WEEDS, WATER, AND INSECTS
Mark 7:1-23 (NIV)
Sermon Objective: There are natural enemies to growth that must be confronted and overcome through spiritual weapons.
SERIES INTRO:
We are in a sermon series today from Mark’s Gospel called “Life on the Farm.” It will focus on some of the basics of the Christian faith. Specifically, we will be looking at are some of the non-negotiables that define Biblical Christianity.
SERMON INTRO:
I began my ministry as a 23 year old in southern Illinois. It was there that I learned about wheat and corn farming. It was there I rode my first combine. I discovered that farming crops is significantly different than livestock. The weather in Illinois is also quite different than it is in Texas and Oklahoma. The seasons were to be respected and they created a rhythm for the farmers that could not be violated or overridden easily. There were certain times of the year that you turned your soil and planted and certain times that you brought in the harvest.
Crop farming has other interesting distinctions from cattle farms too. I became aware of “the enemies.” As essential as water is to farmers it can also be an enemy; as harmless as an insect seems to many it is a crop farmers nightmare; as innocuous as a weed might seem it is corn farmer’s competitor.
Water at the wrong time means you can’t get your crops in the ground … or you can’t bring in the harvest.
Insects come in all forms and are always a threat. Soil borne pests attack the seeds and the root system; others attack the stalk, leaves, and the fruit. Scientists and farmers are always seeking new and more effective ways to combat this enemy.
Weeds compete for moisture and nutrients. They can take over a field and choke out a wheat harvest. Agrochemists are always working with the farmers to protect the harvest and the ecology. They are always attempting to find ways to produce a stronger and better yield.
The farmer has to know his enemies if he is to outsmart them … if he is to see his desired effect accomplished in spite of them.
The same applies to Kingdom living too. There are enemies of the soul. Becoming aware of them is essential if we are to see the desired effect accomplished.
In today’s passage Jesus exposes spiritual enemies.
Mk 7:1 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and
Mk 7:2 saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were “unclean,” that is, unwashed.
Mk 7:3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.
Mk 7:4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles. 19 )
Mk 7:5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?”
Mk 7:6 He replied, “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.
Mk 7:7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’
Mk 7:8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.”
Mk 7:9 And he said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!
Mk 7:10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’
Mk 7:11 But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God),
Mk 7:12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother.
Mk 7:13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”
Mk 7:14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.
Mk 7:15 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.’’”
Mk 7:17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable.
Mk 7:18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’?
Mk 7:19 For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.”)
Mk 7:20 He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’
Mk 7:21 For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
Mk 7:22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.
Mk 7:23 All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’ ”
Crop farming definitely has its enemies … the interesting thing is that these enemies can look like friends. When they act right and do the right things they can be beneficial but when they gain control and start running the farm, well, then they are an enemy.
• Water is essential … too much water is destructive.
• Insects can be helpful … too many are destructive.
• And “weeds” … well … there is a place for alfalfa … but it isn’t in the wheat field.
Just as the farmer must know and protect against his enemies so should the Christian. Let’s look at a few of our enemies that can erode the soul.
BUSYNESS (TRADITION)
The Greek word for “tradition” (paradosis) is also the root word for “surrender.” That gets to the core of the matter – what you will give yourself to, God or a replacement?
Defining spirituality through busyness is a dangerous trap.
• Those who do so may find they cannot do enough (this was martin Luther’s discovery). Regardless of the works they seem to be lacking and having to do more.
• Others begin to feel superior to those who do less, or different, acts. This was the downfall of the Pharisees.
The Pharisees deemed themselves holy (pure / right with God) because of certain rituals and traditions.
That is why they were so often offended by Jesus. He found his spirituality in his relationship with the Father.
• This explains how Jesus could touch a leper (1:41), a corpse (5:41), be touched by a defiling woman (5:27-28), and eat with sinners (5:17) without fear of defilement..
Busyness easily does two things:
1. It Produces Hypocrites (7:6)
• It is possible to look right and sound right and yet be entirely wrong.
• To talk of love and not love; to speak of forgiveness and not forgive is hypocrisy
• Beware of lip service not heart service
2. It Hinders (makes impossible) Real Worship (7:7)
• Worship can only be defined by what goes on inside you – not by actions
• The only ones who know if you are truly worshipping are you and God.
Jesus challenges his opponents to a more radical understanding of spirituality than they embraced.
• He moves them from externals to internals.
• We must look to the “heart” or the “person within” as the source of righteousness not or actions. Our actions must be spawn by the condition of the heart not be established in spite of the heart’s condition.
• What Jesus is doing is moving the discussion from law and regulation to love and relationship – the is a new and radical concept!
• The Pharisees show lip service (external allegiance to God’s demands) while ignoring the personal rupture in their relationship to God (“their hearts are far from me”).
BARRENNESS (EMPTINESS)
My experience and observation is that busyness often leads to barrenness. We think activity can replace relationship. We think it will fill the void within. Sadly, it often leads to disillusion not fulfillment. Sometimes it also leads to self-righteousness too.
But God is not looking for your works and deeds … God is looking for a contrite/broken heart.
BLEMISHES (CORRUPTION/UNCLEANNESS)
What a tragedy that religious people would ignorantly practice their religion and become worse for doing it. But it happens all to often.
• Note the tragic sequence
o {1} Taught human doctrine as God’s Word (Mk. 7:7)
o {2} Laid aside God’s Word (Mk. 7:8)
o {3} Rejected God’s Word altogether (Mk. 7:9)
o {4} Robbed God’s Word of its power (Ml 7:13)
The religious people thought their works (and the beliefs) made them acceptable to God. But what God is looking for is a heart (inner person) that is turned towards Him. The condition of the heart determines the relationship with God. Not one’s deeds.
You are never given right standing (purity) by your actions. Jesus exposes their corruption by showing them what lies within their heart.
• Evil thoughts = the inward act of choosing that which is offensive to God over a known and righteous alternative
• Sexual Immorality = (porneai) = trafficking in all sexual vices
• Theft
• Murder
• Adultery – violating the covenant of commitment with one’s spouse
• Greed = “To have more” – the curse of wanting what others have and what one does not already have
• Malice = the desire to harm or inflict evil on another
• Deceit = Guile = “bait” and has the word picture of the Troy Trojan Horse story. It is being crafty, cunning, or treacherous. It is scheming, trapping, and setting someone up for harm.
• Lewdness = Wanton Wickedness = a disposition of the soul that resist discipline, no restraints, lost to decency and without any shame
• Envy = (Ophthalmos poneros) “evil eye” – hatred of others success or good fortune, jealousy and envy
• Slander = blasphemia = insult God or man
• Arrogance = Pride = showing one’s self above. This is a inner vice that may never show outward expressions but lives and rules all man’s motives within.
• Folly = intentional choice to be brainless – to choose to be a fool
Mk 7:23 All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’ ”
Be careful; do not go through the list of sins and excuse or condemn yourself. That misses the point. Jesus is suggesting that if you can do one – you can do them all – they all spring from the same place.
CONCLUSION
Weeds, water, and insects have a place on the farm but in excess they become the enemy.
There are enemies of the soul too. They can appear to be pious and wholesome but inwardly they are eating away at you.
o Man’s Religion
o Outward forms
o Bondage
o Trifling rules
o Outward piety
o Neglect and replacement of the Word of God
o Genuine Spirituality
o Inward faith
o Liberty
o Inward purity/holiness
o Exalts God’s Word
Jesus’ entire ministry is focused on solving this all too human problem of genuine defilement. Jesus’ ministry on the cross is the only way to rid one’s self of the heart’s impurity.
As we see from the stories today in Mark’s Gospel, any man-made solution just adds to the problem.
Part of the solution lies in the word “tradition.” Do you remember what I said the root of that word was? “Surrender.” The problem is, the people were surrendering to the wrong authorities.
Conquering the enemies of the soul begins when you surrender to God’s authority … His Word. When you choose to turn and become obedient God.
He who has ears to hear,
Let him hear
