I have a friend who loves to entertain. The foods she prepares are delicious, and always beautifully presented. I would be happy to help her in any way she would like, but I will not wash dishes at her house. Most of her tableware has been in her family for generations and I don’t want to take the chance of breaking any of it.
But the real reason I will not offer to help with the dishes is that nothing I would do would be enough. She wants the water temperature to be just right, the right amount of soap must be used, and each piece must be scrubbed just so. I will do whatever else she asks me to do, but I will not wash her dishes! I asked her once why she was so picky about dish washing and she just responded, “that’s the way everyone washed dishes.” As the discussion continued it became clear to me that she meant that she was doing it the way her mother, grandmothers and aunts had done it.
Sometimes we do things out of habit and assume that the way we are doing it is the right way and the only way. We can even judge people who do things differently from the way we do them as being wrong. The righteous people in this Sunday’s gospel are critical of the disciples of Jesus because they do not wash utensils the way the ancestors did, and therefore are wrong. In fact, they said the disciples had broken the law.
How easily we jump from “not my way” to “wrong way.” How easily we make rules where none exists. How easily we enslave ourselves to things that are not truly necessary. God in Christ gives us freedom for our wrongdoing. Let’s not make more rules.
Thanks be to God.
Pastor Bill