9/2/18 “Meditation: Curb Appeal Religion” by Nancy Petty

*The first meditation in the audio of this file is offered by Chalice Overy, Pullen’s Associate Pastor

Text: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

In Mark 7, Jesus addresses three different groups of people: the Pharisees and scribes who are concerned about proper hygiene, specifically the washing of hands; “the crowd” that always seems to be wherever Jesus is; and his motley crew of discontents and zealots (groupies)—I mean disciples—that keep on missing the point of whatever it is that Jesus is teaching about. Jesus delivers a different message to each of these groups, but the essence of each message is the same: stay away from “Curb Appeal Religion.” No, you didn’t fall asleep or wander off in your mind when Chalice was reading the scripture. Jesus didn’t say “curb appeal religion.” Those are the words I am using to help us gain one perspective on what Jesus is teaching in Mark 7.

Now how many of you are HGTV fans? For those of you who have chosen the better life and don’t own a TV, HGTV is a cable TV home and garden program. The network features popular shows like Fixer Upper, House Hunters, Love It or List It, and Property Brothers. Some of these programs focus on selling and buying houses while others focus on remodeling and fixing up old houses. One series on HGTV—my least favorite show—is called “Curb Appeal.” It just never caught on for me. But any real estate agent worth his or her salt will tell you that one of the most important factors in selling your home is making sure it has “curb appeal” meaning, that the exterior of your property is attractive to potential buyers from street view. This attractiveness can be achieved, most often at great expense, by any number of methods including the installation of exterior decorations, painting, and extensive attention to landscaping.

Now I’m not against curb appeal. As a matter of fact, I like a house with good curb appeal. But one of the first lessons we are taught as children is that there is a danger in putting too much stock in the exterior of what something looks like—its curb appeal. (Don’t judge a book by its cover.) We all know that the most important thing about a house is its foundation and how well it is built structurally outside and inside—Karla likes to call it “the bones of a house.” And you know what? You can’t really tell a lot about the foundation or the bones of a house from the street view. And I think that’s pretty much what Jesus is saying in Mark 7: you can’t really tell much about a person’s faith and/or religion from the street view just riding by no matter how good of a job they have done with their curb appeal. That is, by the religious traditions people hold dear, by the lip service people pay to their faith, or by how one acts on the outside.

When Jesus speaks to the Pharisees and scribes in Mark 7 he holds nothing back. He says, and I paraphrase: “You talk a good game, but your heart is not in it…You fancy the things you like but when it comes to the things God like, well, you look the other way.” The Message Bible interprets Jesus’ words in Mark 7 this way:

Jesus answered, “Isaiah was right about frauds like you, hit the bulls-eye in fact:
These people make a big show of saying the right thing,
but their heart isn’t in it.
They act like they are worshiping me,
but they don’t mean it.
They just use me as a cover
for teaching whatever suits their fancy,
Ditching God’s command
and taking up the latest fads.”

So I imagined how Jesus might deliver this message to us today. And I imagined Jesus saying something like: You know my friends, I’m not too much for “curb appeal religion.” You are going after what looks attractive from the outside and from the street view. I am looking for is what’s on the inside—the bones of your house. I’m looking for what’s in your heart because what’s in your heart is, after all, what’s going to eventually come out of you. So I want to know what’s on the inside of you.

The Pharisees and scribes want to focus on traditions and rituals: wash your hands, use grape juice and gluten-free bread, say these words, pray this prayer, baptize this way, sing this hymn; and all Jesus is saying is, “Come to the table, everybody, and eat.” Jesus doesn’t care if you have curb appeal—if your hands are clean or dirty, or if you use grape juice or chocolate milk, or gluten-free bread or goldfish, or if you sprinkle or immerse, or if you sing Holy, Holy, Holy or R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Jesus doesn’t care about all of that. What Jesus cares about is what’s in your heart. Come to the table, everybody, and bring with you an open heart. That’s all that is needed. Come to the table and eat, everybody, and bring with you a heart for compassion. Come to the table and eat, everybody, and bring with you a heart for justice-love. Come to the table and eat, everybody, and bring with you a heart for those who are hungry and thirsty and lonely. Come to the table and eat, everybody, and bring with you a heart that has in it enough foolishness to believe that Love can actually change the world. Not just any love, but a love that values the dignity of every single human being; a love that experiences every person and every living thing as being in the image of God; a brave and courageous love willing to risk letting go of our tightly held traditions and rituals and statues and any other golden image that we have created for good curb appeal. Let go for a higher purpose: to love God with all your heart, your soul, your strength and your mind and your neighbor as yourself.

With clean hands or with dirty hands, it doesn’t matter. Jesus says come to the table and eat, y’all, and bring with you a heart that is open to love. Set aside whatever “curb appeal religion” you might still be holding on to, and focus on the bones of this table: an unbounded love, an unbridled hope, and a radical hospitality.