1030am Sunday 8-16-2020

Thank you for all of those who are continuing to volunteer to sing praise to lead worship and additionally to provide their artwork for creativity and their scripture reading for all of us. Thank you for your blessing us today and everyday I invite you to join me in a reading of the Holy gospel. This is the only Gospel According to the gospel of Matthew the 15th chapter.

Then Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them listen understand it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles. Then the disciples approached. And said to Jesus, do you know the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said Jesus answered? Every plant that my heavenly father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind Guides of the Blind and if one blind person dies and other both will fall into a pit, but Peter said to Jesus explain this Parable to us. Then Jesus said are you still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and goes into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceed to the heart and this is what defiles? For out of the heart comes evil intentions murder adultery fornication theft false witness and slander. These are what to file a person but to eat what is with unwashed hands does not defile. Jesus left that place and he went away to the district of Tyre and sidon just sent a Canaanite woman. From that region came out and started shouting have mercy on me Lord, son of David. My daughter is tormented by a demon. But do you still don't answer her at all and his disciples came and urged him. Thanks. Send her away for she keeps shouting after us. Jesus answered I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel, but she came and she knelt before him saying Lord help me. He answered it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs. She said yes Lord yet, even the dogs eat at the crumb the crumbs that fall from the master's table. Then Jesus answered her woman great is your faith. Let it be done for you as you wish and her daughter was healed instantly the gospel of Our Lord. I invite you to be seated if you were standing.

Please pray with me.

Change be broken lives be healed In This Moment Christ be revealed in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit. Amen.

Before I get into it. I think I should address something in our scripture today. Something that many of you I'm sure picked up on. And probably a little shocked by.

She eat with unwashed hands does not defile. Jesus is not saying do not wash your hands washed your hands people wash your hands you want this to end watch your hands make sure that's very clear. But Jesus is talking not about a a physical defilement of a physical dirtiness of physical infection is talking on a spiritual one as I was reading our text today. I kept coming up with what does what does he mean by the file? What does that mean all this defiling in our texts today? What is Jesus trying to communicate I went to call the Interlinear Bible it what it is is it's the the Greek or the Hebrew Interlinear meaning it provides both the Hebrew and the Greek translation so that you can kind of see what the original language with the original authors were trying to communicate and it's important to do that because so often in English. We rock.the the Nuance of the of the complexities of some of the ancient biblical languages in this case Greek as we are reading out of the Gospel of Matthew koine Greek to be precise, if you know anything about me, you know, I hate Greek Greek is I always take Creek Greek is the crabgrass in the lawn of life it is. It's just messy and complicated and it's really hard to get rid of and here we are again. And so I decided to go to the Greek and the original Greek house. I mean, it's all over the place that you go word for word. It really is there just discombobulated sentences that make no sense when translated to English but as the translators in the commentators tend to do their able to take that and and make that into something that's intelligible. So just file hear the original Greek is that was the word they kept using in that place where we have the word to file is it's actually a phrase is commenting. That's what it said. is commenting so when our scripture says

that this is something that defiles what it's actually saying is It is it is commenting. It's making whatever you're doing common. regular normal And I kind of got my attention. The original word there in the Greek is Buenos k o i n o s and I means common that's what it means the Harlot common. meaning stripped of its sacredness stripped of its specialness The actual definition is describes the result of a person reducing what God calls special wholly unique set apart. To what is mundane? What is normal what's like everything else around us stripped of its sacredness? in the Jewish tradition the idea and concept of being defiled another word. Maybe be unclean or in pure was a very important Concept in the ancient world in the Jewish tradition. I'm becoming defiled unclean or impure was the result of you coming into contact with certain things. So often we think of Holiness as this set of moral precepts that we have to Aspire and go to at and there is definitely a concept of that there is definitely a an idea of that but at the heart of Holiness is the idea of uniqueness, which is why God in scripture hebrew-greek-english, whatever language you want to call. It. Is always referred to as this person thing entity deity who is wholly meaning set apart unique. I don't know of anybody else who calls the cosmos to come into existence. I don't know if anybody else is power who has the ability to do things that only God can do and so God is Holy. She is sacred. He is set of parts. He is unique. I'm at uniqueness in the Jewish tradition and in the Christian tradition and then all in fact religions that uniqueness is to be respected never trifled with when Moses is called by God in the book of Exodus from the burning bush in the bush catches fire, but it's not consumed and Moses turned aside to see what this bush is doing. He comes closer on the bush speak God speaks for the bushes says come no closer. Take off your sandals. You are on Holy Ground. You're in a unique moment Moses. You're in a Sacred Space. Take off your sandals Moses because you're coming into the presence of the one who made all things Moses your Shepherd. You probably did walk around step in and stuff. Don't bring that stuff. into this space you leave your sandals over there and you come only so close. Take off your shoes. You're in holy sacred unique space not because of what you've done but because of the presents that you're entering into.

That is the concept. holiness another great way to think about this would be imagine the sun right the sun in our solar system. We in our solar system have one. So it is unique in that. We only have one of them and the radius around the Sun is touched and illumined. And the closer you get to the Sun the hotter it gets and if you get too close you'll burn up not because the sun is evil or the son wishes you harm, but just because of the power and the nature of what the sun is. You can only get so close. Think of it in that way in the same way with God. It is this concept of defiling of Holiness of cleanliness and Purity on Purity that Jesus is disgusting today. Now in the Jewish Tradition at the time Jesus was having this debate with the Pharisees about what makes something unclean defiled what makes something in pure and retains that the sacredness the uniqueness the Holiness of something. What would I do that? What is that place to see the Pharisees as was the tradition of the law believe that when you come into contact with something

When you touch that thing if it is indeed decided and deemed as impure or unclean if it transfers to you. But there were five things within the Jewish tradition that were able to do that to make you defiled to make you unclean as a result of coming into contact with those things that were five things. The first was reproductive fluence. I'll let you fill in the blank. The second was having a skin disease. The third was touching mold or fungus has things that spread and Decay 4th was touching a dead body. And the final one was eating certain types of animals. The first four have a pretty unified concept about this idea that if you touch them you then become in pure unclean defiled.

All four of those things spot Ali fluids skin diseases mold and dead bodies. They refer to and Link directly to this idea of mortality and the loss of life. A more important concept and maybe I'm a broader concept that all of those would fit Under the Umbrella of would-be death. Big B, baby reveal I need the create death. So if you touch those things that impurity is transferred to you. That decay but defilement.

That commonality that Norm mundane thing transfers to you. And the reason is it in the Jewish tradition why you had to that go through a ritual purification was because to be in the presence of God.

To be in the presence of God was to be in the presence of life itself. The essence of all things so don't bring that stuff into this space into this relationship. That was the concept and so you had to wash your hands. If you issue did certain things if you went to war for example, you would have to do a cleansing process after the battle was done because you come into contact with blood and you come into contact with anger and rage and all the things that cause us to be defiled in the relationship to be unable to be in the presence of a of a sacred Lee unique God because we reduced ourselves at the definition of koinos gives us we've been stripped of our specialness. We reduce what God has given us in our specialness our uniqueness or Holiness to the mundane.

If you touch these things the Pharisees explained. Their impurity and their death is transferred to you.

But Jesus begins to change that. That concept of this this physical purification and he goes deeper much deeper beyond what you can see with your eyes Into the Heart. and he makes it very clear that what the files he was not what you touched or what you consume or what you're in proximity to what the file is what comes from your heart with strips off of our sacredness what strips off of our power with strips us of our Humanity the very thing that we are made for the image of God in Is only speak words from the heart that I meant to kill to destroy to maim to cause pain. These are the things Jesus says to his disciples. That caused us to lose.

And reduce ourselves away from the image. We were created in into the image of the world. May it not be so. Jesus goes from this place and its conflict with the Pharisees that they did not like. I mean disciples come to Jesus. Do you know that the Pharisees took offense at what they heard you say? Yeah. Yeah, I do. I set it for a reason but Jesus goes from their props rudely to the region of Tire inside. Maybe the kind of let things simmer down cuz Jesus if you drop too many truth bombs things are going to blow up. So Jesus goes from there. And he goes to the region of Tyre and sidon to let things back home subside before he comes back with a left hook. American crosses into a boundary into a new region and he enters in to this place where a Canaanite woman comes to him. a Canaanite woman someone who is by all accounts defiled unclean mundane in no way welcome in the presence of God.

And she begs Jesus she begs him for her child's sake to free the demon out of her to to exercise this sickness a spirit and mind and body out of her daughter. in Jesus's response is course I've only come to help the Sheep of Israel. She persists nevertheless she persisted. Does yes Lord, but even the dogs eat the scraps from the master's table?

And she kneels before him. she kneels In worship of him something that to this point. We haven't quite seen the disciples do She is able to see the Holiness and the uniqueness and the sacredness that Jesus is.

And in the presence of that she humbles herself. And she says Lord help me. the pleading of a mother for her child in humility and kindness and compassion.

and this Jesus sees he sees the uniqueness the sacredness of her face of her hope. And and her willingness to do whatever is to save her child and to this Jesus response.

And he heals her daughter.

It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles but what comes out of the mouth that defiles for from the heart. comes all of these mundane and deadly things the things that kill the spirit relationships. Hope futures. It is important that we recognize and that we hear our Lord speak to us today. the one who is unique and sacred in the hood himself speaks to us and reminds us that we too are sacred and holy and set apart for a purpose that we retain within us a power that has been gifted to us from a Creator who is himself the power of Grace manifest Among Us and where is most of the time when we in the Jewish tradition would touch something and an end the impurity of that thing would transfer to us when we touch Jesus Are impurity doesn't transfer to him his Purity. His sacredness is Grace. His forgiveness is hope his light is life transfers to that enough switches. And it brings about Resurrection.

It is not what goes into you that defiles. It is what comes out for from it. Tom is where the heart is. May your heart be in Christ. And in that may it be found within the life that truly is life. Let's prank. Gracious God we give you thanks today for the Holiness that you bring into our lives. For the sacredness that we get to experience the Holy Ground that we have the privilege to stand in front of him before.

Gabby asked you to guard our lips. And more importantly to transform our hearts to Chisel away the stone that is calcified around us. So that we may see the life that truly is life. David pray all of this and Trust in your grace and mercy on this and every day through Jesus Christ Our Savior and Lord.