At the Heart of Jesus' Religion

Friends,

Tim Smith offers this -- Gary Morsch is the founder of Heart to Heart in Kansas City. As a physician, he has done magnificent work around the world taking medical supplies to low income people. Many years ago, he took a trip to Calcutta and Mother Teresa's House for the Destitute Dying. He took 90 volunteers and 12 million dollars of medical supplies.  As he made the trip, he thought to himself, "A lot of these people don't have to die. I can save their lives, and maybe we can turn it from the House for the Destitute Dying to the House for the Hopeful Living." He was going to make that happen.  When they arrived, Sister Priscilla began to assign everyone their tasks. As this was happening, Gary put his stethoscope around his neck to let Sister Priscilla know he was a doctor.  Everyone got their assignment and Gary found he was the last person.  She directed him to come with her. They went to the woman's unit and didn't stop to help anybody. They kept going and went to the men's unit and he thought this is where he was going to begin to help. But instead, they walked into the kitchen. He asked, "What do you need for me to do here?" She said, "Just follow me."  They walked out the door, and he sees a huge pile of putrefied trash.  She hands him two plastic buckets and a shovel and saw. "What we need you to do is haul this garbage to the city dump just down the street two blocks away. You can't miss it." Then she smiles at him, turns and walks away.  He is standing there thinking, "Did she not see my stethoscope. I'm a doctor! Doesn't she understand what I can do with these hands?"  In a silent shock and a bit of self-pity, he began wondering what to do. But there was only one thing to do. So all day, he carried buckets full of putrefied trash to the city dump, and by the end of the day having moved that entire pile, he was a sweaty, sticking mess.  He walked back into the building and saw this sign from Mother Teresa: "We can do no great things, only small things with great love."  He said, "At that moment, my heart wilted. On this day, Mother Teresa pierced the armor I had worked so hard to construct. And my life was changed by the act of hauling garbage down the street and becoming a servant for others in need."

In essence, this is what Jesus communicates to some of the religious people of the day who are following Him and asking questions.  In this section of Matthew (9:9-17), Jesus presents two pictures…one is concerning the physician and the other is the bridegroom.  Each picture comes in response to questions from those in His audience.  The Pharisees are already in full opposition mode as they come to Jesus’ disciples to ask them a “religious” question.  The question is intended to trap them, because if they are good religious Jews, and most of them appear to be, then they should only be able to come up with the one answer required…the one that pleases the Pharisees.  Jesus, hearing this question, intercedes on His disciples’ behalf and makes a statement that would cause the religious leaders to have to pause for a moment in the midst of their attacks to consider what He is saying.  And what is it that Jesus is saying?  He is not making a case for a religious argument that people should go to a doctor if they are sick as opposed to staying home hoping for some miracle.  He wants the Pharisees to consider the big picture concerning what god they really serve.  Do they really serve the God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe…or a religious symbol of a god that they choose to serve in the name of God?  If they would understand and serve the one true God, then they would know Jesus, and that He came in order that sinners might have a relationship with Him and His Father.

So, Jesus quotes a basic and critically important principle from the Old Testament (Hosea 6:6) to show to them that right religion has always been about people more than about “principles”.  Or, that our principles should be about helping people rather than keeping laws that prevent us from helping people.  And this is certainly the prevailing thought that continues in this section, as Jesus entertains a question from John’s disciples.  On the surface, this portion of the passage might appear unrelated to the first part, but they walk hand in hand.  Continuing with the theme of adhering to the law, the disciples of John notice a difference between themselves, the Pharisees and Jesus’ disciples concerning fasting.  They all (the Pharisees and John’s disciples) would keep regular fasts by which they would dedicate themselves to the keeping of ritual traditions.  John’s disciples would be in mourning, because their leader is being detained in prison. But, the allusion to the bridegroom is Jesus speaking about Himself, and that while He is with them, they should be rejoicing at having Him.  So, Jesus indicates that “fasting” is a matter of joy not sorrow. He has come to put a new face on their religious traditions. The Christian life is a feast not a funeral. 

Much as he does with the Sabbath and other traditional practices, Jesus wants them to understand that there is a larger picture that they need to grasp. This is why He moves into the illustration concerning the wine and the wine skins. Jesus comes to fulfill the law of the Pharisees and John and bring “spiritual wholeness.”  Jesus did not come to “patch us up” religiously, only to have us fall apart. He comes to fill us to the full…and to overflowing.  The Jewish religion was a worn-out wine skin that would burst if filled with the newness of the Gospel that Jesus is bringing.  He knows that the old ways, or old paths of the old law are not going to be sufficient in order for newness and wholeness to take place.  This is His purpose in coming…to fill us up and make us mature in Him.

Ken Pell from the First Church of the Nazarene in Broken Arrow, OK shares this -- There is not much you can do about it. Once you have been around it everybody else knows. I’m talking about the red dirt of western Oklahoma. It’s caused by the iron in the soil that, after being oxidized, turns to rust. It seems that nothing can erase or clean the stain from that red dirt on your shoes once you have walked there. If you have new shoes – everyone knows -- because they are not red ... yet. If you are from the city (OKC or Tulsa, for example) and you make your way into the western ranch lands everyone can tell "you’re not from these parts" simply by looking at the color of your shoes. The inverse is also true; if you go to the city and are wearing shoes that you have previously worn out "out there" everyone knows where you are from.  It’s not a judgmental thing. The cities in Oklahoma are intimately connected to the ranches and open lands; no one thinks they are better or inferior; it is simply a recognizable and distinct line of demarcation. There is simply no getting around it.  Godly love (Agapé) is like that too. It is such a contrast from the world’s love that it becomes immediately recognizable and "different." The world looks at the sacrificial, serving, grace-filled love of God and says "You’re not from around these parts." It cannot be duplicated, at least not for long, it can be "faked" for a little while (vv. 1-3) but even the masquerade is evidence that it isn't Godly love. When it has been poured into your hearts it cannot be hidden; that’s the nature of God’s love. It's just there and influences the lives of those it touches.

False religion in the name of Christianity is suspicious, protective, distrusting, critical, and prejudiced…whereas the freedom that Christ brings liberates us to love completely, be at peace, serve with vigor and be willing to learn and thrive in fellowship together.  This is the point that Jesus is trying to make concerning the attitude of the Pharisees, and even John’s disciples, as compared with those who would be His disciples…there is supposed to be a BIG difference.  And so it is amazing that believers today will still settle for a watered down gospel that is inept in order to empower their lives or make any real significant difference in this world, because it is more focused on keeping relatively meaningless regulations than on being like Jesus.  Jesus does not want us to settle for the old wine skins that we have in our lives that are incapable of producing love, joy and peace…but, wants us to be filled with the Spirit who can bring these virtues alive in us.  Jesus does not want us to settle for the old traditions, such as the illustration of keeping a regular fast for the purpose of keeping a regular fast, and miss the genuine life that He has to bring.  Jesus didn’t intend for us to do the same thing day after day, week after week, settling into a rote system without hardly lifting up our heads to breathe the spiritual air that is there for us to breathe.  Jesus did not intend for us to go through the motions of so as to miss out on what it is that He is really wanting to do in and through us!  This passage is the essence of Jesus’ religion…we need to consider and reconsider what it is that Jesus expects from us.  We have a mission here on this earth to fulfill, and we need to continue to invent and reinvent the wheel as it relates to what it is that Jesus wants us to discover in relationship to this.

Blessings, Don

Resting His Case, pt.2

Friends,

Yep, this is one of those types of stories -- A Roman Catholic priest, a Christian pastor and a Jewish rabbi were talking one day about their belief in miracles.  The Roman Catholic said that he believed in miracles and illustrated it by telling of a recent incident when he had flown to Durban. As the aircraft began its final approach, a tremendous storm broke, the rain was pouring down, there were loud claps of thunder and the plane was being tossed about. The priest had prayed for a miracle and "for a hundred yards all around the plane there was a great stillness and the plane landed safely."  The pastor too said that he believed in miracles. When on a vacation in Cape Town, South Africa, he and his wife had taken the trip out to a nearby island.  On their return to Cape Town harbor, however, a great wind suddenly rose and the waves were very soon many yards high. They feared for their lives and the pastor prayed for a miracle, and "for a hundred yards around the boat there was a great stillness and the boat arrived safely in the harbor."  The rabbi said that he had come to believe in miracles through an event that had taken place the previous Saturday.  During a Sabbath service, a visitor from America had arrived with a suitcase full of ten-dollar notes which he chose to give to the synagogue.  According to the traditions, there was a problem concerning how to count all this money on the Sabbath? So, I prayed for a miracle, and “for a hundred yards all around the suitcase it was Wednesday!"  (Adapted from Andy Barnard's Sermon "Keep the Sabbath")

As we return to a group of people including Jesus, His disciples and some Pharisees, once again, we see how Jesus deals with the Pharisees concerning how they have interpreted the Sabbath.  As we discussed previously, the Sabbath law was given to Israel as a mark of her relationship with God (Exodus 20, 31:13-17, Nehemiah 9:12-15).  The Pharisees, who sacrificed to obey their Sabbath laws, thought that they were serving God by adding a number of regulations to what was already sufficient doctrine and practice.  When they accuse Jesus and His disciples, they believe that they are defending God. (Good thing folks today are not guilty of such actions). :-)

By declaring Himself, “Lord of the Sabbath,” Jesus affirms equality with the Father who gave the Sabbath.  In Mark’s account we see that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27), so Jesus continues to teach, train.  The context and background for all of this information is that the Sabbath was originally designed for man’s good.  Jesus comes to this place and time in order to point out that the traditions of the Scribes and Pharisees concerning the Sabbath actually run counter to and diminish the principle and law of the Sabbath itself. And so, as Jesus came to fulfill the Law, the legal purpose of the Sabbath…in being a part of the Law…was fulfilled and abolished.  Therefore, Christians are no longer under the authority of the Jewish Sabbath. By making the statement recorded in Mark 2, Jesus implicitly challenges the whole Sabbath theology of the post-exile Jews.  As indicated in the last message, to require man to deny his own needs in order to keep the Sabbath was to pervert the institution…men were to be free from the burdensome restrictions in keeping the day.  Jesus declares man’s freedom from the rabbinic Sabbath with all of its traditions in as much as He is Lord of the Sabbath.  All of this allowed Him to have the authority to do healings and perform other ministry on the Sabbath day, as we have seen.  So all of this is why the next part of the story makes more sense. 

Following the first discussion (Matthew 12:1-8), Jesus now actually goes to their synagogue, the Jews place of worship. This serves to reveal the growing tension between Jesus and Jewish religious establishment. A man is there who has a withered hand, which means that it is dry, lifeless…perhaps paralyzed.  The Pharisees quickly seize upon the situation and ask Jesus if it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath?  Jesus’ response is not to assert His own authority in any way, nor to quote some example from the Old Testament, but to point out the inconsistency of their own practice.  The religious leaders are strict in prohibiting the healing of someone with a malady, but not where their own property is concerned.  The irony being that they would make rules to save an animal, but would not waive them in order to save a man…so, I guess we now recognize these folks as the original tree huggers. ;-) 

Jesus serves by healing a man with a withered hand, which is almost incidental to the story behind the story.  But, the command for the man to stretch out his immovable hand illustrates that the healing is connected to the man’s faith…which is not unlike how Jesus handles some other healings.  The Pharisees see the healing as a deliberate challenge to their Sabbath traditions. A single infringement upon the traditions of the Scribes and Pharisees would not seem to be sufficient to warrant the reaction that they now display.  But, this second “transgression” taking place in such short order appears to be more than they can bear. So, the Pharisees plot together to consider how it is that they can destroy Jesus.  The Lord, understanding their hearts and their nefarious plotting, withdraws from there.

Ross Cochrane offers this -- yesterday, I got rid of some thorny weeds growing like trees in the back garden. The thorns were now like razor sharp nails and so it was difficult to get to the roots without punctures, scratches and a bad attitude. I knew that if I didn’t get to the roots, they would just grow again so I used the mattock. A mattock is a hand tool similar to a pickaxe, particularly suited for digging. Unfortunately, I am not! It took forever to dig around the roots and pull out the bulbous, deformed hand of the root system with its disfigured fingers reaching out insidiously in all directions. Hebrews 12:15 (NLT) warns us "...Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many." There were some poisonous, thorny people that Jesus had to deal with that day in Matthew 12. They were razor sharp in their responses to Jesus and just as destructive. The clawed fingers of their law system were distorted, malformed and particularly difficult to uproot. It is not at all surprising that Jesus uses a man with a deformed hand to illustrate what needed to be done if ever they were to be healed of a deformed heart.  This verse says something about Jesus. He didn’t back away from weeding God’s garden. He meets me on my turf. He confronts me about my legalism in the place where I am more deformed on the inside than this man’s withered hand, in the synagogue of my own making

We have to guard our hearts.  We don’t want to become like the Pharisees, making laws and regulations which bind the hearts and actions of men.  Unfortunately, this practice is still all too alive and well today in many places.  But, we must understand that Jesus comes to set us free from these matters.  Remember the beginning of last week’s message – He does not come to add burdens to our lives and spirits, but to give us rest for our souls. (Matthew 11:28-30, see also 1 John 5:1-4)  This principle of rest should follow times of service, as this is what keeps us fresh, energized and avoiding becoming weary or burned out. We do tend to think that we are invincible, however, and that we can work, work and work some more…but, it can and will catch up to us in physical, mental and emotional distress.  There was a very important purpose for the Sabbath from the very beginning, as the Lord planned it.  And it was intended to be man’s servant, not his master, as the Pharisees had made it.  As I mentioned previously, we need 30 hours in a day to sort everything we have going on, which is all the more reason why we must work at resting.  Granted, we do not keep an actual physical “Sabbath” in the literal sense.  But, in a very real, spiritual sense, we need to make and take time for ourselves, and with our families, not to mention some time for the Lord.

Blessings, Don

Putting New Wine in New Wineskins

Friends

I am indebted to someone(?) for some of these thoughts here, as I am uncertain where they came from. If you have a propriety interest in a portion of this message, let me know and I will certainly give credit where credit is due.

Most are pretty familiar with the wineskins parable of Jesus (Luke 5:36-39). The focal point is typically..."you must not put new wine in old skins or else they will burst" (vv.36-38). I think that we understand what Jesus is saying -- He was not interested in patching up Judaism, but was offering the leaders and the people a whole new way -- His way. He offers new life that is not some reformation of the old paths of the Scribes and Pharisees. Current application -- Jesus is not interested in patching up "our religion," but offers up a new way...a relationship that is dynamic and changing to follow His leading day by day. Yet, the intention of this message is not to focus so much on the familiar verses from this passage, but v.39, which seems like an odd, out of place statement. Upon further review, we will see that it is an integral part of what Jesus is trying to say.

"And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new...for he says, "the old is better"(v.39). This sure sounds like a wine lovers preference for old wine, right? Or, an excuse to hang on to old time religion. Remember, that this parable is delivered by Jesus in Capernaum in response to the Scribes and Pharisees who were very critical of Jesus' "radical" ministry. What Jesus was threatening was not their doctrine or their livelihood, but their traditions. The Scribes and Pharisees were committed to the past and resisted change. Jesus intended that His people be new wineskins...those who would hear and understand His dynamic, life-changing words. We are to present to Christ daily the new wineskin of an open mind, a receptive heart and a ready will to follow Him.

The challenge is not as simple as it sounds...because, like the Scribes and Pharisees, we become secure in our own traditions, pre-suppositions and resist change. We become satisfied with what we have experienced of the Lord's power in our lives and become fearful of new challenges. This wineskin becomes dry, brittle and inflexible as we fearfully try to maintain the status quo of our "life" in Christ. This old wineskin that Jesus speaks of could only hold water -- it was incapable of holding new wine. New wineskins are distinguished for their elasticity, flexibility and adjustability as containers of not only Jesus' new teaching, but of His indwelling Spirit presence.

Now, we come to see why Jesus' conclusion to the parable is challenging to understand. Jesus is not commending "old wine" to them, but condemning their inability to receive "new wine." Some say about the wine of their stage of growth in Christ -- "the old is better". But, what it really means is -- "allow me to stay where I am...I know all I need to know...I am content with what I have." The old wine in new skins presents some significant problems. We pray daily for the Lord's leading and His will for our lives, in our worship sing many hymns of commitment...and yet many would say that they have not received new spiritual power(?). Yet, what does old wine do in a new wineskin? It just sits there like water! Some would desire to offer the Lord a new wineskin, but want to fill it with old wine...they are thoroughly satisfied with the old wine of past experiences. Some constantly rehearse what has happened in the past, rather than rejoice in what the Lord is doing or wanting to do right now! Many of our greatest difficulties in our churches is the comfort of the uniformity and complacency of old wine.

We need to continually offer the Lord new wineskins that are ready for His dynamic power -- the new wine that he desires to pour into them...fresh ideas and strategies for evangelism, worship, programs, etc., where the Lord can truly use us to be His people for the world of the 21st century. If we live in this way, guided by His Spirit, we live according to faith and fear will have no power over us. Only new wineskins filled with new wine are able to handle this challenge.

Blessings, Don

Religion of the Heart

Friends,

A man relied upon an experienced guide while crossing a dangerous African swamp.  The two stepped from one clump of grass to another as they crossed.  The clumps all looked alike to the man, but the guide repeatedly warned about certain clumps.  They all appeared to be secure…but, while some of the clumps were fastened to rocks, others were free-floating.  The native had learned by experience how to tell the difference between the two.  What the guide knew that his follower did not could very possibly save his life.  He had learned wisdom through his experience.  He knew that if he did not take care to attend to the things that truly mattered, that all could be lost.

This is, in essence, what Jesus is saying in this section of Matthew 15 (vv.1-20). Jesus is dealing with Jewish leaders who had become not only distracted, but corrupt -- their hearts were not right with God.  They had indiscriminately stepped, religiously, where they were not supposed to, and this led them down a path away from God.  What they needed was a right religion -- one based upon a genuine relationship with God -- that would help them not to please themselves, but to seek God with all their hearts.  At times, we believers can say the right things, do the right things, keep all of the correct regulations, traditions…and still be far from God.  Unlike the Pharisees, we have every opportunity to make good, spiritual decisions for our lives, and this will ultimately be the difference between whether we sink or swim.  As I shared from John’s gospel recently, the Holy Spirit is the Advocate and Helper that we need.  God, through the Holy Spirit, is the guide that helps His people to know where to step. 

Meanwhile, in an unsurprising development, some Scribes and Pharisees come to test Jesus.  They accuse His disciples of breaking “the traditions of the elders.”  These traditions (or Mishnah) were a significant number of extra rituals and regulations that the Scribes and Pharisees thought the Jewish people should do as a part of their belief system.  Jesus’ disciples were not adhering to the ritual purification cleansings before eating bread.  (The stone jars at the wedding at Cana in John 2 were those that were used for such washings).  To the Pharisees and Scribes question, Jesus asks a question of His own…and by so doing, tells them that they are violating the Word of God for the sake of their traditions.  In a similar situation (Luke 11:37-39), Jesus tells the Pharisees and Scribes that “they clean the outside of the cup, but the inside is dirty”…that is, that they look good on the outside, but that they are full of wickedness.  They looked good, sounded good, probably even used their Axe body spray, but they were corrupt in their hearts. 

Jesus tells them, in essence, that they know that a Jew is not to speak evil of his father or mother (as seen in the Ten Commandments), yet they neglect their parents by taking their Corban, “retirement money” (similar to social security) “committed” to them and give it to God (as a contribution).  In so doing these Jews were claiming to be doing “the righteous thing.”  But, they were taking away from their parents, thereby making void God’s Word.  (It is what we call “straining for gnats and swallowing camels”…or nonsense).  Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:13 and plainly tells these Jews – “you are of two minds” (hypocrites).  Their hearts are “far, far away” from God, and because of this, their worship is in vain.  Jesus goes even further to explain His words (vv.10-11).  "Listen and understand.  What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth…that is what makes him 'unclean.'"  The disciples see it as a parable (v.15), but it is a critical statement.  The key thought is that…it is an inner, spiritual religion that matters, not an outer “going through the motions” religion.

Now the disciples come back and tell Jesus…in one of the great “duh” moments in the New Testament…saying – “Do you know that you offended the Scribes and Pharisees?”  Yes, He knows.  In fact it was possibly a shock value statement for a purpose -- He wants them “to hear and understand.”  And not just the religious folks, He wants His disciples to understand that these religious leaders are not reliable as “spiritual” guides.  Jesus presents two more images --”plants without roots”, and “blind guides,” in order to cement what He is saying.  Peter, speaking for the others (nothing unusual there) expresses confusion concerning what Jesus has been saying.  And for His part, Jesus is amazed at His disciples’ lack of understanding.  So, He makes one final spiritual application – what goes in the mouth (food, drink) is not as important (in a spiritual sense) as what comes out of the mouth.  What comes out of the mouth comes from the heart.  The point is -- everyone has a heart condition (spiritual), and it is either good or bad.  Jesus goes back to the beginning of the discussion to make His final point…it is not the washing of hands that defiles, but an unclean heart, life, which is the condition of the religious leaders.  If our life and religion keep us from seeing Jesus…and more than this, having His heart, mind, living like Him…then something has to change.  God is not going to be impressed with our worship on Sunday or any other day of the week (Romans 12:1-2) if it is not from the heart.  We must consider Jesus’ admonition to keep the proper perspective and strive to be spiritually focused.

I know that some have seen the following video, but I think it illustrates well…especially concerning those in our fellowship…what Jesus is talking about in this message.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_Clfx_hcVw.

Blessings, Don