When Hearts Attack
Text: Mark 7:14-23
In
the name of Jesus. Amen.
Dear
friends, even if you were to quit all of your habitual cursing, swearing,
drunkenness, lust, greed, and gossip, that would not make you a Christian. You might go to hell for all that. God is more concerned about the attitude and
status of your heart![1]
That
statement is a paraphrase of an old Lutheran theologian in a lecture to a bunch
of young men training for the ministry.
His point was that these future pastors should not go into their future
pulpits to simply rant about horrible sin that may be running wild in the
congregation. He was trying to show them
that continual ranting would be useless.
Otherwise stated, the people will certainly quit the sinful practices
that are rebuked from the pulpit, but then in two weeks’ time the parishioners
would then return to their old ways. The
reason why? This kind of preaching is
aimed at the surface level and does not aim at the heart! This kind of ranting is like cutting down the
top of a nasty weed; however, as you know the weed will just grow back. Clean the outside of a cup without cleaning
the inside, the water will never be poured out clean. Put a Band-Aid over a portion of skin cancer:
it becomes concealed, not destroyed.
Wash, polish, and wax the outside of a coffin, it does not change the
fact that it is full of dead man’s bones.
Listen,
dear friends, to rant against these visible sins, without getting to their
sources, does not accomplish much. The
reason why this is so, is that from within, from the human heart, evil and visible
intentions come forth.
Now,
it is true that God created humanity as good; however, sin is like a nasty
virus that corrupts mankind. It goes
deep. As a virus is a small infectious
particle that invades living cells and wreaks havoc on the whole human body,
sin likewise is throughout all of mankind as well. This means that you and I are not slightly
infected with the virus of sin, but rather this corruption is so deep that
there is nothing complete or uncorrupted in the human body or soul. Everything is infected: our thoughts, our
emotions, our external actions, and ours doings. All infected.[2]
Furthermore,
the damage of this virus of sin is so bad that we typically do not even
recognize it within our body and soul, but boy do we recognize it in outward
actions, especially the sinful actions of our neighbors. What I mean is that we can see this virus of
sin at work, not in high temperatures or cold shakes or runny noses, but rather
we see this virus of sin at work in the visible actions of theft, murder,
fornication, adultery, slander, and so forth.
The
religious leaders during Jesus’ day were certainly serious and attentive to
these visible sins. It can be said
though that these religious leaders did not recognize or see sin like an infectious
internal virus. But rather, they saw sin
like a germ. You know what I am talking
about! Germs: they are found on toilets,
handrails, door knobs, cell-phones, pencils, and keyboards. These nasty germs are lying upon unclean
things waiting to pounce on you and get you sick. To the point, the religious leaders saw sin
not as an internal virus within mankind, but as germs that were out there on
dirty things. Thus, in order to protect
themselves from these germs of sin, spiritual masks and spiritual gloves were
needed. Spiritual caution tape was
required. They concocted 613 rules to
protect themselves from germs, to keep themselves away from sin. Do not do this, but do that. Keep away from this and keep away from
that. Look there, sinful germs; stay
away. Go here, it is sanitized, this
path is clean and free from germs.
Please
know that this was not and is not all bad.
You and I should—yes, should—avoid these sin-germs. The Apostle Paul
says, “Examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain
from every form of evil.” Exposing
oneself to sin-germs is not good. No
rationale mind knowingly eats filthy germ infested dirt.
But
like we heard from our opening illustration, even if you or I could keep all
the germs away, that would not make us a Christian, for we have not dealt with
the real issue. That is to say, we have
not dealt with the virus of sin within… the virus of sin that is at the root of
all problems. You may sanitize yourself
of these sin-germs and you may purify your surroundings of these sin-germs as
well, but you have not dealt with the sin-virus that lay within.
Jesus
is really right; we must listen to Him.
He said, “There is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile,
but the things that come out are what defile.”
This means that the greatest threat of evil for you and me is not some
germ out there, but rather, an infectious virus right in your midst, the virus
of sin that has permeated your whole being.
I
don’t know about you, but this idea of sin as a virus that has infected my
thoughts, words, and deeds, terrifies me.
I can somewhat deal with the idea of sinful germs out there that I need
to avoid, but to hear from Jesus that I carry the sin-virus around inside of
me? That petrifies me, and it should do
the same to you as well. This is not
good.
Indeed,
Jesus says that deep down in our hearts is the source of evil, not good. Jesus says that we cannot trust our hearts
for good. We cannot trust our heart for
truth. Jesus basically says that we
cannot trust our hearts – that our hearts are infected within. You and I carry within us a deep core of
rotten viral filth that is our sin. It
is disturbing to us to hear from Jesus that what is closest to us—our
hearts—betrays us.
Furthermore,
do you know what the most troubling characteristic of this sin-virus within us
is? The most troubling aspect is that
you and I can do nothing about it. Every
righteous deed we try to do … every pure thought we try to have is infected by
the evil that is within us. We cannot
help ourselves because our own heart betrays us and works diligently to drag us
down to hell. What hope do we have
against such a severe sin-virus?
...
My
friends, we would be lost and infected forever unless delivered from sin,
death, and everlasting condemnation by a salvation that is beyond us – outside
of us – greater than us.
Dear
friends, hear the gospel! Jesus Christ
the Son of God has given Himself—all of Himself, nothing held back—to sin
infected, virus stained, people like you and me. He withheld nothing—for you.
If
anyone asks you about yourself, you can actually confess that you are one of
those virus infected sinners. But you
can also confess and you should confess—no you must confess with boldness—that
Jesus Christ is your Lord and that He has redeemed you and forgiven you from
the infectious consequences of sin. You
are forgiven! Yes, you! You, who have been baptized into Christ’s
death and resurrection, confess confidently that Jesus has snatched you from
the jaws of hell, won you, delivered you from the sin-virus-death you deserve,
and restored you to the Father’s favor and grace. Confess confidently in this world that is
infected by the virus and germs of sin, that you are not possessed by the grips
of this sin-virus, but belong to the Lord who was made to be this sin-virus for
you. Confess unashamedly, that this Lord
Jesus Christ has taken you under His cleansing and healing protection, because
He was damned in your stead.[3]
Now,
it is true that as you live life in this veil of tears that this sin-sick-virus
will continue to cling to you until your death.
Day by day as long as you live, this sinful nature is carried around
your necks. Otherwise stated, it is true
that the germs of sin will still abound around you. And it is also true that you will suffer
setbacks to this virus and these germs in your times of weakness. When this happens to you though, you may be
tempted to run and grab Clorox bleach, hand sanitizers, masks, cleaning rags,
and so forth. In other words, when you
are deceived and suffer defeat to this sin-virus and sin-germs, when sin has
its way with you, you may be tempted to try and scrub the sin out of your life. You may be tempted to bleach it out. You may try to concoct your own antibiotics
and medicines to fight the virus and germs of sin. Do not go here. The reason why? No matter how hard you scrub, no matter how
much you clean, no matter how much you sanitize, you cannot eradicate this
sin-virus. You cannot do surgery on
yourself. You cannot cleanse
yourself. You are not the Great
Physician. You are not the antidote to
viral-sin.
Dear
Baptized Saints, instead, remember your baptisms. Your sin-sick-viral-infected old Adam is
wicked, deceitful, lawless, slanderous, prideful, envious, foolish—and
yes—unbelieving, yet, it finds its end in the waters of your baptism, a
baptisms that connects you to Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Definitely
scrutinize everything carefully and be aware of the sin-germs of life that you
come against, but remember your baptism more.
Definitely
cling to that which is good and true, while resisting the sin-germs of life
that are all around you, but remember your baptism more.
Definitely
recognize and confess your viral-sin-infected nature within, but remember your
baptism more.
 |
| Steve Dawson |
You
bunch of Baptized Saints, do not forget!
You have been washed. The robe of
Christ’s righteousness covers you and holds you in this sin-sick world. Do not fear; do not fret; your baptism and
forgiveness remain day by day as long as you live, for He is faithful to
you.
The
peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus. Amen.
[1] C.F.W.
Walther, Law & Gospel: How to Read
and Apply the Bible (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2010), 91.
[2] Formula of Concord: Epitome I:8.
[3] Martin Luther, The Small Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther for Ordinary Pastors and
Preachers: The Third Article on Being Made Holy.
[4] Martin
Luther, The Large Catechism of Dr. Martin
Luther: Fourth Part Concerning Baptism.
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