Deuteronomy 4.1-2, 6-9 Observe these laws and customs that you may have life
James 1.17-27
Accept and submit to the word
Mark 7.1-8, 14-15, 21-23
You put aside the commandment of God, to cling to human traditions
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Running
through our three readings this morning a clear theme, that of considering the
word of God in the scriptures, and how believers are to relate to that word.
They’re
hard hitting readings that invite some probing questions.
Do
the scriptures so capture our minds, bodies and spirits that we seek ‘to read,
mark, learn and inwardly digest them’?
Are
they, as Psalm 119 says, ‘a lantern unto my feet : and a light unto my paths’
(Psalm 119.105)?
Can
we say of scripture, ‘O how sweet are thy words unto my throat : yea, sweeter
than honey unto my mouth’ (Psalm 119.104): in other words, is reading scripture
a source of delight, wonder and sweetness to you?
Do
we, as the letter of James commends, place ourselves under the word of God and
not seek to impose our own wills upon it?
It
even leads us to consider what, if anything, can we dispense of; when are we
abandoning the commandment of God and holding to human tradition.
We
ask all these questions with the conviction that Holy Scriptures are the
‘lively oracles of God’ are they’re referred to in the Coronation Service.
The
Bible is not one inspired book among many or simply a guidebook of a moral or
ethical way to live.
To
call a book, or collection of books, Holy
Scripture, as we do the Bible, is to say something profound about it: it is the
conviction, and assertion, that the text conveys more than simply what is
written.
It’s
to say that - in the case of Holy
Scripture – the texts bear the intentions, teaching and commandments of God: it
is a revelation of the will and purpose of God.
This
is what Moses is doing in our first reading: revealing the commandments of God.
The
teaching he gives is something complete in itself, hence why the people are
commanded not to add to it or subtract from it.
And
the commandments in the scriptures are to be transmitted through the
generations: ‘make them known to your children and your children’s children’
(Deuteronomy 4.9): they’re worth passing on.
The
task of the Church’s proclamation through her preachers, her teachers, through
parents, grandparents, through all of us, is to enable that word to reverberate
through the generations.
So,
the word is announced: announced to
us a gift from God, that is in turn to be announced to the community of faith
and to the world.
That’s
why scripture is the heart of the first part of the Eucharist: it is announced.
So
too it is accepted and received.
The
letter of James tells us, ‘…rid yourself of all sordidness and rank growth of
wickedness and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to
save your souls’ (James 1.21)
There’s
a quite a bit to unpack!
The
preliminary to welcoming the implanted word is to rid ourselves of sordidness and rampant wickedness. To be able to
welcome God’s word we place ourselves under its authority.
Again,
the Eucharist mirrors this by calling us to confess our sins so that we can be
both reconciled to the Lord and to one another, but also so that we don’t
impose upon scripture our own projections, but we wait - like Samuel and St
Peter, in the words of a gospel acclamation - whispering, ‘Speak, Lord, your
servant is listening, you have the words of eternal life’
It
is in that spiritual state that we come to accept and receive the word before
us.
Welcome with meekness the implanted
word.
I guess many of us don’t like the word ‘meekness’, it sounds a bit pathetic,
simpering, weak.
It
is, though, the posture of humility, in which we use our two ears in proportion
to our one mouth: the word is to be heard above the clamour of personal
priorities and whims.
Meekness
is the spiritual posture of the Blessed Virgin Mary, receptive and willing,
that says, ‘I am the handmaid [the servant] of the Lord; let it be unto me
according to thy word’ (Luke 1.39)
And
this word has ‘the power to save your
souls’.
There’s
the crux of it.
Fidelity
to the scriptures has the power to save your eternal identity before God, to
restore you, to heal you, to open you up to the ways of heaven now and in the
life of the world to come.
Wow.
Wow. Wow.
So,
we have the word of God announced; the word of God accepted.
But
let’s just catch our breath.
The
word of God refers to texts on the written page and also to the Word (capital ‘w’) of God, Jesus Christ: indeed,
one bears witness to the other.
Jesus
Christ, who is soaked in scripture, is the fulfilment of it.
Our
fidelity first is to the person of Christ. As he himself says:
You diligently study
the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These
are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have
life. (John 5:39–40).
One
of the great problems of contemporary Christianity, perhaps the biggest
challenge for the Church, is that so many people don’t actually read their
Bibles: ‘is this not the reason why you are wrong,’ Jesus says to the Sadducees
elsewhere, ‘because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?’
(Mark 12.24)
Let’s
get back to our Bibles!
So,
the movement in our readings today is that the scriptures are announced and accepted;
and they are also actioned.
The
spirit of the scriptures is put into action when we seek to orientate our lives
to God and remain faithful to Christ; when our hearts are moved and cleansed
from all defilement, and are presented as a holy and living sacrifice to God.
The
gospel reading reminds us that we can do all sorts of external actions to give
the impression that we are following the commandments of God, we can even
honour Christ with what we say, but our hearts can remain far away.
Left
to our own devices we slip readily into evil intentions, ‘abandoning the
commandment of God and holding to human tradition’ (Mark 7.8)
When
scripture is actioned then we see the fruits true religion, as James puts it,
‘pure and undefiled before God, the Father’ which he describes as ‘care for
orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the
world’. (James 1.27)
That’s
why we need to interpret the world - culture and society - through the eyes of
scripture and not interpret scripture through the eyes of the world.
So
we have the word of God, announced, accepted and actioned.
Announced
by God through revelation and inspired authors.
Accepted
by believers as the lively oracles of God.
Actioned
by those who seek to serve the will of the living Word of God, Jesus Christ.
There’s
the commission for the new week, to pick up your Bible and be soaked in the
living word of God and invite the Holy Spirit to lead you to the ways of Jesus
Christ, the Word… made flesh.
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