Brad Sullivan

Proper 17, Year B
Sunday, September 2, 2012
St. Mark’s, Bay City
Song of Solomon 2:8-13
Psalm 45:1-2, 7-10
James 1:17-27
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

            I’m very glad to be here as your new rector.  From the beginning of this search process, my wife, Kristin, and I wanted to come here.  We looked at the parish profile and agreed that St. Mark’s looked like the place for us.  Then we met with members of the search committee, and felt very comfortable with them and felt like St. Mark’s would be a great home for us.  Coming here, seeing Bay City, and meeting more folks from St. Mark’s has confirmed all of that, and we’ve felt very much at home since we’ve been here.

            This has been a big shift for us coming from the hugeness of Houston to Bay City, and we couldn’t be happier with the change.  Noah, our four year old is enjoying his days in pre-k at Holy Cross, and Rhys, our two year old is enjoying some mommy time, getting to spend the mornings alone with Kristin for once. 

            Kristin is also a priest and was working full time at Palmer for five years, then half time at Epiphany for the last two years, and she’s enjoying getting to be a full time mom for a while and still getting to do some supply work on Sunday mornings from time to time.  You’ll even get to hear her preach and celebrate here sometimes.

            We’re looking forward to many years here in Bay City and becoming a part of this wonderful family at St. Mark’s.  As I said earlier, the folks we’ve met have been so warm and loving; we’ve been overwhelmed by y’all’s generosity and love and support that we’ve been given already.

            Before we even got here, we’d heard of what great people are here at St. Mark’s, of your willingness to roll up your sleeves and work for the Gospel.  A community of love that is excited about the Gospel and lives out the Gospel life for the sake of others and for the sake of themselves, that is how I have heard St. Mark’s described, that is how I have experienced St. Mark’s, and that is the kind of community Jesus had in mind when he started his church.

            We heard some of Jesus’ thoughts on what he wanted his church to be in the passage we heard today from Mark.  I guess the short version of what Jesus wanted or to sum up what he said would be “not evil or hurtful,” no theft, murder, wickedness, but beyond a list of what Jesus would like us not to do, Jesus envisioned a community that was deeply religious and a community that remembered why it was deeply religious. 

            Quoting from Isaiah 29:13, Jesus said, “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.”  Much of Israel in Isaiah’s time and in Jesus’ time was deeply religious.  They followed many of the religious practices that they were supposed to follow and observed the various laws, fasts, feasts, and regulations, but much of the focus or point of those practices seems to have been lost.  As Isaiah wrote,

‘Why do we fast, but you do not see?  Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’  Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day, and oppress all your workers...Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high…Is not this the fast that I choose:  to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? (Isaiah 58:3-6 (portions))

The point of the religious practice of Israel was not simply to make Israel righteous by doing all the correct religious things.  The point of the religious practice of Israel was to form Israel as a people who loved God and loved their neighbor.  The point of religion for Jesus too was to form his church as a people who loved God and loved their neighbors.

There was a video on YouTube which went viral last year titled, “Why I love Jesus but Hate Religion.”  The speaker was basically going on a rant against organized religion, claiming that Jesus sets us free from the oppressive rules of religion.  He claimed that Jesus hated religion, and gospel passages like the one we read today lead some to believe that Jesus did hate religion.  On the contrary, however, Jesus was deeply religious, praying constantly, observing Sabbath, observing Passover, etc.  Jesus just wasn’t overly fond of religion practiced in a way that didn’t change people’s hearts and actions to be loving toward God, others, and themselves.

The man in the YouTube video, “WhyI Love God but Hate Religion” had previously practiced a religion which didn’t change his heart.  He went to church on Sunday and played the part, but was out sleeping around and doing drugs the rest of the week.  Then, he had an encounter with Jesus, and that changed his life.  He stopped living the kind of life Jesus preached against in today’s Gospel and started living well, honoring God and those around him.  Unfortunately, he also drew some wrong conclusions, that religion is bad, rather than that he was not overly good at practicing his religion.

James today tells us that we should “be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.”  We should be “quick to listen, slow to speak, [and] slow to anger,” and James continues, “if any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless.”   

            The portion of James we read is almost a commentary on the Gospel story for today.  The Pharisees were the religious elite of first century Judaism.  They knew the law of God and they kept every bit of it…at least all of the religiousy parts of the law, but their religion did not change their hearts to be more loving toward their neighbors.

            The kind of religion that Jesus envisioned gives us help from God to change our hearts, to connect to God and seek power greater than our own to heal us.  Then, our religion leads us to go and do for others what has been done for us, to heal the hurts of the world.  If our religion only makes us feel better about ourselves and doesn’t lead us to help soothe the suffering of the world, then we are deceiving our hearts.  If we’re truly going to change our hearts, we go and serve others.  As James wrote, “every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.  ^*In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. (James 1:17-18)

            As members of Jesus’ church, we are those first fruits, sent by Jesus to help heal the world.  Here at St. Mark’s there is a long history of practicing the kind of religion Jesus had in mind, a religion that connects us to God, heals us, and grants us generous acts of giving.  St. Mark’s is a place and a people for whom religion does change our hearts to love God and love our neighbors.  Thank you for inviting me to be a part of the life of this family, and I look forward to the years to come as we live out this Gospel life together.  Amen.