I have always been fascinated
by this discourse of Jesus with his disciples about what is defiled and what is
holy. It comes, of course, after the feeding of the five thousand and five
weeks of the various ways that Jesus describes himself as The Bread of Life –
that which goes into the body.
The question I hear Jesus asking, the question under the question about rituals
and traditions, is one about faith and behavior. I hear Jesus asking: How does what
we say we believe inform and shape the way we live? Jesus pushes us to live
authentically, with integrity, even if that challenges traditional beliefs and
ancient rituals.
I want to share with you a story I recently heard which I think illustrates the point Jesus is making here. It’s the story of a woman in Israel whose name is Idit Harel Segal. She is the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, who told her to live meaningfully and by Jewish tradition, which holds that there is no higher duty than saving a life.
Now, you’d have to have been living in a cave all your life not to know that Israel is a land of perpetual conflict. After centuries of harsh battle and cruel wars, the blood of Israel and Palestinian people have soaked the land to the extent that many now doubt whether anything could grow after being planted there.
A kindergarten teacher from Eshhar in northern Israel, and a proud Israeli, Ms. Segal was about to turn 50 and she had chosen what she felt was a gift for herself: She was going to give one of her kidneys to a stranger. Inspired by the teachings of her grandfather, she hoped that her choice would set an example of generosity and live out a central tenant of her Jewish belief by sacrificing a part of herself and saving a life.
Christians will recognize this as a central teaching of Jesus, the Rabbi we follow, who said, “There is no greater love than this, that a person lay down their life for his friends.” Ms. Segal, however, was doing one better: she was laying down her life for a total stranger. She contacted a group that links organ donors and recipients, launching a nine-month process to transfer her kidney to someone who needed one.
Well . . . the old saying in many churches is to be very careful what you pray for. Turns out, that someone was a three-year old Palestinian boy from the Gaza Strip.
Let that sink in: A 50-year old Israeli woman donating a kidney to a three-year old Palestinian boy.
Ms. Segal wrote a letter in Hebrew to the boy: “You don’t know me, but soon we’ll be very close because my kidney will be in your body,” (The news article I read stated that the family asked not to be named due to sensitivities in the Palestinian community over cooperating in any way with the Israelites.).
A friend translated the letter into Arabic so the family might understand, but I think the love in Ms. Segal’s heart is easily understood in any language, “I hope with all my heart,” she wrote, “that this surgery will succeed and you will live a long and healthy and meaningful life.”
What unfolded over the months between Ms. Segal’s decision and the June 16th transplant caused deep rifts in her family. Her husband and the oldest of her three children, a son in his early 20s, opposed her plan of undergoing a major surgery that was not medically necessary.
Her father stopped talking to her.
To them, Ms. Segal recalled, she was unnecessarily risking her life. “My family was really against it. Everyone was against it. My husband, my sister, her husband. And the one who supported me the least was my father,” Ms. Segal said, “They were afraid.”
When she learned the boy’s identity, she kept the details to herself for months. “I told no one,” Ms. Segal recalled. “I told myself if the reaction to the kidney donation is so harsh, so obviously the fact that a Palestinian boy is getting it will make it even harsher.”
You may know that Israel has maintained a tight blockade over Gaza since Hamas, an Islamic militant group that opposes Israel’s existence, seized control of the area in 2007. Israel and Hamas have fought four wars since then and few Gazans are allowed to even enter Israel.
For Ms. Segal, that gift that had sparked such conflict in her family accomplished more than she could have hoped for or imagined. Her kidney helped safe the boy’s life and generated a second donation. On the same day his son received a new kidney, the boy’s father donated one of his on – to a 25 year-old Israeli mother of two.
Ms. Segal said she honored her grandfather in a way that helps her cope with the grief of his death five years ago. The donation was an act of autonomy, she said, and she never waivered. And eventually, her family came around – another gift, perhaps, in itself.
She said her husband understands better now, as do her children. And on the eve of Ms. Segal’s surgery, her father called. “I don’t remember what he said because he was crying,” Ms. Segal said. It was at that time she told him that her kidney was going to a Palestinian boy.
For a moment, there was silence. And then, her father spoke, “Well,” he said, “he needs a life, too.”
Wonder of wonders and miracle of miracles!
Sometimes, that’s exactly how miracles happen – by following one’s faith even if it leads to breaking through barriers of tradition and moving past expectations of behavior.
Now, a very narrow reading of this passage by modern, nit-picking Pharisees might say, “Well, a kidney came out of a body and Jesus said it’s only things that come out of a body are what can defile.” Yes, evil can come from the human heart; it’s important to remember that so does love.
Jesus knows our capabilities and potentials for good and for ill. Jesus is asking us to choose love. He is asking us to always make choices for the good and not out of habit or impulse or being a prisoner of tradition. He is telling us that the value of our old traditions is not worth as much as the good we can do by breaking them in service of others.
Those are dangerous words, conveying dangerous thoughts and, in the institutional church as well as all the other institutions in life, change feels like the greatest danger. I’m remembering the seven last words of a dying church, “We have always done it that way.”
I’m also reminded of something Bishop Jack Spong used to say often, “The church will die of boredom long before it dies of controversy.”
Jesus is asking us to consider what traditions we have that are no longer serving the good. What human tradition do we need to abandon in order to hold onto the commandments of God? How can we live our lives of faith with greater authenticity and truth? What illusions of safety must we sacrifice in order to find new life? New vitality?
In seeking the answers to these questions, we may upset the carefully balanced apple carts of our religious faith. People may feel anxious and afraid and their impulses will be ones of protection and preservation. Some may stop talking to us.
I only know this much to be true: Miracles can and do happen when let go of human tradition and hold true to our faith. And those miracles will inspire other miracles.
As we’ve learned over the
past 5 weeks, Jesus is the Bread of Life. When we abide in him, He abides in
us. When we live our faith – when we are doers and not just hearers of the word
– what comes out of the body is love and truth and authenticity.
And that, my
friends – love and truth and authenticity – is part of the miraculous stuff –
no matter the particularities of faith – that allows strangers to give of
themselves to save the lives of others, even across differences of belief and
boundaries of faith.
As one of my favorite theologians once wrote: "But the gospel doesn't need a coalition devoted to keeping people out. It needs a family of sinners, saved by grace, committed to tearing down the walls, throwing open the doors and shouting, "Welcome! There's bread and wine! Come eat with us and talk! This isn't a kingdom for the worthy; it's a kingdom for the hungry."
Or, as St. Paul's website says, "Everyone welcome. No exceptions."
Amen.
And let the people say AMEN!
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