Rules, Rules, Rules

There are a lot of rules in our lives. From the time that we wake up, to the time that we go to sleep, we are subject to thousands of written and unwritten rules. The social rules; that say that we need to brush our teeth and look presentable. Go to work on time, be pleasant, and responsible. The legal rules; ones that say that we need to drive the speed limit (whether we choose to follow that one or not), drive safely, and even to not steal our morning coffee but pay for it. 

Yet we know that these rules have been put into place for a reason. If we drive dangerously, or on the wrong side of the road, we know that we are likely to cause an accident. We brush our teeth because we know other people expect us to if we want to engage in conversation. And it keeps up from getting cavities. If we decide to line up and drag race through town after church today, we may gain a reputation for being a fun church; but we would also be putting ourselves and other people at risk.

In this morning’s scripture, Jesus is again being confronted by the Pharisees. Always trying to knock Jesus down, this time they are trying to discredit him by highlighting that some of his disciples aren’t following an ancient ritual of hand washing before they eat. I believe that it’s important to say that in this context, they are not saying “Hey Jesus, your guys aren’t washing their grungy hands before they eat!”This is not the case. It’s not that the hands of those disciples were particularly dirty. Rather, the people were offended that these disciples hadn’t fulfilled a man-made tradition that was considered customary in the day. They felt CROSSED that these disciples had the AUDACITY to break the rules! To go against the grain. And though the Pharisees were in the midst of the SAVIOR OF THE WORLD, they just could not get past it. They could not see what was going on RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM, because they were fixated on the rules, rather than what is possible with God.

Jewish tradition has been one of many rules; since long before Jesus. Hundreds of rules had been established at the time when Jesus physically walked alongside of us. Around 613, set, mainline rules had been enacted for members of the Jewish faith on everything from justice to eating food. These rules were set to maintain and accomplish purity among the people. To set the people apart. And so much of faith was determined by the rules you kept or didn’t keep. Utter devotion to the code was demanded.  In fact, the Pharisees of Jesus’ time spent a great deal of time debating the rules- and ascribing “weight” to them; based on the offenses. This is what it MEANT to be Jewish- what it MEANT to be a person of God. How you attended to the rules was to some regards the very essence of faith. But then God changed everything. And we can begin to understand those changes, by looking at how Jesus responds to their accusations.

As the Pharisees attempt to rip into Jesus on the rules, Jesus responds with a call for inner purity. Real purity….. Not obedience to rules, but for a heart that is truly right with God. That truly yearns to be with God.

The Jewish people had a good and thorough understanding of God. I would argue that it was better than many people today. They understood that God was pure, God was holy. Unblemished. Perfect. And they understood the need for atonement. For reconciliation for sin. And so the goal of the laws was to make themselves pure. Hoping that THIS would make them acceptable to God. This would pave the pathway to God and eternal life. In fact Jesus isn’t saying that the rules are necessarily wrong in their intentions. But they are misunderstood. Jesus is saying that God cares less about the fact that we are making all of the right motions and following a code, than he does that He has your heart. God doesn’t care that you are perfect in the eyes of other Jewish people. Or even today in the eyes of other Christians. The point is this: If we aren’t giving God our heart- our all- its meaningless. THAT is where he makes us right. That is where we gain our inner purity.

In that moment, they didn’t know the mission of Christ. They didn’t understand that the final sacrifice to put us right with God was on the horizon. Jesus was about to fulfill the law. Jesus demonstrated it again and again during his ministry. In Matthew 22: starting in verse 37 Jesus tells us: “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A Second is equally important. Love your neighbor as yourself.”  He said that the most important law of all was a law of love. You want to find purity in God? Then you must love Him. Then you love His people in the same way.  That is how you come into the favor of God.

Jesus fulfilled the rules. It doesn’t mean that the rules have no purpose. They are there to guide us. But God changed everything through Jesus by demanding more- our hearts. Jesus took the rules to a new level.

Since I have made several analogies to driving, and the road this morning, I implore you to think of the rules that God asks us to keep as guardrails. God knows we are broken. That we are going to break the rules. They we will sometimes swerve to the right or left. So he gives us the direction that we follow in the Bible as a means of guiding us. Protecting us.

We know that on the other side of the guardrail, something exists that is worse for us than staying on the road. The guardrail guides us when we stray, when we get off course- whether intentionally or unintentionally. It keeps us safe from what is on the other side. And so it is so with the commandments. With the directions that we find in the Bible. The important thing- is that we don’t lose track of where we are going.

God cares that he has our hearts. We are his children, and he loves us. Yet we fall away. We drive through the guardrails. We worship other gods. We are idolatrous. Often our idolatry is not in the sense that we go to a strange temple and offer sacrifices to Malek, but there are indeed other gods in our lives that we worship! So Jesus calls the Pharisees of the past, as well as his people of today, to examine our inner purity. Our hearts towards God. To find out where we stand.

I would like to share some ideas on idolatry found within the book Living Our Beliefs: The United Methodist Way, written by Bishop Kenneth Carder. Carder describes some of the major things that are idolatrous, yet widely accepted by Christians and society everywhere. He talks about the three major “gods” of today. So let us examine and go through them to look behind the curtain of our outward faith, and determine where our hearts are:

The first god is Success. God bless America. Yet isn’t the “American Dream” synonymous with success? Millions of people focus on success to the detriment of everything else in their lives. As sad as it is- our society values PEOPLE in terms of possessions, having, titles, looks, degrees, or power. Yet this is not a theme of the Bible. Jesus emphasizes living as servants. Of dawning meekness. Undoubtedly when you apply the diligence and conservative principles taught to us by the Bible, you often come to have greater wealth, this is not the issue. The issue is when you make your success a bigger focus point in your life than God. Or your family. Or your neighbor. Do you know someone who might be worshipping success? 

The second god is Consumerism. Our market economy is completely based in consumerism. A god that contends that everything from goods, to people, to institutions is marketable. Sellable. Which reduces our relationships down to utilitarian function and cost-benefit considerations. Relationships are based upon what one receives from them. How is Consumerism a god, you might ask?  Let me throw a couple lines at you. I will start the sentence, and I want you to finish. So go ahead and shout it out or sing it with me if you know it-

“Everything tastes better, with a dallop of …..” (Daisy)

“A 1. A 2. A 1234- Give me a break, give me a break, break me off a piece of that ….” (Kit kat bar)

“I want my baby back. I want my baby back baby back. I want my baby back baby back ribs” Chilis, …. “ (baby back ribs)

This next one is a game. Hungry hungry Hippos, Hungry Hungry Hippos!

This one is coffee- “ The Best Part of Wakin’ Up- Is Folgers in your cup!”

We could do this all day. Want to know the crazy part? There are adults that were born after these commercials came out. The Kit kat commercial was from 1995, Chilis from 1995, Folgers from 1994. These commercials were from TWO DECADES AGO- yet we still know them by heart. How do you know if consumerism is one of your gods? When you remember jingles from two decades ago but can’t tell someone a line of the bible. Something from the word of God. I am not trying to make you feel guilty- If consumerism were a charge you could have locked me up and throw away the key.

The third god is Hedonism. I am sure everyone knows what that is. Well Websters defines hedonism as the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole of chief good in life. Statements like, “If it feels good, do it”. “If it feels right, it must be right” are examples of hedonism. Is pleasure wrong? No. But living for pleasure is dangerous. Its dangerous because ethics and morality become a matter of subjectivity. It limits God to being a celestial “Dr. Phil”. I believe that it is a driving force of why so many marriages are failing. If it is not going well, people just throw it out in pursuit of something that will "make them happy", rather than working towards biblical happiness and then sharing it with their partner. And as bishop Carder says, church becomes a “religious spa”. Being happy is not the problem, but the biblical understanding of what happiness is- becomes lost. Happiness in the Weslyan tradition is a by-product of our relationship with God. With feeling his blessing, and with participating in our relationship with Him.

So in reflecting together today, I ask you- “Where is your heart”? Has it been in a place of rules and duties that you have been following? Does your faith, that maybe at one time felt strong and alive, feel more like “going through the motions”?

Our God is a Holy God. A righteous God. A pure and unblemished God. But he is a loving God! He desires our actions, yes, but more than that- our hearts! He wants us to love him, and to daily follow Him alone! So let us live in that understanding. Put aside all other Gods, and put our intentions and focus back onto the one that is the giver of true life. Would you pray with me?

Heavenly father,

We praise and thank you. For coming down into this world, and making something new of faith. For taking our hearts of stone and replacing them with hearts of flesh and love. We are yours alone, God, and today we rededicate ourselves to your word and your way, chasing after you, as you have been chasing after us. So use us, Lord. Guide us, and keep us in your everlasting arms- this day and everyday. And its in our gratitude of the sacrifice of your Son Jesus that we pray, Amen.