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From: "Erick Karcher" <>
Subject: [FOLKLORE-L] Life Devotion for 4-10-1999
Date: Sat, 10 Apr 1999 07:19:39 -0500


Life Devotion for 4-10-1999

He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."

And he said to them: "you have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!

For Moses said, 'Honor you father and your mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."

Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.'"

Mark 7:6-16

I heard the following story while teaching on the Navajo Reservation,
but it could happen in any culture around the world:

According to tribal tradition, a family had gathered to celebrate a
young woman's successful passage into adulthood, and much food was
being prepared. A curious visitor asked the young woman why she had
first cut off one-third of a length of meat before baking it. "Oh,"
she said, "I learned about that from my mother. Ask her -- she's right
over there." Her mother's answer: "My own mother taught me to do that
at a very young age. Maybe she can tell you why. Here she is."
Grandmother's reply: "I think my mother can help you. She's resting in
that chair." The aged one, when asked about this tradition, chuckled
and said, "Well, I remember my pan was too short for the meat, so I
just cut off a chunk of it!"

Traditions of known and unknown sources can be a treasured part of our
lives and of our roots. The above story contains a harmless (albeit
useless) tradition, but it teaches us a lesson; we Christians often
need to examine ourselves for tradition-bound thoughts which no longer
are justifiable and may actually inhibit spiritual growth. At
holidays, a newlywed may wail: "But our family has always been together
on Christmas morning." At a church planning meeting we may hear: "But
we can't do that -- we have a tradition."

In today's lesson, Jesus crisply shows how our traditions may become
such a fixation that they can interfere with our relationship with God.
A committed Christian -- whether he or she a newlywed or a church board
member -- may be aware of the concept of self-surrender yet blind to
the actual necessity of letting go of a family or cultural tradition
that may prevent that person from fully loving God and his neighbor as
himself. Soon we, like the Pharisees, worship our personal agenda and
rituals while giving God lip service only.

We can't serve two masters. Are you setting aside the commands of God
for the traditions of men? Jesus still asks, "Do you love me more than
these?" Know that God will test and confront you on this one.

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NLT
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living
Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., Wheaton Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

NIV
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright
1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of
Zondervan Publishing House.

NRSV
The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised
Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian
Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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