"Nit-pickers & Coming Clean"
Mark 7:1-8,14-23 Oct.19/03
The Diet Debate
Ever since we first looked in the mirror, we've been conscious of what we look like to others. Some are more meticulous about their appearance than others, but none of us wants to look bad. So for church we tend to dress up compared to what we might lounge around home in. Unfortunately for the very religious, it becomes a game extending to behaviour; we start to compare ourselves with others and look down our noses at those who struggle in their Christian walk. Meanwhile the wickedness of pride grows in our lives and we morph into hypocrites: God sees the sin on the inside, beneath our layers of works-righteousness. The Good News of Jesus is that we don't have to stay trapped in hypocrisy, inventing ever-more demanding means of trying to look holier-than-thou. Jesus accepts us as we are when we repent. We're special to Him regardless of how we look to other people. Because He gave His life for us, the Righteous for the unrighteous, we can receive His cleansing power to renovate us on the inside, so our character becomes truly beautiful and godly.
In order to look good out on the street, people often resort to diets. They starve themselves or eat only certain things to try to achieve the ideal body shape. This can become compulsive and lead to eating disorders. In the church, the faithful can sometimes get duped into the spiritual equivalent, forcing themselves to follow artificial rules that supposedly are associated with greater piety. Ever since Paul's day, Gentiles who've converted to Christianity have sometimes become so impressed by the Old Testament that they begin to adopt Jewish customs. In our area a group of sincere Christians have been meeting regularly with people of Jewish background in order to understand the Bible better in light of its Hebraic roots, and that's good. Nothing wrong with that, I wish others were just as keen. But of course out of this exploration comes the question of Jewish dietary rules. Are we better off not to eat so-called "unclean" meat such as pork, as forbidden by Lev.11:7? How dare we even raise such a question in Huron County! But pork-free proponents point out that, Leviticus aside, pigs are scavengers. And along come dietary experts like Charlie Brown whose "cancer battle plan" seminar claims pork and the meat of other scavengers "leave the body too acid, which drains calcium from the body, and they are difficult of the body to digest easily. Their fiberless waste is hard for the body to eliminate in a timely manner which leaves toxic potential in the colon. They also create an environment for cancer and other diseases to develop and spread..."
The seminar included an interesting chart with results of a 1953 experiment by Dr David Macht of Johns Hopkins University. This measured the effect of bits of different kinds of meat on the growth of a culture. Interestingly, all the "clean" species of birds, fish, and 4-footed animals allowed the culture to grow to 80% or better of the control. But all the "unclean" species proved much more toxic, allowing the culture to grow only about 60% or less. It seems God was giving some wise council from a biological point of view to the Jews about how to eat.
So as Christians are we better off to not eat pork? Is it more "spiritual"? Are we any better off in God's sight whether we eat it or not? No. Today's scripture points out that whatever physical benefits there may be to eating certain foods or taking sanitary precautions, what matters to God is not what we eat but what our heart is like. It's not about petty religious rules, but keeping His most central commands and enjoying an intimate relationship with Him.
God's Word Frees Us from Oppressive Religious Rules
Some religious authorities from Jerusalem had come north to check out the orthodoxy of this revolutionary rabbi. These were teachers of the law, a "Jew's Jew", who adhered to all the customs of their people as Mark 7:3 observes, including the painstaking washing of hands and utensils when returning from the marketplace where they might have been touched by non-Jews and hence defiled, made ceremonially "unclean". V2, they had noticed some of the disciples ate with unwashed hands. So they cornered Jesus in v5 and demanded why the disciples didn't observe the tradition of the elders. Jesus' reply is very blunt. Note the contrast between the outer and inner in vv6-8: outer or superficial aspects of religion -- "these people honour Me with their lips...their teachings are but rules taught by men...you...are holding on to the traditions of men." Inner or basic -- "their hearts are far from me...They worship Me in vain...You have let go of the commands of God..." Again in v13 Jesus points out the discrepancy: "You nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down." In short, they are what Jesus calls "hypocrites" (ouch!) - actors, pretenders, faking a religious appearance by emphasis on outward but unimportant details, all the while overlooking or ignoring basic matters of the heart and obedience to God's fundamental teaching.
Biblical counsellor John Regier sums up 4 ways hypocrisy is demonstrated using the following passages. By judging others - Luke 6(37,41f), seeing the speck in another's eye but not the plank in your own. By pretending to know God - Mt.15(7f), paying God lip-service as in this passage. By one's attitude in giving - Mt.6(1f), not announcing our offering with trumpets. And by one's attitude in prayer - Mt.6(5ff), not praying aloud on the street corners or babbling on a long time. So when the Jerusalem Jury ganged up on Jesus and the Twelve, they demonstrated the first couple of these examples of hypocrisy - judging others and pretending to know God. But our Lord defended the truth of the gospel, that it's not about man-made rules or looking "religious" but about relationship, intimacy with God on God's terms. Yes, our Maker has expectations of us, but externals such as hand-washing are not the key. Loving God, trusting in Jesus' death for us, putting His commands into practice - that's what it's about. So Jesus preserves religious freedom from the death of a thousand qualifications, a thousand add-ons.
Regier mentions that hypocrisy can be a problem in congregations where there's a high percentage of home schoolers - nothing against home schooling, just such families may be overly conscientious. One such family was so impressed by the Sabbath as a day of rest that they decided to prepare all Sunday's meals on Saturday and keep them in the fridge, so the mother wouldn't have to do any meal preparation work on Sunday. That was fine. But as others became aware what this one family was doing, they started trying to follow suit. In another family, the mother was less organized and efficient than in the other family; she had enough trouble just trying to get Saturday's meals on Saturday, let alone Sunday's too! Getting four meals ready by Saturday evening was more than she could handle. This resulted in immense stress and they came in for counselling. John asked, "Did God tell you you had to get all the meals ready on Saturday - or was it somebody else?" They had fallen into Satan's trap of trying to "keep up with the Joneses" - religiously speaking. Don't assume someone else's voluntary optional act of service to God as something that's necessarily required of you, too.
There are other examples of religiosity that have nothing to do with Scripture. Regier says in Kansas, driving to church on Sunday morning it was absolutely forbidden to pass another vehicle. It just "wasn't done". Why not? What other trivial customs can you think of? Do we imagine we have to dress a certain way to be acceptable to come to church? I'm a big fan of having Quiet Time with the Lord each morning, but it doesn't have to be like that. When the days get jumbled, have it anytime, and let's not be nit-pickers or rigid about the exact pattern. When Keith and 3 friends were driving from a Bible College in Saskatchewan to Ontario this month, they were driving along listening to music. One suggested they could listen to the Bible on tape as they'd brought a copy along. The other guys agreed, "That's a good idea." So they popped in the scripture tape...and all but the driver promptly fell asleep!
God's Word fees us from oppressive human-manufactured religious rules. As for diet, we're free to eat pork or not eat pork as the Lord leads each one. Maybe we will be healthier for it if Charlie Brown is right, but it's not something we can judge others for or imagine will increase our heavenly reward. Paul reminded the church at Rome the main thing is not to look down on your brother or sister in the faith for doing what conscience and God's word permits. "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters...The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him....He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God." (Romans 14:1,3,6)
Mr.Clean and the Dirty Dozen: Jesus Cleans Composty Hearts
The criticism by the Jerusalem scribes wasn't just a pesky interruption for Jesus. He used it as a springboard into the topic of what the Levitical laws were originally meant to be pointing at: real cleanness and acceptability to God. Jesus called the crowd to him and got them to pay attention. He said v15, "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.’" To the disciples he elaborated in vv18f, "Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’? For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." Mark the gospel-writer adds: "In saying this, Jesus declared all foods 'clean.'"
This is really radical for the Jewish culture of Jesus' day. No wonder the disciples were slow to catch on. Kind of like "going to church" all your life then suddenly finding out the church is people, not a building. Revolutionary. Or realizing the church's main function is not raising funds to protect the stained glass windows but making disciples. Like a punk rocker deciding to go Amish, it's a whole different style or approach to life. Not temples and bull sacrifices but worship anywhere and offering your entire being. It's not ritual that matters to God: He wants you!
What Jesus announced that day, the apostles slowly began to institute over the first decades of the church. In Acts 10 Peter still wasn't convinced. The vision of the sheet let down with all kinds of animals made him protest that he had never eaten anything impure or unclean; but God told him to welcome and go with the Gentiles that would escort him to Cornelius. In Acts 15 the Jerusalem Council, after much debate, decided not to insist converts follow Jewish dietary customs. This was a crucial step for the growth of the church world-wide. It showed they saw the importance of God "purifying hearts by faith" and grace, as Peter put it (Ac 15:9,11), not by external works.
Back in Mark 7(20,23), Jesus taught that it's what comes out of a person's heart that makes them unclean - the evils from inside. Then He lists a baker's dozen of vices: "evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly." (vv21f) Does that sound like the daily news to you? The other night while watching a movie I started to mentally tally how many of the Ten Commandments were being broken. That seems to be the fare consumers choose to watch, unfortunately.
For simplicity, these "dirty dozen" vices can be broadly grouped in 3 categories, what 1Jn.2:16 describes as being "all that is in the world": the categories are "lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life". Let's see how many we can fit in: lust of the flesh - sexual immorality (formerly translated "fornication" or sex between singles), adultery (illicit sex between marrieds), and lewdness - lasciviousness, "unrestrained sex instinct". Big market there - Dale Lang remarked that we live in what he calls "a pornographic culture".
In the category "lust of the eyes", from Jesus' list we might pull theft - seeing something you want and taking it; greed or coveting, the craze for more and more that saturates Western culture; and envy, jealousy, the "evil eye". Notice Jesus doesn't seem to distinguish levels of sinfulness; they're not differentiated or graded, it's all just "sin" as far as he's concerned. So let's not be judgmental of those who fall sexually, for example, while excusing our own tendency to spend too much in response to the flyers.
Last category of John's is "the boastful pride of life". This would include evil thoughts, thinking meanly of others; malice or wickedness; deceit, our efforts to "put one over" on another or be a decoy; slander, cutting another person to shreds with your words; and arrogance, being a conceited stuffed shirt, stuck up.
Do you have a backyard compost bin? When you take the lid off, does it look appetizing? A half-rotted banana peel here, mouldy orange there, half liquid brown yucky lettuce leaves...I'll pass, thank you...Before we receive Christ, when God takes the lid off our heart and looks inside, He sees this compost heap of all these sins of ours, slowly rotting us to hell. That's why Jesus says, "All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean'." He told it like it is, didn't try to pretend sin wasn't sin or camouflage it. Whatever you call it, it still stinks! And causes untold hurt through its consequences and impact on other people's lives.
But praise God, He provides a solution for the compost heap of our heart. The very sins Jesus pronounced as making us "unclean" He turned around, nailed to the cross in His own flesh, and took away from us, living us instead with His cleanness and righteousness. Hebrews 9:13-14 says, "The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!"
It is the blood of Christ (representing His life, for the Bible pictures the life of the creature as in the blood - Lev.17:11,14) - that is the catalyst, the enzyme agent, transforming our shame and guilt, cleaning us up for eternity, imputing to us God's "all clear". 1Pet.1:18, "For you know that...you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers...with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." 1Jn.1:7, "the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin." Rev.1:5, He "loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood." The Jews could wash their hands in water when they came from the marketplace all they want but it wouldn't touch their heart; only Christ's sacrifice can do that, when we receive Him by trusting what He said. Salvation is not about what we eat, or how much work we do, or how many dollars we put in the plate. It is Jesus' work on the cross that saves us! His accomplishment, not mine. All our good works only flow as a result of contrite hearts, cleaned up and responsive to the Father's daily leading, fuelled by Christ's love and the Spirit's strength.
Deep Cleansing Resolves Conflict
Sometimes we nit-pick at others, like the scribes nit-picked at Jesus, not because of any fault of theirs but on account of our own secret sense of unacceptability. In that case, confessing our sin and receiving God's refreshing and cleansing grace can restore not just our relationship with the Lord but make us a whole lot easier for other people to live with, too. David Seamands writes (Healing for Damaged Emotions) about a young minister who once came to see him. He was having a lot of problems getting along with other people, especially his wife and family. Seamands recalls: "I had already talked privately with his wife; she was a fine person -- attractive, warm, affectionate, loving -- and totally supporting him in his ministry. But he was continually criticizing her, scapegoating her. Everything she did was wrong. He was sarcastic and demanding, and withdrew from her advances, rejecting her love and affection. Slowly but surely it began to dawn on him: he was destroying their marriage.
"Then he realized that in his weekend pastorate he was hurting people through sermons which were excessively harsh and judgmental...Finally, in his desperation, he came to see me. At the beginning of our interview, he met trouble like a real man: he blamed it on his wife! But after a while, when he became honest, the painful root of the matter came to light. While he was in the armed forces in Korea, he had spent 2 weeks of R&R in Japan. During that leave, walking the streets of Tokyo, feeling empty, lonely, and terribly homesick, he fell into temptation and went 3 or 4 times to a prostitute.
"He had never been able to forgive himself. He had sought God's forgiveness, and with his head, believed he had it. But the guilt still plagued him, and he hated himself. Every time he looked in the mirror, he couldn't stand what he was seeing. He had never shared this with anyone, and the burden was becoming intolerable. When he returned home to marry his fiancee, who had faithfully waited for him all those years, his emotional conflicts increased because he still could not accept complete forgiveness. He couldn't forgive himself for what he had done to himself and to her; so he couldn't accept her freely offered affection and love. He felt he had no right to be happy.
"As AW Tozer put it, the young minister was living in 'the perpetual penance of regret'. How beautiful it was to see him receive full, free forgiveness from God, then from his wife, and perhaps best of all, from himself."
Praise the Lord, who does not stop at pointing out the true condition of our sinful heart to us, but gave His life to redeem us from the rotting compost. He cleans us and plants us to bear encouraging fruit not critical thorns, rooted in and nourished by His powerful Word. Let's pray.