What is the “protocol” in your church now? In ours we are greeted with a “hand sprayer” who disinfects our hands. We then take our seat in a pew that is not marked with blue masking tape. The song leader begins the service with a reminder that face coverings must extend over both nose and mouth. And, as I look around the church, everyone follows the new rules.
What would you think if a person walked into Church, said “no thank you” to he “sprayer,” took his place in a “marked” spot, and did not bother wearing a face covering? We are so trained in these new “customs” that everyone would start staring at the non-conformist, and, if social-distancing were not taking place, people would turn to their neighbor and start whispering about the “un-masked” person.
Which of us would dare imitate this non-conformist? Not me. Something tells me that Jesus might. And he has a right to…after all he is God’s Son.
Today we have a story in which Jesus skips the expected protocol practice when going to dinner (Luke 11:37-41).
“After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.”
Whoops! Jesus bypassed the “sprayer.” We wonder why the Pharisee invited Jesus to dinner in the first place. Later Jesus speaks of Pharisees as “filled with plunder and evil,” so we guess that the Pharisee had ulterior motives in inviting Jesus to eat. What was his “angle?” Since Jesus drew crowds, maybe dollar signs rang in his head. If he appeared to be friends with Jesus, maybe people would drop a few dollars his way. Or maybe this was a set up. Perhaps the Pharisees could catch Jesus in an error that would discredit him with the people. It didn’t take Jesus long to upset his host. Do you think that Jesus accidentally missed the “sprayer” or do you think he wanted to ruffle feathers? Do you think that Jesus was accustomed to skip the ritual washing or that he didn’t know about the rules? My take is that Jesus had a purpose for what he was doing. He knew that his behavior would “amaze”—shock—the host.
Now that Jesus had the Pharisee’s attention, he proceeded to deliver a sermon directed at him and his buddies.
“Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?”
My imagination is not rich enough to take this in. Jesus calls the Pharisees “fools” at dinner, of all places. They were foolish because, though they were meticulous about dining protocol, they didn’t bother dealing with the contents of their own hearts—which had, not just a little sin in them, but were “filled” with plunder and evil. Oh no! Jesus you didn’t really say that did you?
Then he proceeded to make his point.
“But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”
Jesus eases up by giving them a simple action plan. He was not protesting the cleanliness practices nor did he encourage them to change them. Instead he called them to be merciful to the poor. Instead of plundering, reach deep in your pockets and start giving away your money to those in need. Jesus contrasted their “game rules” with God’s. What was important to his heavenly Father was the amount of mercy in a person’s heart.
We would like to think that the Pharisee responded to Jesus’ words and dedicated the rest of his life to giving alms.
I ask myself am I more intent on following God’s “mercy” rules than I am following church protocol?
“The word of God is alive and active, able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
