Thursday, January 20

THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 2020

Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand.  What goes into someone's mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them." ...

"Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them.  "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body?  But 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 15:10,11,16-20)

In today's passage, we find Jesus's disciples (and others) confused about what causes defilement.  Jewish tradition held that eating with unclean hands would lead to spiritual uncleanness.  Yet, Jesus turns this teaching on its head, explaining that what comes from our mouths (and ultimately the heart) reveals our uncleanness, not what goes into our mouths.

Through this statement, Jesus confirms the holistic testimony of Scripture:  our heart guides our actions and words and reveals our true self.  In Proverbs 27:19, we read:  "As water reflects the face, so one's life reflects the heart."   Nonetheless, in its natural state and apart from God's gracious intervention, the heart lies corrupted and in rebellion against God.  From Jeremiah 17:9, we understand that the "heart is deceitful above all else."  Romans 3:9-20 lays out the case that "no one is righteous."  Paul explains that we rightly deserve wrath in our natural state:  "But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed." (Romans 2:5)

These realities provide some clues on why we might be tempted to divert our attention from our own hearts and instead harp on others' external shortcomings.  It appears that we have a hard-wired desire to find ground of moral (or other) superiority, and sitting in judgment over others offers us a quick trip to the "moral high ground."

Yet, judgmentalism causes us to avoid our responsibility in everything:  to repent and surrender our heart to God's care.  Instead of worrying about others' sin, we find freedom, joy, and life by humbly admitting that we are sinners in desperate need of a Savior.  From that vantage point of surrender and humility, we recognize that any good coming from us originates ultimately from God's creative work and blessing.  God looks to transform our hearts of stone and, under the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, to make them into hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36).  We then become truly alive!  Our rightful expression is gratefulness.

How is your heart today?  How could you surrender more fully to God in humility?  How would you like to be transformed in 2020?  Where could you become more fully alive?

Lord God, thank You for creating us as you have and preparing a means for us to connect with You.  We submit our hearts to You, acknowledging that we have sinned against You.  We need a transformation to become fully alive and to take up the callings You have for us.  Please bring that transformation into greater fruition this year.  We love You, our great God and King!  In Jesus's mighty Name, amen.