I am sharing an old blog this week as I am on vacation in the days leading up to when I would normally write. While this one was written several years ago, the questions posed seem especially timely given the opportunity we have now to sort through why we do what we do and the …
Tag: Mark 7:1-23
Orphans and Widows in Their Distress…Seeing the Invisible
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 James 1:17-27 As a pastor raised in the Lutheran tradition, I long ago learned to be cautious of the letter of James. Perhaps too much so, it seems to me know. Especially as the urging in his letter so perfectly brings home what seems to be the intent of the episode …
On Hand Washing, Shells, and Our Oh So Human Traditions
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 This is true. I never thought much about what was behind the Jewish tradition of hand washing before today. I have always simply jumped to what appears to be Jesus’ main point and skimmed over the roots of the tradition which is at the center of this week’s controversy. And yet, …
“What Matters and What Doesn’t…”
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 It’s an old story, this one, and one with roots not in malice, but rather, youth and ignorance. It is when I first began to discern what mattered and what didn’t in ministry. I was a young pastor serving a small, rural church. The people there were kind and they were …