Sermon for Time after Pentecost – Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

The pharisees and the scribes asked Jesus, “why do your disciples eat with defiled hands?” What does “defiled mean”? Dirty. Unclean. So let’s do a little poll. Who washes their hands before they eat? How about every time? I guess we wouldn’t make good Pharisees, would we? But don’t we get a lot of reminders to wash hands? Seems like these days every restaurant bathroom has a sign above the sink – “EMPLOYEES MUST WASH HANDS BEFORE RETURNING TO WORK.” I sure hope they do! Let’s say we’re good and we wash our hands. How do you know they’re really clean? How long do you have to wash them? I know some people sing Happy Birthday. But what if you’re a fast singer? ok, now who thinks this is just overcomplicating things? It’s always something, right? If dirty hands don’t get us, won’t something else?