How to save a Monk / Mark 7:14-23

Begin the message with a poll “do you think people are generally good or generally bad?”

(In 2017, country music star Luke Bryan gave his answer to this question in a song called, “I believe most people are good” here are some of the lyrics,

I believe most people are good

I believe you love who you love

Ain't nothing you should ever be ashamed of

I believe this world ain't half as bad as it looks

I believe most people are good)

Is he correct? Our culture thinks so, you can hear it in our catch phrases like, “follow your heart” and “love is love.”)

Your answer to this question will change how you view the world. We all know that there is evil and brokenness in this world. But if people are mostly good when given the proper education and opportunity, then the problem is “out there.” However, if people have brokenness within then what is our solution? How can we change for good if we’re broken within? Like a good doctor, Jesus will diagnose the true source of spiritual sickness.

The question of whether evil is “out there” or “from within” is ancient. In fact, tonights story illustrates that people in Jesus’ day were asking the same question.

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.”

End of sermon. Would you be confused? The disciples were…

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?

It sure seems like they are! After all, why would they ask a question if they truly understood? What is Jesus’ point? His question exposes their need for God to reveal truth to them. There are some truth’s that we cannot understand on our own. We need God to show us the answer to life’s mysteries through his word. And this is exactly what Jesus is about to do…

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.

The Jewish people back then (and some today) had strict diets. They believed that some foods made them spiritually clean before God, while other foods made them spiritually dirty.

Here Jesus explains that your external rituals like diet and spiritual habits cannot change your heart.

In 1505 there was a young man, about your age, who learned this truth so deeply, it almost killed him. It was a stormy night outside of a small german village. A sturdy solo traveler was riding horseback when clouds began to form above him. Suddenly, and unexpectantly, he found himself on the ground after being knocked off his horse by a lightning bolt. This near death experience altered his life plan from the promise of being a lawyer to vowing his life to the strict order of the monastery.

As a monk, he did many good deeds, but his conscience would not let him go. He knew that the height of the law was to love God, but he confessed that sometimes he hated God. To ease his fears, he attempted to be perfect. He physically harmed his body when temptations came. He would pray longer than anyone else. He was corrected by a priest for spending too much time confessing. One night he almost froze to death after denying a blanket in order to pay for his sins. He was so devoted to the external rules that he wrote, “If ever a monk got to heaven by monkery, it was I.” But sadly, Luther knew that no amount of external deeds could cleanse his conscience.

You can take the monk out of the world, but you can’t take the world out of the monk. You can live in a monastery and remove all temptations, but you’d still be stuck with your heart.

This is crucial to understand. Some of you think that when you leave your house, you’ll be okay. When you change your friend group, you’ll have peace. Or if you remove all drugs and apps, you’ll be free from addiction. These strategies would work, if the problem was “out there.” But listen to the true source of evil thoughts and actions.

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.”

When you hear this list, it is easy to see yourself in things like pride and envy, but you may say to yourself, “at least I’m not a murderer”, “at least I don’t commit adultery.” Hopefully, you haven’t, but that doesn’t mean that the seeds of those sins don’t exist in your heart.

Jesus once said,

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother[c] will be liable to judgment

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Show pictures of seeds, see if they can guess which fruit it belongs to.

Just like it is hard to identify which seed produces which fruit, it is hard to identify sin within ourselves. You may think to yourself, “I’m not perfect, but I know I’m not a murderer. Do you have anger in your heart?” “I’m no saint, but I’m gunna be better than sinful celebrities, do you have lust in your heart?”

When we accept the teaching of Jesus, that evil comes from within, then we can echo…

”The seed of every sin known to man is in my heart" - Robert Murray McCheyne, Scottish pastor

Here is hope. Once you understand that you are broken on the inside, you will begin to look for healing from an outside source, namely, God himself.

This is what happened to the young monk in tonight’s story. His name was Martin Luther. The man who led the protestant reformation and forever changed the world. Listen to how he described his moment of salvation:

“Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which, through grace and sheer mercy, God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise.”

It was as if he was sitting in a locked prison without a key, then Jesus came, unlocked the prison and welcomed him out. Will you step out into freedom?