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Customs and Traditions

Here's a story I heard some time ago whichseems to epitomize the valuewe as human beings place on customs and traditions. Many years ago, agovernment officialtaking a walk,spotteda soldier standing by a rose garden, as if he were guarding it. Approaching the soldier, thegovernment officialinquired Why are

you standing here? The soldier, standing at attention replied, This is my post, Sir, its the place I've been assigned. Puzzled, the government officialasked, And why youhave you beenassigned here? Unable to answer, the soldier replied, With all due respect, Sir, I do not question my orders. ... I do not know. Unsatisfied with the soldier's answer,the government official vowed to find out why he was guarding a rose garden. Returning to his office, the officialimmediately ordered his assistants to investigate.A few days passed, andstill there was no answer,so the archival record supervisor was called. Surely he would be able tofind out why there was a soldier guardingthe rose garden on government groundsoutside his office. Irritated that things were taking so long, the official went to see thearchival supervisor for an answer, and this is what he found.

"Apparently, and according to the record," said the supervisor,"approximately a century ago, these government office buildings were part of a rather large royal estate. During that time, a sickly princess abode here, and the rose garden was hers." "Apparently she loved roses." Feeling impatient, the official nearly shouted,

What does this have to do with the soldier? If I may continue Sir," replied the supervisor, "I assure you,the story will answer your question. Very well, continue, said the official. Yes, Sir, I shall." "Because the young princess wasgravely ill,she and herparents were admonished by the royal physicianthat she should not to leave the palace for any reason. Theprincess, overhearing the instruction, was heartbroken as she loved the palace grounds, the sunshine, and the flowers in particular. She felt that she would not survive if she could not see her beloved flowers, and the roses in

the middle of the garden in particular. Her parents, the king and queen, did everything they could to comfort her, but she became quite listless, and depressed. Fearing the worst, at last they hit upon a plan. Since the princess was allergic to flowers, and especially to roses, they knew they could not try to grow the flowering plants indoors. "But what if a rose garden could be planted outside of her window," they asked themselves. So the gardener was called, conferred with, and plans were drawn up toplant the most extensive and beautiful rose garden just outsidetheprincess's

window. Months later, the gardencomplete,only one last detail remained; the protecting of the princess and her newly acquired garden.To ensurethis,the king passed a lawthat a soldier must watch the garden day and night.

"So you see Sir,"continued the supervisor,"although the Princess died, the law was never repealed,and therefore it continues evento this day. Speechless, the Officialthanked the supervisor and left the records room thinking, How manyother thingsare we doing that are no longer needed? Perhaps we might need to ask the same question of ourselves, "how many thingsam I doing which are no longer

necessary?The answer might surprise us. Customs and traditions are hard to break once internalized, because they help define us as individuals, and strengthen our feelings of belonging. As establishedboundaries, customs and traditions make it easier for usto know how to behave, and what to expect from others.Handed down intergenerationally, and reinforced by friendsand society, customs and traditionsarenot oftenquestioned.Unaware as to why weengage in thesepre-approved beliefs, attitudes or behaviors, we often have no idea as to what led up

to them, or evenwho originated them.What's really strange is that so many of us findmeaning and purpose in these traditions, and that wefeel thatwe must protect them at all costs. Its sad that we can be so passionately offended and equally determined to protectthings which by their very nature are transitory.

This is the situation we find as we read Mark 7. the Pharisees have time honored traditions and customs which are ceremonial in nature having been delivered through Moses to the Israelites in the wilderness. The purpose of this law was manifold, but centered in bringing to the Hebrew consciousness thenecessity of cleanliness, purity and holiness.Unfortunately, the meaning of the ceremonial laws were lost sight of, and through human pride and perversity, the leadership made themastumbling block to the people. The Priests,Phariseesand Scribes founda loophole to find fault with the disciples, through the mechanism of Jesusnot honoring their ceremonial stumbling blocks. Thus, when the disciples ate bread without washing their hands, as was considered customary, the Pharisees promotedconfusion and unbeliefby calling them 'defiled' to Jesus in the presence ofHis followers(See Mark 7:2 - 5). The Pharisees' questions disclosed their belief that the tradition of the elders was more important and necessary than the Word of God.In Mark7 verse 6, Jesus answers them saying:

Mark 7:6 Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it iswritten, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is farfrom Me.
Mark 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men.
Mark 7:8For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition
of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like thingsye do.
Mark 7:9 And He said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of
God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
Mark 7:10For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso
curseth father or mother, let him die the death:
Mark 7:11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is
Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by
me; he shall be free.
Mark 7:12 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;
Mark 7:13Making the Word of God of none effect through your tradition,
which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

And many such like things do we. How many times have suggestions to change old customsbeen met with the infamous, This is the way weve always done it.And occasionally you may hear, We dont want to change. Yet, those who say they want things to remain the same, are the very same ones who complain of staleness.When we behave like this, its as ifwe want our cake and we want to eat it too. Just in proportion to our rejection of the True Source of change and growth,will be the strength of our hold onto meaningless traditions. Its just possible brothers

and sisters, that in our blindness -- in our inability to see things are they really are without spiritual discernment, we are rejecting thesource of light and of life. Without the special work of the Holy Spirit, we may be reinforcing customs and traditions which nullify the Word of God.

The establishment of new practices, traditions and customs to replace the old ways, is not necessarily the answer either. For we mayunknowingly establish that whichis just as devoid of the Holy Spirit's power and blessing asiswhat we've left behind.Our realneed is union with God, not unity with God (i.e. meand God) but one-ness

with Him. And no amount of tradition or custom -- old or new-- can ever facilitate that oneness. It is only found in the yielding of our self-will or self -love to Him.Godsays, "The Lord is near unto them that are of a broken heart;and saveth such asbe contrite of spirit," and"...Idwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite

and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones(Ps. 34:18; Is. 57:15)).

Sister White has said in Desire of Ages that even when faced with a "Thus saith the Lord..." many will choose their customs and traditions, so deeply are they engrained. Brothers and sisters, we cannot hold to things that are unnecessary and outdated any more than we can establish new means to serve old purposes. The Lord is more than

willingto draw nearer, and show us the true principles of His kingdom which our traditions and customs have been hiding. He is even waiting andable, to do exceedingly andabundantly more than we could ask or think (Eph. 3:20).

Let us choose in humbleness of heart and mind to yield self, and open the door to Him. We shall be ever so glad we did.

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	Customs and Traditions Here's a story I heard some time ago whichseems to epitomize the valuewe as human beings place on customs and traditions. Many years ago, agovernment officialtaking a walk,spotteda soldier standing by a rose garden, as if he were guarding it. Approaching the soldier, thegovernment officialinquired Why are you standing here? The soldier, standing at attention replied, This is my post, Sir, its the place I've been assigned. Puzzled, the government officialasked, And why youhave you beenassigned here? Unable to answer, the soldier replied, With all due respect, Sir, I do not question my orders. ... I do not know. Unsatisfied with the soldier's answer,the government official vowed to find out why he was guarding a rose garden. Returning to his office, the officialimmediately ordered his assistants to investigate.A few days passed, andstill there was no answer,so the archival record supervisor was called. Surely he would be able tofind out why there was a soldier guardingthe rose garden on government groundsoutside his office. Irritated that things were taking so long, the official went to see thearchival supervisor for an answer, and this is what he found. "Apparently, and according to the record," said the supervisor,"approximately a century ago, these government office buildings were part of a rather large royal estate. During that time, a sickly princess abode here, and the rose garden was hers." "Apparently she loved roses." Feeling impatient, the official nearly shouted, What does this have to do with the soldier? If I may continue Sir," replied the supervisor, "I assure you,the story will answer your question. Very well, continue, said the official. Yes, Sir, I shall." "Because the young princess wasgravely ill,she and herparents were admonished by the royal physicianthat she should not to leave the palace for any reason. Theprincess, overhearing the instruction, was heartbroken as she loved the palace grounds, the sunshine, and the flowers in particular. She felt that she would not survive if she could not see her beloved flowers, and the roses in the middle of the garden in particular. Her parents, the king and queen, did everything they could to comfort her, but she became quite listless, and depressed. Fearing the worst, at last they hit upon a plan. Since the princess was allergic to flowers, and especially to roses, they knew they could not try to grow the flowering plants indoors. "But what if a rose garden could be planted outside of her window," they asked themselves. So the gardener was called, conferred with, and plans were drawn up toplant the most extensive and beautiful rose garden just outsidetheprincess's window. Months later, the gardencomplete,only one last detail remained; the protecting of the princess and her newly acquired garden.To ensurethis,the king passed a lawthat a soldier must watch the garden day and night. "So you see Sir,"continued the supervisor,"although the Princess died, the law was never repealed,and therefore it continues evento this day. Speechless, the Officialthanked the supervisor and left the records room thinking, How manyother thingsare we doing that are no longer needed? Perhaps we might need to ask the same question of ourselves, "how many thingsam I doing which are no longer necessary?The answer might surprise us. Customs and traditions are hard to break once internalized, because they help define us as individuals, and strengthen our feelings of belonging. As establishedboundaries, customs and traditions make it easier for usto know how to behave, and what to expect from others.Handed down intergenerationally, and reinforced by friendsand society, customs and traditionsarenot oftenquestioned.Unaware as to why weengage in thesepre-approved beliefs, attitudes or behaviors, we often have no idea as to what led up to them, or evenwho originated them.What's really strange is that so many of us findmeaning and purpose in these traditions, and that wefeel thatwe must protect them at all costs. Its sad that we can be so passionately offended and equally determined to protectthings which by their very nature are transitory. This is the situation we find as we read Mark 7. the Pharisees have time honored traditions and customs which are ceremonial in nature having been delivered through Moses to the Israelites in the wilderness. The purpose of this law was manifold, but centered in bringing to the Hebrew consciousness thenecessity of cleanliness, purity and holiness.Unfortunately, the meaning of the ceremonial laws were lost sight of, and through human pride and perversity, the leadership made themastumbling block to the people. The Priests,Phariseesand Scribes founda loophole to find fault with the disciples, through the mechanism of Jesusnot honoring their ceremonial stumbling blocks. Thus, when the disciples ate bread without washing their hands, as was considered customary, the Pharisees promotedconfusion and unbeliefby calling them 'defiled' to Jesus in the presence ofHis followers(See Mark 7:2 - 5). The Pharisees' questions disclosed their belief that the tradition of the elders was more important and necessary than the Word of God.In Mark7 verse 6, Jesus answers them saying: Mark 7:6 Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it iswritten, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is farfrom Me. Mark 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Mark 7:8For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like thingsye do. Mark 7:9 And He said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. Mark 7:10For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: Mark 7:11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. Mark 7:12 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; Mark 7:13Making the Word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. And many such like things do we. How many times have suggestions to change old customsbeen met with the infamous, This is the way weve always done it.And occasionally you may hear, We dont want to change. Yet, those who say they want things to remain the same, are the very same ones who complain of staleness.When we behave like this, its as ifwe want our cake and we want to eat it too. Just in proportion to our rejection of the True Source of change and growth,will be the strength of our hold onto meaningless traditions. Its just possible brothers and sisters, that in our blindness -- in our inability to see things are they really are without spiritual discernment, we are rejecting thesource of light and of life. Without the special work of the Holy Spirit, we may be reinforcing customs and traditions which nullify the Word of God. The establishment of new practices, traditions and customs to replace the old ways, is not necessarily the answer either. For we mayunknowingly establish that whichis just as devoid of the Holy Spirit's power and blessing asiswhat we've left behind.Our realneed is union with God, not unity with God (i.e. meand God) but one-ness with Him. And no amount of tradition or custom -- old or new-- can ever facilitate that oneness. It is only found in the yielding of our self-will or self -love to Him.Godsays, "The Lord is near unto them that are of a broken heart;and saveth such asbe contrite of spirit," and"...Idwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones(Ps. 34:18; Is. 57:15)). Sister White has said in Desire of Ages that even when faced with a "Thus saith the Lord..." many will choose their customs and traditions, so deeply are they engrained. Brothers and sisters, we cannot hold to things that are unnecessary and outdated any more than we can establish new means to serve old purposes. The Lord is more than willingto draw nearer, and show us the true principles of His kingdom which our traditions and customs have been hiding. He is even waiting andable, to do exceedingly andabundantly more than we could ask or think (Eph. 3:20). Let us choose in humbleness of heart and mind to yield self, and open the door to Him. We shall be ever so glad we did. ----------------