What’s Your Biggest Spiritual Concern?

15th Sunday after Pentecost, 9/5/21 Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 What’s Your Biggest Spiritual Concern? I. Your outward cleanness? II. Your inward uncleanness? I ran across a statement a few days ago from Bob Burg, who presents himself as an author and speaker. He stated, “Appearances can be deceiving. Truth is, they nearly always are.” Another way of stating this is, “What you see is not always what you get.” Do you think that’s true of most people? Everyone? And are they that way intentionally? I’m sure you’ve come across people who are. The character they’re presenting appears to have it all together. They’re the type of person others emulate and envy. They might even tell you how wonderful their life is. And you wonder if it could be true. But you’re filled with disgust when you’re privy to some information about that person which is evidence that their life isn’t so wonderful. Their good appearance is truly deceptive. But it can get worse. That happens when a person actually believes there is nothing wrong in their lives or with themselves personally. That was the situation as presented by Mark here in today’s sermon text. The people who confronted Jesus and his disciples on this day were Pharisees and teachers of Jewish religious law. This wasn’t the first time they challenged Jesus and it wouldn’t be the last. The common Jewish people viewed them as outwardly righteous people who went above and beyond what God expected of them. And that’s exactly what their personal focus was. Their biggest concern was that other people saw them as outwardly clean people. But by the end of his conversation with them, Jesus had revealed how unclean they really were. But how about you? What’s your biggest spiritual concern? Let’s keep that question before us as we ponder this account in the life of our Lord. Part I. I know you came to worship this morning for spiritual help, not physical help, but I’d like to remind you to wash your hands frequently in the coming months. All indications are that we’re in for a battle against infection this fall and winter not only with COVID, but RSV and the flu as well. And one of things you can do to help is to wash your hands frequently and avoid physical contact with others. Washing your hands was the topic under discussion on this day in the earthly ministry of Jesus. Mark informs us, “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.” At first, you might want to agree with the observation of the Pharisees, although you know that siding with the Pharisees most likely means you’re taking sides against Jesus, and what Christian wants to do that? And I agree that washing your hands before eating is practicing good hygiene. But that wasn’t the objection of the Pharisees. They were concerned about a ceremonial washing, not the common kind of washing that you do daily at a sink. It’s true, in the Old Testament God did demand certain ceremonial washings under certain situations, but he didn’t demand the kind of ceremonial washing that the Pharisees referred to here. So why would the Pharisees expect the disciples to undergo such a ceremonial washing? Because the Jewish religious experts had established many traditions in addition to the stipulations that God demanded in the Old Testament. And then they elevated those traditions even above the word of God. They considered it sinful not to undergo this type of ceremonial washing prior to eating a meal. They were accusing the disciples of sinning. But the real target of their objection and attack was Jesus. That’s why they came to him with this question, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?” Their issue was with Jesus who failed to enforce this ceremonial washing among his followers. But their concern went much deeper than that. They wanted it known that they considered themselves to be “cleaner” than the disciples and even cleaner than Jesus himself. They wanted to uphold the perception of the common Jewish people that surely these men who followed Jewish laws and traditions so rigidly and so completely were righteous people who were guaranteed a spot in heaven next to Abraham because they were able to keep the law. And that’s exactly how they were viewed, as outwardly clean people. We know that was their biggest spiritual concern—to be outwardly clean. But what about us? What about you? What’s your biggest spiritual concern? It’s likely that you join me in stating that we have nothing in common with the Pharisees. We know how Jesus viewed them—as hypocrites—and we agree. Their sinful pride and self-righteousness are repulsive to us. But, has your focus ever been on outward cleanness? In other words, do you want others to see and know what you do in order to form a positive opinion about you? Or, do you ever look upon someone else as the Pharisees did on this day in our text, expressing disapproval of their way of life so that you can highlight the cleanness of your own? Do you get disgusted with people who don’t measure up to God’s holy standards (or your own expectations of it)? Do you look at your brothers and sisters in the faith and wish they were more like you are? If so, you’ve just removed the chasm between the Pharisees and you. They might even claim you as one of their own. And I’ve been in their camp all too often myself. I want others to see my outward cleanness and to act and speak like I do. But that’s forgetting who I am. More importantly, that’s forgetting who my Savior is. Yes, he’s my Savior and I need him to be my Savior desperately for all the times my biggest concern has been my outward cleanness which I want others to see and live by. Join me in pleading for his forgiveness. He freely gives it to you. Recall his sacrificial love for you on Calvary’s cross. That love is the power for you to focus your attention on Christ, so that others see Christ through you. Part II. Are people basically good? Pollsters routinely ask that question of a sampling of Americans. I looked at the results of three of those polls taken over the last decade or two. I wasn’t amazed that a majority of Americans think that people are basically good. What amazed me is that the percentage has stayed the same—right around 70%. In spite of what has happened in our country and around the world recently, people still think that human beings are basically good. What people think doesn’t really matter. What the Son of God states is the truth. Listen again to his truth, “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.” That’s quite a list—a dirty list! The human heart is not pure. It’s not even neutral. It’s thoroughly sinful. And the sobering truth is that Jesus is not describing someone else’s heart. He’s describing my heart. I’m not inherently clean; I’m inherently dirty. And it leads to daily sinful thoughts, words, and actions. I hope you’re able to keep yourself from physically assaulting someone, which is a sin against the 5th Commandment. But do you ever think hateful or judgmental thoughts about others? And then do the words you speak reveal those thoughts and feelings? And that’s just one of the sins Jesus mentions. Why do we have such a hard time avoiding sinning? Because our hearts are unclean; they’re sinful. So, what can we do about it? How can we arrive at a solution? Trying harder won’t do any good. It doesn’t eradicate the sin that’s in our hearts. The deflating truth is that you can’t do anything about your sinful heart, your uncleanness. Only Jesus can. And he did. And he does. In one of our orders of worship, we pray in song for our God to create pure hearts in us. And that’s what he does through the work of Jesus. Your Savior displayed his pure heart by avoiding every temptation and never sinning, even in his thoughts and desires. He was perfectly holy for you! And then he died on the cross to remove your sin and guilt before God. By faith in him, you possess the holiness that he won for you. Your heart is clean by faith in Jesus. So, what’s your biggest spiritual concern? If it’s your inward uncleanness, then you have the solution in Christ! In a world that is seething in evil, that calls all manner of sinful activity to be acceptable and good, in which bigotry and hatred are encouraged, it’s easy for us to view ourselves as paragons of goodness and virtue. That’s not the way we are! But that would be overlooking and maybe even denying the truth about ourselves. It would be failing to be concerned most about our inward uncleanness. It would also be failing to see Jesus as our only solution. Take to heart your Lord’s words about your unclean heart, confess it, and receive the assurance of his forgiveness and the pure and clean heart that he gives you by faith. Praise God for that clean heart! Appearances aren’t always what they seem to be. But they can be when you embrace the clean heart that Jesus gives you and display it by what you think, say, and do. May Jesus empower you to do just that every day of your life! Amen.