Sermon Tone Analysis

Lord, may the words of my mouth and the mediation of all our hearts and our actions be acceptable to you, our strength and our redeemer.

Amen

 

When I was I kid we played a lot of sports after school.

Not organized sports and really it might be more appropriate to say that we played a lot of            games

                        We played a little bit of baseball

                                    A lot of touch football

                                                But mostly we played a lot of road hockey

When we played road hockey, would often pretended we were our favorite NHL stars

            I was generally one of three people

                        I was Borja Salming if I was on defense

                                    Darrel Sittler on offense

                                                And if I came up with a last minute dramatic goal saving glove save

                                                            I was Mike Palmater in net

As a kid dreaming of playing in the NHL (the road hockey - NHL) we knew that we were just pretending

            But there were some times when all the right moves came together and for a moment - just a         moment - you could actually feel like you were that star

 

That notion of pretending or dressing up, in some ways never really leaves you

            We all have costumes or clothing that we wear that presents a certain persona

When I was a teenager I went through a couple of years where I dressed like a punk rocker

            I wore army fatigues and t-shirts with punk rock bands on them

                        I didn’t share the message and lifestyle of the music

                                    but I liked the energy of the music so I dressed the part

In my first job in sales, when *all* I had behind me was school, I dressed up in a suit

            I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I looked the part

                       

While understanding this notion that the outward appearance sets the perspective, imagine yourself in this situation

 

Consider yourself part of a religious group -/ might not be that hard to do/

            You are part of a group that even though there are people all around that have different    beliefs and different gods - you believe that your God is one true God

                        You consider yourselves part of deep rooted group

                                    In fact you hold a great deal of pride and honour to connect your group to the                               original founders of your religion

                                                You were part of politically shaping revolt based on religious beliefs

            You take great pride in following the teachings of your sacred books

                        In fact you are known for your zeal for them and the way you follow all ceremonial                      instructions

            You teach a message that believers in your God are called to be separate from the rest of the        world

                        To be a visible representatives

                        Your zeal for things done right is transparent in what you wear and what you eat

            There are other divisions of your religion that worship the same God

                        - there are those that have long influential connections and money and seem a little                        too worldly

                        - Yet others are fanatical and want to bring *the* reign of your superior God             by any                                     means possible, including force in opposing other religious groups

            You see yourselves as a corrective alternative for the destiny of your people

                        Since you are not born into the temple roles - you have developed places of worship                      and teaching through-out the land

           

I am speaking of the Pharisees of 2000 years ago

            But I think you can see the parallels *to us* Anglicans as well

                        We have the one true God

                                    Believe in Apostolic succession

                                                We are historically connected to Catholic church

                                                            Yet also part of the corrective movement - of Protestism

                                                Hold the Bible as the revelation of God

                                                            have highly formal worship practices - liturgies

                                                                        have reasons to think that other denominations each got                                                                   it slightly wrong

I think that Anglicans and Pharisees have a lot in common.

We both certainly like to maintain, support and encourage the traditions

 

So do you think - as I do - and in some way see yourself as a Pharisee on some level?

One view of the Pharisees comes scriptures and generally it is a pretty negative view.

We see them as the main opponents that were after Jesus

                        and we see Jesus attacking them verbally *more* then any other group

            We have it today in our Gospel passage where Jesus had previously just fed the 5000,       walked on water, healed the demon possessed

                        And there the Pharisees are - traveling a great distance from Jerusalem to Galilee and                    they are challenging Jesus about ritual washing

There are positive perspectives - also - other sources, like Josephus, a significant historical writer - presents them in the most positive light

            And the after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD - *it* was the Pharisaic movement - that          alone survived - when all other Jewish sects died out

                        They are the religious forerunners for our modern day Jewish brothers and sisters

 

The view you have of the Pharisees is connected to how much you relate to them

 

The Pharisees were known and respected as the most zealous keepers of the law

            and in fact took it a step beyond and were zealous for the “tradition of the elders”

                        - which was the teachings that built on or added to the law.

And that is the point in which we connect with the Pharisees today in our Gospel passage from Mark       the passage is actually called the “tradition of the elders” in some versions.

/“Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 Jesus said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

8 You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”/

The key word in all of this - is the word /hypocrites/

            Its meaning from the Greek is something like “actors” or “pretenders”

Jesus is saying that they are dressing up for the role

            looking the part

                        doing the things that on the outside look righteous

                                    they are teaching the traditionally right things

                                                but they are not owning *the part* in their hearts

 

I think that - we who are much like the Pharisees - need to be *confronted* by this

 

            I think we need to think about what we *say* we do - with *what we actually do*

 

                        We need to question *why* we do things

                                    as much as *what* we do

 

I know that I have found myself feeling like a Pharisee a lot these days

            As I have started in full-time ministry

                        I am often thinking about what I am supposed to do in this service or that

                                    Or explaining Anglican practices to those that want to get married or have                                      their kids baptized in our church

I remember a time when I was interning at The Meeting House last summer when we were to serve communion

            And I was explaining some of the Holy Hardware that is used in an Anglican church

                        I was very aware of feeling like the “teacher of traditions” - the right way

                                    Feeling like a Pharisee

                                                When the more important fact was that we were going to celebrate in                                             the Lord supper

 

In this day and age in our culture - appearances do matter - /As they mattered back then/

            People take their cue - their first impression from what we look like - or appear to be doing

                        With the predominate role that the media plays in our lives - we are bombarded with                     images

                                    We Christians - especially those that that have been willing to boldly represent                               themselves as Christians - need to live in accordance with our appearances

 

There is a joke about the women that is drives in hurry to work, changing lanes fast, honking her horn at those that are in her way - and making middle digit gestures at those that don’t drive to her liking - she gets pulled over by the police and put in prison

            After waiting some time she is released with no charges - in anger she asks why she was    pulled over and put in prison - to which the officer responds that he thought her Car was    stolen because he saw the fish icon (the symbol of Christianity) on the back

                        She wasn’t acting the part that she was professing

                       

 

There is an important sidebar that I want to share with you but didn’t really figure out a way in which to integrate it into the sermon.

So please excuse this sidebar

            Notice in the Gospel how Jesus addresses the issue at hand

                        deals with it in three different ways to three different audiences

            To the Pharisees that are trying to question his authority as a teacher by tripping him up on            the teachings of the traditions of the elders

                        Jesus redirects the focus to calling them out - as actors, or pretenders (hypocrites) and                   challenging them that they only pay lip service to God’s commandments in favour of                    /teaching human precepts as doctrines/

            To the crowd gathered - A simple clear message -