Good Religion

Mark 2:23–28 ESV

One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

Christians today do not like the word, “Religion” (especially independent Christians and charismatic pentecostals)

We don’t want to be like the Pharisees

Most of us know about the Pharisees from the accounts in the four Gospels.

We meet this group of religious leaders who hold the Jewish community in Roman occupied Israel to a very strict standard of keeping the Mosaic Law

So fixed are they on their law-keeping and the power afforded them by their position of religious authority that they oppose and ultimately facilitate the crucifixion of Jesus.

Who would want to be like the Pharisees?

Last week we started a new sermon series called, “He Comes The Kingdom”.

It is a survey in the Gospel of Mark; the action-packed stage play Gospel that depicts Jesus as the ushering in the rule of the Kingdom of God.

One of the major conflicts throughout this drama is the ongoing struggle with these religious rulers.

But as He deals with the Religious Leaders, does Jesus have something to teach his disciples (including and especially His 21st century disciples in Chicagoland) other than how bad the Pharisees are?

What if Jesus does not feel so negatively about religion as we all do?

What if the Kingdom that Jesus ushers in is not a Kingdom where we get rid of religion, but a Kingdom where we get religion right?

I want to suggest to us that this is exactly the lesson of Mark’s Gospel.

I want to suggest to us that this is what Jesus means when He says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

I want to preach a message called, “Good Religion”

Before we go further, I should say what I mean when I use the word, “religion”.

The ritual practices, moral codes, and behavioral conduct that allow us to give practical expression to deeply held beliefs.

Religion is all the things you do (and don’t do) because of what you believe about God, yourself, and the world.

It could be weekly church attendance

Or burning sage in your house

Or going to the gym 6 days a week

This definition brings us to the first feature of Good Religion that I want to discuss:

Good Religion Establishes Healthy Rhythms

In order to really understand the Pharisees, you have to recognize that they came to power when Israel was under a long and often harsh Roman occupation.

There was constant pressure for the Jews to assimilate into Roman culture. And many of them did.

The Pharisees were one of only a handful of Jewish subgroups that made it a priority to preserve their culture; their national and spiritual identity as the chosen people of God.

The way they tried to do this was by keeping the rituals and practices laid out in the Law of Moses constantly before people.

After all, that was the point of Law, to remind God’s people of the covenant God had made with them.

The Pharisees were the academic wing of the “Hebrew Lives Matter” movement

And here comes Jesus: this backwoods Rabbi who seems to be breaking all the rules.

From the place we left off last week (at the beginning of Mark chapter 1) to where we pick up this week (toward the end of Mark chapter 2), Jesus has:

Touched a man with leprosy

Told a man that his sins were forgiven

Eaten with tax collectors and sinners

The Pharisees understood that the rules were in place for a reason.

Not touching people with leprosy and other laws about ritual uncleanness had helped prevent outbreaks of contagious disease in Israel.

There was a system of sacrifices designed to engender a penitent spirit in the people when they sinned against God. Easy forgiveness could contribute to moral decay.

And when it comes to eating with tax collectors and sinners, just think of the very first words of arguably the most important book of Hebrew scripture (The Psalms) “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly”.

The fact is that the Pharisees were probably right to take a deeper look at Jesus’ activities

It’s like when guys in the booth tell the head coach to review the play.

We’re not sure this was a violation, but its close enough to take a second look.

Rhythms and rules are not all bad.

In fact, rhythms and rules can contribute to your overall health and safety.

But, the rhythms and rules have to be born out of the right heart.

IT IS NOT HEALTHY TO CASUALLY BREAK THE RULES OR HAPHAZARDLY DISRUPT THE RHYTHMS

BUT, THAT IS NOT WHAT JESUS WAS DOING…JESUS WAS PRACTICING GOOD RELIGION.

Good Religion Effectuates Human Restoration

Jesus focuses the conflict over the rules and rhythms of Jewish religious practice on the sabbath…Not because of His opposition to the rhythms but because of His appreciation for them.

Jesus did not despise the Law of Moses, He understood it better than the Pharisees.

Nothing was more central and emblematic of this tradition than the sabbath.

Sabbath was frequent (every 7 days).

Sabbath was observable (I can watch you and see if you’re keeping the sabbath).

Sabbath was very different from the surrounding culture. (Nothing like the sabbath existed in the Roman culture)

When the Pharisees oppose Jesus’ healing on the sabbath it exposes the fundamental flaw in their interpretation of the Law of Moses

The Pharisees saw the purpose of the people in keeping the rules

They did not realize that purpose of the rules was aid the restoration of the people

Before there was a Law, there was a Promise that Abraham’s seed would be a blessing to all the peoples of the earth.

Before there was Law, there was a mission to Restore mankind that had fallen into sin in the Garden of Eden.

So, everything in the Law needed to be interpreted through the lens of blessing and restoration.

Should one just go around flagrantly violating ritual purity laws?

No I should not.

But if I’m touching a man with leprosy in order to heal him, then I have fulfilled that law when I touch him.

Should I run around just kickin’ it with tax collectors and sinners?

No, I should not.

But, if I’m about to call Levi and turn him into an apostle. And if I’m about to impact Zacheaus to return the money he defrauded people out of and make a generous contribution to the poor, then I have fulfilled the law when I eat with them.

Sabbath was designed to give rest, especially to those in bondage in Israel.

So, if by the work of a miracle, I can set a man free from the bondgage of infirmity…

Then I have fulfilled the law of the sabbath.

THE SABBATH IS MADE FOR MAN, NOT MAN FOR THE SABBATH.

This is interpretation of the religious customs…THIS GOOD RELIGION can only be realized through the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit

Good Religion Is Empowered By A Heart Replacement

Jesus says, “The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath”

He does not refer to Himself as “The Son of God” (even though a voice from heaven testified about this fact when Jesus was baptized)

Jesus calls Himself “Son of Man” intentionally, and I think it is a double entendre.

The term points to Daniel’s Messianic prophecy in Daniel chapter 7 that describes the Messiah as “one like the Son of Man”.

But, throughout the scripture, God uses the term to refer to His servants…those He had called for His own purpose.

Job and Jeremiah and Isaiah and David

But, one stands out…93 times in Ezekiel we see the term used “Son of Man”

And it was to Ezekiel that God spoke these words:

“I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Eze 36:26)

Good Religion, beloved, is born of a heart that has been transformed by the Holy Spirit of God.

This why Paul later writes to the Romans:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (or heart), that you may prove (or walk out in practical ways) what is that good, perfect, and acceptable will of God”

One final illustration from scriptures:

In the book of Leviticus Chapter 10…Moses has built the tent of the tabernacle…he has consecrated Aaron and his sons as priest to Lord…and priest have begun their ministry.

And then we read these words:

Leviticus 10:1–2 ESV

Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.

Nadab and Abihu offered incense before the Lord…that was their religious duty. BUT THEY DID NOT HAVE GOOD RELIGION.

And if what you take away from this narrative is that these men perished because they did not follow the rules exactly as Moses had given them, then you miss the main point.

For sure, they did not follow the divine instruction. They were to take the coals from the altar (which they did not do).

But, we have to remember that it was no ordinary fire that burned on the altar. God had divinely lit that fire at the consecration ceremony for the tabernacle.

The problem was not so much that they didn’t follow the rules, as it was that they did not they did not follow the rules...

The problem was that they did not get the fire from the Spirit of God.

The rules were in place to lead them to place where they got a fire that was kindled by the Spirit of God.

God is not looking for a laissez-faire church…with no commitments, no practice, no expression.

He is not looking for a church with NO RELIGION, he is looking for a church with GOOD RELIGION

Let’s not be a people of NO RELIGION... who spend only 15 minutes in prayer because prayer is religious…and well…we are not religious. (Let’s be people with GOOD RELIGION...who devote hours to prayer, not out empty religious commitment, but because we are praying fervently and with zeal knowing that effectual fervent prayer of the righteous has much power).

Let’s not be a people of NO RELIGION... who don’t be spending all our time at church because going to church is religious…and well…we are not religious. (Let’s be people with GOOD RELIGION... who come together as often as we can, not out empty religious commitment, but because we believe that wherever two or more of us are gathered together, Christ is there in the midst of us we want nothing more than to be in His presence).

Let’s not be a people of NO RELIGION... who are so advanced in our spirituality that we don’t read the scriptures and attend bible study; after all Bible study is religious…and well…we are not religious. (Let’s be people with GOOD RELIGION…who open the Word as often as we can because we know that these words are breathed out from God and that we cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from God’s mouth).

God is looking for a people consumed with zeal…

Not a zeal for rule-keeping;

but a passionate pursuit of the Kingdom of God.

He wants our lives to burn with passion…

Not with a strange fire we kindled on our own;

But a fire kindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Being zealously religious is not the problem. Being errant and misguided is the problem.

Jesus saves religiously dispassionate people…He does.

But, when He wanted somebody to take the Gospel to the Gentile world, affirm the Jews, and write ⅔ of the New Testament scriptures…

Jesus did not call a “non-religious” person…who doesn’t take it all that serious

Jesus redirected a Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus

I Here’s how I would like us to respond to this message. Let’s begin now and spend the next week doing a religion assessment.

Do I have healthy rhythms?

Am I impacting people for good?

Am I willing to endure hardship with compassion?

Here is a simple prayer we can all pray as we undertake our religion assessment: Lord God, give me GOOD RELIGION. Start a fire in my heart and then show me how to burn bright for you in my everyday life.