WEBVTT 00:00:00.650 --> 00:00:03.169 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:03.270 --> 00:00:06.209 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:06.870 --> 00:00:08.750 It's our hope that these sermons will draw you 00:00:08.750 --> 00:00:11.169 more into the life of following God, Father, 00:00:11.310 --> 00:00:14.150 Son and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming and 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:16.469 joining with us each Sunday morning at 10am in 00:00:16.469 --> 00:00:18.809 the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find 00:00:18.809 --> 00:00:22.329 us online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:22.629 --> 00:00:25.030 Instagram and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:25.030 --> 00:00:36.079 sermon. God Bless. Lord, you tell us that what 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:43.700 you desire is not sacrifices, but a clean heart, 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:49.799 a pure heart. Lord, now with the words of my 00:00:49.799 --> 00:00:53.399 mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing 00:00:53.399 --> 00:00:59.939 to you. Lord, our rock and our Redeemer. All 00:00:59.939 --> 00:01:04.799 right, a few years back, Business Insider published 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:07.739 a little article titled, The 10 Most Critical 00:01:07.739 --> 00:01:09.840 Problems in the World According to Millennials. 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:14.659 Here they are. Lack of economic opportunity, 00:01:15.879 --> 00:01:20.019 safety and security, lack of education, food 00:01:20.019 --> 00:01:22.700 and water security, government accountability, 00:01:22.980 --> 00:01:27.670 religious conflicts, poverty, inequality. war, 00:01:28.109 --> 00:01:32.930 and then the number one was climate change. Now, 00:01:32.989 --> 00:01:38.909 here is the truth. I'm a millennial. Some of 00:01:38.909 --> 00:01:43.969 you are Gen Z. Some of you are Gen Xers. Some 00:01:43.969 --> 00:01:46.010 of you are boomers. And you could make your own 00:01:46.010 --> 00:01:48.170 list, right? You probably have a different list. 00:01:49.049 --> 00:01:50.849 If you're a Republican, you might have a different 00:01:50.849 --> 00:01:54.310 list than if you're a Democrat. And as a friend 00:01:54.310 --> 00:01:57.829 of mine said, If you're JZ, you'd say 10 is way 00:01:57.829 --> 00:02:04.670 too few because he's got 99 of them, right? And 00:02:04.670 --> 00:02:07.510 of course we have problems. We have lots of problems. 00:02:07.870 --> 00:02:10.270 We have all kinds of problems. Lack of economic 00:02:10.270 --> 00:02:13.229 opportunity is a problem that many people face. 00:02:14.069 --> 00:02:18.550 We have real reasons to wonder at ways that the 00:02:18.550 --> 00:02:23.270 government fails us, right? Or hides behind their 00:02:23.270 --> 00:02:28.879 power. That's a real thing. But what's interesting 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:32.319 about most of these problems, what's interesting 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:34.560 about most of the problems is that they pretty 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:38.340 much consistently say the problem is out there. 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:45.139 It's out there. The problem is capitalism. The 00:02:45.139 --> 00:02:48.460 problem is Republicans or religious folk is the 00:02:48.460 --> 00:02:50.680 problem. It's out there. The problem's out there. 00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:53.340 And since it's out there, we can be off the hook. 00:02:56.170 --> 00:02:59.150 Or maybe more in line with the words of this 00:02:59.150 --> 00:03:00.930 passage. It's the problems out there. We can 00:03:00.930 --> 00:03:05.789 wash our hands clean And Jesus says something 00:03:05.789 --> 00:03:08.789 pretty different to us This is interesting both 00:03:08.789 --> 00:03:12.490 the Pharisees and the scribes and Jesus all say 00:03:12.490 --> 00:03:14.909 that there's a defilement problem, right? They're 00:03:14.909 --> 00:03:18.229 all actually in agreement. We got problems There's 00:03:18.229 --> 00:03:20.550 this defilement problem. That's the big word 00:03:20.550 --> 00:03:23.090 that keeps keeps going through the passage or 00:03:23.090 --> 00:03:26.740 it's certainly the beginning at the Or you can 00:03:26.740 --> 00:03:28.439 sort of inverse it. You can say we have a purity 00:03:28.439 --> 00:03:32.300 problem. We have a problem with who's clean And 00:03:32.300 --> 00:03:34.860 who is not and I kind of want us to walk through 00:03:34.860 --> 00:03:40.319 with this word Defile right Defilement and I 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:44.080 want us to consider Defiled hands defiled relationships 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:46.379 and defiled hearts. Okay, so three points like 00:03:46.379 --> 00:03:49.439 a good Presbyterian Which you know, sometimes 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:51.199 I diverge from and I'm like, why do I diverge 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:53.219 from just the good old three -point sermon? So 00:03:53.219 --> 00:03:57.449 I'm back So look with me down at verses one, 00:03:57.449 --> 00:03:59.189 two, and then I wanna jump down to verse five, 00:03:59.669 --> 00:04:02.069 okay? One, two, and five, Mark chapter seven. 00:04:02.270 --> 00:04:04.830 Now, when the Pharisees gathered to him, that's 00:04:04.830 --> 00:04:07.530 Jesus, with some of the scribes who'd come up 00:04:07.530 --> 00:04:10.330 from Jerusalem, by the way, this is kind of hearkening 00:04:10.330 --> 00:04:12.490 back actually before chapter four, there was 00:04:12.490 --> 00:04:13.810 already a little bit of conflict and we're supposed 00:04:13.810 --> 00:04:15.789 to assume that now the conflict has returned. 00:04:16.970 --> 00:04:19.449 They saw that some of his disciples ate with 00:04:19.449 --> 00:04:25.069 hands that were defiled. That is unwashed. Verse 00:04:25.069 --> 00:04:28.920 five. And the Pharisees and the scribes asked 00:04:28.920 --> 00:04:32.279 him, why do your disciples not walk according 00:04:32.279 --> 00:04:34.160 to the tradition of the elders, but eat with 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:41.759 defiled hands? So they've put Jesus and his disciples 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:44.019 in the dock and they're doing this for their 00:04:44.019 --> 00:04:48.160 credentials, right? Are you really in? Are you 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:50.399 something that someone that's worth listening 00:04:50.399 --> 00:04:52.040 to? Are you a spiritual authority that we can 00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:57.310 maybe trust? Or are you part of the problem? 00:04:58.389 --> 00:04:59.709 Are you part of the end crew or are you part 00:04:59.709 --> 00:05:03.430 of the problem? You see, here's something you 00:05:03.430 --> 00:05:05.610 have to keep in mind, right? The Pharisees and 00:05:05.610 --> 00:05:08.649 the scribes, they knew their Bibles. They knew 00:05:08.649 --> 00:05:11.370 the law of God. They knew that to be close to 00:05:11.370 --> 00:05:13.189 God in terms of the temple and the tabernacle, 00:05:13.230 --> 00:05:15.029 there were certain instructions and key to those 00:05:15.029 --> 00:05:18.189 instructions you can find in Exodus 30 or Leviticus 00:05:18.189 --> 00:05:21.410 8 was washing. So when the priests were to offer 00:05:21.410 --> 00:05:25.149 the sacrifice, there was the great... this bronze 00:05:25.149 --> 00:05:27.410 basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, 00:05:27.910 --> 00:05:30.209 and Aaron and Levites were supposed to wash when 00:05:30.209 --> 00:05:34.069 they were doing this, supposed to be clean, symbolic 00:05:34.069 --> 00:05:36.889 cleanliness as they approached God, that you 00:05:36.889 --> 00:05:39.170 need to be ceremonial clean to get close to God. 00:05:39.949 --> 00:05:42.290 There was supposed to be this external act that 00:05:42.290 --> 00:05:45.689 actually reflected this internal reality, but 00:05:45.689 --> 00:05:48.129 people said, hey, to be clean, to be close to 00:05:48.129 --> 00:05:51.660 God, you gotta get clean. Actually, Mark gives 00:05:51.660 --> 00:05:53.660 us this parenthetical comment right in verses 00:05:53.660 --> 00:05:56.540 three and four. You probably heard that earlier. 00:05:56.800 --> 00:05:59.879 So let me read it again. So verses three, for 00:05:59.879 --> 00:06:02.180 the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless 00:06:02.180 --> 00:06:04.459 they wash their hands properly, holding to the 00:06:04.459 --> 00:06:06.939 traditions of the elders. And when they come 00:06:06.939 --> 00:06:08.860 from the marketplace, they do not eat unless 00:06:08.860 --> 00:06:11.500 they wash. And there are many other traditions 00:06:11.500 --> 00:06:13.220 that they observe, such as the washing of cups 00:06:13.220 --> 00:06:16.959 and pots and copper vessels and dining couches. 00:06:19.300 --> 00:06:21.379 So here's what they did right they said, okay 00:06:21.379 --> 00:06:23.639 if the priests are supposed to do this just do 00:06:23.639 --> 00:06:27.300 this washing when they offer the sacrifices Well, 00:06:27.300 --> 00:06:29.199 if you're gonna be really religious, let's take 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:32.240 that and just apply it all over the place Let's 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:36.800 make everything pure and clean If you want to 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:39.920 show that you're a real bona fide Religious person 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:43.019 somebody that's taken seriously do your washing 00:06:43.019 --> 00:06:51.860 now I can't Aren't we all kind of like Washing's 00:06:51.860 --> 00:06:56.600 normally a pretty good idea. I mean, wash your 00:06:56.600 --> 00:06:59.379 head. That's a pretty helpful thing to do. It's 00:06:59.379 --> 00:07:01.519 been, you know, sicknesses have been going around. 00:07:01.540 --> 00:07:03.759 In our house, you can regularly hear me or Malise 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:05.860 saying things like, hey y 'all, wash your hands. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:08.240 When you're at school, you know, would you get 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:09.740 there and wash your hands after you eat? Would 00:07:09.740 --> 00:07:11.459 you wash your hands? Because there's all this 00:07:11.459 --> 00:07:14.060 illness going around. And so for the most part, 00:07:14.139 --> 00:07:17.110 we read this and we're like, Yeah, I don't know 00:07:17.110 --> 00:07:19.269 about the dining couches, but the rest make some 00:07:19.269 --> 00:07:22.829 sense, right? But here's what they're doing, 00:07:22.910 --> 00:07:24.290 right? They're taking this good practice and 00:07:24.290 --> 00:07:26.110 they're extrapolating out and by extrapolating 00:07:26.110 --> 00:07:27.990 out, they're saying, I can tell you who's clean 00:07:27.990 --> 00:07:31.230 and who's not, who's defiled, who's worth sort 00:07:31.230 --> 00:07:33.629 of giving some credibility to and who's not, 00:07:34.009 --> 00:07:38.670 who's in, who's out. Maybe it's like this. So 00:07:38.670 --> 00:07:41.370 I watched this a little bit earlier this week 00:07:41.370 --> 00:07:45.449 by Chris Fleming, the comedian. And he is talking 00:07:45.449 --> 00:07:50.370 about how he kind of, well, he begins it by saying 00:07:50.370 --> 00:07:56.110 that cheddar is really having its time and you 00:07:56.110 --> 00:07:59.110 can kind of assess a grocery store by its cheddar 00:07:59.110 --> 00:08:02.569 selection. So he says, he goes into the grocery 00:08:02.569 --> 00:08:04.129 store and he immediately goes over the cheddar 00:08:04.129 --> 00:08:09.149 and he goes, regular cheddar? Okay, mild cheddar? 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:14.980 oh all right sharp cheddar let's go okay extra 00:08:14.980 --> 00:08:20.399 sharp cheddar yes totally sharp cheddar okay 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:23.360 and then he says which y 'all might not get because 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:25.439 we're on the east coast but being from washington 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:28.019 and having gone to the tillamook creamery many 00:08:28.019 --> 00:08:30.819 times in tillamook oregon he ends this little 00:08:30.819 --> 00:08:34.799 bit by saying give me that tillamook psycho But 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:37.679 he's saying that you prove your like bonafide 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:40.080 existence as a grocery store by how far you take 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:42.700 it, right? And that's partly what they're doing 00:08:42.700 --> 00:08:44.539 is saying if you just do all this stuff, then 00:08:44.539 --> 00:08:47.759 you'll have a level of credibility. Well, we'll 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:52.080 listen to you. The Pharisees wanted to keep the 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:54.740 cleaning party going, keeping everything clean, 00:08:56.240 --> 00:09:00.100 including those dining couches. And of course, 00:09:00.139 --> 00:09:02.940 what it means that if that you are defiled, if 00:09:02.940 --> 00:09:07.730 you don't do it. You don't do it. It's not hard 00:09:07.730 --> 00:09:09.509 to see, of course, how we do this. It's the sort 00:09:09.509 --> 00:09:12.029 of age -old inner ring that C .S. Lewis wrote 00:09:12.029 --> 00:09:15.149 about long ago. How do we show that we're the 00:09:15.149 --> 00:09:20.809 in ones? How do we show we aren't defiled? How 00:09:20.809 --> 00:09:23.230 do we show that we can be taken seriously? Of 00:09:23.230 --> 00:09:25.909 course, we wear the right clothes. We post the 00:09:25.909 --> 00:09:27.909 right things on social media. We show that we 00:09:27.909 --> 00:09:31.590 get mad at the right causes, right? We have the 00:09:31.590 --> 00:09:34.120 right list of problems in the world. and we let 00:09:34.120 --> 00:09:39.879 people know about it. Okay, here, I hope you 00:09:39.879 --> 00:09:42.700 kind of get this. One thing that's important 00:09:42.700 --> 00:09:49.080 to say is that there was a motive that the Pharisees 00:09:49.080 --> 00:09:51.500 had that's actually kind of a good motive. There's 00:09:51.500 --> 00:09:53.559 something there that the Pharisees are doing 00:09:53.559 --> 00:09:56.220 that in some ways is good. They have a sense 00:09:56.220 --> 00:10:00.669 of their uncleanliness in a way. I mean, they're 00:10:00.669 --> 00:10:02.190 saying, okay, everything that needs to get clean 00:10:02.190 --> 00:10:03.970 because we want to be close to God. And so we're 00:10:03.970 --> 00:10:06.309 going to, you know, they have a sense of needing 00:10:06.309 --> 00:10:09.490 to be clean, that they were defiled in a way, 00:10:10.049 --> 00:10:14.750 but they wanted to control whether or not they 00:10:14.750 --> 00:10:17.509 were clean or not. So they had to wash everything 00:10:17.509 --> 00:10:19.470 and make sure everybody else washed everything. 00:10:21.590 --> 00:10:23.250 And it's important to understand that on some 00:10:23.250 --> 00:10:26.090 level, there's a good motive, cleanliness and 00:10:26.090 --> 00:10:30.750 relating to God and being close to him. And I 00:10:30.750 --> 00:10:32.649 would say a lot of the ways that we wanna protect 00:10:32.649 --> 00:10:35.909 sort of social cleanliness has a lot of good 00:10:35.909 --> 00:10:39.649 motives. So for example, we have a real sense 00:10:39.649 --> 00:10:42.750 of the need to care for the environment. That's 00:10:42.750 --> 00:10:46.350 a good thing, right? And we debate things like 00:10:46.350 --> 00:10:49.309 economic policies and structures because they 00:10:49.309 --> 00:10:54.440 affect real people in the world. We wear certain 00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:57.019 clothes because we actually desire to belong 00:10:57.019 --> 00:10:58.940 to a certain community and relationships are 00:10:58.940 --> 00:11:02.360 good, right? Like you got to find your people 00:11:02.360 --> 00:11:05.320 as Drew Holcomb says and that's a good thing 00:11:05.320 --> 00:11:09.340 We know that the wrong of the world does need 00:11:09.340 --> 00:11:11.039 to be spotlighted and people do need to know 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:12.980 about it, right? We do need to highlight those 00:11:12.980 --> 00:11:16.259 things which are actually harmful for the world 00:11:16.259 --> 00:11:19.840 Which is to say that on some level the Pharisees 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:21.980 knew there's this defiling thing that's happening 00:11:22.409 --> 00:11:25.590 They knew that something needed to be cleaned, 00:11:27.049 --> 00:11:29.429 something needed to be done about it. And they 00:11:29.429 --> 00:11:33.250 even took their cues of this from God, right? 00:11:33.769 --> 00:11:35.429 The beginning of it actually comes from what 00:11:35.429 --> 00:11:43.950 God commanded. The problem though, the problem 00:11:43.950 --> 00:11:46.610 is that they thought that if they just washed 00:11:46.610 --> 00:11:51.070 enough, if they just did it enough, they could 00:11:51.070 --> 00:11:55.860 manage it. and it could all be fine. They could 00:11:55.860 --> 00:11:59.240 control the problem. They had defiled hands, 00:11:59.240 --> 00:12:01.620 but what they could do is wash enough that it 00:12:01.620 --> 00:12:03.799 could all be clean and tell everybody else to 00:12:03.799 --> 00:12:09.039 do it too. So Jesus then goes on, of course, 00:12:09.059 --> 00:12:10.519 to point out that there's a real problem with 00:12:10.519 --> 00:12:13.720 this, and he points it out by saying this action 00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:16.559 of just sort of how you treat these defiled hands 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:18.799 actually shows that you've got defiled relationships, 00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:20.700 okay? So that's the second point, defiled relationships. 00:12:21.259 --> 00:12:24.879 And first, Jesus calls them hypocrites, right? 00:12:25.080 --> 00:12:28.919 This is how it begins. Verse six, well did Isaiah 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:33.059 prophesy of you hypocrites. Hypocrites is the 00:12:33.059 --> 00:12:40.830 word for actor, putting on a show. And this acting 00:12:40.830 --> 00:12:43.289 defiles the relationships that they have. It 00:12:43.289 --> 00:12:44.909 defiles their relationship with God and it defiles 00:12:44.909 --> 00:12:47.330 their relationship with others because they are 00:12:47.330 --> 00:12:49.850 intrinsically connected. So first, they defiles 00:12:49.850 --> 00:12:52.070 their relationship with God, again, verses six 00:12:52.070 --> 00:12:56.269 and then reading seven. So, well did Isaiah prophesy 00:12:56.269 --> 00:12:59.529 of you hypocrites as it was written, this people 00:12:59.529 --> 00:13:03.129 honors me with their lips, but their hearts far 00:13:03.129 --> 00:13:07.450 from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching 00:13:07.450 --> 00:13:11.110 us doctrines the commandments of men." And he 00:13:11.110 --> 00:13:12.690 says in verse eight, you leave the commandments 00:13:12.690 --> 00:13:16.409 of God and hold to the tradition of men. So here's 00:13:16.409 --> 00:13:18.230 what's happening. As long as they thought they 00:13:18.230 --> 00:13:20.750 could be clean by simply what they are doing, 00:13:20.990 --> 00:13:24.330 all this washing, but what they do, they're actually 00:13:24.330 --> 00:13:26.769 defiling their relationship with God. They honor 00:13:26.769 --> 00:13:28.830 me with their lips, but their hearts are far 00:13:28.830 --> 00:13:32.309 from me in vain. Do they worship me? And of course, 00:13:32.330 --> 00:13:35.860 why would this be the case? Why, if they're taking 00:13:35.860 --> 00:13:39.480 something good like this cleaning and extrapolating 00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:47.179 it out? Because they are controlling God. Right? 00:13:47.220 --> 00:13:50.500 If I can do all this, then I get to be with you. 00:13:52.100 --> 00:13:53.879 It's an outward kind of thing that says, if I 00:13:53.879 --> 00:13:56.179 just do this, then you've got to see that I'm 00:13:56.179 --> 00:13:58.840 clean. I can clean everything, even the dining 00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:05.240 couches. It's all clean, God. And I come. And 00:14:05.240 --> 00:14:07.059 of course, when they do this, they naturally 00:14:07.059 --> 00:14:08.779 defile their relationships with others because 00:14:08.779 --> 00:14:10.740 they learn that they think deep down if they 00:14:10.740 --> 00:14:12.480 can control God, of course they can control other 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:19.639 people. Or if I'm on the right side of justice 00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:22.639 and you are not, then it probably really doesn't 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:25.100 matter too much what I say about you or how I 00:14:25.100 --> 00:14:30.480 treat you. So here's what happens. Jesus gives 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:32.480 this sort of ultimate example of relationships. 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:35.539 He talks about this idea of devotion to God and 00:14:35.539 --> 00:14:37.799 controlling God in relation to one of the key 00:14:37.799 --> 00:14:40.059 relationships, which is how you honor your father 00:14:40.059 --> 00:14:41.539 and mother, which you'll remember is the fifth 00:14:41.539 --> 00:14:43.080 commandment and the commandment with a promise. 00:14:43.940 --> 00:14:45.659 But what happens is that they say, you know what, 00:14:45.659 --> 00:14:47.879 you're relating with me with this idea of Corbin, 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:51.240 which is dedicating your life to God, to such 00:14:51.240 --> 00:14:53.960 an extent that you're actually harming your parents, 00:14:54.100 --> 00:14:56.820 even your aging parents in their time of need, 00:14:57.159 --> 00:14:59.399 which is to say you've dedicated your money to 00:14:59.399 --> 00:15:02.100 the church building campaign and now your parents, 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:04.940 are in need in their old age. You don't have 00:15:04.940 --> 00:15:07.159 funds to care for them. You're like, well, I've 00:15:07.159 --> 00:15:09.379 given it to God. I'm this relationship with God 00:15:09.379 --> 00:15:12.840 is I'm controlling this. And so now I'm controlling 00:15:12.840 --> 00:15:14.799 that and I'm actually harming that. So it's a 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:17.080 defiled God relationship and it's a defiled human 00:15:17.080 --> 00:15:22.159 relationship. Or how about this? You say, I know 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:24.460 that Jesus says, love your enemies, do good to 00:15:24.460 --> 00:15:26.820 those who hate you, bless those who curse you, 00:15:26.980 --> 00:15:31.009 pray for those who mistreat you. But this person 00:15:31.009 --> 00:15:33.389 I'm talking about is part of the problem. They 00:15:33.389 --> 00:15:40.210 are a part of that list of 10 problems. They're 00:15:40.210 --> 00:15:42.350 the reason the city keeps closing down restaurants. 00:15:43.330 --> 00:15:45.730 They're the reason that we have such deep climate 00:15:45.730 --> 00:15:47.950 concern. They are the reason for the economic 00:15:47.950 --> 00:15:50.830 inequality and the job insecurity. So whatever 00:15:50.830 --> 00:15:55.830 language is warranted, God, I'm doing something 00:15:55.830 --> 00:16:02.799 good here. I'm in. And so it defiles, not just 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:04.159 our relationship with God, it defiles our relationship 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:06.860 with others. The problem is out there is what's 00:16:06.860 --> 00:16:10.379 happening. The problem is the Democratic House 00:16:10.379 --> 00:16:13.720 representatives here in Pennsylvania, the mayor, 00:16:13.980 --> 00:16:17.019 the White House. The problem is my out of touch 00:16:17.019 --> 00:16:20.139 parents who didn't save enough or whatever. It's 00:16:20.139 --> 00:16:24.730 just out there. And Jesus says that as long as 00:16:24.730 --> 00:16:26.070 you think this way, as long as you just think 00:16:26.070 --> 00:16:28.210 that if I just clean my hands and I clean everything 00:16:28.210 --> 00:16:33.330 else about me, then you are an actor. You're 00:16:33.330 --> 00:16:37.529 a hypocrite. And it actually creates harm in 00:16:37.529 --> 00:16:41.570 all of your relationships. Okay, so I feel like 00:16:41.570 --> 00:16:44.370 I should acknowledge that I have this little 00:16:44.370 --> 00:16:46.830 mustache thing because I don't normally have 00:16:46.830 --> 00:16:49.889 it. And I know some of you are like, is that 00:16:49.889 --> 00:16:56.350 fuzz? What did he clean? So I'll explain. Last 00:16:56.350 --> 00:16:59.669 night was the sixth grade union ball for my daughter 00:16:59.669 --> 00:17:01.570 Lily's class. And it was down in the Capitol 00:17:01.570 --> 00:17:03.350 building. It was absolutely lovely. It was really 00:17:03.350 --> 00:17:07.430 a wonderful time. The ladies and the girls got 00:17:07.430 --> 00:17:09.690 dressed up in these beautiful ball gowns. And 00:17:09.690 --> 00:17:12.650 we were supposed to dress kind of period -like. 00:17:13.390 --> 00:17:16.250 So 1860s, which is the same decade that our church 00:17:16.250 --> 00:17:22.799 here was started. And so, Melissa. got this outfit 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:25.299 from some other parent of like the seventh grade 00:17:25.299 --> 00:17:27.160 class or eighth grade class, I don't remember. 00:17:27.500 --> 00:17:30.160 She told me, I forgot. And I looked at it and 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:34.359 I was like, I don't like this. I just had like 00:17:34.359 --> 00:17:36.640 a vest and suspenders and some stripy pants and 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:38.460 some funny tie stuff. So I was like, I think 00:17:38.460 --> 00:17:41.119 I, I'll just wear something that I like, right? 00:17:41.140 --> 00:17:44.279 So I just put on my own clothes. But I was like, 00:17:44.380 --> 00:17:46.880 I don't think I'm gonna, I don't think I'm gonna 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:48.720 fit in very well with just my own clothes. I 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:51.660 need to like try to look the part. And I hadn't 00:17:51.660 --> 00:17:52.960 shaved in a while, and I was like, well, I guess 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:57.940 I can leave a mustache. And truly on some level, 00:17:58.119 --> 00:17:59.640 I'm telling you, truly on some level, I wanted 00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:02.200 to control other people's perception of me. I 00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:04.680 still fit in. I didn't wear the outfit, but can 00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:08.200 I still be a part? Which is a very mundane example 00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:10.140 of something that we all know is actually much 00:18:10.140 --> 00:18:12.019 bigger dynamic in the world, right? Who's in 00:18:12.019 --> 00:18:17.640 it? Who's out? Let me tell you a story from my 00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:21.009 good friend, Sean Slate. He used to lead RUF 00:18:21.009 --> 00:18:22.809 with me in Virginia. He was at UVA when I was 00:18:22.809 --> 00:18:27.170 at VCU. He was talking about going to his local 00:18:27.170 --> 00:18:31.250 Kroger, which is like giant down in Knoxville. 00:18:31.329 --> 00:18:34.109 He was doing the shopping and he was walking 00:18:34.109 --> 00:18:35.829 into the Kroger and he was following us. He says 00:18:35.829 --> 00:18:40.910 this young, hip, cool looking, dressed young 00:18:40.910 --> 00:18:43.269 man. And he was like, oh man, we would be friends 00:18:43.269 --> 00:18:45.329 because I like to think of myself as young and 00:18:45.329 --> 00:18:50.309 hip and cool. And Sean is as bald as I am. And 00:18:50.309 --> 00:18:52.450 he's walking in there. And as they're walking 00:18:52.450 --> 00:18:55.930 in, kind of like out walks this older man with 00:18:55.930 --> 00:18:59.309 this bright red MAGA hat. And as they pass by, 00:18:59.390 --> 00:19:01.890 the young man says to the older man, why don't 00:19:01.890 --> 00:19:05.769 you just go home, you racist? And as soon as 00:19:05.769 --> 00:19:10.849 that was said, the older man turns on him and 00:19:10.849 --> 00:19:13.009 gets right in his face. And as Sean says, said 00:19:13.009 --> 00:19:14.710 a lot of things that are not appropriate to say. 00:19:16.230 --> 00:19:18.190 And they turned on one another and just had a 00:19:18.190 --> 00:19:23.589 yelling match. And of course, you can imagine 00:19:23.589 --> 00:19:26.509 this happening. This is not a foreign thing for 00:19:26.509 --> 00:19:30.710 us. But it does not mean that it is not a sad 00:19:30.710 --> 00:19:33.130 thing, because this is the people we've often 00:19:33.130 --> 00:19:37.950 become. But here's the other thing. Both of them 00:19:37.950 --> 00:19:42.130 felt clean in doing it, didn't they? Didn't they? 00:19:42.869 --> 00:19:46.420 They did. This is part of my cleanliness. I'm 00:19:46.420 --> 00:19:49.880 making the world right. And what we do is we 00:19:49.880 --> 00:19:53.000 actually live not in the way of love, but in 00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:55.920 the way of hate. Our relationships are defiled 00:19:55.920 --> 00:19:58.160 with this kind of action that says, as long as 00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:01.599 I get stuff right, I can look out in the world 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:04.900 and say the wrong is all out there. It's all 00:20:04.900 --> 00:20:11.470 out there. Which is why, This passage is not 00:20:11.470 --> 00:20:13.369 just talking about defiled hands and defiled 00:20:13.369 --> 00:20:18.670 relationships, but defiled hearts, right? So 00:20:18.670 --> 00:20:24.009 Jesus in verse 14, yeah, it says, he called the 00:20:24.009 --> 00:20:27.130 people to him again, right? So he's kind of in 00:20:27.130 --> 00:20:28.789 this dialogue with this crowd, right? That's 00:20:28.789 --> 00:20:31.650 where he had been. And he's talking to the scribes 00:20:31.650 --> 00:20:33.089 and the Pharisees, but he's like, you know what? 00:20:33.109 --> 00:20:35.069 This isn't an issue just for the scribes and 00:20:35.069 --> 00:20:38.750 Pharisees. This is a human issue. Everybody's 00:20:38.750 --> 00:20:43.519 got to hear me. Which is to say this is not just 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:46.799 a problem for the scribes and Pharisees or Eugen 00:20:46.799 --> 00:20:53.660 Xers or us millennials, right? Or Eugen Z, right? 00:20:55.019 --> 00:20:57.660 It's not a Republican and get Democratic problem. 00:20:57.700 --> 00:20:59.579 It is not as much as you may want to believe 00:20:59.579 --> 00:21:03.819 that it's not. It's a people problem. Which is 00:21:03.819 --> 00:21:06.059 why I think this is actually what Jesus says. 00:21:06.500 --> 00:21:13.650 Hear me, all of you. Hear me all of you and understand 00:21:13.650 --> 00:21:16.049 there is nothing outside a person that by going 00:21:16.049 --> 00:21:18.549 into him can defile him But the thing that comes 00:21:18.549 --> 00:21:25.750 out of a person are what defiles him Then we 00:21:25.750 --> 00:21:27.930 learn what he what he does next actually his 00:21:27.930 --> 00:21:31.029 disciples he gathers his disciples to him and 00:21:31.029 --> 00:21:34.690 it seems as though they're still confused Which 00:21:34.690 --> 00:21:36.509 happens a lot in the Bible the disciples are 00:21:36.509 --> 00:21:39.549 still confused which is why church folk, we still 00:21:39.549 --> 00:21:41.089 need to hear this again and again and again, 00:21:41.309 --> 00:21:46.430 right? And he says to them, then are you also 00:21:46.430 --> 00:21:49.869 without understanding? Do you not see that whatever 00:21:49.869 --> 00:21:51.710 goes into a person from outside cannot defile 00:21:51.710 --> 00:21:54.130 him since it enters his heart, but it enters 00:21:54.130 --> 00:21:56.130 not his heart, but his stomach and is expelled. 00:21:57.109 --> 00:21:59.930 By the way, Jesus actually says it goes into 00:21:59.930 --> 00:22:02.630 the latrine, but our Bible translators are a 00:22:02.630 --> 00:22:05.549 little like, we don't know if people should know 00:22:05.549 --> 00:22:16.900 that Jesus said that. All this is to say is that 00:22:16.900 --> 00:22:19.039 the problem is not just that we have defiled 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:22.940 hands and we can just get our life in order, 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:26.119 which leads to defiled relationships if we have 00:22:26.119 --> 00:22:28.319 that approach. What Jesus is saying is that you've 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:34.599 got defiled hearts. You need a clean heart. You 00:22:34.599 --> 00:22:38.839 need a clean heart. And I know maybe some of 00:22:38.839 --> 00:22:41.640 you are thinking, and I think somewhat understandably, 00:22:43.440 --> 00:22:45.759 no way, we've got all kinds of external problems. 00:22:47.579 --> 00:22:49.859 We've got all kinds of external problems, systemic 00:22:49.859 --> 00:22:52.700 racism, systemic injustice, policies that do 00:22:52.700 --> 00:22:55.599 not encourage fatherly accountability in families, 00:22:56.839 --> 00:22:59.019 political systems that hide sexual predators 00:22:59.019 --> 00:23:05.210 under power and all the rest. And Jesus actually 00:23:05.210 --> 00:23:07.269 does sort of hint to these problems, doesn't 00:23:07.269 --> 00:23:15.630 he? Down in verse 21. He says, there's problems 00:23:15.630 --> 00:23:17.789 of sexual immorality. There are problems of theft. 00:23:18.190 --> 00:23:21.809 There are problems of murder and adultery. There 00:23:21.809 --> 00:23:24.109 are external dynamics that are at play, right? 00:23:24.369 --> 00:23:29.269 He does say that. But he says the problem is 00:23:29.269 --> 00:23:37.490 a defiled heart. That is at its root. Here's 00:23:37.490 --> 00:23:40.069 what he's saying. The problem out there in the 00:23:40.069 --> 00:23:46.069 world is that you're out there in the world and 00:23:46.069 --> 00:23:51.130 that I'm out there. I mean, who builds our systems? 00:23:53.710 --> 00:24:06.000 People with defiled hearts. As the illustrious 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:10.460 Selena Gomez says, the heart wants what it wants, 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:20.680 right? So out of the heart, Jesus says, from 00:24:20.680 --> 00:24:23.839 within, out of the heart of man comes evil thoughts, 00:24:24.140 --> 00:24:26.799 sexual morality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, 00:24:26.900 --> 00:24:29.420 wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, 00:24:29.579 --> 00:24:33.670 pride, foolishness. All these evil things come 00:24:33.670 --> 00:24:41.769 from within and they defile a person. And we 00:24:41.769 --> 00:24:45.109 are all inclined to just say, okay, let me just 00:24:45.109 --> 00:24:49.509 put everything in order. Or let me accept you 00:24:49.509 --> 00:24:51.509 if you have your things in order that fit within 00:24:51.509 --> 00:24:53.529 sort of my social construct of who I might give 00:24:53.529 --> 00:24:59.410 my attention to. He says, that is our inclination. 00:24:59.549 --> 00:25:03.900 It is our inclination. And it's worth asking 00:25:03.900 --> 00:25:06.759 ourselves, it's worth asking ourselves, what 00:25:06.759 --> 00:25:10.420 are we attempting to sort of clean up? Or how 00:25:10.420 --> 00:25:12.920 do we like dismiss somebody if they don't have 00:25:12.920 --> 00:25:18.539 this and this order? These words clean. These 00:25:18.539 --> 00:25:23.380 problems on their list, whatever. It's worth 00:25:23.380 --> 00:25:27.220 asking how you engage. with the externals of 00:25:27.220 --> 00:25:29.960 your life and how that might actually be a reflection 00:25:29.960 --> 00:25:31.720 of your relationship with God and with other 00:25:31.720 --> 00:25:34.380 people. What's it doing? What's how you're engaging 00:25:34.380 --> 00:25:36.400 with the external world influencing how you're 00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:41.420 engaging with God and with others? How are you 00:25:41.420 --> 00:25:43.079 inclined to think that the problem is just out 00:25:43.079 --> 00:25:48.819 there? But the other thing that this passage 00:25:48.819 --> 00:25:53.680 is doing, the other thing that this passage means 00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:57.680 for us is this great invitation to a new heart. 00:26:00.200 --> 00:26:02.460 And the scriptures talk about this all over. 00:26:03.779 --> 00:26:05.640 Our hearts of stone do not have to be hearts 00:26:05.640 --> 00:26:08.500 of stone. God transforms hearts of stone and 00:26:08.500 --> 00:26:12.220 makes them hearts of flesh. And he says he will 00:26:12.220 --> 00:26:15.779 give this to you as you come to him. As you come 00:26:15.779 --> 00:26:19.259 to him confessing, Lord, the problem with the 00:26:19.259 --> 00:26:23.240 world is that I'm in the world. Lord, give me 00:26:23.240 --> 00:26:34.660 a clean heart. Guard my judgmental ways. Almost 00:26:34.660 --> 00:26:38.960 every social sort of setting, every social group 00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:44.299 has a degree of what cleanliness is, right? If 00:26:44.299 --> 00:26:46.079 you do these certain things, if you do these 00:26:46.079 --> 00:26:48.579 sorts of acts, if you say these kinds of words, 00:26:49.059 --> 00:26:52.279 you're in a clean group. And when that happens, 00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:54.619 so often what we say is if you're not doing that, 00:26:56.200 --> 00:27:01.900 You're the problem, right? Say the right things 00:27:01.900 --> 00:27:03.900 and all the rest, wear the right clothes you 00:27:03.900 --> 00:27:08.039 can be in. And here's another truth. Is that 00:27:08.039 --> 00:27:10.400 virtually every other religion says that exact 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:20.019 same thing. Do this. Look like this. And you 00:27:20.019 --> 00:27:23.559 can come into the presence of God, but it is 00:27:23.559 --> 00:27:28.059 not what Christianity says. What Shandy says 00:27:28.059 --> 00:27:33.880 is you need a new heart. You need the pure one, 00:27:34.079 --> 00:27:38.579 the undefiled one, to come for you, the defiled 00:27:38.579 --> 00:27:43.140 ones. And he does that for you. And as you trust 00:27:43.140 --> 00:27:46.240 in him and as you rest in his work on your behalf, 00:27:47.160 --> 00:27:49.940 God changes your heart. And he changes your life 00:27:49.940 --> 00:27:51.220 with him or your relationship with him. And he 00:27:51.220 --> 00:27:52.980 begins to change your relationship with others. 00:27:55.019 --> 00:27:58.720 And this is on offer for you. As Christianity 00:27:58.720 --> 00:28:03.519 alone offers this, doesn't say, wash this and 00:28:03.519 --> 00:28:05.180 wash this and wash this and wash this and say 00:28:05.180 --> 00:28:07.460 these things and get this list of problems right. 00:28:07.500 --> 00:28:11.400 And then you can be in. Does the undefiled one, 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:15.039 Jesus himself comes among us and for us in our 00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:20.119 sin that we might be washed clean. So there's 00:28:20.119 --> 00:28:22.039 a lot of things we can think about in this passage. 00:28:22.900 --> 00:28:25.140 And I encourage you to do that. Think about those 00:28:25.140 --> 00:28:26.440 external things. What are the things that really 00:28:26.440 --> 00:28:28.920 get you mad? What are the ways you want to tell 00:28:28.920 --> 00:28:32.759 everybody else to get clean? Think about that. 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:36.859 But more than anything, more than anything, this 00:28:36.859 --> 00:28:40.579 morning, please ask Jesus to give you a new heart. 00:28:43.559 --> 00:28:46.680 To give you a heart of flesh that's receptive 00:28:46.680 --> 00:28:51.319 to Him. That grows in love for Him and necessarily 00:28:51.319 --> 00:28:56.900 grows in love even for your enemies. Lord does 00:28:56.900 --> 00:29:00.619 this he does Change his hearts and he can change 00:29:00.619 --> 00:29:04.900 yours and mine Let me pray for us Lord Thank 00:29:04.900 --> 00:29:14.059 you for your word God you know how inclined I 00:29:14.059 --> 00:29:20.380 am we are to live thinking that if we just get 00:29:20.380 --> 00:29:25.180 everything right we'll be able to live before 00:29:25.180 --> 00:29:29.279 you and that the problem is out there in the 00:29:29.279 --> 00:29:33.099 world and that can justify all kinds of things 00:29:33.099 --> 00:29:36.519 in our minds, how we speak to our spouses and 00:29:36.519 --> 00:29:39.740 our children and how we think about our neighbors. 00:29:41.940 --> 00:29:45.059 And God, we hear your commands to love our enemies 00:29:45.059 --> 00:29:49.400 and we think it just sounds so foreign in our 00:29:49.400 --> 00:29:54.319 world and so crazy. And yet we see it in you, 00:29:54.460 --> 00:29:57.480 Lord Jesus, the undefiled one who comes for us 00:29:57.480 --> 00:30:01.460 when we were still far off and enemies. Yet you 00:30:01.460 --> 00:30:04.640 love us and in loving us, you change us. And 00:30:04.640 --> 00:30:06.299 so God, I pray that you'd give us your heart 00:30:06.299 --> 00:30:13.180 this morning. God, remove our hearts of stone 00:30:13.180 --> 00:30:16.440 and give us a heart of flesh by the powerful 00:30:16.440 --> 00:30:25.970 work of your Holy Spirit. Please do this. Hear 00:30:25.970 --> 00:30:29.369 this prayer, we ask. Amen. Thank you for listening 00:30:29.369 --> 00:30:32.130 to Second City Sermon's podcast. We hope this 00:30:32.130 --> 00:30:34.130 sermon has encouraged you to worship God and 00:30:34.130 --> 00:30:36.970 to celebrate the gospel of Jesus. Please consider 00:30:36.970 --> 00:30:39.390 subscribing to this podcast and joining us in 00:30:39.390 --> 00:30:42.549 person each Sunday at 10 a .m. You can find us 00:30:42.549 --> 00:30:45.890 online at secondcitychurch .org and on Instagram, 00:30:46.009 --> 00:30:48.569 Facebook, and YouTube. Thanks again for listening. 00:30:48.910 --> 00:30:49.529 God bless.