“Uncommon People” 

James 1:17-27

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 

Infantry colonel.  Airborne.  Ranger.  Combat veteran.  The type that movies portray as chewing on steel and spitting out nails.  Not the type to go easy on junior officers.  Yet, as I joined the other junior officers at the long, dark wood table for my first staff meeting, I knew that this colonel also professed to being a Christian.  The Colonel had just come in with a full cup of steaming hot coffee and took his place at the head of the table.  Looking down the table he asked about an overdue report.  The report's author immediately pulled it out and sent it sliding down the table to The Colonel.  And it kept sliding - right into the cup of steaming hot coffee.  The report, the cup, the coffee all headed toward the Colonel's lap as I gazed in horror.  Fleeting thoughts of a cowardly dive under the table to avoid the impending mayhem passed through my mind as I braced for what was to come.  I remember thinking that at least I might be able to expand my vocabulary of creative epithets. 

The Colonel's eyes widened in shock as he realized what was about to fall into his lap; then widened even more as the hot coffee spilled all over him.  And then he opened his mouth and out it came, “Oh, that's hot!” And he launched into the meeting with never another word about the incident. 

Miss Betty is a Sunday School teacher.  While one may consider the Kindergarten class as being her specialty, the one that she has taught for generations, her real specialty is surrounding the children with love and patience, even as she manages to keep the children not just under control but engaged.  Engaged in ever new art projects, in drama, retelling in so many different ways the classic Bible stories.  Even snack time reinforces the lessons. 

The Colonel, Miss Betty.  Uncommon people. 

From the time of Abraham, God has called a people to be set apart, to be uncommon, to be in a special relationship with God.  Throughout the Old Testament we hear echoes of the covenant relationship: “You shall be my people and I shall be your God.”  This status was demonstrated in many ways.  The people had the Torah, the teachings, that guided their thoughts and their lives.  They were refined by hardship of slavery in Egypt and then as they wandered in the desert; it isn't always easy being part of the people of God.  They were led by the very presence of God through the desert and into their own country.  They learned how to worship their God, our God.  They were uncommon people set apart as witnesses to the world, like a lighthouse on a hill, their light showing people how to find God.  They were to point to this awesome God so that others might believe as well. 

Yet, by the time of the story in Mark, a strange transformation had occurred.  The people, and particularly the Pharisees, had forgotten that God wanted a loving relationship with them.  They remembered the law that set them apart.  They had expanded upon it, they had added rules and rituals to ensure that the people maintained their identity.  But, they had forgotten the whole purpose of their being different.  They viewed being different as being superior, as being what set them above the gentiles, the pagans, that surrounded them, even ruled over them.  They strove to obey every minute detail so that, someday, God would look on favor and restore his people to their former prominence. 

The passage we read this morning, along with most modern translations, uses the term 'to defile' to describe what happens if one does not follow proper ritual.  The washing of hands was not for sanitation but rather a careful ritual done by dipping a closed fist into the water and rubbing it against the other forearm.  The palm, the part that would touch the food, wasn't really getting clean.  This Greek word that we translate as defile could better be translated as 'to make common'.  Failing to follow proper ritual would make you common, just like all those common unbelievers surrounding you. 

Totally bypassing the question of ritual and rules, Jesus went directly to the heart of the matter, or more accurately, to our hearts.  It is not food that makes us unclean or uncommon; what goes into our mouths comes out the other end, regardless of whether we are Jew or Gentile; there is nothing common or uncommon about that.  Rather, it is what comes out of our hearts, the words of our mouths, the way that we live, that makes us uncommon, that sets us apart as the people of God.  It is as we tell the story of God that we are used by God, that we become uncommon for that original purpose that God intended, that we might be witnesses to God. 

The reading from James takes us further away from the rules of the Pharisees and amplifies the concept of the words of our hearts.  The Bible is the Word, the word of God.  We, just as the Pharisees, have the Word of God that we can study and ponder.  Yet, the Word also became flesh, the Word became alive in the very person of Jesus.  The very same Word is 'implanted' into our hearts.  This implanted word becomes alive in us today, makes us come alive today.  James tells us that the words of our hearts are not only those spoken by our mouths but are also, especially, spoken by our actions. 

Thinking back to the Colonel, a standard joke was that the test to see if a Ranger was tough enough entailed the following exam: under your seat is a spool of thread and a bayonet.  Remove your own appendix.  Points will be given for neatness.  Fortunately, we do not have to be that tough, we no not have to do our own open heart surgery to get these words, the word of God, implanted into our hearts.  That is an action taken by God, the very God that created each of us, male and female, in God's own image.  As James tells us, every good thing given and perfect gift is a gift from God.  The Word, whether the words of Scripture, the Word made flesh, or the word implanted into our heart, is a gift of God.     

There is some advice about the implanted word for us contained in these passages.  First, we should examine the word. We should hear it carefully, or as James puts it, be quick to hear this word that has the power to save our souls.  Romans 10 also states that: “¹⁴ How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?”  We need to not only hear, but carefully hear and examine the word of God.  

Also, we must let the word restore us to that uncommon status, a restoration that we need daily.  Mark warns that out of the hearts of man proceed evil thoughts and actions.  James warns us of the difficulty of harnessing our tongues, our words.  It is only through the wonderful gift of reconciliation with God, through the Word Incarnate, that we can regain our uncommon status.

Finally, we should let the word transform our lives: we should become doers of the word.  For as we let the implanted word change our lives, as we put it into action, it drives out the evil that is within us and replaces it with this good and perfect gift from God.  Then what we do, whether caring for the widow and orphan or sharing the word so that others may hear and believe, marks us as being uncommon.  Uncommon in a way that witnesses to the Word that transforms us. 

Restoring and transforming.  We are also in a period of change, of transition. This period of transition for First Presbyterian Church of Logan searching for a new installed pastor coincides with my period of transition into the ministry of the Word and Sacrament.  Part of this transition will be my ordination in three weeks to which all of you are invited.  You will see the outward mark of it when I start wearing a robe and am able to lead in the celebration of the sacraments which Clark will lead today.  Some of your transitions will be less visible as the pastor nominating committee reads through resumes, establishes contact with possible candidates, ultimately asking one or more to preach a sermon and jointly discerning whether God is calling you together.  Whether visible or not, these transitions should remind us that we are uncommon people. 

As I got to know The Colonel, I realized that his incredibly restrained reaction was an external mark of the Word of God planted in his heart.  Just as Miss Betty's long and loving Sunday School service is her external mark. 

My prayer for all of us is that we might be known as uncommon people, that the love of Jesus Christ and the grace of God will continually restore each of us to this uncommon status,  that in word and action we might be witnesses to all those around us, witnesses to our awesome God.  Let us all be known as uncommon people. 

September 3, 2006

Pastor Alan Hammond

First Presbyterian Church

Logan, Utah