Mark 7:6-13: a reflection

6He answered them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8“For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.” 9He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. 10For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother;’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 11But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban,”’” that is to say, given to God, 12“then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother, 13making void the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down. You do many things like this.”

Jesus confronts the Pharisees with a sharp diagnosis, quoting Isaiah: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me. And he gives a striking example of how their traditions had come to override God's commands. God commanded, Honor your father and mother; but they had a tradition by which a person could declare his resources devoted to God, and so excuse himself from supporting his aging parents. Thus, Jesus says, you make void the word of God by your tradition.

Notice the two things Jesus exposes. First, worship that is all lips and no heart: honoring God with words while the heart is far from him, which he calls vain worship. And second, using religious tradition to evade God's actual commands: they had found a religious-sounding way to avoid the plain duty of caring for their parents. Their religion had become a means of honoring God outwardly while sidestepping what he actually required.

That is a searching double warning. It is possible to honor God with our lips while our hearts are far from him, going through the motions of worship without real devotion; God calls this vain. And it is possible to use religious activity itself as a way to avoid God's plain commands, especially the duties of love toward those near us, dressing up neglect in spiritual language. Examine whether your worship is heart-deep or only lip-deep, and whether your religion ever becomes a way to sidestep the plain things God requires, like caring for those who depend on you. God wants your heart, not only your lips, and obedience to his clear commands, not religious cover for avoiding them.

Lord Jesus, you confronted the Pharisees for honoring God with their lips while their hearts were far from him, and for using their traditions to evade God's plain command to care for their parents, making void the word of God by their tradition. Search me by that double warning. It is possible for me to honor you with my lips while my heart is far from you, going through the motions of worship without real devotion; you call this vain. And it is possible for me to use religious activity itself to avoid your plain commands, especially the duties of love toward those near me, dressing up neglect in spiritual language. Show me whether my worship is heart-deep or only lip-deep, and whether my religion ever becomes a way to sidestep what you plainly require. You want my heart, not only my lips, and obedience to your clear commands, not religious cover for avoiding them. Give me a heart near to you, and honest obedience.