And David and his men went up and raided on the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for they were the inhabitants of the land from of old on your way to Shur and on to the land of Egypt. Then David smote the land and there was neither woman or man living; and he took sheep and cattle and donkeys and camels and clothing and would return and come back to Achish. Then Achish would ask, “Against whom did you all raid today?” And David would say, “against the Negeb of Judah,” or “against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites,” or, “against the Negeb of the Kenites.” Neither woman nor man David left living to be brought back to Gath, saying, “Lest they tell about us, and say, ‘Thus did David.’” Thus was his custom all the days he lived in the country of the Philistines. Now Achish trusted David saying, “He has made himself an abhorrent stench in the nostrils of his people, in Israel; so he shall be my slave for all time.”
Mark 7.14-23 Jesus called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a woman or man that by going into them has the power to defile, rather what comes out of a person is what defiles a person.”
Now when Jesus had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, “Are you all then also without understanding? Do you all not see that whatever goes into a woman or man from outside has no power to defile? For it does not enter the heart but rather the stomach, and goes out into the sewer.” (Thus Jesus declared all foods clean.) Jesus said, “It is what comes out of a woman or man that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil thoughts come: sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, and evil eye [or envy], slander, pride, thoughtlessness. All of these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Reflection
2022 09 04 1 Samuel 27.1-3, 8-12, Mark 7.14-23
Sometimes I find it almost impossible not to take the bait and swallow things that come at me from outside. Cat calls, robo calls, family forgetting to call. Cyberthreats, viral threats, threats to my right to choose and equality of my status as a single woman. I find it almost impossible to fend off fear of unprovoked violence and visions of nuclear disaster. I find it almost impossible to reject charges that cite me as the source of other peoples problems, deploring me for being white and having access to home, health and happiness. I find it almost impossible to dodge grandstanding politicians tongues denying responsibility for the havoc they wreck on we the people. Perhaps the kings Saul and David felt similarly felt similarly assaulted from outside more than three thousand years ago.
In the Hebrew text 1 Samuel David is the favored one, the youngest of Jesse’s eight sons, a shepherd boy called from his flock to be anointed by Samuel as King of Israel while Saul is still king. Saul is jealous of David’s popularity, fears his throne is threatened and attributes his ill-favored thoughts and feelings to David. Saul believes he is being defiled by David when in fact it is his own thoughts that pierce his heart and provoke him to defile himself.
Although David is anointed King of Israel, his predecessor Saul refuses to step aside and accept the change in leadership. Instead he conspires to kill David. David reacts saying “to his heart, “Now, one day I shall be swept away by the hand of Saul; there is nothing better than that I escape to the land of the Philistines…””
Swallowing Saul’s bait, David decides he is threatened by what is coming at him from outside and heads south to the coast of Canaan. While seeking refuge among the Philistines he massacres entire communities of innocent people with whom he is not at war and who in no way pose a threat to him. Some suggest this is to ingratiate himself with the Philistines, but who knows. In any case, David defiles himself as he executes unwarranted brutality. Both kings Saul and David defile themselves in reaction to what comes at them from outside. What are we to make of this Shakespearean tragedy?
Perhaps Jesus’ words in the gospel according to Mark will help. “Listen. Understand… There is nothing outside a woman or man that by going into them has the power to defile, rather what comes out of a person is what defiles a person.” Listen and understand. This is a matter of the heart. It is “from within, from the human heart, that evil thoughts come…” and evil thoughts give rise to the defilement of evil action.
The fact of the matter is this. Regardless of what other people say, threaten or actually do to us, defilement does not come from others. Defilement rises from within ourselves. Nothing anyone says or does can disgrace, degrade or dishonor us unless we take the bait and swallow it, unless we take their words or their ways to heart.
The innocent women, men, children and animals that are massacred by David are not degraded or defiled. David is defiled by his evil thoughts and action. The children and teachers murdered in the twenty-seven school shootings that have taken place in 2022 are not disgraced, dishonored or defiled. The shooters are defiled. When we are subjects of every kind of verbal or physical slander or abuse we are not degraded or defiled. The perpetrators are defiled.
“Listen and understand.” We are only defiled when we take the bait and swallow the double-dealing devilry that attacks us from outside. We are only defiled when like Saul or David we take what is happening outside of ourselves to heart. By swallowing bad blood that comes at us from outside, we violate our own hearts. Then, feeling victimized we look for someone or something to blame, we strike out with our words or actions and we become defilers.
“Listen. Understand.” It is not what is outside of us that defiles us. Rather it is what comes out of us that defiles us.
I believe we have wasted far too much time endorsing those by whom we feel victimized. We have spent far too much energy composing lists to explicate the ways in which we have been defiled from outside. Do you see, we violate our own hearts when we swallow labels that define us as victims of sexism, classism, racism, agism, ableism, patriotism, liberalism, capitalism, socialism, conservatism, nationalism? Believing we are defined and defiled from outside we cram ourselves into ever shrinking boxes then fight like hell to get out, defiling ourselves.
What if we said “Stop. No more. Nothing anyone can say or do can touch who we truly are?” What if we listened to Jesus’ words and truly understood? “There is nothing outside a woman or man that by going into them has the power to defile, rather what comes out of a person is what defiles a person.”
The deepest truth of ourselves is safely hidden in the cave of our hearts where it is not subject to misuses or abuses from outside. Only the Holy has rights and access to our hearts. In spite of the fact that like the kings Saul and David we find it nearly impossible not to bite and swallow things that come at us from outside, hidden safely in the cave of our hearts is the Unborn, Undying, Eternal Holiness that can never be defiled. Let us stop swallowing the bait that comes at us from outside. “Listen. Understand.” It is not what is outside of us that defiles us. Rather it is what comes out of us that defiles us.”
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