Clean Hands and Hearts Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 20-23 The focus of our learning and enlightenment this morning is the Gospel for today from Mark, chapter seven. Please hear again verses 14 and 15. Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.' " Just before our lesson begins we are told, in general terms, that people are crowding around Jesus and his disciples, following him wherever he goes. They want to be near him especially because of the miracles of healing that he is doing. They are so desperate that they beg even to touch his cloak for healing, and it works. I want you to imagine that you are among the crowd that is around Jesus and his disciples at the time of our lesson. It s been an interesting day for you, to say the least. A lot of excitement has been going on. The stories have been spreading fast and furious. Over and over again people are clamoring about how they have been healed by this man Jesus. You were skeptical at first when you heard the news, but with so much evidence before you, it must be true. But your mind is on more than just healings. You are much deeper in thought, wondering about just who this Jesus is. Some say he could be the Messiah. It hasn t escaped your notice that there are some Pharisees and teachers of the law up from Jerusalem. It s not every day that this happens. These people worked hard to achieve these positions of esteem in the capital city, seldom do they venture up here to the North Country. You are a bit in awe of these men. You have great reverence for their knowledge. Their whole life is spent studying and learning the law of God, not to mention the many rules that have been passed down by rabbis over the years. What was that number again? Oh, that s right, 613 special laws on how to live your life. You don t have them all memorized yourself. But you have done your best to keep in mind many of them. It seems it s the best way to live, after all. If these wise and learned men are doing it, (and they do seem so close to God) it must be the right thing to do. So you wonder what these men will have to say to Jesus, or about Jesus. You have heard him preach and teach once or twice. And you have noticed that there s
something different about what he has to say. You can t quite put a finger on it, but you do find yourself drawn to it, and you re not the only one. So you keep a close eye on Jesus, his disciples, and the Pharisees. You re hoping that maybe today, it will all come together. Finally the moment you ve been waiting for arrives. The Pharisees start to gather around Jesus. This looks official. What s this? Jesus and his disciples haven t been washing their hands before eating food? There must be some mistake! Of course they would know to do this. Jesus is too smart to forget that. I m sure that he will straighten this out, this misunderstanding. But then he speaks, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." Talk about a shocker! This can t be right! The Pharisees know more than anyone what is right and wrong. And now Jesus is calling them a bunch of hypocrites. They seem so close to God, how could it possibly be that they have twisted the Word of God into their own words? Besides, what s the big deal about washing your hands anyway? If they say you should do it, then why not just do it? But before you have a chance to really think this through; Jesus turns his attention to you and the rest of the crowd. Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean. Again you are stunned. Another teaching that goes completely against the Pharisees. Your entire life you have been taught to stay away from all these different things, or else you become unclean. And being unclean casts you outside of God s grace and presence. So you have watched what you eat, staying away from unclean foods. You steer clear of dead bodies and animals. You avoid all Gentiles and foreigners. You make sure to wash when you are supposed to wash, because that s what they told you to do. That s how they said you can stay close to the LORD. But this Jesus, this man who can perform miracles, who can heal diseases, he says we got it backwards. It s not what we take in that makes us unclean, but rather what comes out of us. You don t see his point. It s not sinking in. But he has more to say. "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of
men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' "Your head is spinning, but there is one thing that now comes clear. Jesus is saying, It s not all about your hands, it s about your heart. It s not all about your actions, but about your attitude. You never really thought about it this way before. You always just thought it mattered what you did. As long as you did well enough, tried hard enough, things would work out fine. But then one of the many Psalms you learned in Sabbath School returns to your memory. Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. It is a psalm of David (Psalm 24). And now its meaning rings true. The heart is the center of a man. It is his inner being. It s where all his thoughts and emotions come from. If anyone wishes to be near the LORD, to be allowed in his presence, his heart must be wholly dedicated to the Almighty God. What I do with my hands is not enough. It s what comes out of my heart; it s what comes out of me, that makes me unclean. That s what God sees more than anything. And suddenly a flood of bad memories, sinful memories come rushing into your mind. How many times has rage and anger filled your heart? How often have I been envious of my neighbor? How many times have I looked down on others? How frequently have I lusted? And that s just what was inside. What about all the things that came out of me? The lies I have told about others, my greedy ways of keeping back some of my offerings to the LORD, my bad mouth, my crude jokes. How unclean I must look to God! What a hypocrite I have been! How could I ever be allowed in his presence? What can I possibly do to make myself clean? But then by the grace of God another psalm of David comes to mind (Psalm 51). Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. David was a man after the Lord s own heart, you remember. And this was his prayer after he was caught at his lowest moment, committing adultery with Bathsheba and murdering her husband. Both his heart and his hands were unclean, filthy beyond belief. So what did he do? He cried out for mercy to the LORD, his Savior God. He begged for
cleansing. He asked that his sins be blotted out. He pleaded for God to create in him a pure heart. And he knew that God would do this for him. And so you stop in your tracks, right then and there, and you pray. O LORD, take away my sins. I have been a hypocrite. I have blindly followed others and not you. My heart is filled with shameful things, unclean things. I can t fix this, but you can. Cleanse me. Cleanse my heart and my hands. Give me a pure heart, a new heart, that I may remain in your presence forever. Have mercy on me, and show me your salvation. And at that moment as you finish your prayer, you look up, and see Jesus once again. You think about the rumors of this man. You think about the amazing things he has done. You think also about his message, how he has preached repentance over obedience. You realize, then, that this man must be the one. He must be the Messiah. He must be the Savior. Later in your life you hear more about this man, as one of his disciples returns to your town. He fills you in on what has been missing. He shows you how Jesus gave you the clean heart that you asked for. He tells you how he lived each day without sin. He tells you how he died even though he had done nothing wrong. But before your sadness grows to great, he tells you how he came back to life. He himself saw Jesus alive again. He spoke with him, learned from him, and watched him ascend into heaven. He tells you, Jesus did all of this for you. His death washed away your sins, those done with your hands, and those committed in your heart. His resurrection means that we are going rise from the dead too someday. He is going to take you to be in his presence forever! In your newly created heart you utter a prayer of thanksgiving for what you have seen and heard. But the disciple isn t done yet. He tells you about something called Baptism, a gift by which God gives you forgiveness, new life, the gift of the Holy Spirit. No, you don t have to do anything for it, it s God working for you, giving grace to you. He asks if you would like to be baptized, and you gladly says yes. Later on as he speaks to a whole crowd of baptized believers he tells of the wonders of the Lord s Supper. The body and blood of Christ offered in a holy meal where again Jesus offers forgiveness and a clean heart. You bring nothing to the table; God
gives it all to you, out of love for you. Your heart is bursting with excitement. You can t wait to partake of this gracious sacrament. And you find yourself thinking again about that time when you first considered clean hands and hearts. You rejoice in the fact that the LORD has enlightened your heart to see the truth. We don t do anything, Christ has done it all. Our hands are empty, but he fills them with his gifts. Our hearts were filthy, but now, by his blood, they are holy. Inside your soul you are screaming, I am clean! I am clean! The Lord has made me clean! And with this new heart and joy, you can t wait to give glory to God, to praise his name, by living his commands and following his laws. Not only with your hands, but with your heart as well. May God grant that each one of us this same spirit of obedience from the heart. Amen.