The Dream of the Rood

1 Lo! I will tell of the best of dreams, what I dreamed in the middle of the night, after the speech-bearers were in bed. It seemed to me that I saw a very wondrous tree 

5 lifted into the air, enveloped by light, the brightest of trees. That beacon was all covered with gold. Gems stood beautiful at the surface of the earth, there were five also up on the central joint of the cross. All those fair through eternal decree gazed 

10 [on] the angel of the Lord. [It] was certainly not a wicked person’s gallows there, but holy spirits, men over the earth, and all this famous creation gazed on him. Wondrous was that tree of victory, and I stained with sins wounded sorely with defects, I saw the tree of glory, 

15 honoured with garments, shining joyously, adorned with gold. Gems had splendidly covered the Lord’s tree. I was able, however, to perceive through the gold, the ancient hostility of wretched ones, [that] it first began 

20 to bleed on the right side. I was all troubled with grief, I was afraid in the presence of that beautiful sight. I saw that noble beacon change its coverings and colour; sometimes it was drenched with moisture, soaked with the flow of blood, sometimes adorned with treasure. Nevertheless, I, lying a long time there, 

25 gazed troubled at the Saviour’s tree, until I heard it speak. The most excellent tree then began to speak the words: It was years ago (that, I still remember), that I was cut down from the edge of the forest, 

30 removed from my foundation. Strong enemies seized me there, they made me into a spectacle for themselves, commanded me to lift up their criminals. Men carried me there on their shoulders, until they set me on a hill, many enemies secured me there. Then I saw mankind’s Lord hasten with great zeal, that he wished to climb upon me. 

35 There, I did not dare break to pieces or bow down against the Lord’s words, when I saw the surface of the earth tremble. I was able to destroy all the enemies, nevertheless, I stood firmly. The young hero stripped himself then (that was God Almighty), 

40 strong and resolute. He ascended onto the high gallows, brave in the sight of many, there, [since] he wished to release mankind. I trembled when the man embraced me. However, I dared not bow down to the earth, fall to the surface of the earth, but I had to stand fast. I was raised [as a] cross. I lifted up the mighty king, 

45 the lord of the heavens; I dared not bend down. They pierced me with dark nails. On me, the scars are visible, open malicious wounds. I did not dare injure any of them. They mocked both of us, together. I was all drenched with blood, covered from the man’s side, after he had sent forth his spirit. 50 I endured many cruel events on that hill. I saw the Lord of Hosts severely stretched out. Darkness had covered the bright radiance of the Lord’s corpse with clouds, a shadow went forth, 

55 dark under the sky. All of creation wept, they lamented the king’s death. Christ was on the cross. Nevertheless, eager ones came there from afar to the prince. I beheld all that. Grievously I was afflicted with sorrow, yet I bowed to the hands of the men, 

60 humble, with great zeal. There they took God Almighty, they lifted him up out of the oppressive torment. The warriors abandoned me to stand, covered with moisture; I was wounded very badly with arrows. They laid him down there, weary-limbed; they positioned themselves at his body’s head, there they gazed at the Lord of heaven, and he, rested himself there for a while, 

65 weary after the great battle. The men began to make a sepulcher for him in the sight of his slayer; they carved it out of bright stone; they put him, the Lord of Victories, therein. The wretched began to sing him a song of sorrow in the evening-time, then they wanted to go again, wearily from the glorious prince. He rested there with little company. 

70 Nevertheless, we stood in a fixed position, weeping for a good while, after the voice of the warriors went up. The corpse cooled, beautiful dwelling of the soul. Then they began to cut us all down to the earth. That was a dreadful event! 

75 We were buried in a deep pit. However, the Lord’s disciples, friends, discovered me there, and adorned me [with] gold and silver. Now you can hear, my beloved hero, what work of the evildoers that I have experienced, 

80 the painful grief. The time is now come that men over the earth and all this illustrious creation far and wide honour me, they pray to this sign. On me, God’s son suffered a time. Therefore, now I rise up 85 glorious under the heavens, and I am able to heal each one of those who hold me in awe. Formerly, I was the most fierce of torments, most hateful to people, before I opened the right path of life to them, the speech-bearers. 

90 Lo, the prince of glory, the guardian of the kingdom of the heavens, honoured me over all the trees of the forest! Just as he, Almighty God, before all men, honoured his mother also, Mary herself, over all womankind. 

95 Now I command you, my beloved warrior, that you tell this vision to men, reveal in words that it is the tree of glory, on which Almighty God suffered for mankind’s many sins 

100 and Adam’s deeds of old, He tasted death there. However, the Lord arose again to help men with his great power. Then he ascended into the heavens. Hither again, the Lord, Himself, will set out into this world 

105 to seek mankind on the day of judgement, Almighty God and His angels with Him, since He who has power of judgement, He then will sentence each one, just as he shall have earned for himself here in this temporary life. 

110 Nor can there be any unafraid there because of the words which the Lord shall say: He shall ask before the multitude, where the man might be, who for the name of the Lord would taste bitter death, as He did before on the cross. 

115 But then they fear, and few think of what to begin to say to Christ. None needs to be afraid [of] of [he] who already bears on his breast the best of signs, but through the cross, each soul must seek 

120 the kingdom from the earthly way, those who intend to dwell with the Lord. Then I prayed to the cross with friendly spirit, with great zeal, where I was alone with little company. My mind was 

125 impelled on the way hence, it experienced very many times of longing. Now this is my life’s joyous expectation that I may seek the tree of victory and honour [it] well most often of all men. The desire for that is 

130 great in my heart, and my patronage is directed to the cross. I do not have many powerful friends on earth, since they departed away hence from the joys of the world, they sought the King of Glory; now they live in the heavens with God the Father. 

135 They dwell in glory, and each day I look forward to the time when the cross of the Lord that I previously saw here on the earth, in this temporary life, will fetch me, and will then bring me to where great bliss is, 

140 joy in the heavens, where the Lord’s people are seated at the feast, where perpetual joy is; then it may set me, where afterwards I might dwell in glory, with the saints to enjoy bliss well. May the Lord be a friend to me, 

145 who suffered here on earth before on the gallows-tree for men’s sins; he redeemed us and gave us life, a heavenly home. Joy was restored with blessings and with bliss, for those who endured the fire there. 

150 The Son was triumphant on that expedition, mighty and successful, when he came with the multitude, the host of souls, into God’s kingdom, the Lord Almighty, to the delight of the angels, and of all the saints, who in the heavens before 

155 dwelled in glory, when their Ruler, the Almighty God came, where his homeland was.

A Great American Bishop: John Henry Hobart (1775-1830)

1. Revive your Church, Lord God of hosts, whenever it falls into complacency and sloth, 
   by raising up devoted leaders, like your servant John Henry Hobart whom we remember today; and grant that their faith and vigor of mind may awaken your people to your message 
   and their mission; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you 
   and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

Releasing the Fear

(Linocut by Robert Hodgell, ca. 1960's)

Today’s Scriptures are especially rich, thought-provoking, and relevant to the times in which we’re living, but  I’m going to simply concentrate on the second Gospel story here.

Bishop Fred Borsch tells a powerful story in his book, Power in Weakness: New Hearing for Gospel Stories of Healing and Discipleship (Fortress Press, 1983, pp. 5-6):

“I know a man who began to appear from time to time at public functions of the theological seminary where I once taught. In part he seemed attracted to the school because of the newspapers and the library. Maybe he came because other people were there, although for many months he showed no interest in them. He often behaved strangely. There was a haunting aura about him and a warning glare from his eyes should he look up. His lower jaw would move a little menacingly. They said he was on drugs. People would actually back away from him. Some wanted to have him arrested.

He would not speak to me even when I spoke to him. Once or twice I caught him sitting down and sat opposite him and asked a few questions. He would not or could not respond. It was hard not to feel annoyed as well as frustrated, perhaps a little angry. His very presence was a bother and a disturbance. One wished he would just disappear as he had come. Dressed in his ill-fitting and unkempt clothes taken from boxes for cast-offs, he appeared to be making the school furniture dirty just by being there.

Although he seemed from time to time to mumble to himself, I never saw him talk to anyone. I was not able, in my sporadic efforts, even to hold his glance. I began to realize that he was very frightened, though he also had the cunning and daring of a beggar.

I thought once or twice about trying to touch him. For a sick, troubled, or despondent person, a touching hand from a pastor or friend can often be a great gift -- even life-saving in a sense. We realize that from someone like...this man who had appeared at the seminary, or for the elderly in convalescent homes, it may have been a very long time since they were touched by anyone in care and love. They may see themselves as untouchable as well as unlovable. A hand on theirs tells them otherwise. Physical contact establishes a relationship -- also when it is a reaching from the sick person to the one wanting to help -- through which the power of caring can flow. But I was not able to reach out my hand to him.

Some of the students called him “Shovel-Mouth” -- not to his face, mind you, though I suspect he knew that they spoke mockingly of his behavior. They gave him this name because of his propensity for showing up  at almost every school function where free food was involved, and sometimes when it was not free. On those occasions he ate with great intensity -- huge amounts of food -- never speaking or looking at anyone.

I am sure I could have tried harder, but it is not easy to continue after such rebuffs. I could have believed that he was without the power of speech -- except that one of the students, by a great effort, had gradually established a form of relationship with him. Eventually she was able to learn his name and something of his background and circumstances. She helped me and others to begin to see the one we knew only as “Shovel-Mouth” as a person.

Encouraged by her example, I tried again. He was shuffling up the street as I was unpacking the back of my car after the Christmas holidays. I do not think he saw me until he was almost even with the car. ‘Happy New Year, Tom!’ I called out. He looked up, surprised. ‘Yes,’ he mumbled, ‘thank you.’ For a flickering moment I also read some form of genuine communication in his eyes. I cannot even tell for sure what it was, only that it was something I had never seen in him before.

The story of Tom does not have any clear denouement. He still does not easily maintain a conversation, and he continues to have his problems. But he learned to talk again, with me and others. Several students try to see that he receives some decent meals. On good days he can sit and share pleasantly with them. He obviously enjoys talking with children. They come to greet him. No one is afraid.” 

This story seems to speak of fear, a fear which led Tom to shut down in communicating.  For whatever reason that it occurred, it’d been a long time since anyone had touched him, inwardly or outwardly, with any kind of care and love.

1. Barrie Shepherd writes:

When all

is said and done

there’s not much wrong 

with fear.

The problem lies instead with

what we fear

and why.

Have you ever asked yourself: “How much of my life is spent in fear”??

• fear of the unknown or unfamiliar
• fear that I need to change
• fear of saying what I really think or mean, perhaps to my spouse or son/daughter; fear that they’ll reject me for it
• fear of burdening my family or friends, fear of “imposing” on them
• fear of sharing a problem with someone else who could probably help
• fear of people who differ from me, who have ideas/beliefs/values/opinions which aren’t like mine; or whose approach to faith or spirituality bears no similarity to my practice.

At one time or another, most all of us have had some kind of fear.  We know that it locks us up inside, makes us as deaf and mute as the man in the Gospel who was brought to Jesus.  You could say that we become inwardly blind/deaf/lame/dumb, and find ourselves impoverished, sterile, “dead”. The tragedy is that a person can go on living that way for years, out of fear, adapting as best as one can.  Some folks, unfortunately, endure that way for a lifetime, cheated of so much richness, blessedness and joy.

Only when we can learn to be open enough to allow ourselves to be touched by God’s and/or another’s care and love, like “Shovel-Mouth” or Mark’s deaf-mute, and also to reach out to touch others who are in a situation like our own, do the words of Isaiah in the first reading (35:4-7a) begin to make any sense: “Say to those whose hearts are frightened, ‘Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, He comes...With divine recompense he comes to save you.”

For Isaiah God is the One who touches us in love.  The people of Israel were, indeed, a chosen people, but chosen simply because God chose to love them, despite their fears and inadequacies.  So any hope which Israel had, as she did through long centuries and much fearfulness, is grounded in God.

The idea that God is the only reason for the people’s hope has powerful implications, for it makes clear that our hope isn’t dependent on our “performance”, or power, or knowledge, or wealth, or anything for lack of which we might fear being rejected by others.  It’s the caring, loving touch of God, experienced primarily through the loving touch of another, which can set us free.  Blind eyes open; deaf ears become unstopped; lame people can leap and jump again; and dumb tongues joyously break out into words and song.  Isaiah uses the image of a cloudburst, flooding the wilderness.  Or it’s like arid, dry ground suddenly bubbling up with springs and pools.

The deaf-mute of the Gospel (Mark 7:24-37) experienced that in his body and soul, through Jesus’ reaching out to him.  Mark doesn’t tell us how long the man had had his impediments, but imagine the man’s feelings as people push him forward towards Jesus, this healer, and as Jesus takes him aside.  It was common for healers of that day to use rituals such as Jesus used: putting fingers into the ears, using saliva to touch the tongue.  As Jesus does this he raises his eyes and sighs: a sort of outward, audible symbol of the inner release about to follow, then says, “Ephphata”, “Be opened”.

And the man’s ears were opened and his tongue released.  The fear left him.  His whole body and, indeed, his life had been unlocked.  The people recognize Jesus as the Holy One, the One who, as Isaiah had predicted, makes deaf persons hear and dumb ones speak.  God, through Jesus, is again the ground and reason for hope and release of God’s chosen ones.

Realistically, as with Bishop Borsch’s experience in trying to reach out to “Shovel-Mouth” who struggled with his fears, we too may not find, in our reaching out to others, any clear resolution.  In fact we ourselves may be the ones who continue to struggle with our own fears and with allowing ourselves to be ministered to.  But we may also, and, by God’s grace, probably will, have those flickering moments when some connection is made, when, even though we don’t know what it is, we experience something which we’d never seen in others or ourselves before, when our inner ears are opened and our tongue is released. 

“Be strong, fear not!...He will come and save you.”

John Howard Griffin (1920-1980)

"Future historians will be mystified that generations of us could stand in the midst of this sickness and never see it." (John Howard Griffin)

Today is the 32nd anniversary of the death of John Howard Griffin, a remarkable man who dedicated most of his life to help bring about racial equality in the U.S. He published a book, Black Like Me, published in 1961. 
In the fall of 1959, Griffin decided to investigate first-hand how life was for African-Americans in the South. He consulted a dermatologist in New Orleans, who prescribed a course of drugs, sunlamp treatments, and skin creams to darken the color of his skin. Griffin shaved his head to get rid of his straight hair. He spent weeks travelling as a black man in New Orleans and parts of Mississippi, with side trips to South Carolina and Georgia, mainly traveling bus and hitch-hiking. In his book Griffin describes in detail what African Americans were encountering in the Deep South at that time, just to have access to such simple things as food, shelter, and toilet facilities. He recounted the hatred which he often felt from white Southerners on a day-to-day basis: from store clerks, ticket sellers, bus drivers, etc. He tells how amazed he was by the curiosity which white men displayed about his sexual life, and he recounted anecdotes about some white Southerners' friendliness and helpfulness.
In the fall of 1967, when I was serving as chaplain and instructor at Sacred Heart College [now Newman University], Wichita, KS, Mr. Griffin was slated as one of the speakers at a human relations conference sponsored by the college. This was at a time when racial tensions all over the U.S. were very high, no less so in Wichita. At the conference's sessions I experienced, perhaps for the first time in such a penetrating way, some of the deep frustration and anguish of many young black men because of the societal barriers they encountered. The conference organizers had invited a group of young men who were involved in street gangs within the city, as well as several notable leaders in Wichita's African-American community. The real differences and divisions even within that group were obvious and palpable. Though displaying some obvious, and understandable, "attitude" in their presentations, the young gang members surely conveyed an important, almost desperate message: a message which, in my opinion, is as much or more valid and desperate today for many young people of whatever race or color.

I was quite taken aback at the response of one African-American, considered a prominent leader and advocate of racial equality in the Wichita community. When the question was raised about what might happen if and when the black community's frustration and anger might spill over into forceful demonstrations, the leader blatantly admitted that he had a personal refuge all ready in the country to which he would head if trouble began. It bothered me that, given his reputation for the cause, he would be so unwilling to stand with his people.

When Mr. Griffin arrived on campus for his talk, I was asked to transport him to and from the auditorium. He was still having trouble at that time with his eyesight and with difficulty in walking for any extended time. It was such an honor just to meet him, as well as to have a brief chance, at least, to speak with him about his experiences and his friendship with my idol, Thomas Merton. Because it was so long ago, I don't recall all the details of our discussion, but I do remember that it was one of the few times in my life when I felt as if I were in the presence of a truly great person. 

John Howard Griffin was a Texan, born in Dallas. His mother, Lena, was a classical pianist, and Griffin acquired a love of music from her. He was awarded a musical scholarship, and studied French and literature at the University of Poitiers, as well as medicine at the École de Médecine. At age 19, he worked as a medic in the French Resistance at the Atlantic seaport of Saint-Nazaire, and helped smuggle Austrian Jews to safety and freedom. 

Griffin served a little over three years in the U.S. Army Air Corps, stationed in the South Pacific. He spent 1943-44 as the only Caucasian on Nuni, one of the Solomon Islands, assigned to study the local culture, where he also married an island woman. He was later decorated for bravery. 

Left blind by an accident in 1946 in the Air Force, he came home to Texas, where he converted to Catholicism in 1952, became a lay Carmelite, and taught piano. In 1953, having obtained a dissolution of his first marriage from the Vatican, he married Elizabeth Ann Holland, with whom he raised four children. In 1957 Griffin rather miraculously regained his eyesight and became an accomplished photographic artist. In his lifetime Griffin wrote 13 books. He'd been designated by Thomas Merton's estate to write Merton's biography, but he was never able to complete the project. The nearly finished portion, dealing with Merton's later years, was published as Follow the Ecstasy: Thomas Merton, The Hermitage Years, 1965-1968 three years after Griffin's death on September 8, 1980. I'm terribly grateful to have had the privilege of meeting both of these men. 

Remembering Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta (d. 9/5/1997)

"We are not social workers, but

contemplatives in the heart of the world.

For we are touching the body of Christ

24 hours a day."

A Blessed Labor Day

Creator of all, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for ourselves alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and move us to advocate for those who are out of work. Amen.

"Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall..."

You’re all probably familiar with the old German fairy tale, Schneewittchen und die sieben Zwerge, or Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, collected and popularized by the Brothers Grimm in 1812, and the subject of many other narrative versions, films, TV shows, musical compositions, and even video games. It depicts a Queen who, while sewing at her window, pricks her finger with the needle, spilling three drops of blood onto the snow-laden ebony window frame. Looking upon them, the Queen expresses, aloud, the wish that she might have a daughter with skin as white as snow, with lips as red as blood, and with hair as black as ebony. And she does have such a daughter, made-to-order, whom she and her husband name Snow White. Unfortunately, the Queen dies soon after. The King remarries. His new Queen is very beautiful, but also very, very vain. She daily consults her magical mirror, asking: “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” To which the mirror invariably replies: “You, my Queen, are fairest of all.” Predictably, Snow White grows to become more beautiful than the Queen, which the mirror isn’t shy about admitting, which sets up a long and interesting conflict between the two women.

St. James, in today’s second reading uses a mirror analogy, noting that, if any are followers of Jesus, i.e., “hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like.” (1:23-24) Then, in an inspired statement, he says that “those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act -- they will be blessed in their doing...” (1:25)

Adele Stiles Resmer, Assistant to the bishop & Minister for Community & Mission in the Grand Canyon Synod, ELCA, suggests that, as we gaze at ourselves in the mirror of today’s Scripture readings, we try “...to hold these two realities together: the gifts of God that create the people of God; and the responses of God's people to these wonderful, life-giving gifts that continue to shape them into the people of God.” 

THE GIFTS OF GOD

In the first reading Moses instructs the people to “give heed to...to observe” the statutes and ordinances of the Almighty, which you and I recognize as the 10 Commandments, literally, the Ten Words, in Hebrew, or the Law. He gives three good reasons for this: 1) “so that [they] may live” as God’s people throughout successive generations, 2) that they may enter and occupy the Promised Land and thus become God’s faithful and compassionate people, and 3) that they may, both in their relationship with God and one another, become a wise and discerning community: a model for the surrounding nations. “For what other great nation has a God so near to it as the Lord our God is?...And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law?...” (4:7-8) 

For the Hebrew the word for law, torah meant “precept, statute, law”, but not in the strictly juridical sense in which we use those terms. The root of torah is yara, meaning to flow (as water); to lay, throw or shoot (as an arrow); to point out or teach (as if by aiming the finger). It has a relational flavor, which characterizes the Covenant by which God formed a people of God’s own, in which the people pledged to be faithful to the “statutes and ordinances” in response to God’s pledge of continual gracious and loving care of them in every way. The keeping of the Covenant on God’s part, of course, was never in doubt. The people , however, periodically needed to gauge how they were doing by looking into the mirror of God’s Covenant, for “this will show your wisdom and discernment”, as Moses says, or not, as was demonstrated over and over in their long history!

James, in the Epistle, identifies “every generous act of giving,...every perfect gift”, the chief of which was the Covenant, the Law, as coming “from above, coming down from the [unchangeable] Father of lights”. (1:17) He says that we are “a kind of first fruits”, first of the Mosaic Covenant of love, and then of the Law of Christ, in Jesus who is the Word of truth, “the implanted word that has the power to save our souls”. (1:21) That, of course, depends on our willingness to let ourselves be shaped by that gift from God in order to “produce God’s righteousness”, even as Moses cautioned that it did so for the people of Israel. If we learn from Jesus the Master how to, in James’ words, “be quick to listen, slow to speak”, rather than to simply drift through our daily living by becoming forgetful hearers when we look into the mirror, then we’ll come to recognize what James calls “the perfect law, the law of liberty”, or as Paul says in Romans, “the freedom of the glory of the children of God”. (8:21) The image is of the community of God’s people running amok, like little children, in the reign of God with all the exuberance of God’s joy and love and righteousness!

THE RESPONSES OF GOD’S PEOPLE TO GOD’S GIFTS

The writer of Deuteronomy indicates what should be the first response of the people of God to God’s gift of the Covenant: “You must neither add anything...nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord...You must observe them diligently...” (4:2 & 6) The “keeping” or “doing” of the Law is spelled out in a way of living which helps shape the people as a community of love in relation to God and to each other: care and watchfulness; not forgetting, not treating casually what they’ve come to know; passing their knowledge on to future generations. (Dt 4:9) 

Psalm 15 reminds the people that only those can be in genuine relation to the Most High who do the right thing and speak the heart’s truth (v. 2); who “do no evil to their friends” (v. 3); who stand by their commitments, even if it means personal inconvenience, hurt or loss (v. 4); who are honest and refuse to take advantage of others (v. 5)

James considers a community to be truly grateful for and responsive to being shaped by God’s law of love when it refrains from anger and from sordid and rank behavior, when it bridles the tongue, when it cares for the disadvantaged, especially those most vulnerable, such as orphans and widows, and when it keeps itself “unstained by the world”. 

Mark, in his Gospel (7:1-8; 14-15), relates a scene which graphically ties together all the elements we’ve just been considering. Central to it are “the [Jerusalem] Pharisees and some of the scribes”. Their name in Hebrew is perusim = the separate or separated ones, the separators, i.e., the distinguishers and expositors of the Law. They were laymen, in contrast the Sadducees who were a priestly party. Heirs of the priest and scribe, Ezra, mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures, rather than of the prophets, the Pharisees viewed Judaism as a religion, as well as a theocracy, centered upon the Law as handed down by Moses, and they interpreted the Law’s obligations most severely, mainly as prescriptions to be kept, rather than a way of living. In addition to God’s Law, they clung to oral traditions which, they said, came down through a chain of elders which they could trace all the way back to Moses. The Pharisees saw these oral traditions as a sort of fence around the Law, protecting it from any violations, which could be assured only by the exact observance, to the letter, of these human traditions.     

The Pharisees’ closest alliance was with the scribes: the teachers and interpreters of the Law. They disregarded and opposed the “people of the land”, what you might call the “Jewish 99%”, because they believed them to be ignorant folks who neither knew nor cared about the finer points of the Mosaic Law. Outside the New Testament, we only know of the Pharisees through two sources: 1) the Jewish historian, Josephus, and 2) from a few comments in the Talmud, the collection of writings by the Jewish rabbis which was itself strongly Pharisaic in origin. Interestingly, the Talmud singles out the same faults in the Pharisees as Jesus does in the Christian Scriptures! Jesus, of course, came as God’s Holy One, the Word of truth, to save all humankind, not just the select guardians of the Mosaic Law. He especially identified with the “people of the land”. Understandably, he and the Pharisees are at loggerheads from the very beginning of the four Gospel accounts. 

In the Gospel a band of Pharisees and scribes come up from Jerusalem to Gennesaret, on the northwest coast of the Sea of Galilee, to harass Jesus. The issue this time is the fact that some of Jesus’ disciples, whether through bad upbringing, bad hygiene, or just forgetfulness, “were eating with defiled hands... without washing them”. Mark makes it abundantly clear that, indeed, it was the Jewish custom to thoroughly wash the hands before mealtimes, as well any food from the market, and various “cups, pots, and bronze kettles”, etc.,  but he adds “...thus observing the tradition of the elders”, not the Mosaic Law. By this time in the history of God’s people, it’s clear that the Pharisees, by their own human interpretations, had both added to and taken away things from the Law, contrary to what Moses insists on in the Deuteronomy reading. Jesus calls them on this in no uncertain terms, although it’s unfortunate that the RCL chose not to include perhaps the most telling verses, 9-13, in the reading. Jesus’ pointed reply to his critics, in effect, forces them to look into the mirror of the Mosaic Covenant, God’s gift of love, whose purpose was to enable the people to live wisely and well, and thus to be shaped into a loving, serving community. What they saw in that mirror was the exact opposite: “You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition”, Jesus says. In the omitted vv. 9-13, he continues: “For Moses said: ‘Give due right to your father and mother’; and: ‘Let him who speaks rudely to his father or mother be put to death.’ But you say: ‘If a man says to his father or his mother: Whatever I owe you is Corban, which means ‘gift to God’, then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother, making void the word of God through that tradition which you hand down. And you do many other things of such a nature as this...”

Jesus also flings in their face the teaching of God’s prophet, Isaiah: “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.” “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the most righteous of us all?” “Certainly not you Pharisees”, Jesus would say. 

I don’t believe that even Jesus considered the Pharisees all bad. According to the standards which they’d inherited down through thousands of generations, I’m guessing that they had glimpses of true Covenant religion, that they were more mistaken than evil. Yet, in reality, they caused a lot of harm for a lot of people. And Jesus expected them to be accountable.

It’s a timely warning for all us well-intentioned religious folks, who, just as the Pharisees, often look into our own mirrors and see something other than “the perfect law of liberty”. We make assumptions; we draw conclusions for ourselves, sincerely perhaps, and often try to pass them off as God’s law, rather than our own selfish willfulness. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the externals of religion, the “packaging”, that we neglect what really counts: the inner disposition and attitude of humble faith and gratitude for God’s gifts of love, and the selflessness and openness of letting God shape us, as God wants, into a community of dedicated caring and compassion.

I hope that you and I, when we look into our “mirror, mirror, on the wall”, will see reflected, instead, “the Lord our God” who is so near to us that you and I will actually resemble that God. And our mirror might even say to us: “You, O people of God, are the luckiest, the most blessed ones of all!” 

Who knows? Perhaps the mirror might look something like this one: