Mark 7:1-13

Handing Over

            What makes a tradition, a tradition? We know what they are, but rarely now do people understand how they came to be. Many traditions that still hold are centered around holidays, for example: baking a turkey for thanksgiving, setting up a Christmas tree, party poppers and party horns for New Years, etc. A tradition is something that once was only a habit. And a habit only exists when you do something repeatedly. For a tradition is a habit that is instilled into a new generation. Thus, traditions are made out of those things that were once so common, useful, or important that they became worth doing repeatedly. But part of carrying on traditions is also the passing down of the reasoning behind them. When reasons are lost or forgotten, then traditions often become seen as antiquated or meaningless. We don’t have traditions for traditions sake. The reason, “Just because that’s the way we’ve always done it,” isn’t a good enough reason to hang on to something. Yet, we also don’t discard traditions just because people don’t understand them. For this is our balancing act. We must balance our desire for forging our own path, that is tossing aside traditions, with holding onto traditions that have something to teach us. For traditions aren’t inherently evil like many today suppose… and the wisdom of generations past is greater than we often give them credit for.

            Thus, we come to our Gospel lesson as Jesus confronts the Pharisees and their traditions. We must understand what Jesus is saying so we can understand the role traditions play. The word “tradition” means “to hand over.” We hand over a practice or thing because it’s worth it. For so let us learn to: 

UNDERSTAND THIS TRADITION: GOD GAVE US CHRIST!

I.

            There’s no doubt that the laws and rules which God gave to ancient Israel were important. They bore the weight of something to be repeated and handed down. For I want you to understand that Jesus’ issue with the Pharisees isn’t so much the what… but the why. Jesus doesn’t criticize them for what they’re doing, more so why they’re doing it. As we read, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men,” Mark 7:6-7. This certain tradition, the washing of hands before eating, wasn’t a bad tradition, per se. What was bad is that the Pharisees put so much weight on it and used it as a means to show their piety. It was their “Look at me” tradition, “See how much better I am than you.” For Jesus begins to show them how they have many such traditions, which the only reason they still have them is to showcase their piety. And that’s not an acceptable reason. Anything placed above God becomes idolatry. And these traditions revealed their idol.

            This is why we often say in our society, “If you talk the talk, you have to walk the walk.” What we say, teach, emphasize must align with our manner of life. We can’t hold traditions that are solely intended to make us look good. Nor should we only follow those traditions that make us comfortable. While I don’t have the time to run through every tradition, there is one in particular that is important to discuss… Worship. It’s not wrong to hold to ancient traditions of worship… particularly music, liturgy, and practice—so long as we seek to understand them and teach them to all people. Even further, it would be wrong to so quickly abandon them just because we don’t immediately see the benefit. What we need to understand about traditions is that they were made for a reason… and they also have their place. Move them out of their proper setting and traditions become abused and useless. But it’s these things that have been done for hundreds or even thousands of years because they’re useful, important, and help teach about Christ.

II.

            Let me return for a moment to what a tradition is. Traditions are habits. Habits that have been formed and handed down. They have been taught and instilled in children and grandchildren because they’re so useful and important to life. For so I want you then to understand, faith is a habit itself. To live the Christian life is to instill a habit, a repetitive pattern of life. We’re supposed to have a habit of attending church, a habit of reading the bible, a habit of praying, a habit of turning the other cheek, a habit of confessing our trust in God. And these are things that we’re to teach and instill in children, in families, generation after generation. Understand then that Christianity is itself a tradition. This is what God instructed Israel after calling them to faith through his covenant with them, “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise,” Deuteronomy 6:7. Teach! Instruct! Show to others the great value and worth of these habits… the very habit of faith.

            Though, what I really want you to realize is that the passing down of faith, is nothing less than passing down Christ! Jesus is our tradition. He’s the content, the habit, the pattern that we hand over to others… because God first handed him over to us. God handed down Jesus to us by sending him from heaven to be born in our flesh. God traditioned Jesus to us by his word and Spirit testifying to his importance for us. God handed Jesus over into our hands… the hands of sinful men, knowing that he had handed Jesus over to death upon the cross. Yes, God gave us Christ so that Christ could be handed over to die in our place, die for our sins, and be handed over to the grave. But of course, God wouldn’t let this betrayal last, but rather raised Jesus from the dead so that he may continue handing Jesus over to the hearts of all mankind to create a new pattern of life! This we’ve received from God so that we too may hand over Jesus to others! 

            This I seek to hand over to you, beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, just as I have received from God… That Jesus is our tradition, our habit of life through his birth, life, death, and resurrection. So, may our tradition be this… may it be our life shaped by Jesus so that just as he died and rose from the dead, so shall we rise to life everlasting! In Jesus’ name! Amen!