While Jesus and his disciples were eating together they were surrounded by Pharisees and teachers of the law. They pointed out to Jesus that his disciples had not washed their hands, as it was custom to do so. Jesus used a verse from Isaiah to counter their judgment. In verses 6b-8 he said, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules. You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” The tradition of the ceremonial washing had merely become a ritual and was not part of God’s law or word to the Jews. They had shifted their focus from worshipping God to holding to human traditions. Their hearts did not have room for God. This issue can be related to the idea that our actions can save us, that they are more important than anything is. However, in Ephesians 2:8-9, Paul said, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” No works we do and no traditions can save us or can really make us clean. Being God focused is essential for someone who calls himself or herself a Christian. I noticed that as a Christian it is easy to fall into routines and following traditions that the church adopted. Every church has traditions and human rules everyone should follow. Sometimes, I feel like I have to do certain things because it is the right thing to do, e.g. going to meetings, but then I am only honoring God with my lips and not with my heart. Everything I do is in vain. It is not worth anything. If I come with that kind of attitude, I am wasting my time and energy because I am doing it just for the sake of having to do it and not because I want to do it.
Jesus continued his speech about traditions and God’s commands. He pointed out that the Pharisees were not only honoring God with their heart, but they were also putting their rules above God’s commands. Jesus uses the law on honoring the father and mother as an example. Some Jews decided they would give their money to God, which of course is not bad. Nevertheless, they were doing it for the wrong reasons. The money they gave was intended to help their parents but since they gave that money up, they did not have to help their parents anymore. One of God’s commands was, though, to honor mother and father. Jesus is trying to show that human laws should never come above God’s law. Pastor Ron Ward said in his message, “We must respect the word of God more than human tradition.” God already gave us commands to follow. We do not have to burden ourselves by making more rules or ones that are contrary to what God’s word says. God is above all things.
In verse 14 Jesus called the crowd and clearly told them, “Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them” (15). The Jews had thought that coming into contact with unclean people or gentiles would defile them, so they had to wash themselves. Jesus explained, though, that it is not what goes inside what makes someone dirty but what comes out does. What we say and do can defile us. It is not limited to actions or words, but our character or thoughts can also cause us to become defiled. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” It is important that we guard our heart. We need to be careful that whatever we say or do is not harmful to anyone. In the same way do I have to guard my heart and “use” it in the right way. Pastor Ron also asked us, “Where is your heart?” This question really made me think. Where is my heart? Right now, it seems like it is all over the place. I was not expecting to be spiritually fed throughout my trip to Chicago. It was like a refreshing retreat without any obligations. I was able to learn a lot about ministry and about my faults and myself in just two days. I have been regenerating from sins and problems I had caused in the last year where I had not been completely honest to people around me. I realized that my heart was everywhere but with God, even when I thought it was with God. I know he is trying to renew me right now and I am grateful that he loves me even though I have failed him in so many ways. Now there is nothing I can do to change things from the past, instead I want to focus on what lies ahead by letting God fill my heart.
I have to remember that in all I do it is not because of traditions or rules that I have adopted throughout the years but because I want to do it to glorify God. I also want to shift my focus back to God and worship him with and from my heart.
