Mark 7:1-23, We are called to be uniters and not dividers... September 2, 2018

This past Sunday I preached over the verses found in the Gospel of Mark 7:1-23, this proved to be the longest sermon that I've given here at Woodlawn to date. The sermon was a bit shy of 35 minutes in length and though I knew it was long, it certainly didn't seem like it was over a half hour in length.

Even though it was a long sermon, I received many, many compliments on the sermon. I was pleased that so many found value in these words and I was pleased that no one came to me complaining about the duration of the presentation.

I discussed the culture of 'works' that Jesus found himself contesting during his ministry.  That is the prominence of the importance of adherence to 'rules' and 'directives' rather than focusing upon the spirit of the commandments. Truly, this had to have been a point of aggravation to Jesus, but the main focus of the sermon had to do with the defilement that comes from what resides inside of us.

Of the things listed by Jesus, perhaps the worst of all is the word translated as "malice", "evil deeds", or as it is in the NRSV translated as "wickedness".  This is that thing that drives so many to stir up trouble and conflict.  There is far, far, far too much focus in our current world upon "drama", which is the result of this "malice", this desire to cause trouble for our neighbor and even sad to say for our own church.

Please take the time to listen to the sermon, it's long, but, again everyone seemed to enjoy the message.  I can only hope that perhaps you will as well...

Be a blessing to someone today!!! (and don't stir up trouble)

In Christ,
Roy

Mark 7:1-23 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

7 Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2 they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3 (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands,[a] thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4 and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it;[b] and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.[c]) 5 So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live[d] according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
    teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

8 You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”

9 Then he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban’ (that is, an offering to God[e])— 12 then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.”

14 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”[f]

17 When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 He said to them, “Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, 19 since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. 21 For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22 adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Footnotes:
a) Mark 7:3 Meaning of Gk uncertain
b) Mark 7:4 Other ancient authorities read and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they purify themselves
c) Mark 7:4 Other ancient authorities add and beds
d) Mark 7:5 Gk walk
e) Mark 7:11 Gk lacks to God
f) Mark 7:15 Other ancient authorities add verse 16, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen”