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SCRIPTURE

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 (NRSV)

Authentic religion

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?" He said to them, "Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
'This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.'
You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition." ...

Then he called the crowd again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile." ...

For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

SERMON

In today’s scripture reading Jesus and his disciples encounter some Pharisees who express grave consternation about the fact that the disciples are eating without washing their hands in a ritualistic fashion. They question Jesus asking, “"Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?" In response, Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah proclaiming that the Pharisees are hypocrites who worship God with their lips, but not with their hearts and who uplift human tradition, rather than the commandments of God!

Whoa…talk about an uncomfortable conversation. After all, Jesus was talking to the Pharisees. In the eyes of the people—and of themselves—the Pharisees were the righteous ones. The Pharisees were the learned people who knew the law. The Pharisees were holy and blameless and fit to judge others!

Well, if you’ve spent any time in scripture, you know that Jesus was often frustrated, if not angry, with the self-righteous Pharisees. He felt that their piety was restricted to outward appearances, rather than the condition of their hearts.

Jesus, therefore, pushed back against this type of vain and valueless religiousity when he stated, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile."

What a radical concept! Jesus was saying that although human beings have many traditions, what is most important is to hold to the commandments of God. And what are the greatest commandments we may ask? Jesus answered this question during his lifetime when he stated, “The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.”

Apparently Jesus had grave concerns regarding whether the Pharisees were truly loving God and neighbor as they stood in radical judgment against other human beings.

So, what is it that we can learn from scripture today? Well, first of all, I believe Spirit wants us to know—and remember—that it is the condition of our hearts that most concerns our God.

God is the knower of all things. God is not fooled by what we say. God is able to look directly into our hearts and see if we truly love God and neighbor as ourselves. God knows that some of us are just looking like we have it all together.

There are many Christians who are guilty of the sin of hypocrisy. On Sunday, they put on their fancy clothes, come to church, say all the right things, and give an appearance of godliness, but on Monday they return to the “world” unaffected by the good news message and purposefully hurt and harm others for their own greedy gain!

Lord, have mercy us for we know that this is true. We have to look no further than to our televisions, newspapers, and history books to see that many Christians have failed to hear--and heed--the Holy Word of God! We see Christians who are guilty of sexual misconduct against minors, war crimes, thievery, selling drugs, and the like! Jesus said is from within...list. Even these things come from "Christian" hearts!

God have mercy upon us!

When "Christians" are caught doing these things, the people around them always say, “But, I don’t understand. S/he seemed like such a nice person. S/he even went to church on Sunday!”

Lord, help! I once heard a wise old woman say, “You can have been in church your whole life, but the church not be in you!”

Hallelujah! Just going to church does not make you a true disciple of Jesus. Just attending Sunday worship does not mean you are a follower of the Way. This is why James 1 says that if you think that you are religious, but do not bridle your tongue, you deceive your heart and your religion is worthless!”

Isn't that a strong statement? But it is true. What we think, say, and do unto others, matters to God! It is not the outward appearance of piety, but the inward condition of holiness that concerns our God.

And this brings us to our second lesson. I believe Spirit wants us to remember that in addition to observing the condition of our hearts, we must also remember to observe God’s commandments rather than man’s traditions!

Here’s where the Pharisees always got into trouble! They were well versed in the traditions of the elders. They knew when to wash their hands. They knew how much of their income to give to the Temple. They knew when to stand, sit, and lift their hands. What they didn’t know was how to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. What they didn’t know was how to be gracious, merciful, humble, compassionate, and kind. What they didn’t know was how to affirm the amazing grace of God in love!

Wow! On this side of the cross all of us should be aware of the fact that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God…there is none righteous no not one! All of us should remember that sin begins as a thought of the imagination, then becomes an action, which if left unconfessed leads to our spiritual death. Surely, all of us can sing, “Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now was found, was blind but now I see!”

My goodness! If we could all just remember that Jesus is the only sin-free, blemish-free, perfect lamb of God, wouldn't we would be so much better off?

It is hard to point out the splinter in our neighbor’s eye, if we are cognizant of the log in our own. It is ridiculous to throw stones at another, when we, ourselves, live in glass houses.

I love the fact that Jesus reminds us, “S/he who is without sin, should throw the first stone!”

It seems to me the Pharisees were always throwing stones! But, Jesus was constantly reminding them that all of us are in need of forgiveness and reconciliation with God!

As we attend to the holiness of our own hearts with the help of Spirit, we will become much more concerned with following God’s commandment to love God and neighbor, and much less concerned with policing the behavior of others.

Really…it is our tradition to dress modestly as Christians, but can we welcome the prostitute into our midst on Sunday? It is our tradition to abstain from garish jewelry and tattoos which cover our bodies, but can we welcome the gothic teenager or hard rock head banger into our midst? It is our tradition to sing the great hymns and anthems of Christiandome, but will we welcome the one with an Ipod in his ear which is blaring the rhythms and sounds of hip hop music?

In each case, the prostitute, goth, head banger, and hip hop listener all have something in common with us. They all need Jesus, just as we do. They all need to hear the word of God, just as we do! And they all need to put all of there hope in Christ, just as we have…

Recently one of my Twitter friends said, “The problem with The Church’s evangelism strategy is that we are the only people who try to clean our fish, before we catch them!”

Shame on us!

I love the song, “Just as I am.” It reminds me that no matter who we are, how we look, or what we’ve done, we can come to Jesus just as we are!

But, let me say this to you, my friends. We can come just as we are, but we won’t stay that way! Glory to God! From the moment that we put all of our hope in Jesus, Spirit begins to transform us from the inside out!

And this brings me to our final lesson for today. I believe Spirit is inviting us to not only be hearers of the Word, but doers as well!

As Christians, it is imperative that we be hearers--and doers--of God’s Holy Word! This is only possible in as much as we acknowledge that God loves the world so much that God gave Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life.

Do you notice something my friends? John 3:16 does not say that human beings do anything to receive salvation. Instead it says, “God loves. God gave. God saves.”

In other words, the work of salvation belongs to God, and God alone. I think that as human beings, we become Pharisaical when we believe that we need to save the souls of our family, friends, co-workers, neighbors and enemies.

We become judgmental when we believe that we must regulate the behavior of others so that they will not miss out on eternal life. We become prideful when we forget that our relationship with God is based on the love, grace, and mercy of God, through Jesus Christ, rather than on any good works of our own!

It is only as we put all of our hope and faith in Jesus Christ that our sins are forgiven, we are reconciled with God, and we are granted eternal life. Come on somebody!

As we live into this awareness of God’s unconditional Love, we will extend this love to others and as we bathe ourselves in God’s Amazing Grace, we will give grace to all those in need.

Even when we are compelled by Spirit to speak Truth to power, we will do it in love and with humility, recognizing that we too are in desperate need of the Blood of Lamb!

Dear friends, today we must change our perspective! No longer can we look on the outward appearance of people, rather let us ask Spirit to help us see into the heart of others.

As we look into the lonely, broken, scared, confused, abused, misused, judged, condemned, hurting hearts of our non-Christian friends, we will be compelled to simply love them to the cross of Jesus!

When I was a child my Mama would say to me, "Chile, you love people to the cross! You don’t beat them there.”

As we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, house the homeless, visit the sick and imprisoned, and care for the widows and orphans, we will share good news--and be good news--in the lives of those who need Jesus!

Let us follow the example of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Let us take on the humble spirit of a servant and love and serve people in order to witness their salvation! Remember, what is of utmost importance is that we attend to the holiness of our own hearts, follow the commandments of God, and do the Will of God! In so doing, many will come running asking us, “What must I do to be saved?”

Now, ain’ta that good news?!

In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

INVITATION (tailor to message)

There may be someone who is listening today, who wants to get real with God and stop pretending that everything is all right. Won’t you put all of your hope in Jesus today? If so, please pray with me.

God, I’ve been going through the motions and on the outside everything looks okay. But, here’s some real talk, I’m so lonely, scared, and confused. Today, I am putting all of my hope in Jesus. I want my inside to look like my outside. Today I confess that I know—and believe-- that You gave Jesus to die on the cross to save me from my sin and gift me with eternal life. I believe that Jesus did not stay dead, but got up on the third day just as He promised! Won’t you please forgive me of my sin, Jesus, and fill me with the Holy Spirit? I want to look and act like You! I pray this in Your Name, Amen.

SPECIAL NOTE

If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, today, you are saved! Let me encourage you to tell a Christian friend that you just put all of your hope in Jesus. Ask him or her to help you find a Bible that is easy for you to understand and to find a good Bible believing church where you can be baptized and make new friends who will walk with you on your Christian journey!

Congratulations and Happy Re-birthday! Your salvation is our GOOD NEWS, please go and share the GOOD NEWS with others!

Peace be with you and thanks for listening to GOOD NEWS LIVING with Pastor Yolanda.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

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PUT ALL OF YOUR HOPE IN JESUS--If you have additional questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, "Come to Jesus"
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/03/come-to-jesus.html

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From Pastor Yolanda's blog http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com