:: By Andrew Moore
1. Washing hands.
From 5pm to 7pm at our place is chaos time.
If you ring us between that time you’ll probably get the answering machine.
If we answer it… you never know what you’ll get….
Things have just got to be done… in the right order… within a short space of time.
-> And it begins with washing their hands.
In they go… one by one,…into the bathroom. Four sweet little children!… :( )
And they get in trouble if they don’t wash their hands.
There are random inspections.
Hsiang and I take turns at being the handwashing inspector.
(pause)
In Mark chapter 7, Jesus and his disciples meet the handwashing Inspector- the Pharisees.
The Pharisees were actually GOOD people.
They were highly respected…. And prominent people in the community.
• very religious people. They were the teachers of the law…
• very moral.
• And very sincere.
You don’t just ignore the Pharisees.
It would be like a pilot ignoring the air traffic controller!….
-> If they have something to say, esp. about religion and morality, we should take note!!!!!
-> And they take issue with Jesus and his disciples over this issue…..
(so we should esp. listen!!!!!!!)
They say to Jesus- read v 5.
(pause)
Now why are they saying this?
What’s going through their heads??
In particular, why is it such an issue for them in the first place???
In the Old Testament.
Someone could be made “unclean” if they had an infectious disease.
Or if someone had a boil or runny nose…discharge from their ear.
You could become unclean by touching something that was unclean.
If you touched a dead body… you became unclean.
Or if you ate something that was unclean, like pork or shark (cos it didn’t have scales)…. which is why the Pharisees are washing their hands after going to the marketplace, in case any of those foods were there.
->
It’s all there in the Old Testament.
And it was to teach the people that God is pure.
And that not just anyone can approach God.
God had set up an elaborate system… to teach people these categories…
Many times it was arbitrary (why one animal was clean and another was…it wasn’t always to do with hygene, although some cases it might be).
But it taught the people very concretely, and graphically… about holiness.
-> so there was truth in what the Pharisees were saying.
(pause)
So what’s the problem? Why isn’t Jesus following the Pharisees?
(pause)
Have a look at verse 6…
So Jesus is saying, not that the disciples have a problem, but the Pharisees.
Why?
Why has he turned it around onto them??
Is this just tit for tat… Is Jesus being defensive?…..
Well he quotes from the Old Testament… and applies it to the Pharisees to make his point.
Read vv 6a.
What Jesus is saying is that they have taken what was once from God,… and ripped it out of context.
They’ve disconnected it from God.
And in fact what’s happened is that they’ve added a whole lot of extra rules and regulations… much more than is in the Old Testament….
There is nothing in the Old Testament about having to wash after you’ve been to the market place.
There is nothing in there that says you have to wash…. V 4b.
They’ve taken something that is true, and added a whole layer of rules on top of it.
-> Books (props)
(pause)
So what was really just part of package of teachings, has now become the centre.
Their rules and regulations have replaced the commandment of God, so that what they teach now is no longer the commandment of God.
If you wanted a summary for the “commandment of God” it would be
- Love the Lord your God with all your heart…..
And Love your neighbour as yourself…
Well, what have they done????????
Jesus says they’re not doing that!
And so, the “elders” might be archbishops and church councils and cardinals…
They may be great theologians.
But in them adding to that original teaching… they’ve taken away from it.
And so they worship IN VAIN….
It’s a superficial appearance of godliness. “They worship with their lips”, there may be very elaborate rituals.
They may have beautiful church buildings… with stain glass windows and high ceilings…
They may have lovely music… but it’s an empty shell.
There may be very specific instructions…very ornate procedures…but they’ve lost the core! Replaced the centre!.
And that is hypocrisy!!!..
There’s a photo here in front of me, from the Herald.
It has Mr Koizumi praying.
It has… .. – - very religious. Bowing. – -
(pause)
Jesus in vv 9-13, gives an example of how the Pharisees are very religious, but they really don’t obey God.
See Moses says (or the Old Testament)-
“Honour your father and your mother”
And “whoever speaks a bad word against their mum or dad, must surely die”.
It’s deadly serious.
> In other words care for mum and dad. Love them.
If they are in need, help them!….
(As a parent myself… a like this command! :) )
But THE PHARISEES say (and I’ll paraphrase it!)-
“If you give to the temple, and give your offering- Corban is what it’s called… you can treat your parents like dirt.
If you’ve given your offering,…YOU ARE HONOURING your parents”…so you don’t have to do anything else for them!!.
So their traditions (their religiosity, with all the appearance of godliness and holiness) have shrunk down the word of God….. in fact, they cancel out the Word of God, because they in the end contradict the word of God.
So they have elevated some rules to such a height that God never intended them to go… and they have got rid of the central, core of God’s law.
(pause)
The other example of course,… going on here… is that the Pharisees and scribes hate Jesus.
They want to kill him.
They are so proud…they point the finger at Jesus to try to show him up!…
- Mark 3:6. The Pharisees are plotting to get rid of him. – Mark 4:22. They think Jesus is possessed. – Mark 8- They demand a sign from Jesus to catch him out.
So here we see their great hypocrisy… they say they worship God… and yet they want to kill God’s Son.(pause)
There is nothing wrong with tradition.
The word for “tradition” is used of the gospel…. in 1 Corinthians 15, in Galatians 1.
The gospel is the tradition that Paul “passed on”, or handed over.
There are some who could use this passage to attack any sort of tradtion…. the prayer book… or the saying of the apostles creed.
Or the Lord’s Prayer!
This passage is attacking bad tradition.
When a tradition opposes the Bible. When the Bible says one thing and the tradition says another.
(pause)
Having said that though, someone can keep good traditions and be a hypocrite can’t they?
Someone can come to church… they can say all the words in the prayer book- good words from the Bible.
They might read the Bible for us in church.
They say “Amen”…you hear them…and they can say it like they really mean it.
They say grace at meal times. They sign their emails…. “yours in Christ”, or “in Christ’s name”… “
And they’re sincere… it’s not pretending to them..
And yet, in their hearts there is a different picture.
There is anger and bitterness.
They may be very “religious on the surface”… but
- abusing their wife. – they may have a real problem with swearing… – they may be stealing music from the internet. – they may be sleeping with their boyfriend or girlfriend/ having an affair !…
And so this passage does speak against that.
And one of the things about the prayer book, OR ANY SORT OF TRADITION which could happen, is that on the surface the person involved can appear to be a solid Christian, but deep inside they’re not.
(pause)
Jesus calls the Pharisees and scribes here hypocrites.
But there’s a question still hanging for the Pharisees …. Does washing and staying clean, help at all?
Does some of these traditions make any difference to our relationship with God?!!!
What is the place for their religion?
Let’s read from vv 14-23 (read).
(pause)
Our problem with God is our hearts.
Jesus says, that from within our hearts comes all these problems…. V 21-23 (don’t read).
Jesus says it doesn’t matter what we eat…it makes no difference to our hearts.
It won’t make us unclean…. cos it goes into our mouth and out the other side.
And food or keeping our utensils clean deosn’t get us closer to God. In fact it won’t make one iota of difference… it’s like a doctor giving someone Mylanta for a hear attack…. (and by the way, it does happen!!!!)
We are no more holy if we eat fish on Good Friday.
We are no more holy or less holy if we eat food sacrificed to idols… I was in a shop the other day where there was an orange and some sultanas, and our food was taking so long to come… what if I was to reach over and eat that orange???
It wouldn’t matter..
And most importantly, we can still eat sweat and sour pork!… Yum!
-> And the reason is because all these things just don’t reach the heart.
Our problem is deep inside.
And the solution, is going to have to get deep inside!
See our actions, and therefore our inactions…
Our deeds, and therefore our misdeeds.
Our thoughts and therefore our lack of thought, come from deep within….
From our rejection of God
We’ve rebelled against him.
Our attitude to God is not to love him and serve him…. and please him. And give honour to him, and thank him…
And to obey him.
More often than not it is to think “ I don’t need God”
“I can run life my own way…”
“I’ll determine what’s right and wrong, and when it’s right and wrong”.
“and what suits me is what’s true….what’s true for you is true for you is….”
And the Bible calls this sin!..
And it’s a problem with our heart….
And from that heart comes out…. V 21.
All those things stem from our rejection of God.
(pause)
And in many ways, the only reason why we don’t see more of this, (as if we don’t have enough already to convince us),,… in others and in ourselves is because laws that restrain us.
Or lack of opportunity or lack of courage…
In Iraqi, just after the soldiers had toppled Saddam Hussein… and America decided not to enforce the law. Remember what happened…
That is evil hearts allowed to run wild.
In New Orleans,…
When the lights went out at the superdome…and you have thousands of people crammed into a small space, who are desperate …people feared for their life- why?… not because the roof was going to fall in.
Not because of the flood waters outside…
Not because of lack of food… but because of each other.
There was that B grade Hollywood movie,…Bruce Almighty with Jim Carrey- where he was God for a day… so he was invisible… he had the power to do all sorts of things.
We didn’t have to see the movie to imagine what was in it…did we?
Because we know our hearts are sinful.
(pause)
Jesus is not saying that we are always bad,… Jesus is not saying that we are not capable of doing some very noble, and good and right things.
But he is saying, what is in our hearts, is polluted.
It’s a smell dirty slimy cess pit.
And it infects the rest of our body…
And applying “the traditions of men” is like trying to the Malabar sewer with ….?
(Conclusion)
I wanted to finish by saying 3 things….
Firstly,
1. True religion comes is to do with the heart.
Honouring God means loving him.
And that’s a personal relationship.
Christianity is not superficial religion. Wev’e got the wrong religion is that’s what we think.
God doesn’t just want us to pray and just babble off words… he wants our hearts and mind and soul.
He wants us to understand him…
God doesn’t want us to just turn up here on a Sunday…he wants a people who are obedient. Who trust him, and …live for Jesus!
If there’s something in your life….like lying, or lust, or coveting… that’s a big problem…. Cos you’re not loving God by doing those things.
This is what true worship is, the Bible says!!.
The Bible says – “present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God- this is your spiritual worship”.
Every day.
At home with our kids…
Our parents.
At work….when we’re driving in the car.
-> Loving God and loving our neighbour is what being a Christian is about.
And it’s often more to do with what we do behind closed doors.
(pause)
Secondly…
2. We need heart surgery not Mylanta.
Human religion can never help us.
The traditions of Men,… are not going to do us any good.
(I’m talking about other religions,… I’m talking about what some Christians have taught that is contrary to the Bible. I’m talking about some church rituals…)
They are fallible… they are flawed.
They give us a false sense of security…. They usually lead to pride….
And they can’t get in… they’re Mylanta in the stomach!.. not absorbed…!..
What we need is God.
We need him to open us up… and get rid of our rebellious, disobedient heart…
And what gets in, is God’s Word… you want to cure the heart… it’s the gospel… It is sharper than any two-edged sword. It penetrates to the soul and spirit, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
You look out on the world.
You read your newspapers… community is breaking down. Kids don’t respect their parents…. No-one cares for people like they used to.
Why is it… well, our society is moving right away from Christian teaching…
What our society needs is the Bible.
Everyone seems to blame the government for the ills of society… but they can’t fix it with an act of parliament.
You can’t fix it with more education.
Some of those things are good, and helpful… but they’re not going to fix the root problem.
(pause)
What God does, when we become a Christian is to forgive us, and give us a new heart… which is to wash us clean.
And he does that by his Holy Spirit.
But we still sin.
And so Christians will still be guilty of hypocrisy.
But we’re not really hypocrites, because acknowledge our problem and confess our sins to him.
Amen.