Scripture: Mark 7:1-23
Video Link: https://youtu.be/IF2_X66dpKo
Structure:
- Introduction
- Defeating the purpose
- The real problem
- Conclusion
Introduction:
Good morning everyone.
What is more important, the contents of a can or the label? Well, both have value. Without the label you wouldn’t know what was inside the can. But you cannot eat the label. The label merely points to the purpose of the can. The contents fulfil the purpose, which is to feed you, so the contents are more important.
What is more important, having a shiny new paint job for your car or a reliable engine? Well, both have value. Without the paint job your car would be more vulnerable to rust. But the paint job isn’t what moves the car. The engine fulfills the purpose of the car, which is getting you from A to B, so a reliable engine is more important.
During the month of August, we looked at four passages from the book of Acts in support of Arotahi, our overseas mission organisation. Today we start a new series following the lectionary readings.
This morning’s lectionary reading focuses on the gospel of Mark, chapter 7.
In this reading, Jesus shows us what matters to God. The inner state of your heart is more important than the performance of external rituals. From verse 1 of Mark 7 we read…
The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.) 5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?” 6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” 9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observeyour own traditions! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honour your father and mother,’and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ 11 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12 then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”
May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.
Defeating the purpose:
You have all heard of the phrase defeating the purpose. Defeating the purpose is when you do something that undermines what you are trying to achieve.
For example, cleaning your kitchen bench with a dirty cloth defeats the purpose.
Or take another example: the purpose of a holiday is to have a break from work, relax, unwind and spend time with family and friends. But if you keep checking your work emails all the time, that defeats the purpose of the holiday.
Or perhaps you want to provide counselling services for problem gamblers.
It would defeat the purpose somewhat if you funded the counselling services from pokey machines.
Owning an electric car makes sense in a country like New Zealand, where much of our electricity supply comes from renewable sources, like hydro and wind. But if you live in a country where electricity comes mainly from coal, then the purpose of driving an electric car is defeated.
The purpose of the Law of Moses is to love God and love your neighbour.
Sadly, the Pharisees and teachers of the law, in Mark 7, were defeating the purpose of the law.
A delegation of religious experts came from Jerusalem and gathered around Jesus. When they saw Jesus’ disciples eating food without first washing their hands, they questioned Jesus about it.
There was Jesus healing the sick, casting out demons, preaching amazing sermons, setting people free, basically making life better, and the Pharisees overlook all that, focusing instead on the hand washing habits of the disciples.
It’s like reading a great novel only to take issue with a single word that was misspelt, even though the meaning was clear. Or it’s like eating the best meal of your life and then complaining about the colour of the waiter’s tie, as if that made a difference. Talk about missing the point.
Of course, the Pharisees cannot see they are missing the point. They think handwashing is the point and, if we had been immersed in their religion and culture from a young age, we might too.
Now, having recently come through the Covid pandemic, I need to be clear, the Pharisees’ obsession with hand washing was not for hygiene reasons. It was for religious reasons.
For centuries the Jews had been living under the thumb of their enemies.
Therefore, it was important for them not to be assimilated by the surrounding culture. They were very careful to maintain their Hebrew identity.
For the Pharisees, loyalty to God equated to staying separate from the pagan Gentiles around them. Observing ritual washing traditions was one of the ways the Jews stayed separate and pure. To break the purity rules was akin to treason, in their mind.
You also need to know that the Pharisees’ rules about hand washing were part of an oral tradition passed down by the Jewish elders. The law of Moses did not require this level of washing. Jewish priests were required to wash their hands as part of the ceremony of sacrifice, but regular people did not need to do this.
The Pharisees added to the law by expecting everyone to perform a little hand washing ceremony before eating.
Jesus doesn’t beat around the bush. He tells the Pharisees very clearly, they are wrong. And he does this using Scripture and logic. Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah, an authority they accepted.
Basically, the Pharisees’ worship of God was in vain. Their worship was like an empty can. The label was misleading. Their worship was like a car with a shiny new paint job, but no engine. It looked good but it lacked power.
In verses 9-14, Jesus gives an example of the way the Pharisees defeat the purpose of God’s law. God commands people to honour their parents. Among other things, this means helping to support your parents financially when they become unable to do this for themselves. (Remember, there was no government superannuation 2000 years ago. Your kids were your superannuation plan.)
Sadly, the manmade tradition of the elders gave people a loophole for getting out of taking care of dependent parents. If you declared your money or anything else you owned as dedicated to God, then (according to the Pharisees) you could avoid using it to look after your parents.
Thus, the Pharisees’ tradition defeated the purpose of God’s command.
Now, it’s important to remember that Jesus is not saying that all tradition is bad. We still need tradition. Tradition has a valuable role to play, particularly when it comes to teaching those who come after us.
Traditions can serve as a pathway to faith in Jesus. We just need to be careful that our traditions don’t defeat God’s purpose. If our traditions get in the way of obeying God in faith, then we change our traditions.
From our vantage point it is tempting to look down on the Pharisees. We might wonder, how could they not see they had missed the point. How could they be so obtuse and not realise they were undermining God’s law?
Well, we all have our blind spots. We all have a little bit of Pharisee in us.
Better to ask ourselves…
What substance is there to our worship?
Are we living a life of justice, mercy and humility?
Is the label of our can a true representation of what the can contains?
Does the way we practice our religion look shiny and new but lack power?
What minors do we major on?
Have we let go of God’s commands?
What traditions do we hold to that no longer serve God’s purpose?
The real problem:
Jesus gets the last word. The Pharisees have no answer for him. Seeing a teachable moment, Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” 17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) 20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
You may have seen an ad on TV about what to do if you have a heart attack. The ad shows a man (Jamie) feeling the symptoms of a heart attack. Blocked arteries, shortness of breath, chest discomfort, and a sore shoulder.
Unfortunately, Jamie is not aware of the real problem. He makes the call to take a hot shower, and the voice over says, ‘Unfortunately water won’t fix a heart attack. If you or someone else experience the symptoms of a heart attack, make the right call. Call 111 immediately.’
If you have problems with your heart, you need a doctor, not a shower.
The doctor might prescribe medication, or you may need an operation.
Whatever remedy the doctor prescribes though, it will work on the inside of you, not the outside.
The Pharisees taught that ceremonial washing made people clean or spiritually right before God. Unfortunately, the Pharisees were wrong.
Washing your hands and kitchen ware to make yourself right with God is like trying to fix a heart attack by taking a hot shower. It doesn’t work. A heart problem is internal and washing is external. You can’t fix internal problems in an external way.
When Jesus pointed this out saying, nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them, the disciples were in shock. Jesus was basically telling them, ‘Most of what you know is wrong’. Understandably, the disciples struggle to accept Jesus’ words.
Jesus’ meaning is basically this: Food is not dirty. Excrement (what goes down the toilet) is dirty. In fact, what you eat makes no difference to your relationship with God. (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)
That probably doesn’t seem like a big deal to us, but it was earth shattering news for the disciples. There were certain foods, like pork and shellfish, that Jews never ate because they were not kosher (not clean). To eat any forbidden food was to break Israel’s covenant with God.
Now, the ban on certain foods wasn’t just a man-made tradition. It came from the law of Moses. So, by declaring all foods clean, Jesus was essentially declaring parts of the law of Moses to be no longer necessary. That was massive. To do that Jesus would have to be greater than Moses.
Why then did Jesus do this?
When you build a house, you often have scaffolding up around the outside.
But once the house is complete, the builders take the scaffolding down.
It’s similar when you are pouring concrete. While the cement is still wet, you keep the boxing in place. But once the cement has set, you can remove the boxing.
Or think about when you make muffins. While the muffin mixture is runny and baking in the oven, you leave it in the muffin casing. But once the muffins are cooked and ready to eat, you no longer need the casing.
The kosher food laws were a bit like scaffolding or boxing or muffin casings. They were necessary for a time, but with the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, a new era had arrived and prohibitions on what you could eat got in the way.
God’s plan of salvation included the gentiles, which meant Jews and Gentiles needed to be able to fellowship together without worrying about what they ate or who they came in contact with.
(It doesn’t work to put new wine into old wine skins. It doesn’t work to patch an old garment with new cloth.)
In verses 20-23, Jesus goes on to explain it is what comes out of the heart that makes a person unclean before God. Moral vices like theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, and so on, these are the things that defile a person.
There are some hard truths in Jesus’ words here that we must face…
Firstly, the moral aspects of the law (summarised by the ten commandments for example) are still very relevant. The kosher food laws may have served their purpose, but the moral law still stands. Jesus does not set us free to do whatever we want. Jesus sets us free to love God and love our neighbour.
The second (equally important) truth is that what really matters to God is the state of your heart. Now, in this context, the heart is not the physical blood pump in your chest. Rather the heart refers to the core of your soul. Your mind, emotions and will. That part deep within you, where desire and motivation come from. Most of the time we are not aware of what is going on in our heart.
This was a complete paradigm shift for the disciples. They thought the problem came from the outside. Avoid contact with the Gentiles, don’t eat certain foods and God will accept you.
But Jesus is saying, no, the problem is not external. The problem is not with the Gentiles or with pork. The real problem is with you, with your heart. External rituals, like ceremonial hand washing, can’t cleanse the human heart any more than a hot shower can unblock clogged arteries.
So, what is the remedy? Well, Jesus does not offer a remedy in today’s reading. Jesus diagnoses the problem (which is the human heart) and leaves this truth with his disciples. He lets it sinks in.
You need to understand that the words Jesus spoke (about evil coming from within) were not just meant for the Pharisees or for people 2000 years ago. Jesus’ words apply to us today, as well. The problem is in you and it’s in me.
You may not have committed adultery or murder. You may not steal or bear false witness in court, but that is only by the grace of God and a lack of opportunity.
The potential to do great harm is within each one of us. Evil may lie dormant, so we are not aware of it. But, by a series of unfortunate events, it could be woken, and all hell would break loose. Pray that does not happen.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil, (especially the evil within).
The problem, Jesus said, is with the human heart. And the remedy is a new heart. The prophets talked about this remedy centuries before Jesus came.
In Ezekiel 36 the Lord says…
25 …I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
A heart of stone is a hard heart, a dead heart, a mind and a will that is callous and obtuse to the ways of God. A heart of flesh is a soft heart, a living heart,
a mind and a will that is compassionate and responsive to God.
The thing we notice here is that none of us can give ourselves a new heart.
If you have a problem with your physical heart, you can’t do surgery on yourself to rectify the problem. Somebody else, with the right knowledge and skill, needs to operate on you.
It’s the same with your spiritual heart. You can’t do surgery on your own soul. God is the only one with the knowledge and skill to heal your heart, which is where Jesus comes in. It is through Jesus’ death and resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit that God cleanses us and gives us a new heart.
When you become a Christian, you hand the keys of your heart to Jesus.
Your heart comes under new management with Jesus in charge and Jesus sends his Spirit to begin renovating your heart.
With any renovation there is a demolition stage. A stage when your heart feels like it is in a mess, in turmoil. During the renovation process you will become more aware of the evil within you. You may wonder, ‘Am I really a Christian?
I thought I was meant to get better, not worse’.
Don’t give up. Hang in there. You are justified by Christ, not by anything you do. A greater awareness of your own sin leads to a greater awareness of God’s grace for you personally.
The renovation of your heart carries on throughout this life. It can feel long and painful at times. But, when Jesus returns in glory and the dead are raised to life eternal, the renovation is over, and those who are in Christ will receive the new heart God promised. Exactly how God does this, is a mystery. It is beyond our comprehension.
Conclusion:
Shortly, we will share communion together. Communion is not an empty ritual. Communion is pregnant with meaning. Communion was something Jesus asked his followers to do, to remember him, especially his death and resurrection.
Communion honours what Jesus did on the cross to cleanse us from our sin. More than that, communion is an act of hope, affirming God’s power to raise the dead and give us a new heart, a new mind, a new motivation to love and obey him.
May the Spirit of Jesus renew us from within. Amen.
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Questions for discussion or reflection:
- What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
- Why were the Pharisees obsessed with hand washing? Why did Jesus criticise their traditions?
- What is the purpose of God’s law? In what way(s) did the Pharisees’ traditions defeat the purpose of God’s law?
- What traditions and rituals do you observe? How do these support you to obey God in faith? Are any of your traditions or rituals getting in the way of obeying God in faith? What needs to change?
- Discuss / reflect on the implications of Jesus’ words in Mark 7:15 & 18-19.
- What is the real problem (according to Jesus)? What makes a person unclean before God?
- What is God’s remedy for the problem? What has been your experience of the Spirit’s work in renovating your heart so far?
Tawa Baptist 