Dear Friends,
I pray you may you be encouraged by the riches of God’s grace for us in Christ Jesus.
I’ve included the resources for this coming Sunday (30th August). The next resources will be sent in two weeks time. In the intervening week (Sunday 6th September), I suggest you may enjoy considering Matthew 15:21-28. How does Jesus draw out a fuller expression of her faith?
Next time I write I hope to include some initial plans for how we can celebrate Harvest, and the other seasonal celebrations coming up. These will look different than usual so if you have good ideas to share please let me know.
With my prayers,
Steve
Resources for Sunday 30th August 2020
Jesus (walking on water) said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
(Matthew 14:27)
Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Confession
Consider these words of Jesus:
"The things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.” (Matthew 15:18–20)
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30)
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, we have sinned against you and against our neighbour in thought and word and deed, through negligence, through weakness, through our own deliberate fault. We are truly sorry and repent of all our sins. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who died for us, forgive us all that is past and grant that we may serve you in newness of life to the glory of your name. Amen.
"You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)
Word of God
Our readings today are Psalm 26, Romans 12:9-21 and Matthew 15:1-20.
Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Reflection: A question of hand washing
For the past few months hand washing has hit the headlines more than any of us could have expected. As important as good hand hygiene is at the moment, the Pharisees have a very different concern. They are not concerned with hygiene but holiness.
Think of when Bobby Moore met the Queen. Its 1966, he’s just beaten Germany in the World Cup Final at Wembley and he now leads his team up the steps to receive the trophy from the Queen. At some point up the steps he realises that his hands are covered in the mud of Wembley’s pitch. He doesn’t want to meet the Queen with mud on his hands. If you remember the footage, as he approaches the royal box, he is busily wiping his hands trying to get the mud off.
That is a common human feeling: of needing to clean ourselves up. Not before meeting the Queen but before our pure and powerful God.
It is with this sense of holiness that we have the question in Matthew 15:1-2. Jesus’ answer pulls no punches because it takes us to the heart of how humans relate to our God. We can think of this in two contrasts that are an enduring guide for Christians from Matthew’s first readers to us today.
1. Human tradition vs. the words of God
This contrast is clear in Jesus’ reply. "Why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?" (Matthew 15:3). Human traditions can sadly have a way of obscuring God’s word or even actively working against it.
Jesus uses an example about the fifth commandment, “Honour your Father and Mother.” Imagine a son who had pledged to give to the temple. Perhaps it was a bit like a legacy for the future. But in the meantime, his parents are in need. Does he keep God’s command to honour his parents, or his promise to the temple? He goes to the religious leaders for advice and they don’t release him from his pledge. By putting their own rules about giving above God’s commands, they allow and encourage people to break God’s law.
Traditions have a danger of becoming distractions from God’s word. I’m not meaning any particular traditions but all tradition. Every culture has its traditions whether that’s sharing coffee after services, having small group discussions, particular postures in worship or rhythms of the year. What was begun helpfully to lead us to God and his promises, poses a danger when it is elevated to rival the authority of God’s word. If we follow that pathway Jesus shows us where it ends:
“These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me
They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” (Matthew 15:8–9)
It’s always healthy in church life to ask each other why we do things the way we do. And when we answer we want our answers to come from God’s word. The truth is that the human heart has a tendency to turn any religious tradition into a scheme for self-righteousness. What began as a helpful devotion fossilises into an unbreakable rule, while God’s truth is forgotten. Keeping the rules becomes more important that rescuing the lost.
We might not have a legalistic culture but we do have a particular culture. Someone once defined culture as “the way we do things round here.” If we’re honest we have our unwritten laws of what makes someone look ‘keen’. We might think that looking ‘keen’ might mean helping on a rota or leadership role, being at prayer meetings or in a small group, or having a quiet time. We might think the keen people look organised and tidy like life is under control. But none of these things are godliness in themselves.
This helps us respond well when someone questions what we do. It’s really healthy for us to explain our habits to someone else and to check whether they really do lead us towards God and his word. I know I can be so used to my own habits that I need others to engage with me about them, but when they do, I can thank them for a wonderful opportunity to examine whether my habits really are helping me keep God’s word.
It is so sad when ‘keeping the rules’ becomes more important than rescuing the lost. It’s the contrast between human religion and God’s word.
2. Outward purity at the expense of inner purity
Jesus goes on to explain what we also miss. When our traditions replace God’s word we will emphasise outward purity at the expense of inner purity. We forget that the heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart.
Jesus’ example is about the ritual food laws: that purity does not come by what we eat but who we are, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." (Matthew 15:19) We know that all of what Jesus mentions is in our hearts even if we keep it well hidden. Washing our hands doesn’t solve it.
All other human religion can be summarised in 5 letters: graft. Human religion says “you can do it if you work and graft hard enough.” External purity (looking good on the outside) is hard but is easier than changing our hearts. True Christianity can be summarised not as graft but in 4 letters: gift. We know we are not clean in our hearts and, seeking mercy, we find the gift of grace.
As an image of this, think of earlier in the chapter. Peter sees Jesus walking on water towards their boat and even this professional fisherman is terrified. And Jesus calls Peter out to walk to him on the water. As Peter begins to sink, he cries out “Lord, save me!” Jesus doesn’t offer him swimming lessons. He does not throw him a life ring. He takes his hand, catches him and together they climb into the boat. As he diagnoses our sinful hearts, he doesn’t say try harder to fix your problem. He doesn’t throw a life ring and tell us “now you’ll be ok, keep kicking your feet.” He shows grace. It’s as simple as crying out “Lord, save me!” and, in the swirling waves of our sinful hearts, he takes our hand and will rescue us.
Human religion offers no hope to those who know they need a rescuer. Those who know the truth of their hearts delight in a saviour offering the gift of grace. And around this Christ, people do gather from every nation on earth.
We see this new community gathering around Jesus: more than 5000 gathered for a feast in the wilderness; the disciples worshipping, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” In the rest of chapter 15 outsiders include: the Gentile Woman and more than 4000 people gathering around this Christ and his grace. Today people around the world recognise that they need the gift from a rescuer not the impossible burden of human religion. And one day all God’s people will gather face to face around his throne in worship of Christ. People who have been transformed by grace to truly honour him with their lips and hold him dear in their hearts. People who, by a gift of grace, have truly clean hands.
Father, we know and admit the problem of our hearts and long for you to transform us. Please guard us from using our habits as ways of ignoring your word. Prevent us from distorting good traditions that fail to love you and others in righteousness. But may our church culture help us, and many others, towards you in love and ever increasing praise. For the glory of your name, Amen.
Hymn
Prayers
Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray and to give more than either we desire or deserve: pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
You may like to continue with your own prayers and the Lord’s Prayer using the following pattern, filling in what you would ask for them:
Gracious Father, we pray for our families …
... for those who live near us …
… for school pupils, teachers and other staff returning …
… for our key workers, leaders and government …
… for those who are sick or grieving …
… for the persecuted, broken and hurting …
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Conclusion
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore. Amen.
(based on 2 Corinthians 13:14)