Deuteronomy 4: 1 – 9; James 1: 17 - 27; Mark 7:1 – 8; 14 – 23 (Sermon)

About 30 years ago there was a Broadway Musical called, "Fiddler on the Roof". The song that is most remembered is "Tradition". As important events were celebrated in that family or in their community one of the children would ask, "Why do we do it this way?" And after a rambling explanation of the tradition, the father would say, "I don’t know how this tradition started, but it is tradition."

When traditions are followed without knowing where they came from or why they are followed, helpful things can become harmful.

In our reading from Mark’s gospel, the Pharisees came to Jesus and criticized Jesus’ disciples because they did not wash their hands before eating. The Pharisees were not concerned about health issues, but rather they were concerned about violating a Jewish tradition. Traditions were important to the Pharisees because they equated breaking Jewish tradition with a broken relationship with God.

Jesus chastised them for their judgmental question. Jesus accused them of being so concerned about tradition that they had forgotten what was really important – the meaning of the Law. They had gotten so wrapped up in the outward expression that they had lost sight of their relationship with the Lord. Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites then Jesus quotes from Isaiah where it says, "This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." (29:13)

Jesus told the Pharisees that they were only looking at the outward appearance of people and were judging that person’s goodness and faithfulness on external appearances.

Then in verse 8, Jesus’ response cut to the heart of the matter. "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of man." Wow! That really smarted.

Next Jesus shifted the focus form the manner of eating to the real issue and that is what is in a person’s heart. The Bible teaches that the heart is the seat of emotions, intellect, and will. It is the heart that speaks to God. It is the heart that receives God’s Word and understanding. It is what comes out of a person’s heart that is a true reflection of a person’s relationship with God.

The list of vices in verses 21-22 serve as a warning of what sort of things must not be in one’s heart. In contrast, the hearts of Jesus’ disciples must be pure and centered on the Lord.

Our text causes us to examine ourselves as individuals and as a church. We need to do a critical reflection of what we do and why we do it.

This passage calls on us to examine ourselves as individuals and as a congregation. We need to examine our external practices with our internal motives. Are we worshiping with our lips and our hands or are we worshiping Almighty God with our hearts?

In a few minutes we will celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Hundreds of years ago in Scotland it was a tradition in the Presbyterian Church for the Elders to visit every member of the congregation the week before the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was to be observed. If the Elders determined you to be worthy, you were given a communion token. Only those who had a communion token would be served communion on Sunday morning. Fortunately this Scottish tradition was dropped because an Elder cannot look into a person’s heart and see if they are worthy. But this tradition did emphasize the point that everyone needs to properly prepare themselves to receive the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is a sacred time of communion. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we are joined with our Lord and with all other believers so we need to be prepared.

Each week there has been a notice in the bulletin and there was a reminder in the newsletter that we would observe communion today. So we each need to ask ourselves, "Did we properly prepare ourselves to receive communion?"

Is communion just a tradition? Is communion just a ritual we go through once a month? Could you adequately explain the meaning of the Lord’s Supper to someone who was not a Christian? Or after sputtering say, "I don’t know; it is just tradition." .

To the un-churched one of the biggest criticisms of the church is: and I quote, "They are always asking for money." How would you answer this criticism? Would you say, "I don’t know why the preacher passes the offering plate each Sunday; it is just tradition." or could you explain that it is an offering, not a collection? Could you convince them that it is an opportunity for you to show God how much you love Him? It is to be a spontaneous response of our love for the Lord. We all need to ask ourselves, "Is the amount of my offering a true reflection of my love for the Lord?" Jesus said to give in proportion to what God has given to you. How do you think God feels when you tip the waitress in a restaurant more on Saturday night than you put in the offering plate on Sunday morning?

Most every Sunday we sing the "Doxology" after receiving the offering. Is this a time of praise or do we just mouth the words from rote? Worship should never become routine. So today we will sing the Doxology to a different tune.

Some churches kneel and others stand for prayer. Our posture really doesn’t matter as long as we are bowing and pouring out our hearts to God. We all need to ask ourselves, "Does my mind wander during the Prayer of the People? Am I praying along with the Pastor?"

In some churches the tradition is for the people to say Amens throughout the sermon. We need to ask, "Is that Amen coming out of the heart OR is it to call attention to oneself?" Amens during the sermon are not common in the Presbyterian Church because we don’t want to disrupt the Holy Spirit speaking to the rest of the congregation. But a sincere heartfelt response is always appropriate if it is given to glorify God.

As we read through the gospels we find Jesus’ harshest criticism was not directed to the murderers, thieves, or adulterers. But rather Jesus’ harshest criticism was directed to people who meant well and faithfully practiced their religious traditions. This should be a wake up call to us in the church.

During the past 2-½ years there have been a lot of changes at Mt. Paran – changes to the building, furniture, the order of worship, the music. We have broken a lot of traditions.

I am so very proud of each one of you for being receptive to change. We need to constantly look at what we do and why we do it. We need to make sure everything we do is true to scripture and is pleasing to Almighty God. Any change requires discernment and change should cause us to do a self-evaluation to insure our actions and our reactions are pure and pleasing to the Lord. ]I am so thankful for the joy and exuberance of the Cameroon church music. Thank you for teaching us how to sing with joy.

As we sing, as we pray, as we listen to God’s Word read and proclaimed, as we confess our sins, as we bring our offerings, we each need to do a critical self-analysis. Ask yourself, "Am I doing this by rote or tradition or am I truly honoring God with all of my heart? Is my worship half-hearted or ceremonial?"

The bottom line is this. What does Jesus think about our service of worship? Are we so steeped in tradition that we stifle the Holy Spirit? As individuals are we just going through the motions? Would Jesus say our hearts are far from Him?

As we begin a new church year we need to reflect on our personal traditions and our church traditions. Are our personal habits and traditions bringing people to Jesus or … are they turning people away. Are our church programs helping people to grow closer to the Lord or … are they making a few people exhausted trying to keep up the tradition? What do we need to hang on to and what do we need to give up? What do we need to start as we move into the new life God is calling us to this fall? Change is good because it causes us to examine our motives. We need to open our minds to the Holy Spirit’s leading and we need to keep our eyes on Jesus! … If we do our hearts will be close to the Lord! Let us pray!