Pot Roast and Clean Hands

Nancy Taylor

Mark 7: 1-4

1Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.)

Washing our hands is important today. As pastors, we are instructed to wash our hands, or use the antibacterial gel every time we enter a patient’s room and especially when we hold hands with them to pray. I know a nurse who insists that the doctors, nurses, etc. who care for her or her loved ones always wash their hands in her presence. She knows how easily disease can spread.

Washing hands was important in the Jewish tradition in Jesus’ time, too. Perhaps it is possible that leaders knew intuitively that somehow washing their hands and striving for cleanliness was valuable in the preservation of their people. The only problem is that tradition became concrete irrefutable law.

You might have heard the story of the granddaughter who wanted to cook her grandma’s famous pot roast. When she asked her mom how to make it, her mom replied that the first thing she must do is cut 2” off both ends of the roast. The granddaughter asked her mom why she must do that and the mom replied that she didn’t know why, it was just the way grandma, and grandma’s mother before her had done it. It was the way it was supposed to be done. A few weeks later she was talking to her grandma and asked her why she always cut the 2” off. And grandma said, no reason, except that she inherited her mom’s roasting pot and since it is small, she always cut off about 2” of the roast to make it fit. A good idea had become concrete irrefutable law.

I have a hunch that Jesus wasn’t about wasting 2” of a perfectly good roast. After all, he wasn’t about washing hands if it was just to abide by an ancient ritual that had become law. Jesus wanted us to think about our spiritual lives. He wanted us to clean up our insides; that part of us that hates, gets angry, is unforgiving, petty, greedy and disrespectful. If we don’t get rid of the bad stuff, there won’t be room for the good stuff.

Now, there are lots of corporate types who may think that the bad stuff isn’t so bad. But you and I know better. You and I know that when we are clean on the inside, something is right that isn’t right when we have dark, dirty thoughts and actions invading our soul. The Lenten season gives us an opportunity to cleanse our lives of the things that clog and keep us separated for God. A colleague of mine tells this story: “I ran across a friend at church who asked me how I was doing and I said, ‘Actually, pretty good.’ And he said, ‘I know, I can tell by your bright eyes. You have clean windows!’”

This spring, clean your windows, you will see so much better!

Prayer: Dear God, cleanse my spirit that I might draw ever closer to you. Amen.

Nancy Taylor is a Presbyterian minister in northern Arkansas. You can follow her delightful blog “Hmmmm…” here.