Mark 7:1-13 NIV
7 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 honor 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 observe your
own traditions! 10 For Moses
said, ‘Honor 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.”
Dirt Under Your Fingernails
I worked in Maintenance, in one form or another all my life. I worked, Police
and Business Radio Rephase, labor, Steel Mill Maintenance, HVAC, Maintenance
Supervision, Maintenance Engineering, Contractor Supervision, Predictive and
Preventive Maintenance Procedures along with Work Order Systems, and
Maintenance Management. All just maintenance stuff. Dirty fingernail and dirty
hand stuff. And yes, some Maintenance that required some squeaky-clean hands
and uniforms. If you work in maintenance, you can expect to get dirty hands. Did
I always wash these hands clean before eating? Well, I was supposed to, but
often didn’t.
Wait a minute! I’m pointing to me! So, now, may I redirect your gaze to
Jesus. Permit me to Point to Jesus.
The passage of scripture for this week sounds like an issue of dirty
hands and dirty dishes; but it’s not all about that at all.
Man’s problems in this world and our problems in life aren’t dirty hands,
so to speak. Most of my problems and the problems of this world come from a
polluted heart.
This passage of Scripture has three groups of people in mind.
First there are the hostile critics of Jesus. These people are the Scribes
and the Pharisees.
Scribes are Orthodox Religious Authorities of the Jewish Religion of
Jesus day.
The Pharisees are zealous lay followers of the Scribes.
The Second Group, sort of implied in this passage of Scripture, are the
onlooking people of the day.
Finally, the Third Group are Jesus’ disciples.
The major issue at hand here, is the tradition of the elders surrounding
the washing of hands before eating food.
Here we need to see that there are commandments of God, which point out
are sin and move repentance into our life, and observances or traditions,
created by men, put in place to aid our relationship with God.
But what we tend to do as sinners ourselves, along with the Scribes and
Pharisees of this passage is to take on religious acts that are void of God
given faith. In other words, we make the things we do more important that what
our faith in God would lead us to do, in love for God and in love for neighbor.
Here in this passage, we need to understand that this washing of hands
was not for some sanitary reason. Rather, the washing of hands was a religious
ceremony that was invented by the Scribes.
So, what, you may wonder.
When we fall into the trap of giving ceremony, procedure, even signs, we
tend to stop looking at Jesus and look to ourself. I mean, stop looking at
yourself and the things you think you need to do to earn God’s or Jesus’
approval, when you can look straight at Jesus for his approval.
Don’t miss the big stuff while staring at the little stuff of your own
way. Stop it! Jesus is present here!
Look at Jesus miracles, gifts, life, ministry, teaching, healings and loving
salvation for all the world. Why look at your own dirty fingernails, the blood-stained
hands, the dirty dishes, when you can see Jesus in your presence?
The Scribes, the Pharisees, the crowd of people, the disciples, and yes,
even you and I are guilty of looking inward to our own works and deeds, rather
than looking and listening to Jesus. Jesus IS here!
If we create rules and regulations for ourselves and others, are we to
exclude people? Or are we to be open to the people God has given to us each day,
to include them in our life and the life of God the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit?
Don’t approach things in life, yes, don’t even approach Jesus, with your
mind made up. Look at, and to, Jesus with open eyes, open ears and an open
heart. Jesus IS here! Don’t let yourself get in the way of Jesus presence in
your life.
So, back to this washing of hands. All the Jews did not wash hands as a
ritual. Not all of them. This was a ceremony a ritual that not all Jews abided
by, it was a made-up ritual of the Scribes. Sure, it was a good idea, but it
didn’t really bring you any closer to God or God any closer to you.
Washing hands is not a substitute for God given faith. I think that maybe
the ritual was meant to bring us closer to God, but did it really?
Psalm 29:2 NIV
2 Ascribe
to the Lord the glory
due his name;
worship
the Lord in the splendor
of his holiness.
The point is not myself
and the things I do. The point is God and what God does.
Don’t get lost in your own
made-up ceremonies that may cause you to miss seeing God in Jesus, right there
in your face.
You can do a bunch of
really nice things. You can read your Bible every day, you can give to Church,
you can clothe the naked, visit the sick, feed the hungry, see the elderly. You
can do all sorts of really nice things, but if you do these things thinking
that they will draw you closer to God… Forget all that! You have just polluted
your heart with your own good works thinking that God should now show you
favor. God doesn’t owe you one thing!
I say I’m acting out of
love for neighbor, but I’m really acting out of love for myself, thinking God
will give me my due pay and my due stamp of approval. I say love, love, love,
yet I do it all out of love for my own skin in the face of God. I’m a hypocrite!
A hypocrite that honors
God with lip and speech and action that the end result is for my own benefit. I
seek MY Kingdom first. Yes! When I act this way, I’m guilty! Think about this
for your own life as well. What’s your motivation behind your own good works.
Really think about it. Is it more about you?
Isaiah 29:13 NIV
13 The Lord says:
“These people come
near to me with their mouth
and
honor me with their lips,
but
their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based
on merely human rules they have been taught.
Are my actions for my own
skin in the presence of God, or a result of what God has done for me?
If I support the Temple,
can I ignore everything else? If I give to the Church, can I ignore the needs
of parents, neighbors or those God gives to me? Surely what I have given goes
towards those good people as well. I mean, after all, the Church gets to pick
and choose the people that they wish to give to. Maybe if we give good things
to people in need, they will increase our numbers at church and give even more
money so that we can pick and choose even more people to give money towards
what the church feels is needed.
Maybe if my church looks
good in my community, we can grow and bring more and more honor and prestige to
our congregation. Maybe we can be the number one church in our community!
What? What matters most?
And… Jesus speaks of Corban.
Well, what’s that!
Corban is money dedicated under
oath to God. Corban is money paid now or even promised after death. It was a
way to avoid helping parents in need, in this case, because the son had already
given or pledged the money to God.
Corban is a religious
practice where children, mainly the son, could offer money to the Temple that
would free them from using the money to care for their parents. It’s sort of
like saying, well, I gave my money to the church, so I don’t have any money to
help my old mom or dad. I mean, really, mom, that money went to a good cause
after all. So, God let’s me off the hook for caring for mom or dad.
Like I said above, I’m off
the hook of caring cause I gave to the church.
Does this void your commitment
to mom or dad? Does this allow you to turn away from that homeless person right
in your face on the side of the road? Does this give you a free pass to turn
down the hungry or clothe the naked, or visit this sick, or see someone in
prison, or to help the addicted?
Where is your heart of
love, if you turn from mom or dad or neighbor in need?
Have I let myself be more
concerned with religious rules, that I fail to love another?
Where is kindliness, mercy,
tolerance, love and concern for people?
What takes priority?
Does my rites or God or neighbor
take priority?
Are my little procedures,
and rites my excuse to avoid loving God and neighbor?
NO!
Religion should mix in and
through my life in this place and in this time and into eternity.
Religion and my practices are
not a substitute for love of God and neighbor.
God’s WORD, this Jesus in
the flesh, right in my face, takes priority.
External religious action is
empty if they lack faith and love that God freely gives to each and every one
of us as we come to believe in God our Creator, Savior, and Spirit.
Yes! Meet Jesus. Follow
Jesus and yes… Point to Jesus with eyes wide open for Jesus is ALL… today…
tomorrow… and forever.
Lord, you turn things
upside down and give your children hope. May we seek you and love you and respond
in love for you to work to establish justice in this world in which you have
place us. For You have delivered us. Lead us to respect and love one another in
all we do, each day.
May this YouTube music
bring you joy…
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