2.9.14 2.26.2023 Mark 7.1-23 Beginning of the Break

Start:

Entice: Today’s text is critical to the Kingdom ministry of Jesus. For Him to “succeed”, for His cross to ultimately convey God’s own righteousness to us will require a whole new mindset regarding what is holy and sacred, and what constitutes holy, sacred behavior.

In one way

or another all human cultures grapple with this dilemma at

one level

or another. In a sense it persists in debates about “nature vs. nurture” and whether genetics is destiny.

The question is not so much “what makes us good or bad?” as “From whence do good or bad behaviors come?”

Religious answers are prone to

confusion,

pride,

and

excess.

Engage: Holy deeds flow from a pure heart.

A pure heart is aligned with the character of God.

There are practices that can help align us with the character of God.

But these practices are rooted in faith. Real faith results in conversion. The ultimate alignment is to submit to God in obedience. This will clarify whether our motives are Godly and spiritual, or ultimately human and self-centered. Jesus debated these principles with Pharisees and Scribes who were experts in the “right behaviors” but who seemed to root their behaviors less in an experience of God than other external, temporary motivations.

Expand: It is understanding these motivations that is at the heart of this text. it is these motivations which must discipline us to not merely tell people what to do. If someone is not in a relationship with God through Christ Jesus, they can mimic the behaviors and still not express the Holy, character of God.

Excite: All fallen humans need a “heart” transplant. Jesus teaches and enables us to transform our behavior from the inside out.

Explore:

Holy living flows from a transformed heart.

Expand: In this, admittedly difficult context text, Jesus teaches us how to move through a process learning to holy behaviors.

Body of Sermon: The first step, as is often the case is admitting there is an issue, so, we must

1 Acknowledge the Problem of Holiness.

Mark 7:1–13 ESV

1 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” 9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban” ’ (that is, given to God)— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

1.1 List the issues.

tradition of the elders.

community consensus.

Control.

Mastery of details becomes the mystery of control resulting in Pride!

1.2 Listen to Jesus.

Jesus responds to

tradition with scripture,

to

community consensus with divine exegesis

to

control with correction.

The next step of the process goes beyond correcting others. We must

2 Accept the Principle of Holiness.

Mark 7:14–15 ESV

14 And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”

2.1 Pay attention!

2.2 Simple, profound truth.

3 Align with the Practice of Holiness.

Mark 7:16–23 ESV

17 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

3.1 Understand the source of “defilement”.

3.2 Seek the solution to defilement

A transformation of our inner self is essential to pleasing God.

This is Something of a set up for the rest of Jesus’ ministry and the rest of Mark’s Gospel. We all understand how fickle and evil the heart can be. If holiness comes from within us, and our “within” remains fallen, we will remain defiled. Holiness begins with a renewed “inside.” Only Jesus can fix that

Shut Down

Both Paul and Peter follow Jesus in exposing the reality of a corrupt heart…

Paul=

Galatians 5:19–21 ESV

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Peter touches on this three times in His first epistle.

1 Peter 2:1 ESV

1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

1 Peter 4:3 ESV

3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.

1 Peter 4:15 ESV

15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.

Our behaviors illustrate what we think, how we feel, what we choose. We Can’t change the outside without changing the inside—and that takes Jesus.

Christians should demonstrate holy behaviors and that begins with an inside that is renewed by Jesus. Throughout Mark Jesus will continue to teach and heal and minister. He is approaching the time when He discloses to His disciples the power that will make our transformation possible. It will not be in the pride of achievement our self-sufficient correct deeds but in the submission of the Master to the cross and the grave culminating in His resurrection.

This gives us the power to reflect the character of God.