A Poem a Sunday Proper 17B/Ordinary 22B/Pentecost 15 September 2, 2018 St. Mark 7:1-8 - NRSV The Tradition of the Elders 7 Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2 they 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,[a] thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4 and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it;[b] and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.[c])  5 So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live[d] according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”  6 He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘These people honors me with their lips,     but their hearts are far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me,     teaching human precepts as doctrines.’ 8 You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” Footnotes: [a] Mark 7:3 Meaning of Gk uncertain [b] Mark 7:4 Other ancient authorities read and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they purify themselves [c] Mark 7:4 Other ancient authorities add and beds [d] Mark 7:5 Gk walk
	Mark 7:14-15 14 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”[a] Footnotes: Mark 7:15 Other ancient authorities add verse 16, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen” Mark 7:21-23 21 For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22 adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

A Poem a Sunday

Pentecost 15 - B

Tradition of the Elders

or

Ten Ways to Close a Church

1 & 2

Never change your pew

No eye contact with the new

3 & 4

Share the peace with friends

Make sure when worship ends

5 & 6

Complain about the pastor

Make small bumps into disasters

7 & 8

Be offended by the Tithe

Always take sides

9 & 10

Put a lid on God’s Spirit

Bylaws have more merit

~~~

Stand fast, steadfast stand

in the same old ways.

Our dear edifice

is where we will stay.

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