Sermon 09-21-03

The world we live in today is different from the world most of us grew up in. The problems are still basically the same. After all, sin is sin; it has been around since Adam & Eve. But the world is technologically different. My children are growing up with computers and I didn’t even know what one looked like as a child. Today we live in a world where cameras are constantly and unknowingly monitoring the world around. With the internet, I can watch the sun rise or set in Hawaii, or watch what’s happening on Bourbon Street. Some cities, you can even look at the freeway conditions to see if traffic is backed up. The latest cell phones now have cameras that allow you to send pictures. George Orwell’s book "1984," Big Brother is becoming a reality with respect to people are being monitored by cameras. The one positive thing coming out of all this is that the police today are able to get better and faster details. Today, we are being watched. You have to think twice about doing something wrong because you are being watched. What we are afraid of today is having our sins discovered and exposed to our peers, family, and co-workers. We live in a world that has forgotten that God is always watching.

This leads to the question of how should we live our lives. From the Old Testament reading today, it is clear that God wants us to remain obedient to His Word as stated " Follow [His decrees and laws] so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you." In the New Testament readings, Paul tells us that we are to wear the "full armor of God" and to be ready for attack.

Are we keeping God’s decrees and law? Are we wearing the full armor of God? We don’t need to have cameras to show us that we are sinners. Seeing it on film would only add to the depth of how the world sees us and would humble us below our lowest expectations. People don’t want to be exposed for who they are. Often, people when shown a video tape of what they did, will still continue to deny they did anything wrong or state that the person in the video is not them, even when it obviously is them. In general, people want to be viewed as saints instead of who they really are. This is the case in the Gospel lesson with the Pharisees.

The Pharisees believed that they were made "righteous" by their works and they wanted everyone to see what they did. The wanted to live the Law perfectly. Scripture tells us that:

"The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 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.)

The Pharisees, much like the cameras today, were watching Jesus and trying to catch Him doing something wrong. They attack him for eating food with hands that were unclean. We too often behave like Pharisees pointing out everybody’s shortcomings and don’t realize that as we point our finger at someone else, three of our own fingers are pointing back to us! Most of us are not as bold as the Pharisees, we prefer to talk about others behind their backs and don’t want to be so bold as to confront the one they are accusing face to face.

The Pharisees are so bold that they go straight to Jesus. Scripture states:

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 ‘unclean’ hands?"

The issue was hand-washing and the traditions of the elders. The rule of eating with unwashed hands developed in the Jewish oral tradition. It was added to God’s law by man, not by God. It was a law that was from tradition and not Scripture. It is easy for tradition to override God’s Word, a danger even to the Lutheran denomination. Traditions can be a good thing, but our Salvation is through the Word of God, not traditions. Jesus knew this and replies:

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 but rules taught by men.’ 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."

Jesus, using the words of Isaiah, calls the Pharisees "hypocrites". It is interesting to note that the word hypocrite means "actor". Hypocrite means "one playing a part on the stage." Jesus states that they honor Him with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him. They are simply play-acting and are misusing God’s Law. They carry out the law according to their actions, but they are not carrying them out from the heart.

We too act like the Pharisees in that we often point out, criticize, or gossip about what others do which is showing the true condition of our own heart. The Pharisees are trying to destroy Jesus by showing the crowd that "Jesus" is unclean and cannot be the Messiah. They are operating under the philosophy "You are what you eat"! If you eat unclean, then you are unclean!

Jesus then begins to explain cleanliness and uncleanliness in a totally opposite way. He is stating "You are not what you eat," but "You are what’s in your heart." What really makes a person clean and unclean has nothing to do with the washing of hands or the type of food you eat. Jesus addresses the crowd stating:

14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’"

I would like to add that when we talk about others, is that what is going into our stomachs or what is coming out of our heart? When we speak negatively about someone else, we are breaking the Eighth Commandment: "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor." If you remember from your Confirmation class, Luther addresses the question by asking "What does this mean?"

Luther’s response: "We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.

I want you to know that I’m not singling anybody out regarding the breaking of the eighth commandment, because we all break this on a daily basis. If you are thinking about someone else, then you are guilty of finger pointing and are missing the fact that you are breaking the eighth commandment. Most of us already know we criticize or put down others behind their back.

The Pharisees were talking about food and outward cleanliness, JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT YOU HEART CONDITION! . . . . Jesus continues and further details our own heart disease stating:

21 For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’"

God wants us to live a God-pleasing life. We fall short! We need help because we all have heart problems. We all get caught up chasing traditions instead of God’s Word. If we are wearing the armor of God, let’s not use our sword on our own brothers and sisters in Christ. It is obvious that we cannot be saved by our own righteousness. How could God ever look upon us as righteous. Our lives are anything but God-Pleasing.

What we need is a good washing! That washing comes to us through our Baptism which we must return to daily to be reminded that Jesus is the Lamb of God who washes away the sin of the world. Faith in Jesus Christ, the faith that was given to us, brings forgiveness of sins and washes us white as snow. Paul writes in the Book of Titus 3:5:

"He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit".

Even though we are washed clean by the blood of Christ, we still sin daily. That’s why we love to hear the sweet words spoken in Confession and Absolution "your sins are forgiven". When we see who we really are, we love to hear the Words from Jesus in John 15:3, "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you." This is also why we love to come to communion to eat and drink the forgiveness carried out on the cross! Christ took away our unrighteousness and made us Righteous as stated in 2 Cor. 5:21, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Our motivation for living a God-Pleasing life comes not through upholding the Law, but because we have been given the greatest gift, the Gift of faith, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life. Our God-pleasing life is our life in faith. He forgives you! YOU ARE FORGIVEN!

AMEN.