zeal. As churches, we are not immune… we have developed all kinds of practices that we have forgotten their original meaning and intention. Yet we are so entrenched in the tradition, that we don’t even care about how things got started. When it becomes more important than our faith, our relationship with God, then we start getting into trouble.
When I was at Seminary, one of my professors told us a story of a pastoral charge that he once served. Upon arriving, he noticed a rather peculiar ritual that they had developed around communion. In addition to the various pieces of communion ware that they had, communion cup, plate, and so on, the individual responsible for setting things up would always place a small silver spoon on the communion table. It was never used, and yet it was always there. When the minister asked why they put this spoon on the table, nobody could tell him, but it was simply something that they had always done. Spurred on by curiosity, the young minister did some more digging and investigating, and found the origins of this “tradition.”
Apparently many years before, there had been a member of the congregation who had been confined to a wheelchair, unable to use either hands or feet. This person attended regularly, but was not able to participate in communion the same way as everyone else. The solution? A small silver spoon. As this was a church where people came forward to receive communion, as this person was wheeled to the front, the worship leaders would take a small spoonful of wine, place the bread into the spoon, and give it to this person. It was a fantastic effort at bringing someone who could not otherwise participate in the worship life of the congregation.
The trouble was, after a number of years, this person eventually died. However, the church continued to place this silver spoon on the communion table. The practice continued for many years, to the point that no one remembered why they did it… only that it had always been done that way. They paid more attention to what they were doing rather than why. A tradition that grew, even though nobody knew why…
It seems that it is human nature to develop traditions, and adhere to them without taking time to understand their origins. There’s a problem here… in forgetting the origins itself, the traditions slowly change away from their original intent into something that it no longer resembles. The tradition of the elders of washing before eating was a prime example of this for Jesus. God’s wish was originally for the people to eat food that was safe and healthy. Yet it became a ritualistic practice, and ended up being used to exclude people from society. The tradition ended up getting in the way of our relationship with God. Remember that the Pharisees were the good, church-attending folk like you and I who wanted to be faithful… but in strict adherence to the rules, lose sight of God.
Perhaps an example that hits closer to home is something that is considered to be a central part of worship within most Protestant traditions: the offering. This is something that we have done consistently for years, and it seems that we have always done it the same way. The minister announces that it is in gratitude that we respond with our offerings, the collection plates are passed around, and then we sing something called a Doxology as it is brought forward followed by a short prayer. This is certainly our practice, and I’m not saying that we’re doing anything different today. I just want for us to think about this particular practice, even if only for a moment.
The trouble is, in the earliest of traditions, things were done quite a bit differently. The offering was not something that we offered to God in terms of our own money, but it was a reminder of God’s offering to us in Jesus Christ. Money itself was deposited into boxes on the way into the sanctuary. Plates were not passed around; and it was the bread and wine that brought from outside of the sanctuary, to the front of the church, while a hymn of praise called a Doxology was sung. The symbols used within communion were the items that were brought forward as an offering, not money. This was the original tradition.
At some point, maybe for security considerations, or for various other reasons, the practice that money would be collected during the time of the offering began. Over time, this practice became more and more widespread. Some churches developed long sticks with baskets, others developed plates to collect the money. The money was brought forward at the same time as the offering of bread and wine, all the while the Doxology was sung.
Since then, particularly in Protestant churches, communion was not celebrated every week. As a result, the bread and wine were not regularly carried to the front during this time of offering… but the offering plates were. Soon, the whole practice of carrying the bread and wine forward was abandoned, but every week the offering plates are passed around, and carried forward, all while the Doxology is sung. It is a very real example of how rituals and traditions change over time, and in many cases we have forgotten their original meaning. This isn’t simply a Presbyterian thing, virtually every Protestant or Reformed Christian denomination in Europe and North America has adopted this particular practice. We have, in fact, thrown out the original tradition without realizing it… Fortunately, it has not gotten in the way of our relationship with God… at least I hope… not yet…
Jesus calls us on things like this. Where traditions themselves get in the way of our relationship with God, we need to reconsider them. Tradition for tradition’s sake can obscure what they were originally intended to do: remind people of our relationship with God. They exist to deepen our relationship with God. If you’ve ever seen either the musical “Fiddler on the Roof” or the 1971 film version of it, tradition figures heavily in the story. Tevye the Milkman, at the beginning of the story tells us that tradition helps us to know who we are, and what God expects us to do. Yet in course of the story, Tevye realizes that while this piece of wisdom does remain true, some of these traditions would prevent his daughters living full and fulfilled lives… especially in the radically changing and dangerous world of 1905 Russia. Some of the traditions were getting in the way. That’s what Jesus was getting at in his discussion with the Pharisees. Traditions, no matter how well intended when they started, sometimes do get in the way. Instead, Jesus wanted his followers to have hearts that were close to God. Jesus calls us to live in such a way that we know who we are, that we know we belong to God, and have a meaningful relationship with God… for Jesus that was far more important.
Amen.
There is a downside of being a part of a tradition that extends back thousands of years. We can become so wrapped up within the individual traditions themselves that we forget the foundation of why we do what we do. Jesus frequently locked horns with Pharisees over matters of how one expresses faith. Unfortunately, we tend to think of Pharisees as being self-righteous, overly religious folks who were more concerned with doing things right than doing the right thing. While this may be true, we often forget that Pharisees in Christ’s time were the good, church-attending folk. They were people like you and me, who did try to honour the traditions and to follow God with honesty and integrity. Yet there are times when the traditions get in the way of our relationship with God.
Maybe we can hear this in a new way. In a day where hand washing and cleanliness has become even more important to us, with the threat infectious diseases… remembering the SARS crisis a few years ago, we are very much in line with where the Pharisees are at. They see those who follow Jesus eating without first washing their hands. While one would think that this is a cleanliness issue, they rail at Jesus about it because that was not how things were done around here. They were going against “the tradition of the elders.”
Jesus stares at them for a moment with a stunned look on his face. It seems that washing, for these Pharisees, became so obsessive that it went beyond the original intention of simply providing clean and safe food for people to eat. The washing was also helped remind them about the presence of God. However, the tradition became far more important than the reason for which it was created in the first place. The hand washing was originally a method for both public health and to help them learn about themselves and their relationship to God. It seems that these folks were more concerned about doing it correctly, than understanding why they were doing it. Jesus responds by quoting something from Isaiah (29:13): “The Lord said: Because these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote;”
Tradition was getting in the way of their relationship with God.
This is precisely the downside that we as Christians face these days; nearly two thousand years after Jesus confronted the Pharisees in the midst of their zeal. As churches, we are not immune… we have developed all kinds of practices that we have forgotten their original meaning and intention. Yet we are so entrenched in the tradition, that we don’t even care about how things got started. When it becomes more important than our faith, our relationship with God, then we start getting into trouble.
When I was at Seminary, one of my professors told us a story of a pastoral charge that he once served. Upon arriving, he noticed a rather peculiar ritual that they had developed around communion. In addition to the various pieces of communion ware that they had, communion cup, plate, and so on, the individual responsible for setting things up would always place a small silver spoon on the communion table. It was never used, and yet it was always there. When the minister asked why they put this spoon on the table, nobody could tell him, but it was simply something that they had always done. Spurred on by curiosity, the young minister did some more digging and investigating, and found the origins of this “tradition.”
Apparently many years before, there had been a member of the congregation who had been confined to a wheelchair, unable to use either hands or feet. This person attended regularly, but was not able to participate in communion the same way as everyone else. The solution? A small silver spoon. As this was a church where people came forward to receive communion, as this person was wheeled to the front, the worship leaders would take a small spoonful of wine, place the bread into the spoon, and give it to this person. It was a fantastic effort at bringing someone who could not otherwise participate in the worship life of the congregation.
The trouble was, after a number of years, this person eventually died. However, the church continued to place this silver spoon on the communion table. The practice continued for many years, to the point that no one remembered why they did it… only that it had always been done that way. They paid more attention to what they were doing rather than why. A tradition that grew, even though nobody knew why…
It seems that it is human nature to develop traditions, and adhere to them without taking time to understand their origins. There’s a problem here… in forgetting the origins itself, the traditions slowly change away from their original intent into something that it no longer resembles. The tradition of the elders of washing before eating was a prime example of this for Jesus. God’s wish was originally for the people to eat food that was safe and healthy. Yet it became a ritualistic practice, and ended up being used to exclude people from society. The tradition ended up getting in the way of our relationship with God. Remember that the Pharisees were the good, church-attending folk like you and I who wanted to be faithful… but in strict adherence to the rules, lose sight of God.
Perhaps an example that hits closer to home is something that is considered to be a central part of worship within most Protestant traditions: the offering. This is something that we have done consistently for years, and it seems that we have always done it the same way. The minister announces that it is in gratitude that we respond with our offerings, the collection plates are passed around, and then we sing something called a Doxology as it is brought forward followed by a short prayer. This is certainly our practice, and I’m not saying that we’re doing anything different today. I just want for us to think about this particular practice, even if only for a moment.
The trouble is, in the earliest of traditions, things were done quite a bit differently. The offering was not something that we offered to God in terms of our own money, but it was a reminder of God’s offering to us in Jesus Christ. Money itself was deposited into boxes on the way into the sanctuary. Plates were not passed around; and it was the bread and wine that brought from outside of the sanctuary, to the front of the church, while a hymn of praise called a Doxology was sung. The symbols used within communion were the items that were brought forward as an offering, not money. This was the original tradition.
At some point, maybe for security considerations, or for various other reasons, the practice that money would be collected during the time of the offering began. Over time, this practice became more and more widespread. Some churches developed long sticks with baskets, others developed plates to collect the money. The money was brought forward at the same time as the offering of bread and wine, all the while the Doxology was sung.
Since then, particularly in Protestant churches, communion was not celebrated every week. As a result, the bread and wine were not regularly carried to the front during this time of offering… but the offering plates were. Soon, the whole practice of carrying the bread and wine forward was abandoned, but every week the offering plates are passed around, and carried forward, all while the Doxology is sung. It is a very real example of how rituals and traditions change over time, and in many cases we have forgotten their original meaning. This isn’t simply a Presbyterian thing, virtually every Protestant or Reformed Christian denomination in Europe and North America has adopted this particular practice. We have, in fact, thrown out the original tradition without realizing it… Fortunately, it has not gotten in the way of our relationship with God… at least I hope… not yet…
Jesus calls us on things like this. Where traditions themselves get in the way of our relationship with God, we need to reconsider them. Tradition for tradition’s sake can obscure what they were originally intended to do: remind people of our relationship with God. They exist to deepen our relationship with God. If you’ve ever seen either the musical “Fiddler on the Roof” or the 1971 film version of it, tradition figures heavily in the story. Tevye the Milkman, at the beginning of the story tells us that tradition helps us to know who we are, and what God expects us to do. Yet in course of the story, Tevye realizes that while this piece of wisdom does remain true, some of these traditions would prevent his daughters living full and fulfilled lives… especially in the radically changing and dangerous world of 1905 Russia. Some of the traditions were getting in the way. That’s what Jesus was getting at in his discussion with the Pharisees. Traditions, no matter how well intended when they started, sometimes do get in the way. Instead, Jesus wanted his followers to have hearts that were close to God. Jesus calls us to live in such a way that we know who we are, that we know we belong to God, and have a meaningful relationship with God… for Jesus that was far more important.
Amen.
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