I am amazed what the human body can accept at times. Do any of you watch a program on the Discovery Channel that is about survival in a variety of different situations? With as little TV as I watch, it is surprising that I even came across this program. The “host” takes the viewer along with him via the camera to various locations where he is left along for a period of time, usually five to seven days, to survive with very few items. I have only seen two episodes of this program to date, one on surviving in the desert, and the other surviving on a tropical jungle. Two items, food and water, are not part of the “supplies” which he has with him in any quantity. An expert on survival techniques, he has to rely on nature to provide most of what he needs to stay alive in a multitude of situations.
Now I mentioned that food and water are not part of his supplied items. In one episode he relied on certain cacti to provide food, as well as a variety of berries that somehow manage to grow in a desert climate. His main source of “meat” on this show seemed to consist of live scorpions with their stingers removed and some other creature he was able to catch. Water happened to be found in one of those little desert rivers that seem to exist in places. In the other episode, the main source of food was coconuts, fish, lizards, and insects. The coconuts also supplied coconut milk which helped alleviate his thirst, and was supplemented by water found in a small stream coming down from a hillside.
In both episodes, I had a difficult time watching as he ate some of his “delicacies,” and have vowed that I will “never let myself get lost in any such situation.” Guess I’d better start carrying a basket of non-perishable food and drink items with me wherever I go. Nevertheless, I feel that this program has some redeeming values, besides teaching physical survival skills. I shall try to elaborate.
First, in reading the New Testament passage from the Letter of James, one easily senses a similarity between the words of James and the words of the Jewish Laws. What I mean is, both James and the Laws imply the act of “doing something” in order to be obedient. The Laws implied that if one followed them, that person would be “in favor” with God. James’ understanding is slightly different: If one hears the Word of God, then one has to become a “doer” of the Word in order to be true to the Word. To “survive” in Judaism it was necessary to be obedient to the commandments and laws which God handed down. And according to James one must “show or demonstrate” understanding of the Word by living as the Word directs.
In the show on survival, there is a need to “act” according to the needs as dictated by the situation. In the desert, there is a need for shelter from the daytime heat and/or lack of humidity during the day, and the bone chilling cold that comes at night, especially during winter months. In the jungle, where heat and humidity are major elements, shelter is less important, but knowing the dangers of other objects, be it animal or mineral, are important. Doing what is necessary to provide for one’s necessities in such situations are vital, if one is to survive. The twist is that one has to depend upon inborn and learned skills to protect one’s self. Survival of self is depended on using what God provides to maintain what God has created.
In that “twist” I would say is a missed observation about the Law and the Word of God. To be obedient to the Law, one must want, in the heart, to please God. It is not to find favor with God, but to please God, that one follows the dictates of the Law. One does not listen to the Word of God to be redeemed, but that one may do what pleases God. Self-concern is to take a back seat in our actions. That does not mean that we totally disregard the great advances that have been made over the years in our knowledge or skills. But this new knowledge and these improved skills are meant to be used to bring pleasure to God, and not just for selfish pleasures. If one believes in God, then one must choose to do what pleases God over everything else.
Ironically, pleasing God does not prohibit one from enjoying life. But there is big difference between enjoying life, and abusing what life offers. And here, at times, is a very fine line between the two. This is where we seem to go astray. That fine line divides self-fulfillment from divine satisfaction. When we forget the simple reason for living, that is, pleasing God, our deeds, our actions, our choices lead us to seek self-fulfillment rather than pleasing God. That is what happened when the Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ time insisted that the general population had to follow the Laws that they, the Scribes and Pharisees had written, in order to be in God’s favor. These “new” laws, though not “incorrect’ in meaning, were more to please the Scribes and Pharisees than to please God. And it to this that Jesus made reference in the passage from today’s gospel reading from Mark.
This brings me to my second point this morning.
“Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.” (Mark 8: 14,15.)
You and I understand the need to be sure that what we eat, and what we eat with, are free of possible illness causing organisms; but the law pertaining to hand washing before eating, which is mentioned at the start of this portion of Mark, has little to do with being germ-free; it was primarily a ritual born out of some ancient tradition. Jesus’ words here are so simple yet so to the point. What we eat does not defile our minds or reasoning (though today we need to be concerned about some physically and mentally debilitating substances). What goes in the mouth primarily nourishes the body; it is what we absorb into the mind, the center of our consciousness, and dispel through language, in speaking, that either substantiates our faith, or betrays our defilement.
In survival techniques, if what one eats is chosen with care, one then receives sufficient nourishment to keep the physical body going; but if the circumstances in which one finds one’s self stranded cause panic or are self-defeating, then what one does may well be more destructive that constructive in one’s survival.
So is it with our spiritual survival. To obey the law, or to hear the word of God, is good; but the real importance is to do what we believe and know is right. To allow self-deception the option to alter our understanding of God, and thus alter our caring about or God’s creation, is what leads to the committing of these evil intentions which Jesus verbalized: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, pride, folly – these are the evil things that come from within, and they are what defile a person. It is against such self-deception that we must constantly fight by doing what is pleasing to God.
As we prepare to come to the table of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we come to receive the bread of life and the drink of fulfillment, the body and blood of our salvation, I invite you, come because you love God and want to please God; come because you desire to be made whole in God’s service and to acknowledge the grace of God which has already been poured for all who believe in the Goodness of God. Come that your faith may be revealed through the living Christ.
Amen.