Tradition!

The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

August 25, 2024

Mark 7:1-13

 “Tradition!”

Who doesn’t love a good, rousing musical? Maybe this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but there are songs from some musicals that stick with us, and you just can’t help humming or singing to yourself. Case in point: a week ago this past Friday, Wolf Trap hosted a singalong for “The Sound of Music.” Another much-loved musical is “Fiddler on the Roof,” which premiered as a stage production sixty years ago in 1964. “Fiddler on the Roof” held the record for the longest running Broadway musical for a decade with the film adaptation of this coming out in 1971. Set in Imperial Russia in the early years of the twentieth century, “Fiddler on the Roof” tells the story of Tevye, the local dairyman, who strives to keep his Jewish faith and traditions intact while outside influences creep into the life of his family and community. One of the more famous songs from the musical is the opening number, “Tradition!” As Tevye says: “Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof” (Fiddler on the Roof - Wikipedia).  We hear about tradition in today’s Gospel lesson as Jesus confronts the traditions of his own people that get in the way of the kingdom of God. Based on Jesus’ words in that Gospel lesson, “Tradition” becomes the theme for preaching today. May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word for Jesus’ sake.

So what are your traditions? We’ve all got them, whether we realize this or not. Think what has to be on the menu for Thanksgiving dinner. Or when you open Christmas presents – Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Or where you go on vacation – same place every year, or a different place? Traditions touch on things that are deeply felt and often time-honored. They become part of who we are. Our traditions can touch on things in our faith life as well. As Lutheran Christians, we are fond of saying that we rely only on the Word of God, and not on tradition. Theologically, that is true, but practically, I’ve seen way too much over the years to indicate otherwise. We Lutherans love our traditions! When it comes to traditions, people can get riled up about all sorts of things at church: traditional worship vs. contemporary worship, the kind of music in worship, removing pews up front in the Sanctuary to accommodate a grand piano. What would Christmas Eve worship be like if we didn’t sing “Silent Night” while holding a lighted candle? That is a beloved tradition, of course, but it is just that – a tradition. In and of themselves, there’s nothing wrong with traditions. The challenge for the people in Isaiah’s day, in Jesus’ day, and the challenge for us today, is that our beloved traditions can obscure, get in the way, even block out the kingdom of God. We can get very wrapped up in minutiae, and not see the forest for the trees. We can get stuck in our traditions, and when faced with a decision about something important for the greater good of God’s kingdom, something that may challenge our traditions, the cry frequently goes up: “But we’ve always done it this way!”, a phrase sometimes called “the seven last words of the church.”

The traditions we hear about in the Gospel lesson – ceremonial washing of hands and utensils for ritual purity, rather than hygienic purposes; making a vow that gets you out of caring for loved ones – these may sound really strange to us today. But do some of our own traditions look strange to others? Today’s Old Testament lesson (Isaiah 29:11-19) contains the very words that Jesus uses in the Gospel lesson (Mark 7:13). They are a stinging indictment of man-made rules and traditions over against God’s own commandments. Whether it’s Isaiah’s day, or Jesus’ day, or our own day, the sin is the same. The Word of God speaks to us just as it did in the days of Isaiah and Jesus: “‘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’” (Isaiah 29:13; Mark 7:6-7). Our faith life can degenerate into mere formality; just going through the motions; checking the box. The blessing of liturgy and worship, prayer, Bible study, fellowship, and service to others – all of these can become so rote that we find ourselves on a very slippery slope, sometimes without even realizing it. And so a separation can occur between our hearts and our words and actions. What do we do?

WWJD – it’s been around for awhile. It stands for “What Would Jesus Do?” That’s a question that we as Jesus’ followers are encouraged to ask ourselves as we face different situations in life. How would Jesus respond in such a situation? And that can certainly be helpful in our journey of faith. As we think about manmade traditions that can get in the way of the kingdom of God, we might need to ask ourselves another question: “What Would Jesus Undo?” What would Jesus undo from the mess that we’ve made? Are there things in our lives that need to be undone, removed, and replaced for the sake of the kingdom of God? Over against the many things that we would do or undo, here is what God says he will do. In words that follow that stinging indictment from Isaiah, the Lord says: “Therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden… In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 29:14, 18-19). God promises to do wonderful things in contrast to his people’s trust in themselves and their traditions. God promises to work in behalf of the deaf and the blind, the meek and the poor. God’s promises find their fulfillment and completion in the Person of God’s own beloved Son, Jesus. Before we can really answer the WWJD question (“What would Jesus do?”), we first have to answer another question: WDJD? “What Did Jesus Do?” Jesus opened the ears of the deaf (Mark 7:31ff.), and the eyes of the blind (Mark 8:22ff.). He came to lift up the lowly and the poor (Matthew 11:4-6). He came to give his life on the cross as payment for all our sins; that we might be his own, now and forever. He came to do for us what we could never do for ourselves by purchasing our salvation with his own precious blood. Our man-made traditions fade and pass away before the searching, seeking love of Jesus who came to bring healing and wholeness, forgiveness and freedom.

May the Lord who has begun this good work among us bring it to completion in the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). Amen.