What’s the Difference Between the Outside and the Inside?

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Good morning.

My name is Denise Yon.

I'm part of the San Francisco Community Group and Women Reading Women.

Today's scripture reading is from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 11, verses 37 to 54, as printed

Luke 11:37–54

in your liturgy.

When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him, so he went in

and reclined at the table.

But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.

Then the Lord said to him,

Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full

of greed and wickedness.

You foolish people.

Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?

But now, as for what is inside you, be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for

you.

Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue, and all other kinds

of garden and herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God.

You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful

greetings in the marketplaces.

Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.

One of the experts in the law answered him,

Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.

Jesus replied,

And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with the burdens they can

hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.

Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed

them.

So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did.

They killed the prophets, and you build their tombs.

Because of this, God in his wisdom said, I will send them prophets and apostles, some

of whom they will kill, and others they will persecute.

Therefore, this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been

shed since the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah,

who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary.

Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.

Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge.

You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.

When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of law began to oppose him fiercely,

and to besiege him with questions, waiting to catch him in something he might say.

This is the gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Thank you, Denise.

Let's go to the Lord in prayer as we open up his word.

Father, I do not presume to have anything to say in and of myself to your people,

but you are God who speaks, and you speak truth, and you speak grace,

and I pray that you would give us ears to hear and to receive your truth and your grace today,

that we might behold your Son, the Savior,

that we might earnestly desire pure hearts in your eyes,

and that we might behold the wonderful news of how you've made provision

for our cleansing and our purity in Christ.

Give us a heart for Jesus, we pray, in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

So you may have noticed over the past couple weeks as we've been getting deeper and deeper into Luke's gospel

that Jesus has been having more and more, like, really tense interactions

with this particular group of religious folks called the Pharisees.

And in this text that we just heard read, this is definitely the most direct,

it's the harshest, the most confrontational, and offensive

that we've seen Jesus speak to anyone so far in the gospel of Luke.

Now, maybe some of you are desensitized to this, how lambastic Jesus is being here,

because, hey, these are the Pharisees, right?

Even if you're not a Christian, you know that you don't want to be a Pharisee.

You don't want to be a Pharisee.

These are the bad guys, the hypocrites, the self-righteous, legalistic, judgmental, hard-hearted,

lacking in compassion, arch-nemeses of Jesus throughout all the gospel accounts.

So in our minds, like, yeah, get him, Jesus, right?

Pile it on, amen, amen, woe to you, Pharisees.

But, you know, that we view the Pharisees as bad guys is actually more a testament

to the pervasive influence of Christianity in the modern Western world

than an actually helpful way to approach this episode in Jesus' life.

Because, listen, the Pharisees may be the bad guys to those of us living in a Western civilization

that's been undeniably shaped by the life and teachings of Jesus,

but I guarantee you that in this moment, around this super-awkward dining table in Luke chapter 11,

Luke 11 · chapter mention

and across the whole Jewish community at this time, the Pharisees and the experts in the law,

they had a very different reputation.

See, the predominant thesis of the Jewish people in Jesus' day was that the reason

that Israel was under occupation by the Romans was that their forefathers had disregarded the prophets,

rebelled against God, and chosen to live in uncleanness and unrighteousness.

And the people who most believed this thesis and who devoted their whole lives

to bringing the nation back to a kingdom of purity and cleanliness before the Lord,

the people who led the way and who were looked to for direction about how to live a clean life,

it was the Pharisees.

According to New Testament scholar Lynn Kohik, the majority of the evidence indicates

that the Pharisees were seen as on the people's side while preserving the highest goals

and the highest standards of purity.

So the Pharisees really were the champions of Israel.

These were the national heroes, believed to be the most righteous,

the purest people in the community, the very preservers of Jewish life,

Jewish religion, Jewish culture.

And they bravely lived strict and disciplined Jewish lives,

even while Roman soldiers marched through their streets and pressured them to just assimilate,

right, to Greco-Roman culture.

So it should actually stun us to observe how aggressively Jesus goes at his dinner host

and his fellow guests here.

I just want you to imagine yourself sitting around that table, right?

Verse 37 says that the Pharisee invited Jesus into his own home.

So it's not like this was one of the more antagonistic or jealous Pharisees from the start.

Not every Pharisee was a Jesus hater.

This Pharisee, this host probably was even sympathetic and curious about Jesus.

Jesus was probably his guest of honor, right?

Then verse 38 simply says the Pharisee was just surprised

when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.

Who knows if he even said anything?

Maybe he raised an eyebrow.

Maybe he said something like, hmm, oh, that's interesting.

He didn't wash his hands.

We don't know exactly.

But what we do know is that that was all it took

for Jesus to become the kind of dinner guest

that we all dread to have in our homes, right?

The kind of dinner guest that we pray our children will never become,

insulting the host, insulting the fellow guests,

calling people fools at the table,

and pronouncing woes around the table, right?

This is the kind of story that makes me question the bright rainbow WWJD,

what would Jesus do, bracelet used to wear in my youth, right?

It's like, really?

Would Jesus do that?

Should I do that too?

I don't know, right?

But of course, if he's Jesus,

and our core confession as Christians is that Jesus Christ is Lord,

we've got to recognize he's not wrong here.

So the question we need to ask is,

what was it that got Jesus so fired up?

What is it that brings out the fire and ire of Jesus

and leads him to cut the cordial

and break all social conventions of politeness and niceness?

So again, here Jesus is,

not having washed up before eating,

but FYI, there is actually no commandment in the law of Moses

saying that people need to wash their hands before they eat a meal.

Only the priests carrying out their ceremonial duties in the tabernacle

were commanded to wash their hands before eating.

Or people who'd become unclean by coming into contact with a dead body

or with blood or an unclean animal,

those were the only times you need to wash before eating.

So it's not like Jesus was breaking any of the laws of Moses.

So what was likely going on here was that the Pharisees,

in their dedication to making Israel clean again,

they applied these ceremonial washing practices

just to everyone, just to be safe.

And not just to the priests

or those who'd come into contact with unclean things,

they applied it to everyone.

So again, Jesus hasn't broken Moses' law,

he's merely broken an extra law and custom of the Pharisees.

But at the same time,

it's still a surprise for the Pharisees to see this.

And I so love how Luke writes here in the next verse,

then the Lord.

He didn't say then Jesus, but he says then the Lord.

Like Luke's emphasizing, he may be a lunch guest here,

but Jesus is never a mere guest.

He's always the Lord of every table.

And as the Lord, he has something to say to the Pharisees

about what it means to be clean.

Now the word for washed here in verse 38

is the word baptizo.

All right, where we get the word baptized.

It's the word baptizo.

So you have this Pharisee who is surprised

that Jesus didn't baptize himself before the meal.

And so Jesus is like,

oh, you want to talk about baptism?

You want to talk about what it really means to be clean?

Verse 39,

now then you Pharisees,

clean the outside of the cup of the dish and the dish,

but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.

He's saying, wait,

you guys with your triple washed hands

are getting caught up in the fact

that I haven't baptized mine before eating?

That's really your biggest hangup?

This external, superficial,

even maybe superstitious act of cleansing your hands?

Well, I have a question for you.

What about your hearts?

Have you cleansed the greed and wickedness from your hearts?

Or are you the kinds of people

who only clean the outside of the cup,

but not the inside?

Anyone have a roommate like that?

It's gross.

I've had many roommates like that.

Jesus insists that we got to be clean both inside and out.

Verse 40,

you foolish people,

did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?

Both inside and out matter to God

because he made both.

And just because something or someone

looks clean and nice and good on the outside,

it doesn't mean that they're clean on the inside.

It doesn't mean that at all.

So Jesus says in verse 41,

but now as for what is inside you,

be generous to the poor

and everything will be clean for you.

And what he means here isn't,

okay, do this different external religious act

of giving to the poor instead

and that act is gonna make you clean

rather than just washing your hands before a meal.

No, actually, the Pharisees,

actually, they might have given more alms out

to the community than anyone else in their society.

The key words in this verse, verse 41,

are as for what is inside you.

In the Greek, you could also translate this as

give alms with respect to what is inside you,

meaning don't just do the deed with your hands,

but actually do the deed from your heart,

like with actual care and compassion

and love and zeal for God.

See, Jesus sets a much higher bar for righteousness

than mere external acts of religiosity or even charity.

If you truly want to be clean, he says,

it's gotta start with your heart.

And this bar is high and it's hard and it's heavy

because it really is so much easier

to just follow a rule and check a box, right,

than to cultivate love and compassion in our hearts.

Like here in verse 42 where Jesus says,

woe to the Pharisees for giving a tenth

of even the tiniest herbs

and paying so much attention

to every single little piece of mint and rube

but neglecting justice and love for God.

It totally makes sense to me though

how people, myself included, could get caught up in that.

For so many of us, especially those of us

who are like me, grew up in an evangelical upbringing,

churchgoers all my life,

we've been doing church for a really long time.

Many of us can find ourselves

in a set it and forget it kind of mode, right?

We show up to church every week,

but it's out of habit, no problem.

It's just built into our way of life.

It's built into our life that once a month

we're going to help prepare the communion table,

be on the welcome team,

help with the kids' ministry.

It's just built in.

We've also, you know,

just figured out how to habit stack, right?

We figured out how to have our daily devotions,

read our Bible and pray every day.

We just stack it onto our daily coffee.

It's done.

It's automatic.

We also electronically automate our giving.

10%, I don't even see it.

I don't even feel it anymore.

It just goes.

And we don't even, like, think about it

when we give.

We're fine.

We're good.

We're clean.

We don't curse.

We don't gamble.

We don't get high.

We don't get drunk.

We're on cruise control.

This is what our parents taught us to do.

This is what we do.

So can I please get my Stellar Christian sticker now, right?

An A plus on my spiritual report card.

Well, Jesus would remind us

that it is possible to do all of this

and more,

and yet to neglect justice

and the love of God.

Like, you may have checked all the boxes,

but when was the last time you checked your heart?

When was the last time you prayed Psalm 139?

Search me, O God,

and know my heart.

Test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me

and lead me in the way everlasting.

We need to be a self-examining,

heart-examining people.

We need to be regularly asking ourselves

and each other in community,

are we growing in our love for others

and our love for God,

or have we been content to check the boxes

and just live our lives unexamined

and on autopilot?

Now, in case you thought

I was just going to go after

the conservative religious evangelicals,

I also have a word

for the more theologically liberal

of those in the room.

Maybe you have a mainline background.

Maybe you especially love passages like this

and you're cheering Jesus on at this point

because you see Jesus in this passage

like polemicizing against meticulous,

petty rule following.

And you love this

because you yourself

are not really interested

in getting into the details

and the specifics

of honoring every part of God's law

with every part of your life.

You're just focused on love and compassion,

just broadly speaking,

without much definition.

Well, I want to remind you

that Jesus also says here

at the end of verse 42,

you should have practiced the latter,

so you should have practiced justice

and love for God,

without leaving the former undone.

Jesus is not criticizing

the Pharisees' attention

to detail in tithing,

just their neglect

of the even more important things.

But make no mistake,

Jesus wants it all,

and he's worthy of it all.

So yes, we need the big boulders in place.

Pursue justice.

Have compassion for people.

Love God from your heart.

And then though,

look for all the many infinite ways

you can express that justice

and love and compassion

in the details of your life.

So if this is you,

my question for you is,

are you pursuing

a dynamic relationship with God

in all the details of your life?

Are you searching the scriptures

and seeking to apply them,

or have you settled

for some just broad,

generalized,

culturally acceptable,

ambiguous notion of love,

and following this kind of Jesus

that you just imagined in your head,

but that you haven't investigated

in his words?

Jesus wants us to grow

in the former and the latter,

justice for the world,

love for God,

and intense attention

to all the infinite ways

we could honor and worship him

in the minutest details

of our lives.

Because again,

he's worthy of it all.

So like,

how are we using our commutes?

How are we using our leisure?

How are we thinking about

even our family vacation?

Sure, God doesn't bind us

with legalistic rules

for what to do on BART,

or what to do with the last half hour

that we have before we go to sleep,

or how to use our PTO,

but it all does still belong to him.

And I wonder how many of us

acknowledge the truth

that it all belongs to him.

The next thing Jesus criticizes

the Pharisees for in verse 43

is their love of status and respect

in the synagogues

and the marketplace,

their lust for popularity

and influence.

According to Jesus,

they are blind

and they don't realize

their actual status

in the eyes of God.

He likens them to unmarked graves

in verse 44.

Because see,

in their society,

it wasn't like they had cemeteries

where everyone was just buried

in the same place.

No, people were buried

all over the place,

so it was very important

to mark those graves

or else you would be stepping

on someone's burial site

and in the Jewish faith,

you would be considered

as unclean.

So Jesus was saying,

not only were the Pharisees

not nearly as clean

as they thought,

but that they were also

unknowingly

making others unclean.

See,

this is not just about

us being clean

in the eyes of God,

like individualistically.

We need to check our hearts,

we need to practice

self-examination,

and we need to take

a good long look

at ourselves

in the mirror

of the Scriptures

because our cleanliness

or lack thereof

has major implications

for others,

for our community,

for the world,

our coworkers,

our children,

our neighbors.

And the question is,

what if you

are an unmarked grave

and you don't realize it?

Don't you want to know?

And might you be willing

to ask God to show you

and to change you

if need be?

The Pharisees

and the law experts

weren't willing

to acknowledge

these realities

or even the possibility

of these realities

or to make any changes

to their lives

and lifestyles

and how they viewed

the world.

Verse 45 says,

one of the experts

in the law

answered him.

He didn't say,

oh, that was really convicting.

Tell me more, Jesus.

He says,

teacher,

when you say these things,

you insult us also.

He was upset.

And Jesus is like,

yeah,

I meant to be offensive.

I know.

Verse 46,

and you experts

in the law,

woe to you

because you load people

down with burdens

they can hardly carry

and you yourselves

would not lift one finger

to help them.

He continues to go at it.

As the guy's putting

a matzo ball in his mouth,

Jesus keeps going, right?

See,

while these experts

in the law

believed themselves

to be so pious

because they had given

themselves to understanding

and teaching the law

of God to the people,

they'd gotten so fixated

on being right

rather than being righteous,

on knowing the truth

without applying it

in love.

They missed the point

of the law.

We sang about this earlier.

The law was never meant

to save anyone.

And yet the focus

of the experts of the law

was telling people

what the law meant,

what it said,

and burdening them

with all the details

of how they'd fallen short

of these laws.

These laws that tell us

that we are unclean

and impure

and unrighteous sinners

before a holy God

who will not abide

in the midst of our filth.

These law experts

were content

to only have bad news

for the people.

And they thought

that that was

their righteousness,

their knowledge

about the law.

Zero compassion,

zero grace,

zero personal relationship

with God,

only truth

about other people's

uncleanness

and about the reality

and about their teachings

that even these law experts

were the cleanest

in the community.

And the worst part

is this.

The Pharisees

and these experts

in the law,

they actually have no idea

how far they are

missing the mark.

They have no idea

of how unclean

and complicit

with even evil

and murder they are.

You know,

in this ancient

Jewish tradition

that the Pharisees

and the experts

of the law

were a part of,

they actually prided

themselves

on venerating

and honoring

the prophets

who they recognized

that their forefathers

had rejected

and not listened to

and got them

into the mess, right?

So this generation

of Jewish religious leaders

were known to build

and decorate

these beautiful tombs

to honor the prophets

who they recognized

as they were right

all along.

But the question was,

were they going to recognize

the next prophets

that God sent to them?

Like John the Baptist?

Like Jesus of Nazareth?

See, Jesus is saying,

your opposition to me

and the offense

that you're taking at me

is the same thing

your fathers felt.

And every rebellious,

hard-hearted generation

since the beginning of time,

it's what they all felt

when confronted

by truths

they didn't want to hear,

truths that didn't fit

their preconceived notions

about the world.

So you Pharisees

and law experts

may indeed build

and decorate

beautiful tombs,

but really,

you're just accomplices

with every other

prophet-murderer,

every other murderous generation

that hated truth,

even while thinking

they belonged to the truth.

Jesus says,

you are more like

self-serving,

self-interested,

envious and murderous Cain

than righteous,

worshipful,

and sacrificial Abel.

And just as your kings

of old,

stoned prophets

like Zechariah

who rebuked them

for worshiping idols,

all their blood

is just as much

on your hands

even though you think

your hands are clean.

And Jesus recognizes

what a tragedy

and travesty this is

because experts

in the law,

sorry,

and Jesus recognizes

what a tragedy

and travesty this is,

says in verse 52

that they're the ones,

these experts in the law,

are the ones

who are supposed

to have the key

to knowledge,

but they don't know

the truth themselves.

They don't know

God themselves.

And they're not only

blind to the truth,

but they're hindering

others from entering

into the joy

of knowing the truth

themselves,

of knowing God

themselves.

Now maybe you're

thinking to yourself,

cool,

thanks,

I know where this is going,

the lesson here,

the application is,

don't be like the Pharisees,

right?

And you wouldn't be wrong.

Don't be like the Pharisees,

focus on being clean

on the inside

and the outside,

got it.

Get rid of greed

and wickedness

in your heart

even while you go out

and feed the poor.

Make sure you tie it

to God

while not neglecting

justice and love for God.

Make sure it's genuinely

from your heart

and out of compassion,

right?

Don't use your religion

to pursue status

and popularity.

Check yourself

before you wreck yourself

like an unmarked grave,

right?

Don't just burden people

but help people

bear their burdens.

Don't be so sure

you're much better

than those prophet-rejecting,

prophet-killing ancestors

and also quit hindering

others from knowing God

by your failure

to know God yourself.

Got it,

right?

Don't be like the Pharisees.

Let's wrap up.

Let's pray.

Go in the name of Jesus

to love and serve this world

and try not to be a Pharisee,

right?

Is that the benediction today?

Well, that's definitely

a huge part of this.

These are the things

that Jesus hated.

These are the things

that fired Jesus up

and made him the dining guest

that none of us

would want to have.

But if that's the only thing

we get from this passage,

then I think we've also

missed the point.

You know,

one principle

of biblical interpretation

that I learned in college

and that I want to pass on to you,

one question that I think

will help you understand

the Bible a lot better

is this question,

well, first,

you know,

most of us,

when we pick up the Bible

and we read this or that story,

we think,

okay,

what is the moral

and or who is the hero

so I can copy that,

right?

And who are the bad guys

or what are the bad behaviors

that I'm not supposed

to emulate?

And also,

you could do a lot worse

in reading the Bible,

but what if our approach,

and this is the question,

what if our approach

began with asking ourselves

the better question,

how am I worse

than the worst characters

of the story?

How am I in more need

of confession

and repentance

and redemption

than the bad guys here?

And how is Jesus

the only real good guy?

And what good news

does he offer

bad guys like me?

Have you ever read

the Bible that way?

Like,

what if we're not supposed

to simply identify

with the good guys

and the heroes of faith

in these stories?

What if we are the bad guys

in the story?

We're worse.

Needing to repent,

needing to be transformed.

What if we're the ones

desperately in need

of redemption?

So sure,

we should definitely

watch out for every single thing

that Jesus mentioned

around this awkward

dining table,

directed at his host

and his fellow guests.

But man,

if the Pharisees,

with all their devotion

and dedication

and good intentions

and discipline

and knowledge

of the Scriptures,

if they could be blind

to what Jesus

wanted them to see,

how much more susceptible

might we be

when we spend

our free time

not memorizing Scripture,

not giving alms

to the poor

or trying to bring revival

to our nation,

but scrolling our phones

and busying ourselves

with pleasure

and consumption.

If the Pharisees

could not see reality

as God saw it,

when they're trying

so hard

not to miss it,

how much more

might we be missing it

as some of us

are complaining

about grayscale

and this digital detox

during Lent, right?

You know,

it is so sobering

and so striking to me

how this passage ends.

Jesus has just been

a very unconventional guest.

He's very directly rebuked

everyone around the table.

He's called them

a whole bunch of things.

He's called them out

on a whole bunch of things

in their lives.

And you know,

this presented them

with a choice, right?

They could repent,

confess,

and try to change

or they could even

just at least be curious

to learn more.

Like,

oh my goodness,

we might have been wrong.

Please tell us more.

But they chose

the nuclear option.

Verse 53,

when Jesus went outside,

the Pharisees

and the teachers

of the law

began to oppose him

fiercely

and to besiege him

with questions

waiting to catch him

in something he might say.

Their choice

was to be offended

at Jesus,

to start viewing him

as a threat

and as an enemy

and as someone

to take down

rather than even

considering the remotest

possibility

that there was something

in their lives

that needed to change.

Even the smallest speck

of dust in their eyes,

no,

they couldn't even

entertain that possibility.

Instead,

they fought back

and looked for an opportunity

to catch him

in something he said,

which by the way

shows that he hadn't

said anything yet

that they could pin him

down on.

Everything he said

was true.

They just knew

that they didn't like

what he was saying

to them as a prophet.

They didn't like

what he said to them

about the changes

they need to make

in their lives

at the deepest level

of their hearts

in order to truly

be clean

in the eyes of God.

They couldn't see

who was truly

the master and lord

at the table.

And so,

of course,

he was offensive

to them.

So my question is,

are you willing

to let Jesus

be the lord

of your table?

Are we willing

to admit

that there might

be far more

uncleanness

in our lives

and in our hearts

than we realize?

Are we open

to hearing

that hard word

from God?

God.

The Pharisees

and the experts

in the law,

they couldn't bear

to hear such

a hard word.

They couldn't bear

to entertain

the slightest possibility

that Jesus

was telling the truth

about them.

Why?

Because in their minds,

if they really were

as unclean

as Jesus was saying,

how could they

ever wash themselves

clean enough

to stand

in the presence

of God?

If Jesus was right,

then triple washing

their hands,

baptizing themselves

a million times

a day would never

sufficiently

purify them,

especially not

all the way inside,

right?

But you see,

that was precisely

the problem

with their thinking

and precisely

the religious ideology

that most fired

Jesus up

with wrath

and with anger.

He wasn't so much

mad at the Pharisees,

he was mad

at their way

of inhabiting the world,

at their thinking,

at their ideology.

The Pharisee host

raised an eyebrow

when Jesus didn't

baptize before the meal

and this was because

he had no clue

the point

and the picture

of baptism.

He had no idea

that the way

to a true relationship

with God

is not to keep

yourself clean,

but to admit

that you can't

and to be cleansed

by another.

To get baptized

is not an active thing

you do to yourself.

No, we get baptized.

It's a passive activity

that we undergo

and the baptism

that we must undergo

is the washing

that Jesus offers us

through his own baptism

into a bloody death

and resurrection.

That is the only way

we can truly be clean

in the eyes of God

by faith

in union

with Jesus Christ.

This Pharisee

and his guests

couldn't see it

so they pushed Jesus

further away

rather than pursuing

closer intimacy

and union with him.

But what we're going to see

as we continue

journey through Lent,

as we continue

journeying through Lent,

what we're soon

going to be reminded of

is another table,

right?

Where the host

of that table

doesn't scoff

at the uncleanness

of his guests

or demand

that they clean

themselves

before they eat

with him.

But this perfectly

pure host,

he gets down

on his knees

to wash their feet.

I have to wash you.

I have to wash your feet,

he tells them.

It has to be me.

And it is my greatest joy

to do so,

even if it requires

a cross.

And this,

this is the gospel.

Jesus demands

the utmost purity

and cleanliness

from us

and the fact of the matter

is that we are filthy

from head to toe,

inside and out.

None of us could stand

the rebuke he leveled

at the Pharisees

and experts in the law here,

let alone live up

to the rest of the commandments

that we find

in his word.

We have chosen death

and uncleanness instead,

but the good news

is that so did he.

He chose death

in our place.

He chose uncleanness

upon his body

on a cross

to put it to death

so that by his resurrection

we might live

in his light

and purity.

This is the gospel.

And it's only when

we've internalized

this news

that we will ever

begin

to have cleansing

within.

It's only when

we've internalized

the gospel.

This news that Jesus

offers us

a better cleansing

by his blood.

That he's willing

to cleanse us

when we can't do that

on our own.

It's only when

we accept this good news

and let it bury itself

deep into our hearts

and souls

that we will ever

live the kinds of

inside out

clean lives

that we all know

we want to live up to

for our neighbors,

for our children,

for the world,

for the Lord.

Lord,

we have to

internalize

the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

Let's pray.

Lord,

we thank you

for the devastating news

that we cannot

clean ourselves

and the even better news

that you

and your son

were up to the task

and at great cost

and a great expense

to yourself.

So let us respond

in worship,

oh God,

to the one

who's cleansed us

by his blood.

In his name we pray.

Amen.