Things Within
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
As far as I can remember, this is the first time that I have ever worn shorts on a Sunday morning in my life. Let alone, preached in shorts. I am sure everyone is interested in knowing why I am. And the answer, I believe will become abundantly clear as we go on with today’s sermon. The idea came to me yesterday afternoon and I mulled it over for a while, went back and forth about whether I should or not. And finally, I decided that I would.
The biggest hindrance—the biggest concern—that I had about wearing shorts to church and preaching in them was not, “will God approve” but “what will people think?” And as I wrestled through that in my own mind, I realized that was the point. Many traditions that churches and Christians have may start off with the question of God’s approval but soon morph into the question of man’s acceptance. The engines of tradition may be started with “what will God think”, but it is driven by “what will my tribe think.” It starts with, “I think this would please God,” but it ends with, “If I don’t, it would displease my people.” Traditions like, “we ought to wear our Sunday best on Sunday morning.”
That concept sounds good and right. God wants and deserves our best. And I think that in itself—God wants and deserves our best—is a biblical principle. But the application of it with clothing may not be. What is our Sunday best? Is our best a suit or a dress that we bought 20 years ago at JC Penny for $150.00 or is it a brand pair of Levi jeans that cost $60.00 and a polo that cost $30 two weeks ago? Is it the style of clothing that determines if it is best? The newness of clothing that determines if it is best? The cost of clothing that determines if it is best? I bought these shorts just a couple of weeks ago. And this shirt I bought a couple of years ago, but I only wear it for church. So in that case, I think it could be that I’m wearing Sunday best.
It wasn’t really any different in Jewish life during Jesus’s day.
Much of the Jewish tradition had started And we see three movements of Jesus’s correcting the Pharisee. The first movement Jesus makes is to ignore the tradition. From there he moves to illustrating it, and finally to illuminating the one holding on to the tradition.
Jesus Ignored the Tradition
Jesus Illustrated the Tradition
Jesus Illuminated the Traditionalist
While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table.
The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner.
And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also?
But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.
Jesus Ignored the Tradition
Jesus Ignored the Tradition
The first movement that we see in this section is that of Jesus ignoring the tradition that had been developed over the years. These were oral traditions that had been passed down from generation to generation. Eventually they would be written down in something that is called the Mishna, but that didn’t happen until after Jesus had ascended. Until then, they were the oral traditions, but they were seen as authoritative as the Law. After all, the oral traditions explained the Law of God. But it was the traditions that Jesus ignored.
Look again.
While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table.
Keep in mind that Jesus was finishing up his speech to the crowds. These were the crowds that were increasing that we read about a couple of weeks ago. These were the people Jesus had called an evil generation looking for signs rather than listening to the word of God and obeying. These were the people Jesus said had an evil eye rather than a healthy one; being full of darkness rather than light.
It was as he was speaking to this crowd that a Pharisee invited him to lunch. The word that is used here indicates lunch, not supper. So while our English text reads “dinner,” we shouldn’t think this was happening at night. Dinner is technically considered to be the largest meal of the day. Thus, for us dinner is often supper—the evening meal because that’s usually the largest meal for us. But for much of the world, lunch is the largest meal of the day, and something light and refreshing is served at supper.
At any rate, Jesus is invited to lunch by the Pharisee. He accepted the invitation, walks into the man’s house and immediately sat down to eat. Again, tables and chairs were not a part of the equation. Most people sat on pillows or even on the floor, with short tables, often leaning against them in a relaxed pose. This is what Jesus did.
Meanwhile, it’s likely that the Pharisee is going through the ritual of handwashing and finds that Jesus wasn’t joining him, but was already reclining at the table, perhaps grabbing a grape or some bread. If you have children, you probably know how appalling this might have been for the Pharisee. You call your child in from outside to eat a sandwich you’ve just prepared. They come in all dusty and dirty and sit down at the table and just before they grab that sandwich you screech, “What are you doing? You haven’t washed your hands. Go! Now! And use soap!”
Except Jesus was an adult, and the Pharisee wasn’t actually upset about germs or dust. He was concerned about uncleanness. We’ll get to that in a moment.
For now, let’s understand the tradition that went along with the washing of the hands. Obviously, water had to be used. That water had to be in a jug of some sort. It didn’t matter what the jug was made of. In fact, it could be made of animal dung—it even says that in the Mishna. So long as the jug does not have a crack in it, it’s considered clean water. But the jug also must have a lid or a cap. Otherwise it becomes impure. One cannot ladle water into someone’s hand nor scoop the water with his own hands and pour into someone else’s hands. The jug must be tipped and poured into the hands or a bowl can be used. Anyone can do that; it doesn’t matter. Even a monkey—according to the Mishna—could pour the water out.
There had to be two pourings though and it had to be on both hands. and it had to be up to the joint, though there is debate as to which joint, the second joint of the fingers or the joint that connects the fingers to the hands. If the water didn’t cover that much of the person’s hand, then the person was still considered to be unclean. But clearly only the fingers were being covered with water and not the actual palm. If the water didn’t go to the joint, whichever one it might be, then everything had to stop. One could not go on to the second washing and let the second pour finish up what was missed. Instead, they had to change locations and start over again.
About a quarter of a cup had to be used both times and you could increase the amount of water from the second washing, but you could not increase it for the first, and must not lower it in either, unless there were a number of people washing, then it would be okay if the second washing was less than prescribed under normal circumstances.
Do you see how complicated this can get!? There are literally four chapters about hand washing and cleanliness in the Mishna!
And here is Jesus entering into the Pharisees house and immediately sits down at table and begins to eat, ignoring them all!
And here is the thing, brothers and sisters, one cannot fight against the traditions of men if one continues to abide by them at the same time. But beware, because if you or I or anyone ignore the well-established and presumably reasonable traditions—whether written or unwritten rules—there will be backlash.
Going back to our Sunday best as an example. We have certain rules as well don’t we? For a while—perhaps growing up for many of us—the unwritten rule (or at least the expectation) was to wear a suit and tie, a pretty dress. For me, I wasn’t to wear the same suit two times in a row. For girls, it was that the dress or skirt had to be a certain length. Sometimes it was to the knees and sometimes it was past the fingertips. If one did not have a suit or a dress, then slacks were ok with a dress shirt or blouse. If one could not afford slacks and dress shirt, then Jeans would do and a t-shirt. After all, they can’t help that they can’t afford what others can. So long as the t-shirt didn’t have anything too secular it was ok. For instance, it could advertise Coke but not beer. It could have Elvis but not Metallica. But never were shorts to be worn on a Sunday morning. Where did these rules—most, if not all being unwritten—become our standard? None of them are found in Scripture.
The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner.
I don’t think it’s hard to understand the word astonished. It’s what many probably felt when they saw me wearing shorts this morning. It’s a “What in the world is going on?” feeling. And it was this feeling that needed to be address. And so that takes us to the second movement.
Jesus Illustrated the Tradition
Jesus Illustrated the Tradition
The first movement was for Jesus to ignore the tradition. The second was for him to illustrate it.
And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
As Jesus illustrates, he also indicts the Pharisees as a group. He’s not just saying that Pharisees do this. He uses the plural pronoun to emphasize it. “You Pharisees,” or we could say it this way, “All of you Pharisees.” And then in verse 40, he called them “fools.” The “you” in this one is added by the translators. Jesus basically says, “Fools!” and not “You fools!” but the idea is the same.
And you can see him picking up one of the cups and dishes with his grubby, unclean hands and says, “You clean the outside of the cup and the dish.” In other words, you’re worried about what others will see and what others will say. It’s not that the inside of the dish or cup was full of gunk, but that it was the outside that they really cared about.
Think about an antique dealer trying to sell a sterling silver tea set. That’s worth a lot of money. Every week or two that dealer is spending time polishing the outside of the tea set—the part that everyone can see. It sparkles and shines, but the inside is tarnished. It’s not full of old tea leaves, but it has been neglected and doesn’t receive the care as the outside does.
This is what would happen. A quick scrub of the inside, but pristine on the outside.
Beloved, so many walk into church with these same ideas. They walk in with their suits and ties or their Lululemon dresses and nice shoes. They’ve got their big study Bibles and big smiles on their faces because that’s the way things are done. Meanwhile, their hearts are breaking, their lives are a mess, they treat their server at the restaurant with disrespect, and yell at their mothers. Everything on the outside of the cup looks pristine. They’re living according to the traditions, according to the expectations of those around them.
But what’s happening on the inside? “Inside,” Jesus said, “you are full of greed and wickedness.” While the outside may look like their are doing as expected, the inside shows that they are simply living for self. They are full of greed. They’re being rapacious. It’s not just that they are withholding, but they are predatory in their greediness. While not the Pharisees themselves, think about those money changers and those who sold sacrifices that Jesus let have it when he cleansed the temples. They’d inspect a lamb that a family had brought with them and they’d find something wrong with it just so that the family would have to buy a new one from them. That’s predatory greed.
This is the character that Jesus accused the Pharisees of having. By giving an illustration of the cup and dish, Jesus said, you have people fooled into thinking you all are a righteous lot, but I see your greed. I see your evil. This is the third time in these few verses that Jesus speaks of evil. The word wickedness is the same word that Jesus used to describe the generation of the people and the eye that darkens the body. An evil generation looking at him with an evil eye led by an evil group of religious leaders.
And so they are fools. Literally, they’re ignorant. Apparently they haven’t really thought through the matter. They got to a certain point and then stopped short.
You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also?
Jesus calls them fools because they had not considered that their Creator had not only created the outside but the inside too. Thus, the Creator not only cared about the outside, but the inside as well.
It’s not that God doesn’t necessarily care about the outside. Of course, he did. There were laws in the Torah regarding the outside, such as not cutting the corner of beards, mixing of clothing materials, getting tattoos. He cared about the clothing that the priests wore and the high priest wore. He did care about the outside, but that didn’t mean that the inside didn’t matter. He cared just as much and even more about the parts that no one could see. When God told Samuel that man looks at the outside, but God looks at the heart, he wasn’t saying that God ignores what is going on with the outside. But that God isn’t fooled by what’s going on on the outside. That’s clear enough with the law of circumcision. The circumcision was something performed on the outside of the body, but it was supposed to be an indication of the inside of the heart. But someone (and most did) performed the outward act without the inward act. The same goes with baptism today. Many are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but their lives were never changed. Holiness was never pursued, not because they didn’t get baptized in water, but because they weren’t baptized with the Spirit.
It’s not just the outside that matters. The inside does as well. So long as all we’re doing is baptizing this thing and that thing outwardly, and never look to our own hearts, we act as if the heart doesn’t matter. We’re wearing the “right clothes,” we’re singing the “right songs,” we’re saying the “right words,” we’re carrying the “right translation,” or what have you, but inwardly we are still as greedy, still as evil, still as embittered or prideful or covetous or lovers of self or whatever else may be there, then we’re being just as foolish as these Pharisees.
There are many churches and Christians who have gotten away from the KJV only tradition. Most have moved on from the idea that if the King James Bible was good enough for Jesus and Paul, then it’s good enough for me. But many have the still have the same mindset about hymns. If The Old Rugged Cross was good enough for Peter and John, then it’s good enough for me. And we all know that neither the KJV nor the hymns that we sing were anywhere close to the first century. We’ve moved away from one, but heaven help anyone who tries to move away from the other.
No wonder Jesus once said,
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Their righteousness was external and not internal and because it was not internal it would not be eternal. We need to be careful about the idea of pharisaism. A person who is pharisaical is not one who expects obedience and piety or holiness. It is one who expects it outwardly while not worrying who they are inwardly. It’s one who regards his traditions rather than his heart.
How about you? Are you simply doing the outer things while disregarding the inner? Maybe it’s Bible study. You’re not working through it to grow in holiness and know and love God and neighbor better. You’re doing it because it doesn’t look good if someone were to ask or oversees blank pages in your study book. Maybe it is your clothes. Your Sunday best is on display. Your clothes are nice and neat, your hair is nice and neat, you smell nice and clean, but inside you’re a mess. Who are you trying to fool? Who are you trying to please? To whom are you trying to conform? Is it Jesus or the crowd? And that crowd could certainly be religious as much as secular.
And certainly, there is a difference between being a mess on the inside and not caring and being a mess on the inside and caring. We’re all a mess in some way. We all need to grow in holiness in various and numerous ways. The question is really whether we care about what’s going on inwardly, or if we only care about what others are seeing outwardly.
And this takes us to the third movement in this passage.
Jesus Illuminated the Traditionalist
Jesus Illuminated the Traditionalist
It wasn’t enough for Jesus to ignore the tradition and to illustrate it. The one keeping the tradition needed to be illuminated as to what to do about it. So Jesus illuminated the traditionalist.
But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.
This is a difficult saying. And by that I don’t mean that it is difficult to do—though it might be. But that it’s difficult to understand. The wording is kind of weird and there are various ideas about what Jesus meant. Here is what I believe Jesus was saying.
Give from the heart and the outside will take care of itself. Let me explain why.
Jesus just accused the Pharisees as a group of being greedy and evil. They are not just greedy with their possessions, but are greedy predators. In Luke 20, Jesus would state that the scribes, many of whom were Pharisees, devour widows houses. So, here is Jesus telling him to do the opposite. Rather than being a predator of greediness, be a giver of alms—give to the poor those things that are within you.
This is not much different from Paul’s instruction to the Ephesians.
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
It’s a sign of repentance—the turning from sin to the turning to Christ, following him. The inward change manifests itself outwardly. Thus, the inner thief becomes generous and giving away that which held him captive inwardly—money/riches.
Again, this could be illustrated with the rich, young, ruler. Inwardly held captive with wealth, Jesus instructed him to sell all he had and give it to the poor. Outwardly, he had done everything right. Inwardly, he was greedy and Jesus said, “Give it away.” But he could not. He would not.
Paul didn’t just do this with thievery though. He did it with other things. Jesus used the word wickedness/evil as a general term. There are many evils that can grab hold of us.
Paul mentions some.
Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
and give no opportunity to the devil.
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
If lies are within you, turn and give out truth. If anger is within you, deal with it immediately. If money has you captured, start giving generously. If corrupting talk is your inner problem, switch it out with encouragement. If bitterness, anger, and clamor have a hold on you, start living with tenderheartedness and forgiveness.
Certainly easier said than done. But those are all things that come from a heart that is changing. Paul would state it another way (in fact, it’s how he began the whole passage that we just looked at):
to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
It’s not about conforming outwardly, but about transforming inwardly. It’s not about looking holy; it’s about becoming holy. It’s not about what people see and say, but about what Christ sees and says.
Jesus said, let’s do a U-turn inwardly, and then act that miracle outwardly. And all those concerns about cleanliness take care of themselves. It’s all clean—not because all the traditional requirements are met, but because it is not what is on the outside that defiles, but what is on the inside. So when the inside is made clean, so then is the outside.
Conclusion
Conclusion
As we finish up this text, let me say that there are some here today that are more concerned about your appearance of the outside and not nearly as concerned about the inside. Man can be fooled by the outside, but not God. It isn’t that God is unconcerned about the outside; he’s just not fooled by it. And there are some who appear to be holy and pious and have it all together but inwardly are rebelling and are wicked in various ways. And it’s time to deal with those areas of your life.
It’s time not to only say whether aloud or to yourself that you’re repenting of such sins. It’s time to live the repentance. Turning lust into love. Turning anger into forgiveness. Turning greed into generosity. Turning spite into kindness. You say, “Chris, it’s not that easy. It’s not like flipping a switch.” And you’re right. It’s not. It will take sacrifice and pain and loss and a lot of heart-work.
Many of us will walk out of these doors like the rich, young ruler. We may not be rich. We may not be young. We may not even rule anything. But we will walk out of here sorrowful because we are rich in lust, rich in anger, rich in greed, rich in spite, or in some other wickedness and we don’t want to part ways with it; we do not want to do the heart-work.
We’re fine doing the traditions, going through the rituals, keeping the outside looking clean. No one needs to know what the inside is like. There’s no life in that; only death. There’s no light that; only darkness. Let us take Jesus’s illumination and shine it upon our darkness.
Prayer
Our heavenly Father,
May our eyes never be on the traditions of men, but upon the love of God displayed in the Son.
Move on us now to take off the old man and put on the new,
to let go of tradition and embrace the grace.
May your Spirit move on us as he changes us from the inside out
That we may conform to the image of Christ, transformed by the renewing of your word.
In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.