Looking good on the inside

custom. It continues to be a tradition in the East among a majority of Muslims, Hindus and other Asians of today who still use their fingers to eat. In fact, most restaurants in many of these countries have several hand washing sinks in the dining area. Personal hygiene and cleanliness is a great thing but it does nothing for the soul. Here in the United States we might not be washing our hands before we eat but certainly all of us take much care to see that we keep our bodies clean. Not only do we shower pretty much everyday, we also supplement this with deodorants, perfumes and clean clothing. I am sure that all of you have taken much care to make yourselves look good and presentable for Church this morning - you not only want to look good but you also want to smell good and that is great! You are clean outside, but ask yourself if the same can be said about your inside?
Jesus is not so concerned about cleaning our hands as he is about cleaning our hearts. In verse 15 He said “Nothing outside a man or woman can make them `unclean’ by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a man or woman that makes them `unclean.’ " And what are some these things on the inside? Scripture tells us they are evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. It is easy to cleanup on the outside but how many of us can boldly say that we are clean inside from all these things?
As you know, my wife teaches in a pre-school and once in a while children use bad language. When this happens, I have heard her tell the child that if they should do that again, she would have to wash their mouth with soap and water! You and I know that in a literal sense that is not a fix to the problem. Similarly for you and me, soap and water will not fix the problems that we have on the inside. What comes out is a result of what is within and the only way to clean out the mess inside is to allow Jesus to occupy those sinful spaces of our lives.
Quite often like the Pharisees there are also times when we too are quick to "size up" people or make a judgement on someone based on how they might look on the outside. All that glitters is not gold and at the same time all that does not glitter is not garbage. I would like to leave you with a story told by a Lady who lived across the street from John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore tells where she tells of how an old and ugly Fisherman had an inner beauty that brought great joy and happiness to her family.

The lady and her family lived downstairs and rented some rooms upstairs to out-patients of the hospital.

One summer evening as she was fixing supper, there was a knock at the door. She opened it to see a truly awful looking man who was hardly taller than her eight-year-old. His face was red and raw and seemed swollen and lopsided. Yet his voice was pleasant as he said, "Good evening. I’ve come to see if you’ve a room for just one night. I came for a treatment this morning from the eastern shore, and there’s no bus till morning." He said he’d been hunting for a room since noon but with no success, because no one seemed to have a room.

"I guess it’s my face...” he said, “I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says with a few more treatments it would be better"