Empty Traditions

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Intro

As I mentioned earlier it is so nice to see everyone here, I hope you have had a wonderful week so far. This week we are starting our new series where we will be discussing the topic of Easter.

How many of you saw the empty donut box in the back of the room and got really excited? You saw this box and immediately thought yes I hope they have my favorite flavor of donut in there whatever that may be. Then however as you got closer you opened the box and realized that unfortunately the box was empty.

Maybe you have done the same thing at home. You reach up to get a cookie out of the oreo box and suddenly realize that someone Probably your little brother or sister put an empty box back in the cupboard. Is there anything more heartbreaking then that feeling. You have the desire for a cookie, and then all your hope gets ripped away as you realize that there are no more cookies.

It may have left you feeling empty inside. But imagine if you will how the box may have felt. The box was designed for one purpose however now it doesnt even fill the purpose it was created for which is carrying the donuts or cookies. If that box had feelings it would probably feel pretty empty, or useless.

Make the donut box talk stating I feel so useless and empty

Well this week our series that we are starting about Easter is going to be focusing on emptiness. But heres the thing there is more to emptiness than just physical emptiness. There is also SPiritual emptiness. That feeling like there has to be more to life.

Tom Brady video there has to be more than this

So we can see even if we have everything that you could ever physically desire we can still be empty inside.

Where does the emptiness come from

You may be wondering if we have everything than why do I still feel so empty. Well that emptiness could be a spiritual emptiness, if you are not following Jesus.

We were created for a specific purpose, and that purpose was to follow and worship God. If we are not fulfilling that purpose then we will end up feeling empty.

Way too often we try to fill our emptiness with likes on instagram or tiktok, boy friends or girl friends, the newest clothes, or a spot on that sports team or band, but these things will never fill that void, because they were not created to fill the void of not following Christ.

Pharisees

Tonight we are going to take a look at how the Pharisees tried to fill the void and emptiness that they had in their lives. The pharisees were the religious leaders when Jesus was walking on earth, and they were the ones that were in charge of setting the rules that everyone else would live by. They were also the ones that would enforce the rules that they made. They were experts in the religious laws, and spent all their time trying to study, memorize and follow the rules.

You would know them as a goody two shoes.

Lets take a look at one of the interactions they had with Jesus

Mark 7:1–3 NIV

The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.

Now if you read this without knowing some of the different rules and traditions of Jewish culture you may be thinking wait a minute the disciples and didnt wash their hands. Thats gross. However the cleansing that the pharisees were talking about was not a simple washing your hands but was something that they started requiring even though it was only expected of the priests before performing a sacrifice.

So the Pharisees decided that they wanted to hold everyone to a standard that was not an expectation that God has, and we still have people like this around today. We still see plenty of people that come around and say things like oh well the KJV is the only true form of the Bible and you have to read that one. Or if you wear make up then you arent following Christ. It reminds me a bit of the Amish where they have added all these expectations to the people that live with them to the point that they are not even allowed electricity because that is considered too worldly. So we still have people that do this today even if we dont call them pharisees anymore.

But lets take a look at how Jesus responded.

Mark 7:6–8 NIV

He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

Jesus did not hold back any punches with this one. He straight up called them out for being hypocrites, and not only that but proceeded to tell them that even though their outward actions may look like they are trying to honor God their heart is so far away. They want others to look at them and see how good they are, see how much they sacrifice for God, see how well they can follow their own laws, but in reality it all came down to pride.

The pharisees fell into a trap of trying to be good enough to earn their way into heaven. They tried to fill the emptiness by doing good things, and following the law. And we see people fall into this trap all the time. You hear people respond well Ive been a good person. Or i try to help others.

The pharisees tried their best to be perfect, and yet even as hard as we try to do the right thing we can never be perfect. We have all fallen short as the Bible says in Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

See the Pharisees lives look good on the outside but inside they were lacking

Matthew 23:27 NIV

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.

And the same thing can happen to us if we arent careful.

Colossians 2:8 NIV

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

The Take away

So what can we learn from this. The pharisees were too concerned with the traditions of their day to follow what Jesus actually said.

It can be very easy to get caught up in the same thing. Now our traditions may look different. But it can be easy to say well I go to church every week. I pray before every meal, I read my Bible before bed. All those things are good, but none of them will save us. The pharisees were focusing on all of the things they did and not on Jesus to save them.

You see they were so focused on themselves they even paid to have Jesus arrested and charged, and eventually killed on the cross. All because they got too focused on themselves instead of focusing on Jesus.

You see we were created to have a relationship with Jesus and if we try to fill that with anything else we will come up short. So what are you trying to fill your life with? Are you finding your fulfilment in Christ, or are you trying to be good enough or chasing something else entirely. It is only in Christ that we can find our true fulfillment.