3/31: Lent 2019
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Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
10 Summoning the crowd, He told them, “Listen and understand: 11 It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
12 Then the disciples came up and told Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard this statement?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. 14 Leave them alone! They are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
15 Then Peter replied to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”
16 “Are even you still lacking in understanding?” He asked. 17 “Don’t you realize that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a man. 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies. 20 These are the things that defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”
Intro
Intro
As we continue on in our Lent series, I wanted to take some time to just recap some of the principles we have already discussed. You will recall that the theme for the entire series is that “Lent leads us to repentance and that repentance produces in us sanctified and grateful lives”. Repentance from our sins leads us to reaffirm the truth that things are not as they should be. We live in a fallen world that has been corrupted by sin, which is summed up by the doctrine of Total Depravity.
But despite the fact that we do sin, we know that forgiveness is offer by God to those who come to him in godly repentance. We turn from our sins and we know that God is faithful, always, even when we are faithless. This cause us to gain a better understanding of the mercy and grace that He has given to us. And so we continue to lean on Him for strength to keep ourselves from idols. Depending on Christ, who also faced temptations just as we do, but overcame them through the power of the Spirit and the Word of God. We can do so with full confidence that, in Christ, we are able to approach God trusting in His faithfulness and provision to carry us through all of moments of despair. He is supreme over all things, and He cares for His children. He will never leave us, and has promised to never leave us.
Do not grumble against Him as though He were absent or is too far or too weak to assist you. Trust in the One who is all powerful, all love, all just, and all holy. Ultimately, what we are realizing is that more than anything our problem is that we are lacking, and often times misappropriating, worship. We worship weakly, wrongly, and to the wrong who. And this morning, we want to reflect a bit deeper on the fact that even though we may be in a season of self-denial in our fasts, and reflection on our sins and His goodness, we can still do that with improper worship.
Body
Body
We have been fasting various things this past month and while this is commendable, it is also something that we must be cautious of. Especially in times when we are tempted to think that we are doing something good for God, as if He should be lucky or that He now must bless us because of the sacrifices that we have made. The reality could not be any further from that.
A lot of times we do certain ‘good’ things because we are trying to invoke some sort of response from the receiving party. And this is true even for every single one of us and it starts at a very young age for us babies are known to cry to invoke specific responses from their parents. They cry and when they get the attention they learn that their parents are at their beck and call. Even as babes we are self-centered or as David said, conceived in sin (Psalm 51:5).
And we do not just see this played out in infants and in children, we see it even in adults. Perhaps you see it in your workplace, the one person who is the “yes man”. They go along with everything that the boss says because they want to be liked and they see that it brings them some sort of benefit so they continue to do that. If you do not know who that person is, be careful, it might be you.
We do not do good in order to invoke some sort of response, to be seen by man (Matt 6:1), because we are forced to, or even because we want to generate enough equity or stock in a relationship so that that person owes us anything. And if we are not to do that with our neighbors than why would we ever think that we should do that with God, the creator and sustainer of everything, to include your very life!
And so in our worship of God, we are very careful and should consistently evaluate the condition of our hearts. And lest we sit there and think well i don’t have a problem because i don’t ever do anything. Even that is wrong and a lack of worship. A lack of righteousness and holiness is also false worship. A life that is not full of Gospel grace, a life that does not evidence or shows very little evidence of grace for neighbor is one in danger of going in the other direction. When performing outward acts of righteousness we must remember that they too can become idols. They too could be what we worship as we feel safety, satisfaction, and significance in the “good things” that we do. No matter what the outward act is, if it is not redeemed by an inward change, it is not done in love and for the glory of God, that act of worship is oriented towards an idol.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
This is fact that Jesus calls out in the passage which we read this morning. As the people of God, we are all called to read our Bible, to pray, to fast, to preach the Gospel. And you know that because you may be feeling the conviction when you lack in it. But we do not do those things because we have to or because we are trying to avoid punishment. We do it in love.
In His confrontation with the Pharisees, Jesus emphasizes a core gospel principle: The root of our sin is within the heart. Acts of piety are meaningless if there is not an inward change. And we all know that we cannot cause this inward change. We do not contribute anything to the work of regeneration. It is all of God, a work of the Spirit. But as new creations we are not to go on living in darkness as we used to, living the same way that we used to. We walk in sanctification, we walk and live in the new identity that we have, being children of God who are called to be holy.
During Lent, we understand that our good works are not steps to holiness; they are acts of devotion toward a loving Savior. During this season, our hearts are more exposed as we deny self. Through fasting, prayer and contemplation, we begin to see what areas of our hearts are still drawn toward lesser things.
Denying self doesn’t remove what’s in our hearts—it simply exposes it. Only through the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word can our hearts begin to see transformation. John tells the Church, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
We are not as the Pharisees, who were hypocrites, whom Jesus proclaimed that Isaiah prophesied of,
8 These people honor Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me.
9 They worship Me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commands of men.”
We worship Him with hearts that have been washed clean. With hearts that are alive as Ezekiel spoke of, no longer hearts of stone, but living ones. And this heart produces right worship.
3 “Why have we fasted, but You have not seen?
We have denied ourselves, but You haven’t noticed!”
“Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast,
and oppress all your workers.
4 You fast with contention and strife
to strike viciously with your fist.
You cannot fast as you do today,
hoping to make your voice heard on high.
5 Will the fast I choose be like this:
A day for a person to deny himself,
to bow his head like a reed,
and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 Isn’t the fast I choose:
To break the chains of wickedness,
to untie the ropes of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free,
and to tear off every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
to bring the poor and homeless into your house,
to clothe the naked when you see him,
and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will appear like the dawn,
and your recovery will come quickly.
Your righteousness will go before you,
and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.
This passage in Matthew however is in a much larger context that begins earlier in this chapter. It is a response from Jesus to a question posed by the Pharisees
1 Then Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked, 2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat!”
They were so worried about these ritual cleansing and keeping of the law, they had neglected the heart that the individual was to have in keeping the commands of God. God never desired to have a people to worship Him out of compulsion, but to rightly worship Him. He is not looking for superficial faith, but true faith.
And the “law” that they were referencing was not truly a law from God, but a tradition of the elders. A set of man-made laws and regulations that were irrelevant and burdensome, completely unlike the laws of God. Some of the traditions that they had even contradicted the original intent of God’s law. And so the handwashing ritual, while a good thing, neglected the real meaning of being washed internally. To having been spiritually washed.
The Pharisees had knowledge. They had a lot of knowledge and had committed themselves to studying God’s Word and, early on, rightly calling the nation to keep hold of God’s law. But their knowledge had also become a problem for them. They became to rigid in making the doctrine about adherence instead of devotion. A problem that continued even in the Corinthian church.
1 About food offered to idols: We know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up. 2 If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know it as he ought to know it. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.
A problem that continues now. They were, as Jesus called them...
14 Leave them alone! They are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
The pit that a blind cohort falls into may hurt, but how much worse to be lead into a pit of eternal destruction?
Conclusion
Conclusion
Place your heart before the Lord in the light, ask Him to expose any wayward part and request His grace to change. We don’t want to deny self for its own sake but to reorient our hearts back toward a loving God who has secured our redemption in Christ. May the Spirit work in your heart this week as you continue on your journey with Christ in the wilderness.
As we grow in knowledge of Him through His word, do not let it puff you up so that your heart is hardened against the truth that it is teaching us. Do not neglect to remember that God’s Word is not meant to be callous laws given from a distant God to a people who He expects to follow blindly. Not at all. They bring us to a deepening devotion to Him.
Confidence
Conviction
Conduct
SUGGESTED FAST: RADIO, PODCASTS AND MUSIC This week, consider trading your favorite podcast or your daily dose of music or talk radio for silence and solitude. Instead of turning on something when you get in the car, use this time to ask God to fill your heart and mind with His presence and to hear His voice more clearly. Consider choosing a few verses to memorize and use the time you’d normally spend listening to music, the radio or a podcast in thoughtful meditation of God’s Word.