There’s Only One “Clean” That Matters Before God!

15th Sunday after Pentecost, 9/9/12
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23


There’s Only One “Clean” That Matters Before God!
I. It’s not your outward record.
II. It’s the condition of your heart.


Life is full of situations in which people are concerned about the wrong things. For example, the State of Ohio recently began enforcing a law against texting while driving. And yet you see people doing it all the time. They’re more concerned about a short message from a friend than they are about giving their undivided attention to their driving and sometimes with disastrous results.

Colleges and universities recently opened around the country. Countless thousands of students are on their first university campus. And they better make sure they know why they’re there. Sadly, too many will be more concerned about having a good time and not concerned enough about their education. The results could be disastrous.

And all of us have our regrets. As we look back on our lives we wish we would have been more concerned about one thing than another, and we paid for it. Perhaps it cost us a desirable employment situation, a fulfilling relationship, our ongoing health.

In today’s text we meet a group of men who considered themselves to be the holiness police among the Jews of Jesus’ days on earth. We know them better as the Pharisees. They called Jesus’ disciples on a violation. But Jesus defended his disciples by telling the Pharisees that they were concerned about the wrong thing. He wanted them to know that there’s only one type of “clean” that really matters before God.

That’s a truth we need to keep in mind, because a little bit of the Pharisees lives in all of us. Like them we tend to think that we’re better than we really are. To help us in that regard, Jesus reminds us that there’s only one “clean” that matters before God. Let’s see what it isn’t and what it is on the basis of Mark’s account this morning.

Part I.

I don’t know how they do it. I don’t know how Amish people live like they do in our modern world. Every time I see one I’m amazed that they would chose to live this way and forgo enjoying things we take for granted—our vehicles, electricity, modern heating and air conditioning, computers and cell phones. Imagine living for a day without them. While I don’t admire the way they make it a mandatory part of their Christian life, I guess I have to admire them for their dedication and discipline.

In a different way the Pharisees were admired by the common Jewish people of Jesus’ day. They lived Jewish lives that countless Jews couldn’t possibly follow. They made it their business to know exactly what God required and to make sure they achieved it and, in many cases, went beyond it. And they expected others to do the same.

On the day Mark records for us in our text, they attacked Jesus’ disciples for an apparent violation of Jewish law. Mark tells us, “[They] saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were ‘unclean,’ that is, unwashed.” Please don’t misunderstand. The Pharisees weren’t concerned about the hygiene of the disciples. They weren’t faulting the disciples for having dirt or unseen filth on their hands. They were faulting the disciples for not putting their hands through a Jewish ceremonial washing.

The practice of the Pharisees in that regard was extreme. God did not demand what the Pharisees did. The Pharisees were so concerned that they might come into contact with a Gentile person or something that a Gentile person touched—something they claimed would make them spiritually unclean—that they instructed each Jew to do what they do. They undergo ceremonial hand washings whenever the possibility exists that they or their belongings might have been touched by a Gentile. It got ridiculous and Mark records their extreme practices.

As ridiculous as it sounds to us, to their fellow Jews the ways of the Pharisees appeared to be correct, a way of life to emulate if possible. Outwardly speaking their record before the holy law of God seemed to be impeccable. As I mentioned, they appeared to go above and beyond what God required. No one could find fault with them. No one dared to try.

No one, that is, except Jesus. In some of the verses that aren’t included in our text, Jesus attacked them for their self-righteousness. He exposed their hearts as full of sinful pride and completely lacking in love for God or for their own family members. They had exchanged love for God and love for neighbor for love of themselves. Oh, sure, on the outside they looked great; but inside they were disgusting.

There’s only one “clean” that matters before God and it’s not your outward record.

Our outward record. In so many facets of our lives that’s what really matters. What matters to institutions of higher learning? The kind of person that you are or the score you received on a standardized test? What matters to your supervisor at work? What’s in your heart or whether you completed your tasks satisfactorily in the time allotted? If you’re a salesperson, is it more important to treat the customer right or hit your sales goals? I’m sure you could suggest all sorts of other examples of the importance of your outward record. And then we look at our outward record as people and it seems to be OK. We try to do the right thing. We’re not the people you read about in the nightly news.

But the truth is that our records are all the same. My record is no different from your record. Our records are no different from anyone else’s we might meet. The Bible declares, “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:10). Every human record is a sinful record. But that’s where Jesus comes in. His record is spotless. He is the holy One who lived for us and died for us. By faith in Jesus we cling not to our record, but to Jesus’.


Part II.

Whether you’re reading a fictional novel, watching a play or a movie or a television drama, you’re sure to be exposed to this classic character countless times: it’s the person who feigns goodness on the outside, but inside they are devising something evil. The question you keep asking yourself is, “How long will it be until their true character is revealed?” And since you’re exposed to such a character so often in these forms of entertainment, you can only wonder how often it happens to you in real life. That person you met seems so nice, but what are they really like? Only time will tell.

The Pharisees seemed to be the epitome of holiness. Their goal was to avoid every outward evil. That meant being careful not to be in places where Gentiles were. That meant they avoided any contact with tax collectors and people who had lived an immoral life. They were certain that if they kept evil away, they could maintain their own purity or holiness.

But they were dead wrong. The problem isn’t the evil from the outside coming inside us; the problem is the evil inside us coming out. Jesus put it this way, “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.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’”

That’s an ugly, dirty list! Was Jesus serious? You bet he was. And if we give it enough thought and are truly honest, we’ll have to admit that he’s right. Maybe we haven’t acted on every one of these, but we have considered it, we’ve wanted to do it. Even murder? Murder too, because the Bible calls hatred murder in the heart. This list accurately describes how we are by nature, every one of us, every human being. That’s why our world is in such a sad, sinful state.

So, when we’re confronted with the truth that only one “clean” matters before God, we have to admit that we don’t have it, not even close. And, while we often take the measures necessary from preventing us from acting on these evil impulses, that doesn’t make our record any “cleaner” than the next person’s. What matters to God is not our efforts to apply a veneer of goodness over what stinks to him; what matters is rightly acknowledging that this is what we are. We are evil within.

Only God can make us pure. That’s a truth the Pharisees rejected but it’s a truth we celebrate. In a moment we’ll sing, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” And by his grace, he does! Through his gospel in word and sacrament he announces and applies to us our forgiveness. He washes us clean with his holy, precious blood. He gives us new hearts by faith in him, hearts that are undefiled and warmed by the fire of his sacrificial love for us. That’s the kind of heart our God is looking for from us.

There’s only one “clean” that matters before God. It’s the condition of your heart.

We don’t like to hear it, but there’s a little Pharisee living inside each of us. While we may not boast about how righteous we are, the flip side to that is noting that we’re not as evil as someone else. The truth is, the same sins lurk inside each of us and it’s only because of what our Savior has done for us that our hearts are pleasing to our God. What matters is not what you have done for him, but what he has done for you. The holiness of Jesus is ours by faith in him. Your heart is now clean—purified by the holy blood of Jesus Christ. May that saving truth fill you with gratitude towards your God and a deep desire to serve him as you serve others. Amen.