Cleaning Time

Sermon Script

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. AMEN

Cleaning Time

A few years ago, I had a salesman drive in my yard. That’s not unusual, but I typically don’t give an unannounced salesman my undivided attention, but this one was different. He was very approachable and had the personality that drew me in like a long-lost buddy. He was very good at his job and he quickly got out a spray bottle and started demonstrating his product. It was a cleaner I will call “Brand X”, and by golly that salesman could clean oil off of cement like it was never there, make the chrome on my truck shine like never before, literally erase the bugs off my pickup bumper with a single swipe… he also claimed that if I washed my combine windows with Brand X…. it would repel the dust all day long. He worked and talked so fast I’m sure he could have convinced me to pour that product in my morning coffee. Brand X was the next best thing since sliced bread, and I was convinced I needed some. It would clean anything.

Brand X is what the Scribes and Pharisees needed as we see in Mark 7 a few verses before the Gospel lesson today and you can turn there if you like starting at verse 1….

Cleaning Tradition

This text is where Jesus criticizes the Pharisees for being overly concerned with man-made observances while failing to fulfill God’s commandments. And so, it came to be that these experts of the Law, so to speak, were sent from Jerusalem, which was at least a two-day journey, to convict Jesus and His disciples of breaking the Laws of Moses. They were quite aware of the popularity Jesus was attracting recently; healing, driving out demons, feeding the five thousand and doing so by not holding to the traditions of the elders.

This was more than these religious leaders could take and above all things, it was called to Jesus’ attention that the disciples did not wash their hands before they ate… What a shame I know… we wash before eating when possible and we especially want the kids to turn around and wash when they come a running. But we don’t always have that opportunity to wash before we eat, and it definitely is not part of our faith. However, the Scribes and Pharisees have a tradition of not only washing their hands, but several other cleaning traditions that they were hung up on to become ritually clean. Jesus tells them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandments of God in order to establish your tradition.” They were so focused on what Brand X would clean externally that they lost sight of what the Law was intended to do… which is to expose our uncleanliness within our hearts. 

This brings us to our Gospel lesson today which starts at verse 14.

Many traditions that the Scribes and Pharisees taught and passed from generation to generation had to do with cleaning. This also included what they considered as unclean food.

This is the message they retained from what Moses commanded some 1500 years prior. These Scribes and Pharisees lost focus of the commandments of God and placed their priority on traditions.

Uncleanliness Within

Jesus explains that uncleanliness is not about washing your hands, nor is uncleanliness associated with something you eat. It is what comes out of you within that is unclean. What comes out of your heart. “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness” … all these filthy things come from the heart and it doesn’t matter how hard we scrub with Brand X, it will not clean our heart.

But just like the Scribes and Pharisees with their traditions and me with Brand X. The focus on what needs cleaned is external. That multipurpose solution that will wipe away the filth from anything… But Jesus firmly reminds us that our problems are not outside of ourselves but within.

We live in a society that avoids looking within ourselves, the world is constantly persuading us that the things that go wrong is due to someone else or something else.

 The perception becomes that the reason we have issues is not due to our own faults, but because of someone else’s fault… Our sins are not because of our spouse, our friends, our parents, our children, our co-workers, our employers, or anyone else. Our sins come from within. The uncleanliness is not anywhere else but here (heart).

Deep Cleaning

This is why external solutions do not work without a change of heart. Heart cleaning, especially a change of heart, is off label for Brand X. But do you know what? Maybe, just maybe… I could hide my uncleanliness instead of going to all that work. Then I could look clean on the outside and no one will ever be to the wiser about all my clutter within.

Kind of reminds me of cleaning house in the early stages of married life. It wasn’t that bad of a job, whatever is close to the closet, toss in there and close the door. Whatever is closest to the bed, throw underneath there. Sweep the dirt under the rug and as long as the kitchen counter is cleared, it shouldn’t matter where the pots and pans are stored. Boom, I’m done, and life was good… Well, you probably guessed not for very long… 

externally I cleaned, and it looked fine to me. Since then, if I help clean, my heart better reflect my external actions… Just cleaning the externals is not effective, and it is not what God is looking for either.

Our cleaning must come from within, internally, right from our heart. The Pharisees and scribes had thought they could keep God’s law, and improve on God’s law, which would lead to their cleanliness.

They produced elaborate washing ceremonies to demonstrate their spiritual purity. They thought something they did on the outside could make them clean on the inside. When they lost their focus on the real purpose of the Law… they developed a misunderstanding of God’s desires… which left them looking outwardly instead of inwardly.

From The Heart

With God’s help and only God’s help, will we have the ability to clean our heart. That’s much different than a spray bottle full of Brand X, the multipurpose cleaner that I thought would clean anything.

Just take a moment and reflect what might need cleaned within your heart… Think about it… You can help your neighbor and love him, but do you from your heart? If you triumph over an addiction, have you really beaten it within your heart? If you have been able to curtail your tongue from sarcasm, cursing, or other things, have you really curtailed it from your heart? The world surrounds us and all of a sudden, just like any external cleaning, it doesn’t take long before its cleaning time again… within.

Moses says, in Genesis 6:5, “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Our sin continually clutters our heart. We can polish the chrome with Brand X all we want, but there is still rust beneath it.

We can strip old paint to bare metal and put on primer, but it’s still an old chunk of steel. We can refurbish a room with wallpaper and with beautiful paint, but it’s still an old house. It takes continual intentional effort.

Our heart may be hidden from man, but not from God. Just like my house cleaning, our external acts… at times… result in an attempt to cover up our internal mess. Our defilement comes from within, and that’s where the real cleaning needs to be done. That realization should humble us to repentance as God knows the truth, He sees our heart.

Put On Christ

But many times, as when I begin a thorough cleaning of the house, or grab my bottle of Brand X, my question becomes; “Where do I start?”

The Apostle Paul answers this question quite eloquently in the Epistle lesson of Ephesians 6…. Put on the armor of God.

With this armor… our spiritual defense… we can defend ourselves against the internal corruption the Devil thrives on. This armor is not heavy or clanky. Rather this armor is ever so invisible and real.

When worn properly it provides us with the best cleaning agent imaginable. By putting on this armor, we are putting on Jesus Christ Himself.

We put on Christ by knowing Him through Scriptures… We put on Christ by walking in the righteousness He gives us through our faith… We put on Christ by trusting in Him… We put on Christ by knowing He is there to extinguish the flaming darts of the evil one. We put on Christ through prayer and supplication… When God provides us with this protection… Then and only then is it possible for us to have a clean heart. Only then will it show that we just used the best cleaner on the planet.

Great Price 

I never finished my story about Brand X. This dynamic, energetic salesman mesmerized me into buying some of his product. However, I could not buy just one gallon, he only sold it in case lots. So yes, I agreed to buy a case and then found out the price. Oh boy howdy and color me red. That price definitely was a shocker… but I was hooked. I paid a great price just to get something clean.

A great price indeed…. But that was nothing compared to the price Jesus paid for our cleansing. He was beaten and flogged until He was barely recognizable.

He was mocked and cursed… He hung on the cross with the weight of the worlds sin on His shoulders… He struggled to breathe with every breath He took… Jesus died one of the most terrible, gruesome, and painful deaths in history, but He selflessly paid that price for you and me.

When Jesus said, “it is finished”, He didn’t only mean that His life on earth was finished. He was also declaring that all of our sins had been washed away by His suffering and death. When Jesus hung on the cross, He paid the price for our freedom and redemption. He did this willingly and freely for each and every one of us.

Jesus paid that price with His blood to give us the precious gift of eternal life. No sales pitch… no case lots… no fast talking… no Brand X.

And what does it cost us? Nothing… All this He freely done to release us from the bondage of sin… and all He wants in return is our clean heart.

Washed Clean

Yes, the cleaning process is ongoing. Our inward and outward sins will still clutter our lives. However, God will hold us accountable for the sins of our mouth, the sins of our hands, and the sins of our heart, and give us cleansing strength to see ourselves and the certainty of God’s mercy…. Clearly… Hebrews 10:22 gives us this assurance, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” 

God washed us clean through our Baptism, renews us with the sacraments, shows us His promise through His Word, and brings us to repentance by the realization that He Loved us so much that He sent His one and only Son to wash us clean. Inside and out. Let us now sparkle and shine with His grace.

And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus,

Amen