There’s Always Room for More

Some say the church is full of hypocrites, but that’s not true. There’s always room for more!

I attribute that adage to contemporary theologian, Shane Claiborne. I love it for its humility, but also for the way that it levels the playing field. Religion is so often an exercise in comparison. And have you noticed that from my perspective (whoever I am), my religion just happens to be superior to all the others? That tends to be true even if my religion is no religion at all. But no matter my preferred system of values and beliefs, if I’m human then I’m bound to fall short of my highest principles. The open secret is that there’s always room for more hypocrites in every community.

Which is why I’ll start by issuing a caution about our scripture today. Although it revolves around the question of Jewish religious practice, today’s Gospel from Mark is not, in fact, about Judaism. In light of Mark’s simplistic, almost dismissive, description of the tradition of hand washing before a meal, his audience is not likely to take it seriously. It feels like a set-up. The Jewish elite are concerned with nothing more than empty ritual, we might be quick to assume, whereas Jesus is concerned with matters of the heart. But, the depiction of the religious authorities as legalistic and shallow is a mischaracterization, one that has led to a great deal of anti-Judaism over the centuries.

As experts in the law, the Pharisees and scribes are concerned with Israel’s fidelity to God. The law is a gift, ordering the people’s lives in a manner consistent with the covenant. And their adherence to the law serves as a witness to the nations: “You must observe [the commandments] diligently,” Moses declares in our first reading from Deuteronomy, “for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples…. For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is whenever we call to him? And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?” From the perspective of the Pharisees and scribes, the observance of Jewish ritual glorifies God in view of the world.[1]

That insight gives credence to their critique: “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders,” they ask Jesus, “but eat with ritually unclean hands?” If the Jesus movement doesn’t adhere to standard religious practice, then it dispenses with the very thing that establishes Israel’s identity as the people chosen by God to be a blessing to the nations.[2]

Jesus’ response reveals that the issue at hand is not Jewish tradition per se, but something more universal: “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites,” he says, “as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’” In other words, the problem is not the shape of a people’s piety, but the discrepancy between their external practice and their internal conviction.

Thus, Jesus’ indictment lands squarely on all of us. The Greek roots of the word hypocrisy mean “acting out a role,” or “pretending.” So, hypocrisy refers to something deeper than dishonesty. It’s the projection of a false self, a mask, a “fabricated persona that we wish to be” in place of our authentic self.[3] Hypocrisy is simultaneously public display and self-deception, the effort to keep up appearances in order to maintain an image that does not correspond to the truth of our lives. Hypocrisy is Photoshop and Fakebook and disingenuous Christmas cards; it’s moral posturing and respectability politics and the refusal to confront painful realities.

The opposite of hypocrisy is integrity. The word integrity derives from the Latin integer, which means “whole” or “complete.” So, integrity means more than honesty or decency. It refers to the unity of the self, a consistency of character across circumstances. Integrity means resisting self-deception and acknowledging both your gifts and limitations. It is to be grounded in your center, know yourself, and thereby relate to others in healthy and gracious ways.

Of course, both hypocrisy and integrity are manifest in our words and actions. As Jesus explains, “There is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.” Or to borrow another biblical image, a tree is known by its fruit.[4]

Have you heard the story of the emperor’s seed, a Chinese folktale?

There once lived a childless emperor who went about choosing his successor in a novel way. He invited thousands of children from across the kingdom to the palace and gave each one a seed. “Take this seed home,” he instructed them, “plant it, and tend to it for one year. Bring it back, and I will evaluate your efforts and name my successor.”

A boy named Ling was among the children who received a seed, and he followed the emperor’s command to a tee. He returned to his village, planted his seed in a pot, and cared for it diligently day after day. Yet, even after several weeks, his seed produced nothing. As time passed, Ling heard other children talking about the plants they were growing, how healthy and beautiful they were. But despite his best efforts, Ling’s seed never yielded a plant.

When it came time to return to the emperor’s palace, Ling was crestfallen. Nevertheless, he resolved to present his lifeless pot to the emperor as it was. Arriving with the other children, he looked with melancholy on their many plants of various shapes and sizes. The emperor walked back and forth among the children, admiring their magnificent offerings, and finally stopped in front of Ling’s pot. “What happened here?” he asked.

“I tended to my seed as you commanded,” Ling replied, “but I could not grow a plant.” Some of the other children snickered to themselves.

“I see,” said the emperor. “What is your name?”

“Ling,” the boy replied.

The emperor picked up Ling’s pot in one arm, put the other arm around his shoulder, and turned to face the other children. “A year ago, I gave you each a seed and instructed you to tend to it. The seeds I gave you, however, were boiled and useless. Yet, you have all somehow managed to return with a plant in hopes that I might judge you worthy of becoming emperor. All except Ling here. His integrity is more valuable than any proud display, so he will be my successor.”

Friends, Jesus is less concerned with outward displays of faithfulness than he is with the condition of our hearts. The truth is that our hearts are divided between the ideals we espouse and the reality of our lives. Jesus perceives that inconsistency, nevertheless he wholly embraces us. He is the antithesis of hypocrisy, embodying the integrity of God, God’s undivided love for our broken world. And by claiming us as God’s beloved, he establishes our center, our truest identity, and forms us to relate to each other in healthy and gracious ways.

[1] Elisabeth Johnson, www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3758.

[2] Genesis 12:2-3.

[3] Loye Bradley Ashton, in Feasting on the Word, Year B, Vol. 4, 22.

[4] Matthew 7:20; Luke 6:44.