From the Inside Out
Mark 7:1-30
We all like it when things are neat and tidy. We all want order in our lives. We like to come into church on Sunday morning and getting the bulletin and knowing what to expect when. We have announcements then we pray, then we sing, then we take up the offering and finally I get up here and preach…we like order in our lives. That is what the Pharisees were like. They had their way of doing things, and no one would tell them any different. To break away from their traditions, from their routine was blasphemy in their eyes.
We have a Godly woman in this church, and I have talked with her before bringing this up, she has through the Spirit of God received the gift of praying in another language. Well that goes against some of our traditions. She does so quietly so as not to offend anyone, but how would you feel if you overheard her? Would you freak out just a little bit? What if while praying I began to pray in other tongues, what would you do?
Scripture says: For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15 What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding. 1 Corinthians 14:14-15
Now understand this sermon is not about the gifts of the Spirit. We are not going to change the sign out front to TWPC. But, want you, as I preach God’s Word this morning to look at the traditions in your walk with Him. He wants to challenge you to walk outside your comfort zone. The problem with rules and traditions is that they are a substitute for thought – a way to bypass our ability to learn from scripture the fullness that God has for each of us.
That was the problem with the Pharisees and that is sometimes our problem too. We create rules that govern behavior, but then create ways to leak around the edges of those rules to enable the flesh. Today, Jesus turns the tables on external rules:
VV 1-4: Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.
Apparently the Pharisees in the marketplace would immerse their hands in water, then have pure water poured over them from a purified vessel. They were known for their elaborate rituals of hand-washing – anything to be ceremonially clean. They didn’t do this because God commanded them to, when He told them to be clean He meant in the spirit. They did this to impress the people around them…”Look how religious I am!”
V 5: Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”
We think it laughable that the Pharisees would pick at Jesus for not following hand washing exactly the way they prescribed? But do we not do the same sometimes?
- What about versions of the Bible. The only accurate “version” is in Hebrew Greek and Aramaic
- How about are you dunked or sprinkled? I believe in baptism by immersion but I know a whole lot of sprinkled folks that have a wonderful relationship with God.
- How about always ending prayers with “in Jesus name” or they won’t be answered?
These sound silly too, and they are. Hut thay are also dangerous. You see anything that we can hide They are also dangerous because anything that we can hide behind in order keep us from being vulnerable to God will keep us from the fullness of our lives that He has for us. We are fooled into thinking that by following the tradition we somehow earn brownie points with God – but God is interested in what goes on inside our hearts, in our spirit. Not with our hands being cleansed in a certain way, or that we follow some formula for worshipping Him.
VV 6-8: He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”
How do we know the difference? There are plenty of doctrines floating out there that are invented by men. The only way we know the truth is by reading and learning what is taught in the whole of scripture, If we don’t we set ourselves up to be fooled by the enemy: Matthew 24:24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
Believe me, there are plenty of things God commands us to do – not laws – but living out the character of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Jesus said He had but two commands for us: Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Oddly – we fight and squabble and hurt each other over the merest nuances of practice – all in clear violation of Jesus command.
VV 9-11 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said,‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
The Pharisees created elaborate interpretations of God’s law – and loopholes that allowed them to escape its intent. For instance – this idea of “Corban” which means either “devoted to God” or “forbidden to do ‘something’.” The Pharisees said that if you devoted a gift to God then it was forbidden to be used to help your parents, which went against what God had commanded by the Law.
Some Christians are so meticulous that everyone must conform to their understanding and form of worship that we miss the fact that we are the body of Christ (singular) – not the “bodies” of Christ. Denominations have split and new ones sprang up over silly arguments over style and form of worship, and we pull one or two scripture out to “prove” we are right, instead of using the whole of scripture.
In this instance the issue is over defilement. Look how Jesus gets the last word:
VV 14-23: When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear Me, everyone, and understand: There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!” When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. So He said to them, “Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?” And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
We love appearances. We’re so impressed with people that seem to have it all together – all the money and fame and influence and intelligence and good looks. We subtly pattern after that – as long as we appear to be a “good Christian” then we are. Not true Jesus says.
We are like a oak tree that has been infested with mealy bugs – we might look good on the outside but we are naturally rotten on the inside. from the sin nature we are all born with. And even after we become believers, if we allow parasites from the world’s values to infect us, a rot will set in. We end up as like an old infected oak tree, good for nothing.
So what’s the answer? We need to quit focusing on the outside, on the traditions of men and focus instead on inward submission to the presence of God, succumbing to the presence of the Spirit of God in us.
Luke 13:6-9 He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’”
Let the Lord dig around the roots of your life and do some trimming and place some fertilizer, let Him trim away that which is dead in us, that which draws us away from God, let Him trim away the desires of the “old man” that the new creation in Christ can grow.
Mark 7:24-27 From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden. For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”
Jesus is not putting his woman down – He is challenging her. While the Jews often referred to gentiles as “dogs” , Greek here is the word for “ wild dogs” – but here Jesus uses the word for a puppy, a household pet. He uses a parable here that the kids eat first, then the pets.
It is true that Jesus came to the Jews, as John says it; to “His own.” The Jews were given the prophecy of the Messiah, the were supposed to spread the good news. Instead they rejected Him. “I must bring the message to Israel first – then it will come to the gentiles.” The Jews got first crack at Jesus, but denied Him.
Now look at her response:
VV 28-30 And she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.” Then He said to her, “For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.
Wow, this is amazing. Not only does she understand the parable, but she keeps it going, she says that often kids will give little morsels to the animals under the table. She is asking Jesus “Couldn’t you give me a morsel of Your power?” She understood that a portion of Christ the size of a mustard seed was sufficient for her.
When Jesus responds it is to two aspects of this woman’s personality: humility and persistence. The woman knew what she needed and knew Jesus was the source of it. She humbled herself before Him and kept at it – He broadened her understanding and deepened her faith – and she got what she came for.
Conclusion: How I pray that we sitting here today could all do the same. But we think that because we are in Jesus that He owes us stuff. Its like we signed up for a book of the month club and we deserve that book every month and if it doesn’t come we are going to be ticked. Instead we need to, like this woman, realize that all that we get is from God having pity or compassion on us, like the mere little puppy with the sad eyes that you cannot resist. We are at His table yet we act like he is a guest in our house and must follow our rules. Let me tell you a truth, a scrap at God’s table is better than a 7 course dinner anywhere else.
The littlest child can understand God’s love shown through their parents love. And the smartest, most intelligent person you know can be awed by the wisdom of God and the unfathomable depths of His character and knowledge.
Sometimes we say we want meat – but what we really want is milk. We want to come into church after not even thinking about God all week and have everyone tell us how wonderful we are. We have a country club mentality about church and a spirit of entitlement when it come to God. That comes from the enemy, He owes us nothing, we owe Him everything.
• Some people think the more rules you have the more spiritual you are.
What is easier, to say “I have a rule that I can’t watch those types of things on TV” , or to evaluate the content based on God’s Word and make decisions based on His character, not our rules?
Rules are easy – character transformation is hard. Paul tells us in Romans 12:
Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
We need to ask the Holy Spirit to transform us, our way of thinking so that we can “prove” what it means by the “good acceptable and perfect will of God. We can’t do that by obeying a list of external rules – you only do that by internal change.
