Introduction
There is so much to unpack here in this text, but the biggest and most apparent eschatological matter at hand is quite obvious, isn’t it? I mean, it doesn’t take a theologian or a Masters of Divinity to clearly see that the deep, life changing, pre-resurrection, faith filled message Jesus the Messiah is bringing is securely rooted in…say it with me… toilets! Wait. You all didn’t see that? Then I blame myself. If you missed Jesus’ potty talk then truly I have failed you as your pastor. I hope you will permit me to make amends for my unsatisfactory priesthood—and do so by beginning with a conversation about…high-tech toilets.
We don’t find high-tech toilets too much in the United States, but in other parts of the world, they are not uncommon. Just last month Tokyo made headlines by installing transparent public toilets that feature brightly colored glass that turns opaque when occupied and the door is locked. This high-tech restroom has heated seats, lids that open and close automatically, and at night these colorful loos light up like beautiful lanterns.
This is novel and enchanting, but when all is said and done it is still just a toilet. Nonetheless, sanitation issues are an extreme concern anywhere you go, but most especially in Third World developing countries. Improper sanitation issues are among the chief causes of ongoing disease and compounding health crises. That’s why the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been putting money into funding toilet technology for countries around the world trying to safely manage their sanitation issues. To spur the technological development the foundation created an initiative called the “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge.”
The University of Colorado received a $780,000 grant to “develop a solar toilet that uses concentrated sunlight, directed and focused with a solar dish and concentrator, to disinfect liquid-solid waste and produce biological charcoal (biochar) that can be used as a replacement for wood charcoal or chemical fertilizers.”
The California Institute of Technology received $100,000 for designing a solar-powered toilet that generates hydrogen and electricity.
The University of Toronto received a $40,000 grant for a toilet that sanitizes feces and urine and recovers resources and clean water.
Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking your pastor is still being unsatisfactory in his priesthood by droning on this long about toilets—but hang with me because this topic is actually biblical. Jesus himself, in our text of today, mentions the toilet to make a powerful point— which I’ll get to in a moment. But first, let’s get some context about all this…well…potty talk.
Move 1
In our text we encounter Pharisees and scribes who have made a special trip from Jerusalem to confront Jesus about, of all things, hygiene issues related to their traditions.
They’re “from Jerusalem,” so everyone knows this is serious. These are the big boys who only show up for major issues—which is always for them, Jesus.
They ask Jesus, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.”
Jesus, ever prepared for these types of inquisitions, is all kinds of ready for this. And he is ready this time with some… well…potty talk.
To the inquisition of the Pharisees and scribes Jesus makes an astonishing analogy between a toilet and a wicked heart, saying, “Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?” (v. 17). This is the first part of the metaphor. The word the NRSV translated as “sewer” is the Greek word aphedron. It refers to a place where human waste is dumped. Which we know as a toilet.
But Jesus’ potty talk doesn’t end there. He’s talking about the waste that goes into toilets, but he’s also talking about the vile waste that can be produced in our hearts, our inner consciousness, within the emotional state of our human nature.
From it “evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander” can be defecated, if you will, through the mouth, or by our actions, and pollute everything around us. And it is “These”, Jesus says to his startled audience and the prim Pharisees, “that are what defile a person,” not the fact that the hands have been washed or not washed (vv. 18-20).
This is not the only time Jesus uses vile references to describe blatant hypocrisy. Later in this same Gospel, we read of Jesus addressing the scribes and Pharisees yet again and pronouncing six “woes” upon them, including these words, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (23:27-28). For Jesus, hypocrisy is vile, it stinks, and it needs to be disposed of.
Move 2
Jesus makes it clear, in this text and elsewhere in the Gospels, that our words and actions are a product of who we are, of what’s really inside of us. That’s what he means when he says in his Sermon on the Mount that a person who thinks like an adulterer is an adulterer even if there’s been no actual liaison; and that the person who hates another person is a murderer, even though a literal murder has not been committed (5:21-30).
So how do we get rid of this vileness? Because we need more than air freshener. We need more than a high-tech toilet with warm seats and toilet lids that go up and down on their own.
The Good News is God has already installed the system we need— something so radical and effective the results are authentic, pure, sweet-smelling, and of benefit to everyone. The Bible calls it a new heart… a new nature.
Over and over again, all throughout scripture, the message is that we are new creations in Christ. The Apostle Paul makes this clear in II Corinthians: “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! We are reconciled to God, we have been given the “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18).
So the question becomes then is how do we put this new system into operation?
Well that’s the really good news. It’s already installed. It’s already within us. It takes a choice, a conscious, intentional, faithful choice to activate it. We must walk in faith, walk with Spirit led intentionality that reveals the new life and heart and nature within us. This comes out in how we speak to one another—including strangers, those different from us, those who believe different from us, even those who oppose us.
This comes out in how we respond to conflict and to the needs of others. This comes out in how we chose to respond to the needs and cries of others—even those who we disagree with. This comes out in how we perceive others—especially those who are different from us.
Move 3
Jesus illustrates what this actually looks like.
In our text for today we find the story of Jesus and a Canaanite woman— with an emphasis on her heritage. “Canaanite” meant pagan and a longtime enemy of Jewish monotheistic faith.
Jesus’ encounter with a Canaanite is scandalous as it is, but an encounter with a Canaanite woman is doubly defiling. The strict behavioral codes of decency in Near Eastern culture sternly frowned on men and women socializing. The brazen approach of this lone woman to Jesus and his disciples makes her character especially questionable.
But the woman is a mother, who has a daughter, and the daughter is sick and dying. In an age in which it was a commonly held conviction that all diseases— but especially demonic possession—resulted from past sinfulness, this woman’s character rating slips even further and she is seen as lower than low.
So with the unprecedented scene set, Jesus shows his disciples, and us, what it means to live as someone in touch with a law that’s higher than the laws, traditions and conventions of human society.
No self-respecting and self-righteous person would have had anything to do with this woman, but Jesus does. He forgoes all the rules and expectations put in place to keep “others” in their place, and takes actions of compassion and grace that create renewed life.
And that’s what we are to do too. With a new “system” in place, a new nature, a new perspective, we are made to be open for opportunities to reconcile, to share the Good News, to be gracious and generous, to be kind and compassionate, to break from traditional expectations if need be, so that all people—even those shunned by society—are cared for as children of God.
Conclusion
Author and pastor Bob Goff has said, “Jesus spent his whole life engaging the people most of us have spent our whole lives trying to avoid.”
I would add… Jesus spent his life living as many of his followers say they live, but don’t.
Living as children of God is an intentional lifestyle choice. We choose God. We say yes every day to God. We resist the inclination of our basest instincts—choosing to walk in faith, becoming stronger and better at it the more we do it.
But to live this kind of life we must become aware of our hypocrisy—which is what Jesus is pointing out to the Pharisees and scribes. They want to keep up appearances by following the traditions and rules—even though they are exclusionary. But Jesus is far more interested in living out rightness, justice, and faithfulness. He is far more interested in healing and inclusion and compassion. These are the new rules and traditions Jesus is establishing.
*******
This text is less about washing our hands before eating—which is certainly important and not a practice Jesus dismissing, and more about living faithfully to God’s call.
Jesus wants us to worry less about “traditions” and “the way it’s always been” and focus more on whether we are presenting ourselves to God, and our sisters and brothers, as someone who is real, someone who cares, someone who is Christ-like, someone who doesn’t look at labels and traditional prejudices, but instead embraces an authentic new life, new nature, and new creation we are as a way of life that offers the scent of gracious and loving acceptance. Because anything else, says Jesus (in a manner of speaking)…is just potty talk. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer, September 6, 2020
Creator God, oh how we give thanks for your work to make all things new. You are forever seeking for your will to be done on Earth, and are always at work to make it so—most especially through those who follow you. You yearn for all creation to live in harmony, and invite us to be part of that redeeming and life giving work.
The work can seem overwhelming and even impossible. But when we read your holy Word we see how your son did, and how we can too.
Jesus reached across the ethnic boundaries between Samaritan, Roman, Canaanite and Jew. Jesus offered fresh sight to the blind and freedom to captives. Jesus breaks down barriers in our community, enabling us to see the reality of racism and bigotry, hypocrisy and exclusion. And Jesus calls us to free ourselves from ways and traditions that keep others from the newness you offer, challenging us to uproot ourselves, and our society from systems that keep others from the new life you offer to all.
Persistent and loving God, forgive us for growing weary of the struggle for peace and justice, and for courting despair. Forgive us for being convinced we know who is in and who is out of your family, as if your care is not for all of us. Forgive us for wanting people to be like us before we help them.
Forgive us, then reconcile us to those we have treated as less than or unwanted. Mold us into a community where all your children are accepted, included and loved. Loosen our need to see the full results and instead know that small acts can have huge effects. Sustain us with an abundance of faith that implores our willingness to do the loving thing and be faithful in the small acts of caring.
God of the hidden seed and the promised resurrection, work your surprising and amazing grace in our lives and in our broken world. May your work to make all things new continue, and may it continue through each one of us.
Hear now the prayers of our hearts, offered in this time of Holy Silence.
All this we pray… …who taught us to pray saying, “Our…”