WEBVTT 00:00:03.879 --> 00:00:06.440 Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of 00:00:06.440 --> 00:00:09.779 Trinity Sermons. You may have heard it said, 00:00:09.939 --> 00:00:13.279 cleanliness is next to godliness. But did you 00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:16.879 know that that's not actually in the Bible? Obviously, 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:20.660 cleanliness is important, but is it really godly? 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:24.300 Does it matter whether we shower before we come 00:00:24.300 --> 00:00:27.500 to church? Rob is going to unpack for us where 00:00:27.500 --> 00:00:30.539 this phrase comes from and what the real spiritual 00:00:30.539 --> 00:00:38.119 truth is underneath it all. Today's reading is 00:00:38.119 --> 00:00:42.859 from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 7, verses 1 00:00:42.859 --> 00:00:51.579 through 8, and 14 through 23. The Pharisees and 00:00:51.579 --> 00:00:54.240 some of the teachers of the law who had come 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:58.079 from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:02.479 some of his disciples eating food with hands 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:08.420 that were defiled. that is, unwashed. The Pharisees 00:01:08.420 --> 00:01:11.840 and all the Jews do not eat unless they give 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:15.879 their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to 00:01:15.879 --> 00:01:20.120 the tradition of the elders. When they came from 00:01:20.120 --> 00:01:22.760 the marketplace, they do not eat unless they 00:01:22.760 --> 00:01:25.620 wash, and they observe many other traditions, 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:29.620 such as washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:34.359 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked 00:01:34.359 --> 00:01:39.040 Jesus, Why don't your disciples live according 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:42.319 to the tradition of the elders instead of eating 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:48.980 their food with defiled hands? He replied, Isaiah 00:01:48.980 --> 00:01:52.400 was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites, 00:01:52.599 --> 00:01:57.180 as it is written, These people honor me with 00:01:57.180 --> 00:02:00.680 their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 00:02:01.900 --> 00:02:05.739 They worship me in vain. Their teachings are 00:02:05.739 --> 00:02:10.039 merely human rules. You have let go of the commands 00:02:10.039 --> 00:02:14.340 of God and are holding on to human traditions. 00:02:16.659 --> 00:02:19.780 Again, Jesus called the crowd to him and said, 00:02:20.860 --> 00:02:25.259 Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 00:02:26.300 --> 00:02:30.599 Nothing outside a person can defile them. by 00:02:30.599 --> 00:02:35.800 going into them. Rather, it is what comes out 00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:40.639 of a person that defiles them. After he had left 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:44.280 the crowd and entered the house, his disciples 00:02:44.280 --> 00:02:48.860 asked him about this parable. Are you so dull? 00:02:49.080 --> 00:02:54.120 he asked. Don't you see that nothing that enters 00:02:54.120 --> 00:02:59.310 a person from the outside can defile them? For 00:02:59.310 --> 00:03:01.909 it doesn't go into their heart, but into their 00:03:01.909 --> 00:03:06.590 stomach, and then out of the body. In saying 00:03:06.590 --> 00:03:12.370 this, Jesus declared all foods clean. He went 00:03:12.370 --> 00:03:17.030 on. What comes out of a person is what defiles 00:03:17.030 --> 00:03:22.310 them. For it is from within, out of a person's 00:03:22.310 --> 00:03:27.590 heart, that evil thoughts come. Sexual immorality. 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:33.659 theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:38.819 lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:45.159 All these evils come from inside and defile a 00:03:45.159 --> 00:03:52.349 person. The word of the Lord. I thought to set 00:03:52.349 --> 00:03:55.009 up today's topic, I would talk to you a little 00:03:55.009 --> 00:03:57.110 bit about something that I call holy hygiene. 00:03:57.370 --> 00:04:00.310 And this is just me, it's just my own personal 00:04:00.310 --> 00:04:02.650 little ritual that I go through each and every 00:04:02.650 --> 00:04:06.710 Sunday morning in order to prepare to come here 00:04:06.710 --> 00:04:09.650 and be with you on a Sunday morning. So I just 00:04:09.650 --> 00:04:11.250 thought I would, I've brought some of the products 00:04:11.250 --> 00:04:14.930 I use up here to show. So, for example, I always 00:04:14.930 --> 00:04:18.410 start by washing my hands very, very carefully. 00:04:18.649 --> 00:04:22.629 And then I use a little bit of sanitizer. Three 00:04:22.629 --> 00:04:25.930 pumps, mind you. One for the Father, one for 00:04:25.930 --> 00:04:31.139 the Son, and one for the Holy Purell. And then, 00:04:31.139 --> 00:04:34.600 of course, we have to move to this area, the 00:04:34.600 --> 00:04:37.560 whole teeth area. So, of course, you've got to 00:04:37.560 --> 00:04:39.939 brush your teeth. Do a little bit of that in 00:04:39.939 --> 00:04:43.209 the morning. And a little mouthwash. A little 00:04:43.209 --> 00:04:45.350 Listerine, gargle that. And it's always nice 00:04:45.350 --> 00:04:49.110 to keep with you a few Tic Tacs, right? So that 00:04:49.110 --> 00:04:54.029 during that good morning, hello, you don't get 00:04:54.029 --> 00:04:57.089 the dragon breath, the Godzilla breath coming 00:04:57.089 --> 00:05:00.230 out of my mouth. So got to keep those handy. 00:05:00.730 --> 00:05:04.569 Then, of course, a little deodorant. I prefer 00:05:04.569 --> 00:05:08.189 Old Spice. You know, it's hot under these lights, 00:05:08.230 --> 00:05:12.199 guys, but I like to stay dry. An Old Spice helps 00:05:12.199 --> 00:05:15.720 me do just that. Besides, if I'm making a point, 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:18.680 I don't want you to notice these puddles under 00:05:18.680 --> 00:05:20.519 my armpits. I want you to be paying attention 00:05:20.519 --> 00:05:23.819 to what I'm saying. So a little Old Spice, and 00:05:23.819 --> 00:05:26.740 a little cologne never hurt either. Just a little, 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:29.399 oh, it went up. I thought it was supposed to 00:05:29.399 --> 00:05:31.060 come down. Oh, yeah, you walk, that's how you, 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:34.139 a little cologne just to, you know, a little 00:05:34.139 --> 00:05:36.100 cologne, maybe a little more cologne, whatever 00:05:36.100 --> 00:05:39.660 your preference is. Also, there's the nails, 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:41.980 right? You got to trim your nails, especially 00:05:41.980 --> 00:05:43.639 when you're flipping the pages of the Bible, 00:05:43.779 --> 00:05:46.100 right? You got to make sure you're not shredding 00:05:46.100 --> 00:05:48.939 through the word of God. So you got to clip your 00:05:48.939 --> 00:05:52.540 nails. And then I do kind of style my hair a 00:05:52.540 --> 00:05:54.420 little bit, right? So I'll give it a little of 00:05:54.420 --> 00:05:56.600 the old spray because when the Holy Spirit gets 00:05:56.600 --> 00:05:58.600 blowing up here, man, I want to stay locked in. 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:01.540 I don't want my dude to get out of control. And 00:06:01.540 --> 00:06:06.519 then, of course, you want to do a little clip, 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:10.089 a little razor. of the old beard there. You don't 00:06:10.089 --> 00:06:11.990 want to end up looking like John the Baptist 00:06:11.990 --> 00:06:16.529 in the wilderness. Pressed clothes, you know, 00:06:16.589 --> 00:06:19.550 clean, nicely laundered clothes. Make sure, you 00:06:19.550 --> 00:06:22.410 know, your fly is up and all that. I like to 00:06:22.410 --> 00:06:24.410 be open. I like to be vulnerable, but not that 00:06:24.410 --> 00:06:27.649 open. and and not that vulnerable and so so this 00:06:27.649 --> 00:06:29.610 is kind of the routine this is the holy this 00:06:29.610 --> 00:06:32.110 is the holy hygiene habit that i that i'm in 00:06:32.110 --> 00:06:34.509 and and the reason i do this is so i can stand 00:06:34.509 --> 00:06:37.370 before you you know cleanly pressed and minty 00:06:37.370 --> 00:06:42.389 fresh because after all because cleanliness is 00:06:42.389 --> 00:06:46.079 next to Godliness. That's right. We're in the 00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:49.000 middle of this teaching series, which is called 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:51.560 The Bible Doesn't Say That, where we're looking 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:54.839 at some of the misquotes and mistakes and misunderstandings 00:06:54.839 --> 00:06:58.500 of certain Bible passages. And today we get to 00:06:58.500 --> 00:07:01.019 this one. Cleanliness is next to godliness. How 00:07:01.019 --> 00:07:03.240 many have heard this one before? Not everybody 00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:06.420 has. Not everybody has. How many have said this 00:07:06.420 --> 00:07:08.300 before at one point in their life to someone? 00:07:08.750 --> 00:07:11.410 Yeah, and on this Mother's Day, it's usually 00:07:11.410 --> 00:07:13.810 mothers who end up saying this to us because 00:07:13.810 --> 00:07:16.610 they want us to take a shower or something like 00:07:16.610 --> 00:07:19.430 that. Now, I want to have a few disclaimers right 00:07:19.430 --> 00:07:21.569 off the bat. The first is, that was just a bit 00:07:21.569 --> 00:07:25.449 of an act. I am not a clean freak at all. If 00:07:25.449 --> 00:07:30.329 cleanliness is next to godliness, then my garage, 00:07:30.870 --> 00:07:34.509 for example, is the portal to hell. because it 00:07:34.509 --> 00:07:37.689 is not in good shape. And the second thing we 00:07:37.689 --> 00:07:39.509 want to make really, really clear to all of you 00:07:39.509 --> 00:07:42.970 here is that here at Trinity, we are not big 00:07:42.970 --> 00:07:45.329 on how you look or how you dress when you come 00:07:45.329 --> 00:07:47.189 to church at all. You know, we have this saying, 00:07:47.290 --> 00:07:49.629 we say that at Trinity, we're just a group of 00:07:49.629 --> 00:07:51.990 ordinary people. We dress in ordinary ways. We 00:07:51.990 --> 00:07:54.209 come, we are just ordinary people learning to 00:07:54.209 --> 00:07:57.430 follow Jesus in our own day. And, you know, just 00:07:57.430 --> 00:08:00.189 come as you are to Trinity. The third thing I 00:08:00.189 --> 00:08:02.350 want to say, though, is even here at Trinity, 00:08:02.990 --> 00:08:06.329 staff and I, we are not the tidiest of people. 00:08:06.449 --> 00:08:09.250 And actually just in this last week, we did a 00:08:09.250 --> 00:08:11.529 little spring cleaning. Here's a little shot 00:08:11.529 --> 00:08:23.360 of that. This is brand new. Oh, yeah! I did get 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:26.160 rocks away like three years ago, remember? But 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:30.399 this becoming a video, somebody has some emotional 00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:33.799 attachment to those rocks. No. Somebody does, 00:08:33.940 --> 00:08:35.720 because they all have people's names on them. 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:38.259 Oh, they do. So somebody's going to see this 00:08:38.259 --> 00:08:40.639 on Sunday morning and be like, why did you throw 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:50.389 out my rocks? No, that's gross too. I'm going 00:08:50.389 --> 00:08:52.610 to go to the kitchen with this. Don't deal with 00:08:52.610 --> 00:08:57.950 it in there. That's disgusting. They're so sick. 00:08:58.169 --> 00:09:03.970 Don't come in here. Hey, that looks like ours. 00:09:06.750 --> 00:09:19.330 Sally. Is this ours? Okay. So, yeah. So listen, 00:09:19.409 --> 00:09:22.610 if the Bible doesn't say that cleanliness is 00:09:22.610 --> 00:09:24.590 next to godliness, who did? Well, actually, it's 00:09:24.590 --> 00:09:26.309 interesting. It was a preacher by the name of 00:09:26.309 --> 00:09:29.370 John Wesley who first put these words into print 00:09:29.370 --> 00:09:33.230 back in 1791. He was doing a sermon. And the 00:09:33.230 --> 00:09:35.049 sermon was to his congregation about how they 00:09:35.049 --> 00:09:37.009 should dress a little nicer and come a little 00:09:37.009 --> 00:09:39.070 cleaner to church. Again, that is never a sermon 00:09:39.070 --> 00:09:41.610 that we would preach here at Trinity. We think 00:09:41.610 --> 00:09:44.370 you guys look great as you are. But what he said 00:09:44.370 --> 00:09:46.509 in that sermon was this. He said, sloppiness 00:09:46.509 --> 00:09:49.490 has no part in religion. Being clean is a sign 00:09:49.490 --> 00:09:51.970 of spiritual purity or goodness. Cleanliness 00:09:51.970 --> 00:09:55.960 is indeed next to godliness. In other words, 00:09:56.039 --> 00:09:58.039 John Wesley is saying when you come to church, 00:09:58.059 --> 00:10:00.940 don't dress like a slob because cleanliness is 00:10:00.940 --> 00:10:03.279 next to godliness. Now you'll notice he does 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:07.019 say it is indeed next to godliness, which makes 00:10:07.019 --> 00:10:10.399 us think that perhaps the saying was already 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:13.080 out there in the world. People were using this 00:10:13.080 --> 00:10:15.519 quote. Where it came from, we don't know. Maybe 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:18.159 this fellow 200 years earlier, Sir Francis Bacon. 00:10:18.460 --> 00:10:22.399 Mmm, bacon. Cleanliness. in the body was ever 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:26.279 deemed to proceed from a due reverence to God. 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:29.980 So maybe that's where it came from. Now, even 00:10:29.980 --> 00:10:32.240 though the Bible actually doesn't say these words, 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:35.139 cleanliness is next to godliness, with all of 00:10:35.139 --> 00:10:36.639 these sayings, what we have found is there's 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:38.379 always a little bit of truth to them, right? 00:10:38.500 --> 00:10:42.159 There's always a part of them that is true. And 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:44.419 so yes, cleanliness is not next to godliness. 00:10:44.970 --> 00:10:48.210 But neither is being a slob next to a godliness. 00:10:48.409 --> 00:10:50.070 And so I want to suggest to you just right off 00:10:50.070 --> 00:10:52.629 the bat, here are four possible ways in which 00:10:52.629 --> 00:10:56.169 maybe it is a good idea, according to the Bible, 00:10:56.230 --> 00:10:59.250 to be a clean person. The first is out of respect 00:10:59.250 --> 00:11:02.629 for creation, right? God made you. God gave you 00:11:02.629 --> 00:11:05.509 that body that you have. You are fearfully and 00:11:05.509 --> 00:11:07.809 wonderfully made. You're God's handiwork. And 00:11:07.809 --> 00:11:10.029 your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. The 00:11:10.029 --> 00:11:13.269 Bible says all of these things. Therefore, take 00:11:13.269 --> 00:11:17.080 care of your body. Keep it clean. Keep it healthy. 00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:19.840 It's a way that you care for this body that God 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:23.110 created. The second reason why the Bible might 00:11:23.110 --> 00:11:25.590 say we should be clean people is that we should 00:11:25.590 --> 00:11:28.090 take some responsibility for all the stuff that 00:11:28.090 --> 00:11:30.149 we've been given. You've got stuff in your life. 00:11:30.269 --> 00:11:33.490 You've got apartments and houses and backyards 00:11:33.490 --> 00:11:37.450 and clothing and cars. And all of it is a gift 00:11:37.450 --> 00:11:40.710 from God. And so we are responsible for taking 00:11:40.710 --> 00:11:43.210 care of that stuff and being good stewards of 00:11:43.210 --> 00:11:45.009 that stuff. And part of that means keeping it 00:11:45.009 --> 00:11:47.570 clean and keeping it tidy and keeping it well 00:11:47.570 --> 00:11:50.149 ordered. So that's another good reason to be 00:11:50.149 --> 00:11:52.470 a clean person. A third reason to be a clean 00:11:52.470 --> 00:11:54.190 person, according to the Bible, is out of regard 00:11:54.190 --> 00:11:57.389 for others. Think of it this way. Think of hospitality. 00:11:57.909 --> 00:12:01.169 When you keep a clean home, then guests and neighbors 00:12:01.169 --> 00:12:03.590 who enter your home, they feel welcomed. They 00:12:03.590 --> 00:12:06.730 feel at peace. They feel relaxed. They feel safe. 00:12:06.909 --> 00:12:10.730 They feel cared for. Even here at Trinity, it's 00:12:10.730 --> 00:12:13.830 important that we keep the place clean because 00:12:13.830 --> 00:12:17.389 people notice stuff like that. If one of our 00:12:17.389 --> 00:12:19.879 guests, went to the bathroom and there was no 00:12:19.879 --> 00:12:23.080 TP, I can guarantee you they would not be coming 00:12:23.080 --> 00:12:26.960 back next week. We do this out of regard for 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:31.070 other people. And the last reason why we might 00:12:31.070 --> 00:12:35.450 decide to be clean is because of these rituals 00:12:35.450 --> 00:12:37.690 of our body. You see, the Christian faith is 00:12:37.690 --> 00:12:39.730 a bodily faith. There's a whole bunch of things 00:12:39.730 --> 00:12:42.129 we do with our bodies that connect to our spirits. 00:12:42.250 --> 00:12:45.570 For example, when we fast, we're doing something 00:12:45.570 --> 00:12:50.470 with our body to teach us to hunger for God. 00:12:50.690 --> 00:12:53.389 When we get down on our knees and we kneel, we're 00:12:53.389 --> 00:12:56.750 doing something with our body to teach us humility, 00:12:56.990 --> 00:12:59.519 right? it could be that for some that when we 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:02.340 wash ourselves or clean ourselves, we're doing 00:13:02.340 --> 00:13:06.100 something with our body to teach us the need 00:13:06.100 --> 00:13:10.220 to be cleansed and purified by God. So yes, in 00:13:10.220 --> 00:13:13.039 a way, in a way, always in a way, cleanliness 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:17.600 and godliness can go together. But if we really 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:21.350 want to know where this saying came from, then, 00:13:21.490 --> 00:13:23.429 I mean, we got to trace it back to the Bible. 00:13:23.529 --> 00:13:25.509 Now, I know we already said, Rob, you said that 00:13:25.509 --> 00:13:26.929 the Bible doesn't say that. You said that it's 00:13:26.929 --> 00:13:28.710 not found in the Bible. And that is true. It's 00:13:28.710 --> 00:13:30.710 not there in the Bible like that. But there was 00:13:30.710 --> 00:13:33.990 a time in Israel's history where purity laws 00:13:33.990 --> 00:13:37.970 and cleanliness codes were all the rage. Now, 00:13:37.990 --> 00:13:40.970 if you read the Bible, there's definitely a arc 00:13:40.970 --> 00:13:43.190 and there's a change that happens throughout 00:13:43.190 --> 00:13:46.350 the Bible. And in fact, Jesus was one of the 00:13:46.350 --> 00:13:49.490 people who did battle with the clean police and 00:13:49.490 --> 00:13:53.299 the clean freaks. of his own day to kind of rethink 00:13:53.299 --> 00:13:56.519 what God actually thought about cleanliness. 00:13:56.620 --> 00:13:59.440 But yes, we do have to go back to the Bible. 00:13:59.580 --> 00:14:02.759 In fact, if you look at our reading today, what's 00:14:02.759 --> 00:14:05.919 happening here? A bunch of religious professionals, 00:14:06.659 --> 00:14:09.460 Pharisees and teachers of the law, they're called, 00:14:09.639 --> 00:14:12.740 they are sent to make sure that Jesus and his 00:14:12.740 --> 00:14:15.919 disciples are following all the clean rules from 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:18.899 the Bible. We're even told that they came to 00:14:18.899 --> 00:14:22.370 Jerusalem, from Bethsaida, which is a hundred 00:14:22.370 --> 00:14:25.610 kilometer journey by foot, right? So these guys 00:14:25.610 --> 00:14:28.669 were serious. They didn't just happen upon Jesus. 00:14:28.789 --> 00:14:32.110 They came down. They're not messing around. They 00:14:32.110 --> 00:14:36.190 are on a mission to enforce the clean rules that 00:14:36.190 --> 00:14:40.210 are found in the Bible. Now, the Bible is full. 00:14:41.799 --> 00:14:44.240 rules about how to keep clean. Now, you might 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:46.399 say, well, why on earth would God do that? Why 00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:50.480 did God use these rules to tell people to kind 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:52.600 of honor all these customs and rituals and traditions? 00:14:52.740 --> 00:14:54.179 Well, there's actually kind of a good reason. 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:57.200 Let's understand it first. The reason is that 00:14:57.200 --> 00:15:00.860 God had chosen Israel. To be a holy people. That 00:15:00.860 --> 00:15:04.240 means to be a people who were set apart. A people 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:08.539 who were different. A nation for himself. And 00:15:08.539 --> 00:15:12.440 part of being set apart, God said, was that you 00:15:12.440 --> 00:15:15.460 have to live differently. Visibly differently, 00:15:15.860 --> 00:15:19.039 right? So holiness wasn't just something you 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:23.080 believed. It was how you acted. It was how you 00:15:23.080 --> 00:15:27.120 spoke. It was what you ate. It was what you wore. 00:15:27.259 --> 00:15:30.179 It was what you touched. It was how often you 00:15:30.179 --> 00:15:33.340 washed. All of these things set you apart and 00:15:33.340 --> 00:15:36.080 people could see you are a different people. 00:15:36.259 --> 00:15:39.799 You are the people of Yahweh God. And so that's 00:15:39.799 --> 00:15:42.000 why, you know, God told them you are to distinguish 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:45.009 between things that are holy. And things that 00:15:45.009 --> 00:15:48.009 are ordinary. Things that are unclean. And things 00:15:48.009 --> 00:15:49.750 that are clean. Because I want you to be different. 00:15:50.070 --> 00:15:51.950 I don't want you to be like everyone else. I 00:15:51.950 --> 00:15:55.429 want you to stand out. I'm a holy God. Be different. 00:15:56.830 --> 00:15:59.490 Think of it this way. Imagine you're going on 00:15:59.490 --> 00:16:02.090 a big date. Or imagine you're going in for a 00:16:02.090 --> 00:16:04.929 big interview. What would you do? You would get 00:16:04.929 --> 00:16:07.929 cleaned up. You would wash up, right? You would 00:16:07.929 --> 00:16:10.190 brush your teeth. You would use a little cologne. 00:16:10.409 --> 00:16:12.649 You would use the mouthwash. Why is that? Because 00:16:12.649 --> 00:16:15.049 you want to make a good impression? and you're 00:16:15.049 --> 00:16:16.990 going into the presence of somebody who's really 00:16:16.990 --> 00:16:19.129 important to you, you don't want to smell like 00:16:19.129 --> 00:16:23.389 gym socks. And so the spirit behind these cleanliness 00:16:23.389 --> 00:16:27.690 rules is that you just don't waltz into the presence 00:16:27.690 --> 00:16:32.250 of God without doing a little bit of scrubbing 00:16:32.250 --> 00:16:35.669 first. Now, what made you unclean? According 00:16:35.669 --> 00:16:37.570 to the Bible, what kind of things made you unclean? 00:16:37.629 --> 00:16:39.769 Well, you can read it if you want, but you touch 00:16:39.769 --> 00:16:43.090 a dead animal, you're unclean. You touch a dead 00:16:43.090 --> 00:16:45.950 human, you're definitely unclean. If you have 00:16:45.950 --> 00:16:49.730 skin rashes or sores on your body, you're considered 00:16:49.730 --> 00:16:52.710 unclean. If you have bodily discharge of any 00:16:52.710 --> 00:16:55.809 kind, gross, yes, but unclean. You eat the wrong 00:16:55.809 --> 00:16:59.110 food, you're unclean. You touch the wrong animal. 00:16:59.210 --> 00:17:02.070 You touch a lobster, for example, for some reason, 00:17:02.269 --> 00:17:07.230 unclean. If you have mold in your house, unclean. 00:17:07.230 --> 00:17:10.049 If you have mildew in your house, you don't just 00:17:10.049 --> 00:17:13.109 call the plumber, you call the priest, right? 00:17:13.210 --> 00:17:15.890 And the priest will come. There's pages in the 00:17:15.890 --> 00:17:17.970 book of Leviticus about this. The priest will 00:17:17.970 --> 00:17:21.430 come and inspect the mildew. They will see where 00:17:21.430 --> 00:17:24.069 the mildew is. They will try to remove the mildew 00:17:24.069 --> 00:17:25.970 in a proper way. And if not, they will literally 00:17:25.970 --> 00:17:30.589 burn the whole thing down. Right? These rituals 00:17:30.589 --> 00:17:33.390 taught Israel, what did they teach them? That 00:17:33.390 --> 00:17:37.430 impurity separates us from God and that cleansing 00:17:37.430 --> 00:17:41.289 is required to come close to God. Now, Jesus 00:17:41.289 --> 00:17:44.349 would have agreed with this in its spirit. We 00:17:44.349 --> 00:17:46.630 must be cleansed in order to come close to God. 00:17:46.730 --> 00:17:49.670 But what Jesus would ultimately disagree is how 00:17:49.670 --> 00:17:54.430 that cleansing takes place. Jesus had a very 00:17:54.430 --> 00:17:57.329 different kind of cleansing in mind, as we will 00:17:57.329 --> 00:18:01.460 find out. So Jesus kind of agreed with this in 00:18:01.460 --> 00:18:05.519 spirit, but where Jesus definitely disagreed 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:08.099 with these religious clean freaks was in something 00:18:08.099 --> 00:18:11.720 known as the tradition of the elders, right? 00:18:12.140 --> 00:18:15.200 So notice what the Pharisees asked Jesus. They 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:17.079 say, so the Pharisees said, hey, why don't your 00:18:17.079 --> 00:18:20.140 disciples live according to the tradition of 00:18:20.140 --> 00:18:23.259 the elders instead of eating their food with 00:18:23.259 --> 00:18:24.900 defiled hands? Now you might be like, what is 00:18:24.900 --> 00:18:26.500 the tradition of the elders? Is that just the 00:18:26.500 --> 00:18:30.539 Bible? No. It's not the Bible. You see, here's 00:18:30.539 --> 00:18:32.660 what happened. Over time, all these religious 00:18:32.660 --> 00:18:36.059 professionals, they developed an even bigger 00:18:36.059 --> 00:18:39.539 set of rules outside of the Bible in order to 00:18:39.539 --> 00:18:43.240 help people follow the rules inside the Bible. 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:45.740 And they started out as oral teachings. Oh, you 00:18:45.740 --> 00:18:47.420 should do this. You should do this. But eventually 00:18:47.420 --> 00:18:50.119 they got written down into these two massive 00:18:50.119 --> 00:18:53.359 collections called the Mishnah and the Talmud. 00:18:53.500 --> 00:18:56.200 And the Talmud alone contains something like 00:18:56.200 --> 00:19:01.359 63 or 65 books. about what the law meant and 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:05.019 how you were supposed to live it out. And if 00:19:05.019 --> 00:19:07.420 you've got a bookshelf big enough, if you've 00:19:07.420 --> 00:19:09.160 got a budget big enough, you can actually go 00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:11.519 and you can buy the Talmud, you can go buy the 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:14.240 Mishnah. And one of the rabbis in Jesus' day 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:17.480 said, this is what it is. The oral law, the tradition 00:19:17.480 --> 00:19:21.059 of the elders, is like a fence around the written 00:19:21.059 --> 00:19:24.400 law. It's meant to protect people from accidentally 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:29.320 breaking God's rules, accidentally... becoming 00:19:29.320 --> 00:19:34.440 unclean. But what happened is, over time, the 00:19:34.440 --> 00:19:38.539 fence became a fortress, and people were more 00:19:38.539 --> 00:19:42.660 interested in the fence than getting inside the 00:19:42.660 --> 00:19:46.140 fence to meet with God. Let me give you just 00:19:46.140 --> 00:19:49.099 a few examples of some of the crazy traditions 00:19:49.099 --> 00:19:51.440 of the elders that were in the mission of the 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:53.500 Talmud. Again, you can read this, but for example, 00:19:53.500 --> 00:19:56.359 on the Sabbath, it was forbidden that you look 00:19:56.359 --> 00:19:58.400 in a mirror. You weren't allowed to look in a 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:00.839 mirror on the Sabbath because you might say, 00:20:00.859 --> 00:20:03.119 see a gray hair when you look in the mirror and 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:04.980 you might be tempted to pluck that out. And if 00:20:04.980 --> 00:20:07.220 you did that, that was tantamount to harvesting. 00:20:07.819 --> 00:20:10.140 To reaping, and you weren't allowed to reap on 00:20:10.140 --> 00:20:12.619 the Sabbath, and so don't even look in the mirror. 00:20:12.680 --> 00:20:15.519 It's against the tradition of the elders. Seriously. 00:20:15.779 --> 00:20:18.680 You weren't also allowed to wear false teeth 00:20:18.680 --> 00:20:20.759 on the Sabbath. I didn't know this. They had 00:20:20.759 --> 00:20:23.079 false teeth 2 ,000 years ago. Isn't that interesting? 00:20:23.339 --> 00:20:25.119 But you weren't allowed to wear them on the Sabbath 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:28.099 because if your false teeth fell out, gross, 00:20:28.380 --> 00:20:32.519 then you would pick them up, and that would be 00:20:32.519 --> 00:20:34.500 work. That would be labor, and you weren't allowed 00:20:34.500 --> 00:20:37.680 to do that on the Sabbath either. My favorite 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:40.599 one, though, is on the Sabbath, you weren't allowed 00:20:40.599 --> 00:20:44.059 to, oh no, you were allowed to spit on a rock. 00:20:44.750 --> 00:20:46.990 But you weren't allowed to spit on the ground. 00:20:47.329 --> 00:20:50.589 Why? Because if you spat in like the soil, your 00:20:50.589 --> 00:20:54.230 spittle might form a little bit of a ditch or 00:20:54.230 --> 00:20:58.230 a furrow. And that would be like plowing a field. 00:20:58.369 --> 00:21:01.730 And so you weren't allowed to spit on the ground. 00:21:01.750 --> 00:21:03.769 You could spit on a rock on the Sabbath. And 00:21:03.769 --> 00:21:06.230 there were all these rules. All these rules about 00:21:06.230 --> 00:21:10.130 cleanliness too. In fact, Mark says that the 00:21:10.130 --> 00:21:13.349 Pharisees and all the Jews, they do not eat unless 00:21:13.349 --> 00:21:16.269 they wash. wash their hands in a special way, 00:21:16.369 --> 00:21:19.069 holding to, and there's those words, the tradition 00:21:19.069 --> 00:21:25.089 of the elders, right? Now, where it says, unless 00:21:25.089 --> 00:21:28.210 they wash it in a special way, that's actually 00:21:28.210 --> 00:21:31.490 in the real translation. It says, unless they 00:21:31.490 --> 00:21:34.329 wash their hands with the fist. Now, what does 00:21:34.329 --> 00:21:35.769 that mean? I wanted to show you because I looked 00:21:35.769 --> 00:21:40.630 this up. The way that the tradition of the elders 00:21:40.630 --> 00:21:42.470 said you had to wash your hands before you ate 00:21:42.470 --> 00:21:45.690 was, first, you had to put your hands, fingers 00:21:45.690 --> 00:21:48.259 up. like this, over a bowl, and someone would 00:21:48.259 --> 00:21:50.819 pour water on your hands, and then the water 00:21:50.819 --> 00:21:53.319 would get all dirty and defiled and drip off 00:21:53.319 --> 00:21:55.240 your wrists. It wasn't supposed to run down your 00:21:55.240 --> 00:21:56.960 arms. It was supposed to drip off your wrists. 00:21:57.420 --> 00:21:59.740 Then you would turn your hands, fingers down, 00:21:59.920 --> 00:22:02.000 and they would then do the exact same thing. 00:22:02.039 --> 00:22:04.200 They would pour the water on your hands, fingers 00:22:04.200 --> 00:22:07.599 down. And again, the defiled water would drip 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:09.859 into the bowl. And then you would use this fist 00:22:09.859 --> 00:22:13.000 to rub this hand, and then you would use this 00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:16.759 fist. To rub this hand. And this is how, you 00:22:16.759 --> 00:22:20.539 know, up, down, rub, rub. That is how you properly 00:22:20.539 --> 00:22:22.579 washed your hands before you ate according to 00:22:22.579 --> 00:22:24.359 the tradition of the elders. And the kicker is, 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:29.039 some really devout followers observed this not 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:32.240 just before meals, but between every course of 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:35.180 the meal. Right? So this is getting extreme. 00:22:35.319 --> 00:22:37.940 You can see why Jesus is taking issue. And some 00:22:37.940 --> 00:22:41.440 of them became... Actual like superstitions, 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:44.819 like crazy superstitions. I mean, check out what 00:22:44.819 --> 00:22:48.759 this one rabbi, Rabbi Tanith said. He said, whoever 00:22:48.759 --> 00:22:50.819 lives in the land of Israel and eats his food 00:22:50.819 --> 00:22:54.480 with rinsed hands may rest assured that he shall 00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:57.779 obtain eternal life. In other words, you want 00:22:57.779 --> 00:23:01.380 to go to heaven? Then you wash your hands, right? 00:23:02.019 --> 00:23:04.900 Another rabbi who was imprisoned by the Romans, 00:23:05.099 --> 00:23:08.339 I read that once he was only given a very small 00:23:08.339 --> 00:23:11.819 amount of water per day. But rather than drink 00:23:11.819 --> 00:23:14.940 that water, he used that water to ceremonially 00:23:14.940 --> 00:23:18.119 wash his hands. It was more important for him 00:23:18.119 --> 00:23:20.740 to follow the tradition of the elders than it 00:23:20.740 --> 00:23:25.440 was for him to actually stay alive. And then 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:28.660 it got even more superstitious. There was this 00:23:28.660 --> 00:23:30.839 belief. There was this belief out there that 00:23:30.839 --> 00:23:35.420 there was a demon named Shibta. And what would 00:23:35.420 --> 00:23:37.740 happen is when you were sleeping at night, Shibta 00:23:37.740 --> 00:23:42.420 would sneak into your bedroom and would get all 00:23:42.420 --> 00:23:45.059 over your hands. And then in the morning, if 00:23:45.059 --> 00:23:47.660 you got up and you didn't wash your hands, then 00:23:47.660 --> 00:23:50.660 Shibta would get inside of you and do all sorts 00:23:50.660 --> 00:23:54.740 of damage to you from within. This is like, now 00:23:54.740 --> 00:23:58.380 listen, washing your hands is a good thing. Washing 00:23:58.380 --> 00:24:02.059 your hands before dinner, it kills germs. But 00:24:02.059 --> 00:24:04.779 the reason that Jesus had no time for this stuff 00:24:04.779 --> 00:24:09.079 is because he knew that no external ritual could 00:24:09.079 --> 00:24:13.039 really make you clean before a holy God. This 00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:15.559 wasn't about holiness. This had become about 00:24:15.559 --> 00:24:18.440 outward, surface level, performative, fear -based 00:24:18.440 --> 00:24:23.589 superstition. masquerading as religion. And Jesus 00:24:23.589 --> 00:24:27.430 knew God was after something much, much deeper. 00:24:27.509 --> 00:24:29.069 That's why he says, you guys have let go of the 00:24:29.069 --> 00:24:30.849 commands of God and you're just holding on to 00:24:30.849 --> 00:24:34.190 human traditions, right? You nullify the word 00:24:34.190 --> 00:24:36.089 of God by your traditions that you've handed 00:24:36.089 --> 00:24:38.869 down. And many other things like that. In other 00:24:38.869 --> 00:24:40.609 words, Jesus is saying, this is just the tip 00:24:40.609 --> 00:24:44.210 of the iceberg. The Mishnah, if you read it, 00:24:44.210 --> 00:24:48.289 there are like 35... Full pages on how to wash 00:24:48.289 --> 00:24:51.910 dishes, how to clean kettles and dishes and cups 00:24:51.910 --> 00:24:55.869 and couches. Cleanliness in Jesus' day had become 00:24:55.869 --> 00:25:01.109 a religion of its own. But Jesus came to teach 00:25:01.109 --> 00:25:08.390 that real cleanliness starts in the heart, not 00:25:08.390 --> 00:25:12.150 in the sink. Because you can follow all the rules 00:25:12.150 --> 00:25:16.779 and you can wash your hands. When you can avoid 00:25:16.779 --> 00:25:19.759 all the lobsters, you can burn all the mildew 00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:23.220 and check all the boxes, but still be filthy. 00:25:23.980 --> 00:25:26.759 Now, why is that? It's because Jesus knew that 00:25:26.759 --> 00:25:32.559 godliness is not an outside -in thing. Jesus 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:35.319 said nothing that enters into a person from the 00:25:35.319 --> 00:25:37.759 outside can defile them. And it makes sense. 00:25:37.819 --> 00:25:40.900 He even says, hey, it just goes in one end and 00:25:40.900 --> 00:25:44.220 it comes out the other end. It's an in and out. 00:25:44.759 --> 00:25:48.619 That doesn't defile you, Jesus said. Instead, 00:25:48.980 --> 00:25:53.339 Jesus says, cleanliness is an inside -out thing. 00:25:53.480 --> 00:25:56.940 What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 00:25:57.000 --> 00:25:59.339 What comes out of your mouth is what defiles 00:25:59.339 --> 00:26:01.819 you. What comes out of your actions is what defiles 00:26:01.819 --> 00:26:04.099 you. What comes out of your thoughts, what comes 00:26:04.099 --> 00:26:07.539 out of your words, what comes out of your heart, 00:26:07.680 --> 00:26:12.099 all that washing, it doesn't get to that. right? 00:26:12.220 --> 00:26:14.519 That's just an act. In fact, at one point, Jesus 00:26:14.519 --> 00:26:17.720 calls these people hypocrites. And hypocrite 00:26:17.720 --> 00:26:20.880 is just a Greek word that means actor. They're 00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:23.460 putting on a show. They're pretending. It's all 00:26:23.460 --> 00:26:29.180 a role that they are playing to cover up what's 00:26:29.180 --> 00:26:32.140 really happening inside of them. No, real transformation, 00:26:32.460 --> 00:26:37.460 real purity begins on the inside when we're washed 00:26:37.460 --> 00:26:42.039 from the inside out. Now, This may be a good 00:26:42.039 --> 00:26:45.259 point just to stop and ask the question about 00:26:45.259 --> 00:26:48.660 our own traditions. As Anglicans, we've got lots 00:26:48.660 --> 00:26:51.779 of traditions. Lots of things we do, you know, 00:26:51.799 --> 00:26:55.559 hand washing, you know, basins, bowls, candlesticks, 00:26:55.599 --> 00:26:57.480 you know, actions, prayers. There's a lot of 00:26:57.480 --> 00:27:00.259 traditions that we have here at Trinity. But 00:27:00.259 --> 00:27:02.480 many of them are very, very meaningful. But we 00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:04.299 should always be asking the question, the same 00:27:04.299 --> 00:27:08.160 question. Do we ever let our traditions get in 00:27:08.160 --> 00:27:11.930 the way of the commandments of God? Are we clinging 00:27:11.930 --> 00:27:14.670 to human things and forgetting the God things 00:27:14.670 --> 00:27:17.910 that we really ought to be doing? We've got things 00:27:17.910 --> 00:27:21.809 we do here. We sing. We pray. We listen to sermons. 00:27:21.950 --> 00:27:25.670 We share communion. But are those changing us 00:27:25.670 --> 00:27:28.809 on the inside? Or are we, when we come to church, 00:27:28.970 --> 00:27:32.089 are we just actors going through emotion, but 00:27:32.089 --> 00:27:34.509 none of this is actually getting inside of us, 00:27:34.549 --> 00:27:38.390 right? We're leaving completely unchanged. Jesus 00:27:38.390 --> 00:27:42.670 does not want. outer cleanliness or outer actions 00:27:42.670 --> 00:27:47.190 or outer rituals unless they're tied to inner 00:27:47.190 --> 00:27:52.430 transformation. So I'd say that the Bible actually 00:27:52.430 --> 00:27:54.950 doesn't say cleanliness is next to godliness. 00:27:55.029 --> 00:27:57.549 What the Bible actually more closely says in 00:27:57.549 --> 00:28:00.430 the end is that cleanliness can actually be a 00:28:00.430 --> 00:28:05.579 cover -up for lack of godliness. Because what 00:28:05.579 --> 00:28:08.039 Jesus really teaches and what the Bible really 00:28:08.039 --> 00:28:11.460 says is that God is not looking for sanitized 00:28:11.460 --> 00:28:14.180 hands. He is looking for sanctified hearts. Do 00:28:14.180 --> 00:28:15.339 you want to know what the Bible really says? 00:28:15.480 --> 00:28:17.720 It says that man looks at the outward appearance, 00:28:17.819 --> 00:28:20.599 but God looks at the heart. Here's what the Bible 00:28:20.599 --> 00:28:22.779 says. It says, wash yourselves and make yourselves 00:28:22.779 --> 00:28:26.440 clean. Ooh, our hands? No. Remove your evil deeds 00:28:26.440 --> 00:28:30.220 from before my eyes. Cease to do evil, right? 00:28:30.380 --> 00:28:32.599 Or here's a wonderful prayer. God, create in 00:28:32.599 --> 00:28:35.000 me what? A clean skin? A clean... house? No, 00:28:35.059 --> 00:28:39.960 a clean heart. So let's just end by asking the 00:28:39.960 --> 00:28:44.539 question, how do we cleanse ourselves? How do 00:28:44.539 --> 00:28:50.539 we get clean? Well, I want to end and suggest 00:28:50.539 --> 00:28:52.440 three ways to you. I think this is like really 00:28:52.440 --> 00:28:54.039 the most important part of everything I've said 00:28:54.039 --> 00:28:56.740 this morning. And the first is this, Jesus's 00:28:56.740 --> 00:29:02.799 touch makes people clean. The gospel says, that 00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:07.819 Jesus came into this dirty, grimy, messy world 00:29:07.819 --> 00:29:12.880 of ours. He came into our stinky lives. And he 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:15.500 came and he hung out with some of the messiest 00:29:15.500 --> 00:29:17.539 people you can imagine, the tax collectors, the 00:29:17.539 --> 00:29:20.819 sinners, the prostitutes, rich and poor. And 00:29:20.819 --> 00:29:24.599 he did it for one purpose, to cleanse them. It's 00:29:24.599 --> 00:29:26.940 this really interesting reversal that happens 00:29:26.940 --> 00:29:30.519 with Jesus. Jesus wasn't contaminated by impurity 00:29:30.519 --> 00:29:34.220 when he touched untouchable people, lepers or 00:29:34.220 --> 00:29:37.980 sick people or dead people. But instead, they 00:29:37.980 --> 00:29:43.380 were contaminated by his purity. They were made 00:29:43.380 --> 00:29:47.140 clean. Craig Blomberg puts it this way. He said, 00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:51.279 Jesus exhibits a contagious holiness. He does 00:29:51.279 --> 00:29:54.319 not fear contamination by being associated with 00:29:54.319 --> 00:29:56.839 the impure. Rather, he believes that his purity 00:29:56.839 --> 00:30:01.220 can rub off on them. And one of my favorite authors, 00:30:01.319 --> 00:30:03.700 N .T. Wright, says the same thing. Jesus' holiness 00:30:03.700 --> 00:30:08.700 was not compromised by contact with impurity. 00:30:09.140 --> 00:30:13.160 Rather, his holiness overcame impurity. So how 00:30:13.160 --> 00:30:18.690 do you get clean? Jesus' touch makes people clean. 00:30:19.750 --> 00:30:22.970 That's the first way we get clean. The second 00:30:22.970 --> 00:30:25.670 way we get clean, though, is to realize that 00:30:25.670 --> 00:30:30.630 Jesus' word declares us clean. You know, Jesus 00:30:30.630 --> 00:30:33.890 didn't just touch people clean. Jesus said things, 00:30:34.130 --> 00:30:36.190 and people were made clean. He would say, be 00:30:36.190 --> 00:30:38.390 clean, and they were clean. He would say, your 00:30:38.390 --> 00:30:40.250 faith has made you well, and they were well. 00:30:40.589 --> 00:30:44.049 His word has this authority, right, to make people 00:30:44.049 --> 00:30:47.349 clean, to restore their dignity. You know, Jesus 00:30:47.349 --> 00:30:50.950 knew that food didn't make you unclean, but he 00:30:50.950 --> 00:30:53.970 knew that his word could make you clean. In fact, 00:30:54.089 --> 00:30:56.750 did you notice in a reading today, somewhere 00:30:56.750 --> 00:30:59.130 down there, it said, for it's not stuff that 00:30:59.130 --> 00:31:01.009 goes into your heart, but into their stomach 00:31:01.009 --> 00:31:02.509 and then out of the body and blah, blah. And 00:31:02.509 --> 00:31:07.049 it says, in saying this, Jesus declared all foods 00:31:07.049 --> 00:31:10.970 clean. Jesus, the same voice that spoke the universe 00:31:10.970 --> 00:31:13.269 into existence, the same voice that said, let 00:31:13.269 --> 00:31:16.970 there be light, now says, all food is clean. 00:31:17.150 --> 00:31:20.690 Let there be cleanliness. And what Jesus says, 00:31:20.769 --> 00:31:24.990 go. If Jesus declares you clean, then you are 00:31:24.990 --> 00:31:28.829 clean. Then you are forgiven. So how do we get 00:31:28.829 --> 00:31:32.890 clean? His touch makes us clean. His word declares 00:31:32.890 --> 00:31:36.900 us clean. And finally, Jesus' blood. washes us 00:31:36.900 --> 00:31:38.819 clean. You might think blood is one of the messiest 00:31:38.819 --> 00:31:42.240 things ever. How could that make us clean? But 00:31:42.240 --> 00:31:46.500 at the cross, Jesus removed every single blemish 00:31:46.500 --> 00:31:50.519 and every single stain in your life. His blood 00:31:50.519 --> 00:31:53.660 purifies us once and for all, washing us from 00:31:53.660 --> 00:31:57.160 the inside out. That's why at the center of the 00:31:57.160 --> 00:32:00.480 Christian faith is not a bathtub. It's a cross. 00:32:00.960 --> 00:32:05.480 And it was there on that old, rugged, dirty bloody 00:32:05.480 --> 00:32:09.220 cross that Jesus did that what no soap could 00:32:09.220 --> 00:32:12.380 ever do, what no sanitizer, what no ceremonial 00:32:12.380 --> 00:32:17.160 ritual could ever do. There, he became unclean 00:32:17.160 --> 00:32:21.680 for us so that we could be made clean forever. 00:32:23.480 --> 00:32:28.619 John writes, the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses 00:32:28.619 --> 00:32:34.380 us from all sin. The Pharisees, thought cleanliness 00:32:34.380 --> 00:32:39.140 came from a ritual jesus shows us it comes from 00:32:39.140 --> 00:32:42.619 a relationship they believe cleanliness came 00:32:42.619 --> 00:32:45.400 through water jesus shows us cleanliness comes 00:32:45.400 --> 00:32:50.920 through blood on the cross all our sins all our 00:32:50.920 --> 00:32:55.660 shortcomings washed away not with divine disinfectant 00:32:55.660 --> 00:33:00.920 but with his own life so listen i started today 00:33:01.599 --> 00:33:04.460 And I showed you all these products that we use 00:33:04.460 --> 00:33:06.519 sometimes to make ourselves clean and to make 00:33:06.519 --> 00:33:08.880 ourselves presentable. And, you know, we may 00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:11.319 be tempted to say, okay, yeah, I'm going to come 00:33:11.319 --> 00:33:14.960 to God, but I'm going to clean myself up first, 00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:18.059 right? I got to make myself presentable in order 00:33:18.059 --> 00:33:19.940 to go into God's presence. But remember this, 00:33:19.980 --> 00:33:22.539 we don't come to God after we've cleaned ourselves 00:33:22.539 --> 00:33:27.079 up, right? We come to God so he can clean us 00:33:27.079 --> 00:33:31.980 up. And I would just say, if today's message 00:33:31.980 --> 00:33:34.980 has stirred anything up in you, a desire to be 00:33:34.980 --> 00:33:37.380 made clean or to have a fresh start with God, 00:33:37.460 --> 00:33:40.519 then let me invite you to consider baptism. Baptism 00:33:40.519 --> 00:33:43.779 is not something we do to clean your skin. That's 00:33:43.779 --> 00:33:46.799 not how it works. Baptism declares that Jesus 00:33:46.799 --> 00:33:51.299 has already cleansed you in your heart by faith. 00:33:51.460 --> 00:33:53.160 And if you've never taken that step, we would 00:33:53.160 --> 00:33:55.700 love to take that step with you. Please talk 00:33:55.700 --> 00:33:58.940 to me after the service. But let's, in the meantime, 00:33:59.039 --> 00:34:03.160 come to Christ. Broken, yes. Dirty, yes. Hurting, 00:34:03.200 --> 00:34:06.759 yes. And let him touch us clean, declare us clean, 00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:11.639 and let his blood wash us clean. Not based on 00:34:11.639 --> 00:34:15.880 some religious ritual, but based on what he did 00:34:15.880 --> 00:34:20.239 on the cross for us 2 ,000 years ago. Thanks 00:34:20.239 --> 00:34:26.789 be to God. Amen. Thank you for listening to this 00:34:26.789 --> 00:34:29.389 week's episode of Trinity Sermons. This sermon 00:34:29.389 --> 00:34:32.429 was recorded at Trinity Church Streetsville in 00:34:32.429 --> 00:34:35.869 Mississauga, Ontario on May 11th, 2025.