Twisted Scripture, Cleanliness is next to Godliness, Christ Church Sermon, January 11, 2026

You're listening to a message from our

weekly worship at Christ Church in Bethl

Park, Pennsylvania. We're a United

Methodist congregation with the mission

of building inclusive community, sharing

Christ's transforming love. To learn

more about the church, including how you

can join us for worship online or in

person, visit christummc.net.

Thank you for listening.

Morning.

Today's scripture is Matthew 23:es

25- 26.

Woe to you teachers of the law and

Pharisees, you hypocrites.

You clean the outside of the cup and

dish, but inside they are full of greed

and self-indulgence.

Blind Pharisee, first clean the inside

of the cup and dish, and then the

outside will also be clean. hear what

the spirit is saying to the church.

>> Thanks be to God.

>> Thanks Aaron. Good morning everybody.

>> So last week we kicked off our series

called Twisted Scripture by naming

something that many of us have either

had said to us or have said to somebody

else in a moment of real pain. You know,

God won't give you more than you can

handle. And Pastor Kelly taught us how

that phrase, although it's meant to be

comforting, can actually cause more

grief than comfort sometimes. Because

the truth is, God never promised that we

could ha handle everything that comes

our way. God promised that God would be

with us no matter what comes our way. So

the promise of scripture is not

self-sufficiency. The promise of

scripture is God's presence. And that's

really what this whole series is about.

It's about looking at these phrases and

untangling them a little bit. You know,

phrases we've heard our whole life.

Phrases that are stitched into our

faith, but that can quietly kind of

distort maybe how we see God, how we see

faith, and maybe even how we see

ourselves. Which brings us to our phrase

for today, which may be one of the most

deeply ingrained phrases of them all.

Cleanliness is next to godliness.

Anybody ever heard that before?

Right? You've some of you heard it

growing up in your house. Some of us

have heard it from a parent or guardian.

Some of us hear it every Saturday

morning when the vacuum cleaner comes

out and no one's allowed to sit down

until the house is spotless. Right? Some

of us might still be saying it right now

to our kids, to a spouse, or to anyone

that may leave dirty dishes in the sink

again.

And on the surface, let's be honest,

cleanliness is next to godliness doesn't

sound wrong. Clean is good. Order feels

responsible. There's there's nothing

wrong with a made bed or a clean

kitchen. But here's the thing that we

have to recognize. That phrase is not in

the Bible. And more importantly, when it

comes to faith, Jesus doesn't just

ignore it. He actually challenges the

mindset behind it. Because Jesus

understands clearly how cleanliness can

turn into control. How quickly order can

become judgment. How looking right can

replace being transformed. And in

Matthew 23, Jesus speaks directly to

people who believed

that the outside should look right and

that made God pleased. And what he said

next would make a lot of very clean,

very put-to together people, very

religious people uncomfortable. So why

does that phrase feel so right to us?

You know, cleanliness is next to

godliness appeals to something deep

inside most of us, right? Especially in

a place like the South Hills because

around here, we value those kinds of

things. We value hard work. We value

respectability. We value responsibility.

We value keeping things together. This

is a community where where people show

up. People work hard. We mow our lawn.

We shovel our sidewalk and driveway. And

maybe not just ours, maybe even our

neighbors, right? We put our trash out

on time. We take pride in our home. We

try not to be that house on the street.

And even when we're exhausted, even when

life is heavy, even when things inside

don't feel quite as tidy as people may

see from the outside, we still do all

the right things. And none of that is

bad. In fact, a lot of it is good. It

reflects care. It reflects commitment.

It reflects responsibility.

But here's where that phrase,

cleanliness is next to godliness, starts

to slip from housekeeping into faith.

Because the danger is that same

mentality can creep into our spiritual

lives. If my life looks orderly, if my

kids behave in church, if my marriage

looks stable from the outside, if I

volunteer and if I give and if I stay

involved, if I'm polite, if I'm

dependable, if I don't cause problems,

then I must be doing okay spiritually.

Now, Jesus says something that cuts

right through that assumption because we

can have a spotless exterior and a

neglected interior. We can have a clean

kitchen but have a cluttered soul. We

can have a tidy schedule but a but a

tired heart. We can have a polished

appearance but an untouched spirit. We

can look like we have it all together

but we can still be carrying resentment.

We can still be avoiding forgiveness. We

can still be spiritually dry. We can

still be worn down and disconnected from

God because godliness is not about

appearance. Godliness is about

transformation. God is not impressed

with how well we manage the outside of

our lives if the inside is an absolute

mess. And Jesus knew how danger it was

dangerous it was if faith became more

about looking right than being made new.

That's why he didn't aim these words at

messy people. He aimed them at the

people that look clean and correct and

composed

because they weren't paying attention to

their hearts. And that's exactly where

he takes us next. Next, we learn that

outside first faith is tempting, but

it's extremely dangerous. I mean, the

Pharisees get a bad rap and rightfully

so. But the Pharisees were were not

pretending to be religious. The

Pharisees were religious. They followed

the rules. They knew the scriptures.

They showed up. They did things the

right way. From the outside, they looked

like a model of faithfulness. But Jesus

said they had their faith backwards.

They cleaned what people could see while

ignoring what only God could see. And if

we're being honest, that still happens

today, right? We clean up for Sunday,

right? We we we put on the right

clothes.

this outfit for contemporary robe and a

stole for traditional, right? We do

those things. We smile in the lobby. We

say, "I'm fine," even if everything

isn't. We sing the songs. We shake the

hands. We keep it together for an hour.

Meanwhile, we have a whole another life

going on beneath the surface. It's like

hosting people in your house. Anybody

ever host people in their house? Okay,

if you're like us and we have people

coming over, we do what's called a quick

clean, right? The counters get wiped.

The pillows get fluffed. The dog hair

gets vacuumed. Anything that's left gets

thrown into a closet or a back bedroom

that nobody's ever going to see. From

the living room, everything looks

amazing. We know what's behind the

closed door. And that's what Jesus is

talking about spiritually because

closing the door doesn't mean the mess

is gone. It just means it's hidden. And

outside faith works the same way. We

learn how to present the living room of

our lives, the parts that people can see

while shoving all the harder stuff into

a closet out of sight. You know, the

doubts, the anger, the grief, the

exhaustion,

the questions that we're afraid to say

out loud. You see, looking put together

is not a replacement for being whole.

Looking faithful is not the same as

being transformed. Outside first faith

is tempting because it's efficient. It

keeps things moving. It avoids

discomfort. But it's also dangerous

because it convinces us that God only

wants us to show him the public spaces

of our lives. And Jesus doesn't want

Jesus says, "I don't want you to show me

the room you show everybody else. I want

you to show me that back room, the whole

house." Because God's goal is not a

better appearance. It's a healed heart.

And that kind of faith doesn't come from

hiding the mess. It starts with opening

the door. So for Jesus, order matters.

Inside first. Now, for those of us that

believe pretty strongly in cleanliness

is next to godliness, notice what Jesus

doesn't say. He doesn't say the outside

doesn't matter. He doesn't say that our

behavior is irrelevant. He doesn't

dismiss discipline or growth. What he

says is the outside can't come first.

First clean the inside, then the outside

will also be clean. The order is

everything. Because Jesus knows that

lasting change never starts with

appearance. It starts with the heart.

God's pattern has always been the same.

Grace before growth, belonging before

behavior, transformation before polish.

God meets us where we are, not where we

pretend to be. But twisted scripture

flips that order all around. Twisted

scripture whispers to us, "Fix yourself,

then come to God. Get your act together.

Then you'll belong. Once you're clean

enough, then you're welcome." Now, that

voice sounds religious. It sounds

responsible. It may even sound

spiritual. But it is not the voice of

Jesus. You see, religion says, "Get it

together."

Jesus says, "Let me in." Religion says,

"Try harder." Jesus says, "Abide in me."

Religion focuses on modification.

Jesus offers transformation.

And that difference matters because

outside first faith exhaust us. We can

only manage appear appearances for so

long. We can only keep pretending

everything is fine for so long because

eventually the weight of all of it

catches up with us. Jesus isn't

interested in cosmetic change. He is

offering deep healing change. That's why

it always starts on the inside with the

heart, with the wounds, with the fears,

with the questions, with the places that

we have learned to hide. And when Jesus

is allowed to work there, something

beautiful happens. The outside does

change, but it changes as a result of

the inside. You see, forgiveness changes

how we treat others. Grace softens our

wounds. Love reorders our priorities.

Peace settles our anxiety. Not because

we forced it, but because God changed

us. You see, Jesus's order is not about

lowering the bar. It is about changing

the starting point and that is a good

thing because it means we don't have to

clean ourselves up in order to come to

God. We can come to God and let God do

the cleaning inside first

always. Now this shows up in everyday

ways. You know the kinds of ways that

don't raise alarms but slowly wear us

down. We start measuring our spiritual

health by how busy we are at church

instead of how honest we are with God.

We confuse being dependable with being

spiritually alive. You know, people can

count on us. We show up early. We stay

late. We take responsibility. We don't

complain. We handle things. And

somewhere along the way, we begin to

assume that if we're doing the right

things, our soul must be okay. So, we

keep going. We keep filling our

calendar. We keep serving in familiar

roles. We keep carrying expectations,

our own and even others.

And few people notice what's going on on

the inside. You know, because we're

tired in a way that sleep can't fix. And

some of you may know exactly what that

feels like. You sit in worship. You sing

the songs that you've sung for years,

but your heart feels heavy. At home, the

kitchen table isn't just a place for

dinner. It's where your life is all

spread out and you're dealing with all

kinds of things that nobody else knows

about. It's that medical diagnosis that

you haven't shared with anyone yet. Not

because you don't believe in prayer,

because you're not ready for the

questions or the looks or the

well-meaning advice from others. It's

that relationship that looks fine in

public, fine on Facebook, fine at

church, fine in a group photo, but

behind closed doors feels fragile and

distant and strained.

It's that grief that you've learned to

manage just enough to get through life.

You function, you work, you show up, but

you haven't really dealt with the grief

because you're not really sure where to

put that. And that pressure, whether it

is spoken or unspoken, to keep the

outside clean, man, we do that because

it keeps us moving. We don't want to

fall behind. We don't want to let people

down. We don't want to make people feel

awkward. We don't want to show too much.

Just keep it together. But Jesus doesn't

look at us with disappointment or with

frustration or with this attitude that,

"Oh, they'll get it right." He gently

says, "Let me start on the inside. Let

me sit with you in the exhaustion.

Let me hold what you've been carrying

alone. Let me heal what you've learned

to hide. Let me meet you where you

actually are, not where you think you're

supposed to be. Because faith was never

meant to be another weight that we're

supposed to carry. It was meant to be a

place of rest. Now, here's the heart of

the gospel. And here's where the phrase

cleanliness is next to godliness

completely falls apart. The gospel does

not say clean up and then God will love

you. Fix yourself and then God will

accept you. Pull yourself together and

then come back and see me. The gospel

says something radically different. The

gospel says you are loved right now. You

belong as you are. Let me make you new.

You see that's the difference between

religion and grace. Religion focuses on

behavior.

Grace restores relationships.

Religion says try harder. Grace says

come closer. Religion polishes the

surface. Grace transforms the heart. You

see, cleanliness is not next to

godliness.

Grace is. Because grace meets us in the

mess, not after we're all cleaned up.

Grace tells the truth about our hearts

without shaming us. Grace doesn't excuse

what's broken, but it doesn't reject us

because of it either. Grace challenges

us from the inside out. And here's the

promise Jesus makes. When the inside

begins to change, the outside eventually

follows. Because forgiveness offers

bitterness, softens bitterness. Healing

loosens the fear. Love reshapes our

habits. Peace steadys our anxious

hearts. Not because we forced it, not

because we're pretending, not because we

finally got it right, but because grace

did what appearance never could.

So, if you're tired of trying to hold

everything together, if you're worn out

for managing the outside,

if your soul feels cluttered and heavy

and dry,

well, Jesus is saying the same thing

today that he was saying back then, let

me start on the inside. That's not a

command. That's an invitation. And it's

good news. So, the question for us today

isn't how does my faith look? It's not

do people see me here or am I doing

enough or am I checking all the right

boxes. The deeper question, the Jesus

question is what is God doing in me?

Because the truth is, you can attend

faithfully and still be spiritually dry.

You can serve consistently and still

feel emotionally exhausted. You can look

like you're all put together and still

be deeply hurting. We can even know all

the rhythms of church life. you know,

when to stand, when to sing, when to

pray, and still feel distant from God.

And if that's you today, then I want you

to hear this. Jesus is not disappointed

in you. Jesus is not asking you to try

harder. Jesus is not standing at a

distance waiting for you to improve. He

is actually inviting you closer.

At Christ Church, we talk a lot about

how to connect and to grow and to give.

We talk about showing up. We talk about

serving. We talk about living out our

faith in real ways.

But all of that comes from one essential

truth. God cares more about who we are

becoming than how well we are

performing.

Let me say that again. God cares more

about who we are becoming than how we

are performing.

Jesus looks at us right where we are and

he says, "Let me clean what matters

most. Let me tend to your heart. Let me

heal what's been worn down. Let me

restore what's been running on empty.

Let me beneath the surface. Because

faith was never meant about to manage

appearances. It was meant to be about

transformation.

So maybe today the prayer is simple and

it's not Lord help me look faithful.

It's Lord do your work in me.

And maybe the most faithful thing that

we can do today is to stop pretending

that we're okay and finally let God into

the places that we've been guarding

because that's where grace works. That's

where healing begins. That's where real

godliness is formed. Not on the outside,

but in the heart. And Jesus is ready to

begin. The question is,

are we? Let's pray.

God of healing and hope, break through

the messiness of our lives with the

power of your Holy Spirit.

Reconnect us with you so that we can

hear your voice more clearly and allow

your love to be reborn in our hearts.

Break through with your resurrection

power to reconnect us with one another.

Reveal to us your new and next steps for

reaching and welcoming and developing

each other. empower us to share the good

news of your transforming love and your

new life. We ask all of this in your

son's name. And everyone said, "Amen."

>> Amen.