In Jesus Holy Name Pentecost XIV August 29, 2021
Text: Mark 7:1-14
“Looking Good Is Not Enough”
Recently “People” magazine selected the 50 most beautiful people in the world, I wasn't on the list. It was quite a blow. Years ago Cindy Crawford was a heartthrob for many men and women during the 90s and 80s. She was featured in magazines like Vogue, Cosmopolitan. Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. But she is like famous Madonna, both in their 60’s, So, of course now they have beauty flaws, which can be and are hidden quite cleverly by the image editor who can airbrush wrinkles away. Their recent photos show skin that is made taut and darker and brighter and cellulite is removed. If only real life were that easy.
Justin Bieber is one of the most well recognized stars around the globe. A recent image on a magazine cover had been “retouched”. His arms clearly are made to look bigger and his chest better defined.
It is said that 99 percent of American woman and 94 percent of American men would change something about their looks, if they could. Look, I’d like to have my full head of hair back when I first came to Fresno. But it is not to be!
I did find a great article on “How to Get rid of Wrinkles”… seven ways.
• QUIT SMOKING. It's never easy, but nicotine patches and inhalers are a great place to start if you're having trouble.
• ADD MORE ANTIOXIDANTS TO YOUR DIET. ...
• STAY HYDRATED. ...
• USE HIGH QUALITY ANTI-WRINKLE CREAMS. ...
• AVOID EXCESSIVE SUN EXPOSURE. ...
• GET ENOUGH BEAUTY SLEEP. ...
• REDUCE STRESS.
• If these fail try Botox.
Why is there preoccupation with perfection; this desire to change our outsides to emulate some idealistic, unrealistic standard which seems to be attainable only through computer-enhancement and artistic air-brushing? Well, there are, believe it or not, reasons. Some studies say that the pursuit of outside perfection can be important. Already in grade school, attractive children find themselves more popular with their classmates. Some of their teachers, quite unintentionally, have higher expectations and give higher evaluations to their more handsome students.
When an attractive person enters the work force, being pleasing to the eye helps him, or her, get a better job, a higher paying job. This is why people are taught how to dress for interview when seeking a new job.
The long and short of what I'm saying is this: society as a whole, and many of us as individuals, are obsessed with making our outsides as flawless and faultless, as perfect and pretty, as is humanly, hopefully, medically, and surgically possible. We know the clock will tick, gravity will win, but we also know we've got to keep trying to look good.
Would it comfort you to know that in history there have been other people who were obsessed with looking good? Who? you ask. Well, the Pharisees of the Bible, for one. "
The truth is, 2,000 years ago, these fellows were some of the most respected businessmen around. Let me tell you a little, just a little bit, about them. First, Pharisees never called themselves Pharisees; that was the name others gave them. Pharisee means to be separate, and that's what these fellows were: separate. In a time when people's morality was immoral and ethics were unethical, these fellows tried to separate themselves from everything and everybody which might mess them up.
That's why, when the average Joseph saw a Pharisee walking down the street he would have been impressed. Pharisees understood the importance of looking good. For example, they often wore a blue robe. Why blue? Blue was the color of the sky and a blue robe showed they were close to God. (from sermon by Rev. K Klaas 2006)
A Pharisee tied a little box on his forehead and another on his arm. Those boxes contained passages from the Bible, and showed to anyone who looked at them that God's Word was always on their minds and in their hearts. Then there were the tassels. God had said, "When you see a tassel move, remember Me."
Well the Pharisees took God seriously and they wore tassels on their prayer shawls that were so big nobody could forget God. Some might call it bling-bling. Pharisees called it looking good and they weren't ashamed.
Now don't get me wrong. These fellows knew their Bible. They prayed faithfully. They fasted. They gave more than a tenth of all they had to the Lord's work; they were mission-minded; they knew more about God's laws than anybody else... including God. Now that last part is an exaggeration, but not much. Let me tell you what I mean.
You know, in the Bible, God gave some laws to His people. He didn't give many of them, but the ones He gave, He expected to be obeyed, perfectly. Sadly, sinners like us are unable to obey God perfectly. But nobody told that to the Pharisees. They wanted to look good on the outside, thinking that made them acceptable to a righteous God.
When the Pharisees got together, the conversation went something like this: one would say, "God's law is sacred, right?" "Right!" everybody agreed. "We don't want to break God's law, right?" "Right!" "So, how can we be sure we don't break the Lord's laws?" That question wasn't so easy to answer.
After a while, somebody suggested, "If we don't want to break God's laws, let's build a fence, a big fence around God's laws. Our fence will make sure that nobody can get close to God's laws. If they can't get close to God's laws, they can't break God's laws. Right?" soon everybody agreed: building a fence of laws around God's laws was the way to go. (Sermon Rev. K Klaas 2006)
So they built protective fences around God's laws. Abe Lincoln couldn't have built better fences and more fences than the Pharisees did. If God said, "Remember the Sabbath day," and He did say that; the Pharisees told you how to remember it. They told you how far you could walk, and what you could cook, and... well, you get the idea. These fences, these outward actions is what Jesus constantly challenged. They were depending on their good works to earn acceptance before a righteous and eternal Judge, their Creator.
They wanted to look good to the Lord, and fence building was the way to do it. God had given humankind a few laws, but the Pharisees had added thousands of laws to fill the loopholes God had missed. Nobody had the courage to call the Pharisees liars. They were pretty intimidating... they knew the Bible... and they had those tassels, and those Scripture boxes.
They were jealous of Jesus' popularity, and thought they could hurt His cause, and get rid of some of the crowds following Him, if they embarrassed Him, or His disciples. That's why, one day some of the Pharisees visited Jesus about a grievous sin that they had spotted amongst the Lord's disciples. Remember, these guys were experts on other people's dangerously broken commandments. They said, "Your disciples aren't washing their hands properly before they eat."
They really expected Jesus to cave in; to give in; to show remorse; to promise His disciples were going to get the thrashing of their lives. But that's not what Jesus said. Jesus replied, "Isaiah was right: 'you fellows honor God with your lips, but your hearts are far from the Lord. You teach your commandments as if they come from God. Your worship is in vain.'" (Mark 7: 6-7)
Jesus always, and I repeat that word, always said religion is useless and worthless, ineffective and ineffectual when it substitutes a human plan of salvation for God's plan of redemption; when it rests upon man's works, rather than God's grace. Don't take my word for it; listen to Paul. He's the one who wrote: "We know that a person is not justified" (justified means we are declared forgiven of our sins by God the Judge). Did you get that? "A person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ."
All religions are not the same. Only Christianity believes that we are helpless to save ourselves, and only Christianity believes God has done all that was necessary to save us with the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus.
In the 16th century when people were told they could buy indulgences, pieces of paper that offered forgiveness of sins for a price, Luther and other reformers said, "Jesus has bought our forgiveness with His blood. The price for our sins has been paid."
On the day of Pentecost the Jewish crowd asked Peter "How can we be saved?" They were given a straight answer: "If you confess with your mouth: Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." There was no maybe in those words. It was simply, "Believe and you will be saved."
The sin (the original sin…not broken commandments but the sin) which condemns every human being is internal. It is the internal desire to be selfish, to be our own “god”. It's sort of like having a car with a bad engine. Now, I don't know anything about fixing engines. I can't do it. I can wax the outside of the car. I can do a great job of that. But that doesn't help, does it? I can put on new tires; I can repaint the car, or rotate the tires.
But none of those things will help. Nothing will help until the car's hood is lifted and somebody who is really able to do something gets in and fixes the problem. That's what Jesus did with His life, death, and resurrection. He made it possible for the Holy Spirit to get into our hearts and fix things. The Holy Spirit is the invisible presence of Jesus Himself, just as Jesus was the visible presence of the invisible God. (Colossians 1:15)
Jesus was born more than 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem. Since we were helpless to save ourselves from the sin which is in us, God sent His Son to be born one of us. True man, but without sin, so He could take our place; so He might die; so His sacrifice might be accepted; true God so that He might successfully keep the commands that we break; so that He would not succumb to Satan's temptations; true God, so that, having carried all of our sins to the cross, (Hebrews 4:12) He might in His glorious resurrection on the third day, defeat even death itself. (Hebrews 2:14)
Obedience to the commands of Jesus are required. Doing good deeds are a must....but trust in the blood of Jesus is key that opens Heaven's door.
